16 Mr. Roscoe on Artificial and Natural 



he did not, however, wholly depend upon the materials sup- 

 plied by his predecessors. The systems of all of them were 

 discarded, or only so much of each of them retained as ap- 

 peared to suit his purpose; but the most valuable part was 

 supplied from his own resources. To whatever period we 

 may assign the discovery of the sexual system, it was he who 

 first demonstrated it in unambiguous and decisive terms, and 

 who applied this great discovery to the formation of an ar- 

 rangement of plants, which comprehends and defines every in- 

 dividual of the vegetable woi'ld. In executing this great task, 

 he has placed the science of botany upon a firm and immove- 

 able foundation; and if he has at any time erred in the appli- 

 cation of his own principles, it has been rather from an uncon- 

 querable reluctance to interfei'e, more than was necessary, with 

 the dispositions of nature, than from the pride of erecting a 

 system which should contravene her works. 



That the system thus formed is an artificial, and not a na- 

 tural one, must be admitted ; and that it was always so con- 

 sidered by Linngeus, is evident from all his works. Yet this 

 characteristic is not to be taken without some limitatioHs. And 

 in the first place it may be observed, that by the mode of ar- 

 rangement which he has adopted, the major part of all known 

 vegetables are formed into their great natural combinations in 

 such a manner as scarcely to be susceptible of further elucida- 

 tion. — Again, the genera of Linnaeus are vniiformly natural ; 

 or at least display such trivial exceptions as to oppose no ob- 

 jection of any moment; and this purity in his genera may be 

 considered as of the utmost importance to the character, not 

 only of his own, but of any system. It is therefore only with 

 respect to the place which each genus occupies in his system, 

 that any solid objection can be made; and if this be so si- 

 tuated as to be readily discovered, even although it may not 

 in every instance be found amongst its nearest congeners, it is 

 a defect which may be remedied by an accurate reference, and 

 which as it is occasioned, so it must be excused, by the uni- 

 versality and facility of the system. It would perhaps be too 

 much to say that such an arrangement could not have been 

 effected with less violation of natural affinities ; but certain it is 

 that with these afilnities he was well acquainted, and the preser- 

 vation of them was constantly in his view ; insomuch that, not- 

 withstanding its acknowledged defects, it may, by a due atten- 

 tion to its exceptions, be studied as a natural system with consi- 

 derable advantage ; whilst, at the same time, it affords an uni- 

 versal key through every department of the vegetable world. 



The approbation with which the arrangement of Linnaeus 

 was received on its promulgation, and the subsequent adop- 

 tion of it into general use, may be considered as the most un- 

 equivocal 



