Inaugural Address. 63 
the same genera, they would seem to form more serious ob- 
jections to the present distribution of the larger groups than 
they actually do. Thus, in one group, the Umbelliferae, are 
found the venomous Conium, Unanthe, and Cicuta, the 
harmless and nutritious Carrot, Parsnep, and Earth-nut, the 
stinking Galbanum, Opoponax, and Assafcetida, and the 
rateful aromatics, Cummin, Coriander, Carraway, and Dill. 
ut, then, it should be remembered that, in the same genus, 
(Lnanthe, while the roots of the species Crocata afford a 
deadly poison, those of the species Pimpinelloides form a 
wholesome food; and even in the same'species, dpium gra- 
veolens, the cultivated Celery, is a harmless, while, in an 
uncultivated state, it is a deleterious plant. Once more, the 
milk-tree and the bread-fruit are associated with the Upas of 
Java; but the connexion is established between them by the 
figs; for, although most are harmless, one species of the 
us Ficus, the Toxicaria, is, as its name imports, an ac- 
owledged poison. Of these illustrations there would be no 
end, did time allow of the pursuit: on another occasion I 
may, probably, should it be sanctioned by the Council, bring 
the matter more at length before the Society, as itis one that 
uires much serious deliberation. 
a eaetsble physiognomy (if I may so express myself,) is a 
study well deserving cultivation; for it is most important to 
be able, on looking at a plant, to aflirm, on principle, this 
may be eaten; that is a poisonous plant; or, again, those are 
suspicious vegetables: such knowledge, moreover, is not 
only desirable to have, but easy to be attained; and its prac- 
tical utility has already been, in several instances, shown 
under circumstances of urgent need. It is, however, a skill 
in vegetable physiology, a knowledge of the laws of vege- 
table metamorphoses, which can alone enable us to decide 
such points with safety, and it is one of the most delightful 
of all botanical praxes to work out the relation of organs 
apparently, but not really, different, and thus to establish 
hetero- and iso-morphous characters of plants, often im- 
properly associated or severed; and to the rudimentary state 
of this branch of botany may be attributed those anomalies, 
those apparent paradoxes, which at present form exceptions 
to our natural schemes. But even this power of diagnosis 
may be, nay, it already has been many times perverted; and 
men, presuming on their wisdom, when they ought rather to 
avow their ignorance, have supposed their knowledge of 
these general laws so perfect and complete, that some have 
not scrupled to declare it impossible for nature to swerve 
from those they have defined, and refused to believe in the 
