NATITKAX SYSTEMS OF CLASSIFICATIOX. 411 



imperfect as any scheme must necessarily have heen at that day, 

 when the number of plants known was very limited, still his 

 arrangement was in its leading divisions correct, and has formed 

 the foundation of all succeeding systems. He divided plants 

 thus : — 



1. Flowerless. 



2. Flowering ; these being again subdivided into 



a. Dicotyledons. 



b. Monocotyledons. 



Eay still further grouped plants together into genera, which were 

 equivalent to our Natural Orders, many of which indicated a 

 true knowledge of natural affinities, and are substantially repre- 

 sented at the present day by such natural orders as the Fungi, 

 Musci, lilices, Coniferse, Labiatae, Compositae, Umbelliferae, 

 and Leguminosse. 



Next in order was the celebrated author of the most perfect 

 artificial system ever devised for the arrangement of plants, 

 namely, Linnaeus, who, about the year 1751, drew up a sketch 

 of the natural affinities of plants under the name of Fragments. 

 Many of the divisions thus prepared by Linnaeus are identical 

 with natural orders as at present defined, among which we may 

 mention Orchideae, Grramina, Compositfe nearly, L'mbellatae, 

 Asperifoliae, Papilionaceae, Filices, Musci, and Fungi. Some of 

 these groups had been pre^-iously recognised by Eay and other 

 botanists who had preceded him ; while others were then first 

 promulgated by himself. No characters, however, were given by 

 Linnaeus to the above Fragments. These examples of Linnsean 

 orders will show that while their author was engaged in the 

 formation of his admirable artificial system, he only regarded 

 it as paving the way to the formation of a true natural system, 

 which he himself states to be the jprimwn et ultinmm in botanicis 

 desideratum. 



JussiEu's Natural System. — To Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, 

 however, belongs the great inerit of having first devised a com- 

 prehensive natural system. His method was first made known 

 in the year 1789. It was founded upon the systems of Eay and 

 Tournefort, to which he made some important additions, more 

 especially in considering the position of the stamens with re- 

 spect to the ovary. The following table, which requires no ex- 

 planation, represents his arrangement : — ■ 



