S74 
Kelly, he could not be a stranger to the 
maxims of Horace. And if, for a mo- 
ment, he had entertained the idea, that 
the richnesss and magnificence of the 
embellishments could compensate for the 
poverty and squalidness of the work it- 
self, the 
** Inceptis gravibus plerumque & magna 
professis 
Purpureus, late qui splendeat, unus & alter 
Assuitur pannus” 
of the Roman didactic poet, must have 
occurred to his memory, and checked 
the insolence of the presumptuous hope. 
Such a presumptuous hope he appears 
not to have entertained ; but to have felt 
the necessity of keeping pace, in his 
own exertions, with the best artists of 
the age. His plan of the work, as it 
“was detailed in his original proposals, 
and repeated almost verbatim in his first 
number, is such as required no small 
degree of knowledge and diligence. 
<¢ The object of this work, therefore, will 
be, to trace in as perspicuous a manner as 
possible, the philosophical principles of bo- 
tany, from the earliest times, up to the pre- 
sent period; and by faithful and well exe- 
Peletenereveaihs of the several subjects. of 
investigation, to render this curious and inte~ 
resting enquiry level to every one’s compre- 
hension. 
<¢ Following the order of nature, I shall 
begin with the seed committed to the 
ground. and trace its various evolutions, 
until the root, stem, branches, and leaves 
are formed. I shall here chiefly dwell on the 
anatomy of the root, their diversity, of forms, 
and office. 
«© The object of my next consideration 
will be, to display the organized structure of 
the stem and branches, when I shall con- 
sider the several juices of plants, with the 
motion of the sip. Jae 
«© Pursuing the course of natare, T shall 
next contemplate the various appendages at- 
tached to the stems and branches, explain- 
ing the organization and design of each. 
«« Next I shall examine into the structure 
and variety of leaves; their relationship to 
light; the evolation from them of oxygen 
and other airs. 
«« My next enquiry will be the food of 
plants, when I shall enter widely into the 
consideration of the principles of agriculture. 
*« Arriving at the flower, I shall consider 
its stracture; the uses of the several parts 
whieh compose it; when a full enquiry will 
~ be made respecting the sexual relationship, 
“with a refutation of the objections which 
have been raised against this doctrine. 
«© Thus far the natural history of botany. 
© I shall next lay before my readers an 
-unexampled. 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
account of the origin of systems, when those 
of Rivinus, Tournefort, &c. will be given, 
with a full explanation of the sexual system 
of Linneus. 
‘© In the order of the discoveries, the 
lives of the several eminent botanists will be 
comprehended, with their portraits, includ- 
ing the most celebrated professors and bota- 
tanical writers of the present day. 
«© After this introduction, I shall com- 
mence with a translation of the genera of 
plants of Linnzeus.” 
Here the delineation of the plan in the 
first number stops: but in they original 
proposals Dr. Thornton proceeds thus ; 
“ to which will be added, all the dis- 
coveries made since his time. In order 
to render the science of botany as sim- 
ple as possible, the classes of Linnzus 
will be reduced to twelve, his genera 
new arranged, and tables given, in- 
vented by the author, comprising the 
easiest discriminating characters.”’ 
It must strike all our readers that this 
proposed translation of the Genera Plan- 
tarum, is spoken of as the commencement 
of the work ; but by what it is to be fol- 
lowed, we arenot told. It seems, how- 
ever, evident, that it could not be the 
intention of the author to comprize 
more than the introduction in the twelve 
or fourteen numbers, which, according 
tothe original proposals, were to com- 
plete the splendid part of this great na- 
tional work. And to effect this in the 
compass of about one hundred and sixty- 
eight folio pages would require a com- 
pression of matter, we believe hitherto 
It would be to squeeze 
an Iliad into a nutshell. 
Dr. Thornton’s subscribers must soon 
have been sensible that his powers of 
compression are very feeble, and that 
he would execute only a small part of 
his plan within the assigned Jimits. This, 
however, he himself did not soon dis- 
cover; for, after the publication of the- 
fifth number, he still pledged himself to 
the purchasers, that the whole should 
not extend to more than twelve or four- 
teen, and should comprize all the philo- 
sophical principles ot botany. It was not 
till the thirteenth number appeared, that 
a ray of light darted upon him, and 
convinced him that, the illustration of 
the seed vessel and seed being yet un- 
finished, the other branches of his pro- 
mised philosophical enquiry could not 
be dispatched in the fourteenth. But 
this enlargement of his intellect was 
not all clear gain, It was obtained at 
