Dr. Lindley's Natural System of Botany. 301 



as well as to distinguish such names from those of genera in the plu- 

 ral number, the termination acetc is given to orders, and that of ea. 

 to suborders, &ic. The advantages of uniformity in this respect are 

 manifest, and Dr. Lindley therefore insists upon the adoption of the 

 rule in all cases. In the Key to Botany, published the year previ- 

 ous to the appearance of the second edition of the present work, the 

 termination in acect is employed, not only in names of orders formed 

 from those of genera, but also in the few still in use which relate to 

 some peculiarity in the habit of the family. Thus, instead of Cru- 

 cifera3, Umbellifera, Conifera, &c. we have Cruciacece, Umhella- 

 cea, and Conacca;. These are, however, very properly abandoned 

 in the work before us, in which the author inclines to give up the 

 old and familiar names of these orders, and to substitute those formed 

 in the customary manner from well known genera. Brassicacea, 

 Apiacecc and Pinacece may certainly be as good names as any other 

 when we once get accustomed to them, but it seems hardly neces- 

 sary to make any change in the case of names of this kind. Dr. 

 Lindley, as we have already seen, gives to the names of Alliances 

 the termination ales, and to the groups that of osa. The chief ad- 

 vantage of this system is, that the name of any group at once indi- 

 cates its rank and importance. 



The value of this work is greatly increased by the complete list 

 of genera, (so far as known at the time of its publication,) with the 

 principal synonyms, appended to each order and properly arranged 

 under their several sub-orders, sections, he. This laborious and 

 difficult task is upon the whole very faithfully executed. We ob- 

 serve, however, several errors, typographical and otherwise, which 

 are not noticed in the appendix, and in a few instances the same 

 <:enus is referred to two different orders. The whole catalogue will 

 doubtless be rendered more perfectly accurate in a future edition. 



The whole number of genera comprised in this enumeration, ex- 

 clusive of synonyms, is 7840. Sprengel's Systcma Vegetabilium, 

 which was finished in 1827, contains (exclusive of the appendix) 

 only 3593 genera, or not quite half the number now known ; while 

 the 12th edition of Systema Naturce (the last of Linnaeus himself) 

 comprises 1228 genera, or only about a third more than are now 

 known in a single family. 



This great and rapid increase is perhaps chiefly owing to the dis- 

 covery of new plants ; but it is also attributable in a good degree to 

 the more accurate knowledge of those already known. In either 



