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XV. A Botanical History of the Genus Tofieldia. Bi/ Sir James 

 Edward Smith, M.D. F.R.S. F.L.S. 



Read January 21, 1817. 



Notwithstanding the assiduous labours of so many acute 

 and learned men in the field of Botany for three centuries past, 

 much still remains to be done in the mere determination of spe- 

 cies. All our care and watchfulness arc still requisite, to keep 

 the science clear of confusion, even in the history and discrimi- 

 nation of Europaean plants. No accurate and scientific student 

 ■will find any want of employment, or of well-deserved credit, in 

 the exclusive cultivation of this field. The more familiar the 

 plants, the less carefully have the}', often, been studied, and the 

 more numerous their synonyms, the greater is the chance of ac- 

 cumulated and intricate mistakes. Those who are competent to 

 devote themselves to this branch of scientific inquiry, will wisely 

 avoid all loss of time about matters of opinion, concerning which, 

 men more learned and experienced than themselves have differed, 

 but which are in general sufficiently settled for all practical uses, 

 though they might be debated upon for ever, without any incon- 

 trovertible conclusion. Such are many of the genera in dispute 

 between Linnaeus and other authors; in alluding to which, I by 

 no means wish to deter young botanists from the study of genera, 

 one of the most instructive that they can pursue. But to learn 

 and to teach are very different things. I cannot too often pro- 

 test against those more tempting roads to immortality, gratuitous 



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