MEMOIR OF RAY. 4 9 



modo a reliquis arboribus differunt quo monocotyle- 

 dones a reliquis herbis." It is with peculiar satis- 

 faction that we thus do justice to our great British 

 naturalist, and restore to him the honour of which 

 he has been in a great measure deprived. We 

 readily acknowledge that we are proud of being able 

 to call him our countryman, for he was in all re- 

 spects as good as he was great. How far we may 

 be unduly biassed by natural patriotic feelings, it is 

 not in our power to determine ; but while our pre- 

 sent convictions continue, we cannot allow a decided 

 pre-eminence to Tournefort. Both of them, indis- 

 putably, possessed supereminent excellence, and we 

 cannot but lament that they were not better friends. 

 But irritabile genus is a character which might have 

 been extended by the poet much beyond his own 

 fraternity."* 



The first work in which he made a practical ap- 

 plication of his system, and long before he had ren- 

 dered it so complete as it appears in the above ta- 

 ble, was his general Historia Plcmtarum, of which 

 the first volume, forming a thick folio, was publish- 

 ed in 1686. He undertook this work at the re- 

 quest of several of his learned friends, particularly 

 two gentlemen of rank named Hatton, to whom the 

 first volume is dedicated. The second volume ap- 

 peared about a year afterwards, and a supplementary 

 one was added in 1704. In this arduous undertaking 



* Bees' Cyclopaedia. 

 D 



