499 
I admire. your defence of Linneus’s Natural 
Classes: it is ingenious and entertaining, and it 
evinces a deep skill in the mysteries of classifica- 
tion, which must, I fear, continue to wear a myste- 
rious shape till a larger portion of the vegetables 
of the whole earth shall have been discovered and 
described. . 
I fear you will differ from me in opinion when I 
fancy Jussieu’s Natural Orders to be superior to 
those of Linneus. I do not however mean to allege 
that he has even an equal degree of merit in having 
compiled them,—he has taken all Linneus had 
done as his own; and having thus possessed him- 
self of an elegant and substantial fabric, has done 
much towards increasing its beauty, but far less 
towards any improvement in its stability. 
How immense has been the improvement of 
botany since I attached myself to the study, and 
what immense facilities are now offered to students, 
that had not an existence till lately! Your de- 
scriptions and Sowerby’s drawings of British Plants, 
would have saved me years of labour, had they 
then existed. I well remember the publication of 
Hudson, which was the first effort at well-directed 
science, and the eagerness with which I adopted 
its use. 
Believe me, Yours, 
J. Banks. 
26. 4 Grammar of Botany.—The Grammar of 
Botany appeared in 1821. This volume its author 
inscribed, as a memorial of his esteem, to Mrs. 
2K 2 
