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nical labours. '*Diu etejjo circa method am naturalem inveni- 

 endam laboravi, bene multa quae adderem obtinui, perficere non 

 potui, continuaturus dum vixero, interim quae novi proponam ; 

 qui paucas quae restant bene absolvit plantas, omnibus magnus 

 erit Apollo." Classes PI. 1747, p. 486. Also, in another 

 place : " Methodus naturalis primus et ultimus finis Botanices 

 est et erit." Phil. Bot. 



The indefatigable Gaertner, to whose immortal work, the 

 produce of twenty years' labour, the celebrated Parisian Aca- 

 demy adjudged the second place amongst all modern works 

 promoting the advancement of science, — Gaertner, feeling the 

 importance of Carpology, thus speaks of Linnaeus, it is true 

 with some degree of jealous reproach : — " Qui (Linnaeus) non 

 solum disertis verbis declaravit florem longe prseferri debere 

 fructui in determinandis generibus, sed qui etiam ad tenorem 

 hujus falsi dogmatis, toties genera sua alienissimis adulteravit 

 speciebus, qui plurimos suos fructuum characteres, non ex 

 natura, sed ex solis Tournefortii Plumieri Rheedii Commelini 

 &c. iconibus ita hausit, ut simul quoque omnes eorumdem 

 mendas et errores suos fecerit et subinde auxerit ; aut qui si 

 tales defuere fontes, fructus saepe adeo negligenter et quasi ex 

 insomnio descripsit ; e. gr. in Coldenia, Eriocaulo, Scoparia, 

 Cephalantho, Nauclea, Trollio, Sec. ut ubique luculenta summi 

 sui fructuum contemtus dederit testimonial' (Jos. Gaertn. 

 de fructib. et seminib. Plant. Vol. % praefat. p. 4.) 



Even in the classical composition of Linnseus, with which 

 he took the greatest pains, in his Philosophia Botanica, we 

 find, for example, comprised under one category of tail -like 

 processes, real processes of the fruit or transformed styles in 

 Pulsatilla, hairs arising from the origin of the seeds in Pop- 

 lars, hairs of the fruit-bearing peduncle in Typha, and hairs 

 arising from various floral organs in different Gramineae : 

 Lagurus, Arundo, Saccharum, &c. Who is not acquainted 

 with his error in considering the monospermous capsules of 

 Boragineae, Labiatae, &c. as naked seeds? 



The celebrated A. L. de Jussieu also, whilst working out 

 his natural system founded on characters taken from all 

 organs, but especially from the fruit and seed, even in his ad- 

 mirable work, the Genera Plantarum, not having yet had in 

 his hands the classical composition of Gaertner, falls into many 

 errors. It is enough to adduce, as an example, the erroneous 

 mixing up of the Polygalee in the natural family of the Pedi- 



