78 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



sary duration. Works upoH every other branch of botany are com- 

 paratively short-lived, being compelled to be re-written with every ad- 

 vance in knowledge. He refers to works on vegetable physiology 

 and anatomy and says that the authors of even a few years ago are 

 forgotten and their works consigned to obscure corners in botanical 

 libraries. In vegetable physiology Hales and DeSaussure are rescued 

 from their oblivion. In vegetable anatomy every improvement of the 

 microscope has compelled much of the work to be done afresh. That 

 which we describe by unaided vision always remains, but that which 

 we see with the aid of processes of amplification must dej)end upon 

 the nature of these processes, and some simple discovery of an opti- 

 cian may cause the abandonment of many excellent books. Descrip- 

 tions of plants, however, are most enduring, and works containing 

 them always will be consulted. Such books of even a century old or 

 more are being constantly consulted, for the law of priority demands 

 a great deal of hunting back in dusty records, where verification, if 

 anywhere, demands clear description. Since the duration of de- 

 scriptions is so great it is important that they should be well done. 

 The anatomist and physiologist are fortunate enough to be able to fall 

 into oblivion, but for the describer of forms and groups is reserved a 

 much more serious fate. Like the Wandering Jew, he is condemned 

 to live, and being of necessity consulted, if his work is badly done, he 

 is open to the execrations of botanists century after century. The 

 author then gives an exhortation which should be hung in illuminated 

 text over the work-table of every botanist who attempts to describe a 

 species: "Observe with care, describe with method, name 

 and classify properly; your reputation, even your honor is 

 at stake." Works on natural groups of plants are destined 

 to absorb and summarize all other departments, for into the 

 description of species, genera, families, etc , must enter, sooner or la- 

 ter, the anatomical characters, the physiological properties, the facts 

 of habitation, origin, bibliography, etc. 'i'he author is disposed to 

 think that we, in schools, are in danger of running too much, to anatom- 

 ical dissections, avoiding the older paths of classification, and we do 

 not know but that he is right. It can hardly be questioned that the 

 mind i'* called into higher and more general action by the study of 

 the basis of classification than by studying how to di.ssect and hunting 

 for the thousandth part of a millimetre under a microscope. As De 

 Can(1olle says, the former is a more efficient method of training for a 

 general student, by teaching him observation, and the best means of 

 observation is acurate description. The names of the species, the 

 groups, the organs may all be forgotten, but the principles are not, 

 and the same methods can be well applied in may other things. 



The object of the present volume is the perfection of the meth- 

 ods of the description. There is a loud call for greater uniformity in 

 all departments of natural history. There is no reason why the terms 

 used in Phaenogamic and Cryptogamic botany should be so dis- 

 tinct that an adept in one may not understand the language of the 

 other. There should be fixity in the names of organs, and in works on 



