PREFACE. xi 



to lead to serious attempts to carry out a plan of Alliances, in 

 imitation of a few continental writers. These attempts were em- 

 bodied in the second edition of the present work, which appeared 

 in 1836, tmder the name of A Natural System of Botany. Not- 

 withstanding some glaring defects in the method then proposed, and 

 a host of errors of a less manifest description, the \iews of the Anthof 

 were favourably received by those best able to judge of their value. 

 On the other hand, they have been severely criticised by writers who 

 show a singular want of knowledge of the true bearing of such works 

 Those persons have imagined that a natural classification of plants 

 is something which is suddenly to start into existence, perfect 

 in all its parts, and theii- criticisms betray a total ignorance of the 

 difficulties by which such a subject is surrounded. The Natural 

 System of Botany may be likened to the plan of a vast edifice, at 

 the construction of which many are labouring. Certain comets 

 and quadi^angles are easily set out ; a particular style of architec- 

 ture is agreed upon, and it may be even settled irrevocably in what 

 places the state apartments and cellars are to be stationed. But when 

 further details are to be discussed, many unsatisfactory attempts 

 must be made by the architects, and many an awkward arrange- 

 ment of the rooms proposed, before a final plan can be produced. 

 If perfection in such small matters is impracticable, if it is impos- 

 sible so to arrange all the details of even an edifice as to satisfy all 

 critics, how much more hopeless must be the task of classifying the 

 infinite works of the creation! To demand perfection in a work of 

 that nature is little less than impious ; for perfection is the attri- 

 bute, not of man, but of his ^laker. 



The Author may now be equally charged with inconsistency in 

 not adhering to liis former plan of classification after having pro- 

 mulgated it. But he is not conscious of ha\ing ever pretended 

 that it even approached permanency. — See Natural System, p. xiii. 

 In fact, there is no such thing as stability in these matters. 

 Consistency is but another name for obstinacy. All things are 

 undergoing incessant change. Every science is in a state of pro- 

 gression, and of aU others the sciences of observation most so. 

 Since 1836 the \'iews of the Author have, of course, been 

 altered in some respects, although they have experienced but little 

 modification in others. This is inevitable in such a science as that 

 of Systematic Botanj^, where the discovery of a few new facts or 

 half a dozen fresh genera may instantly change the point of view 

 from which a given object is observed. The Author cannot 



