864 CHARACTERS ' 



seem to me very capable of being well dis- 

 criminated by their seeds, and other botanists 

 have held the same opinion. 



Bat though I feel convinced, as far as 

 my experience goes, that genera are really 

 founded in nature, I am far from asserting 

 that Linnaeus, or any other writer, has suc- 

 ceeded in fixing all their just limits. This 

 deep and important branch of natural science 

 requires the union of various talents. Many 

 persons who can perceive a genus cannot de- 

 fine it ; nor do acuteness of perception, so- 

 lidity of judgment, and perspicuity of ex- 

 pression, always meet in the same person. 

 Those who excel in this department are 

 named by Linnaeus, l^hil. Bot. sect. 152, 

 theoretical botanists ; those who study only 

 species and varieties, practical ones. 



In methodical arrangement, whether na- 

 tural or artificial, every thing must give way 

 to generic distinctions. A natural system 

 which should separate the species of a good 

 genus, would, by that v^ry test alone, prove 

 entirely worthless ; and if such a defect be 

 sometimes unavoidable in an artificial one, 

 6 



