XI 



duced ; and will at once take precedence of all our other publications 

 on the same subject ; nay, more than this, it will occupy in Botany 

 the same ground that the lamented Cuvier made so completely his 

 own in the sister science of Zoology. This great work has furnished 

 me with the means of testing the applicability of my views of System 

 to the Vegetable Kingdom : and there appears to be no shadow of 

 doubt, but that, with the kind and active assistance of Mr. Luxford, I 

 shall be able to deduce iiTcsistible evidence of their truth, from 

 a source to which I had never previously looked for support. 



I am not, however, so sanguine as to hope any speedy or general 

 adoption of my views, however clearly they may be set forth, — however 

 iiTCsistible the evidence may appear to the candid enquirer. There is 

 a scientific power in this country far above the reach of truth, — a 

 power which refuses to acknowledge the worth of all that does not 

 emanate from itself. It is the bane of science ; the great stumbling 

 block in the student's path ; the bitter blast that wi'aps energy, 

 genius, and originality in its icy embrace. But for this scientific 

 power, this patronising authority, this chilly influence, this machinery 

 of mental conservatism, we should have taken the same lead in science 

 which has been ours in other matters : we should have long since 

 possessed our ' Vegetable Kingdom' : and the 'Animal Kingdom ' too 

 might also have been ours ! Aye ! more than this, we should have 

 lately had the surpassing honor of calculating a planet into existence. 

 But alas ! how few in this countiy pause to enquire into worth or truth. 

 The only query is whether the author belongs to the clique that arro- 

 gates to itself the privilege of dispensing scientific reputation. While 

 this intolerant spirit exists, the energetic labourer has only to perse- 

 vere ; and let him regard the ' Vegetable Kingdom ' as a bright 

 example of the success attending perseverance : throughout his war- 

 fare Mr. Lindley has stood alone : he owes nothing but opposition to 

 the Fadladeens of Science. 



In our endeavours to trace the existence of a System in the Vege- 

 table Kingdom, it becomes necessary to institute a rigid comparison 

 between the results obtainable in both. It seems to be a postulate of 

 the true System that a natural gioup resolves itself into four others, 



