464 Account of the Life, &,"c. of the late Mr. Fahl. [Dec. 1> 



diftingujftied botanills, and carry on a 

 moll extenihe cpiflolary conefpoiidcnce, 

 through whicli every new idea for the im- 

 provement^ and every new difcovery for 

 the enlargement of the fyftem, was com- 

 municated to him. 



Mr. Vahl gave his work the modeft title 

 of Enumerotio Fluntarum, convinced 

 that DO one was able to v«-ite a Species 

 I'hinlaium. Nor did he publifli it as an 

 enlarged edition of hinnai Spccits, as in 

 faf't it would be abi'urd to call that his 

 Tvhicli in point of fize and plan is fo diffe- 

 rent from what derives its name li-om 

 him. 



Thus much of the work in general. We 

 fliall now only point out the moft impor- 

 tant alterations and improvements which 

 the author has made in the lyflematic 

 div'fions, as appears partly from the two 

 clalfes contained in tiiis volume, partly 

 frcm the Preface to it. 



The IVflcm of Linnaeus conf\fts,as every 

 botaiiift knows, of twenty-four clalfes. Of 

 thefe Mr. \ ahl has thrown out two, the 

 dodccandrla and poh/g(i;/im ; the former, 

 tecaufe liardly any plant is found that 

 has conftantly twelve flamina, and thofe 

 few genera which it contains may, with- 

 out intiiniring the principles of the fyftem, 

 be refencd to the clafs po/i/andiiu : the 

 latter, bccaufc it is more agreeable to 

 nature, and cafes the tafk of the ftudent, 

 to reduce its genera to monandria, dinn- 

 dria, ike, an alteration ^vhich Linnteus 

 himfelf I'.ad conceived to be necelfary. 



As to the fubdivilions, feveral impor- 

 tant improvements are found in this work. 

 The firft clafs the whole natural order 

 Jcitaminctt is expunged, and from the 

 Preface ii appears that it was the in- 

 tention of the autlior to reduce it to the 

 clais gi/7Hindria, a tranfpolition occa- 

 fioned by his own, KiJnig's, and Swarts's 

 obfervations, ajid which no doubt will 

 ipeet with the approbation of every 

 competent judge. The clafs monandria 

 has thtreby loft more than lialf of what it 

 contaif ed, which is the reafon that it is 

 pot f« numerous here as in Wildenow's 

 Speciea Flunlurum, Belides the order 

 Jeitamines, the clafs moriandria lias alfo 

 loll the genera cirntr, Crefcrred to agri)/'- 

 tis,) miviarnm, and Jpocrhuvid, ("referred 

 Jo diandriu,) caliitrichc, (referred to tno- 

 noijia,) an(l mitridaleu. On the contra- 

 ry, heic arc fouiicrfiie genera mtignifcra, 

 (lictbre under pentandiiu,) and zojlera, 

 ^ (bttbie uu(}er giffiandria.) Of new ge- 

 nera, wl\i(;li Wildenow has not adopted, 

 here are found Hojipea and Salmonea. 

 ihe^nev.' 'pectes aa.', ai .cnQulaiicr, J ; 



magnifera, 1 ; falicormu, 3 ; cmifpcrt 

 mum, 2 ; laci/hmais, refeiTcd to manaii-. 

 dria trigynia. ■ 



In the clafs diandria the additions ar© 

 far more numerous. Genera not for- 

 merly adopted in the fyftem arc, Ciid(iri~ 

 urn, Mai/tenus, Foijt/lliw, Barmientlia, 

 Micrcntttemn, Sanchetzio, Chd'tocliilnSy 

 Rutlera, Schizaiit Ims, Gai-anga, Elytra- 

 riu, Stachi/tarphctu, Hojlnndia, (a nnw 

 genus from Guinea, found by a Danifii 

 traveller, Mr. Thonning, who enrich-. 

 cd Mr. Vahl with nearly three huiidied 

 new fpecics); CohiwcUia, Margyvian-piis. 

 Of new fpccies here arc found, of JaJ'mi- 

 num, 3; Oleu, 3; Linocieru, (of which 

 Wiidenow has but 1,) 4 ; Veronira, 16 ; 

 Gratiola, 17 : Juftieiu, 59 ; Calceolaiid, 

 (of which Linmrus knew but 4, and Wii- 

 denow 9,) has obtained an addition of 45 

 fpecics ; Fivguiculc, 23, &c. Upon the 

 whole this clafs contains 828 fpecics, 

 wliercas only 442 are found in Wiideuow^ 

 who has neverthelefs retained feveral nu 

 merous genera \\ Inch Vahl has trans- _ 

 red to other clafles. 



Befides a great degree of complctenefs, 

 fufficicntly proved by the above Itate- 

 ments, this work boalls another uncom- 

 mon merit for y.iving ample defcriptions, 

 fixed charafteriftics to every fpecics, and 

 true lyno.'iymes. 



To every fpccies wliich the author 

 himfelf polVelVed or had feen, or which had 

 been defcribed by able botanilts, an 

 ample and accurate dcfcription is added, 

 inoftly from fpccimcns growing wild. 

 Here again the true botanift is difcovcr- 

 ed ; nothing material is omitted, nothing, 

 fupei-fluous quoted. The keen difcrimi- 

 nating eye of Linnjeus is here again 

 perceived in him, who, amongft all his 

 fcholars, was the only one deftined to 

 fmiih his work. 



This quick perception, difcriminating 

 and comparing with equal clearnei's, . is 

 lliil more difplayed in thofe fliort, ex-, 

 prelfive charaflerillics, that diliinguilli 

 the fpccies, and in thole marks of diltine- 

 tion, taken from the more ell'cntial parts, 

 that form the dilFcrcnt genera. 



The true application of the fynonynies 

 is certainly not -among the catiell talks i^' 

 fiich a work. In that refpcct the Enu~ 

 wcratio has likewile an advanuige corrc- 

 fpoiidiug to the reft, that proves its au- 

 thor's intimate acquaintance with an- 

 cient and modern writers, and liis critical 

 Ikill in appreciating their dlftcrcnt worth. 



From this it will be feen what incal- 

 culable advantages would have rctilted 

 totLg fcience oi" ijotany froji) tlie conti- 

 jmijtivii 



