708 



and tongue were abolished hy this admirable scheme, the universal and simultaneous 

 adoption of which at once proclaimed its own excellence and that of its author. 



" The second was, as it were, the mating of an index to a great section of the book 

 of Nature. Those who slightingly think of the Linnsean system, as it is termed, for- 

 get in the present to look back fully and fairly on the past. They should remind them- 

 selves of the state in which Botany was when Linneeus undertook to make its treasures 

 consultable. The understanding of things depends greatly on the perception of their 

 order and relations. AVhen that order and those relations require deep study ere we 

 can comprehend them clearly, the man who gives us a clew, however insignificant it 

 may be in its own nature, is not only confeniug on us an invaluable benefit, but en- 

 dowing the despised instrument with golden value. Such a clew did Linnaeus give 

 when he put forth the sexual system. The scientific systematist, surrounded by the 

 stores of his herbarium, should not forget that those treasures were often amassed in 

 the first instance by adrenlurous and earnest men, rendering good service by their 

 hands and energy, as good in its humble way as that which he gives by his head and 

 philosophy. It was not to be expected of such men that in the field they should oc- 

 cupy themselves with thoughts of arrangement or affinity ; their part was to observe 

 and select, and the guide to their observation and selection was no other than the 

 Liunsean system. In the scientific hive as in the apiary, there must be working-bees 

 and neuters as well as queens and drones : it is necessary for the economy of the com- 

 monwealth. An easy means of acquiring and arranging information is a great help 

 to the workman of science, and no department has gained more thereby than Botany, 

 which, through the facilities afi"orded by the artificial method devised by Linnsus, has 

 had its facts amassed in enormous quantity for the use of its more philosophic vota- 

 ries, and owes its present advanced state in a great measure to such humble means. 



" The clew to the labyrinth, then, having served such noble purpose, becomes a 

 consecrated object, and should rather be hung up in the temple than thrown aside with 

 ignominy. The traveller returning from his adventurous and perillous journey of dis- 

 covery, hangs up his knapsack with affection on the walls of his study. But travellers 

 must return to the fields, if more is to be done ; and so must botanists, and each must 

 have recourse again and again to those helps which aided them so well in their earliest 

 journeys. 



" In saying these few words in favour of the Linntean system, I know I am plead- 

 ing an unpopular cause : but I speak out freely, partly because T mean to proceed on 

 a diff'erent basis in conducting the botanical studies here, and partly because, after the 

 once over-enthusiastic attachment to the Linnaeau method which prevailed so long in 

 Britain, and which was carried so far as to impede the progress of Botany, a reaction 

 has taken place which threatens to blind the eyes of the younger botanists to the me- 

 rits of a device which was, and ever will be, a most valuable auxiliary of the science.'' 

 —p. 16. 



We have with great pleasure followed the learned Professor through 

 the above able and candid defence of the Linnaean system. This de- 

 fence is doubly valuable, both as emanating from so high a quarter 

 and as being perfectly disinterested on the part of the Professor ; from 

 these circumstances we consider the defence to derive additional im- 

 portance, and to be entitled to additional respect and consideration. 

 The time is past when the mere facility of finding out the name of a 



