58 REVIEW. [February, 



not written in commendation of tbe New Theory of arranging 

 plants, by Prof. Agardli. 



This New Theory has been a theory, and nothing else, in 

 England ; no practical results have been visible hitherto. Its 

 announcement in a very few of our periodicals, and a somewhat 

 elaborate notice in our columns, have produced no sympathetic 

 response. 



New systems seldom experience a hearty welcome in England, 

 even when introduced by a native, but when propounded by a 

 foreigner, both the inventor and his inventions meet with a cool 

 reception. Every reader of botanical history knows how Linnseus 

 was treated in this country by the celebrities of his era : for ex- 

 ample, by Sir Hans Sloane and Dr. Dillenius, the one the great 

 patron, and the otlier the great leader or chief of the botanists 

 of that period. 



The ancient Swedish system, the Linnsean, was so easy that 

 it could be learned, even by a child, in a few minutes. Its appli- 

 cation was in most cases as certain as it was simple. The modern 

 system, viz. the New Theory of Classification, by Prof. Agardh, 

 has neither of these characters. It would be a labour to acquire 

 it ; and would it answer the learner's expectations when he un- 

 derstood it ? 



The Linnrean practice of counting the stamens and styles was 

 of no great advantage when learned, for the learner soon knew 

 by other more obvious and not so variable parts of the floral and 

 vegetative organs, whether any given plant submitted to him had 

 usually five or ten stamens, or an indefinite number, and, conse- 

 quently, belonged to Class Pentandria or Decandria, or Icosan- 

 dria, or Polygynia. He also readily knew such as had four or six 

 stamens, from the shape of the corollas, the form of the stem, 

 the disposition of the leaves, etc. There was nobody, even in 

 those remote times of ignorance and blind submission to autho- 

 rity, who counted styles and stamens; though the system was 

 universally praised, it was in practice universally repudiated. 



If it be asked, what was the use of the Linnsean system ? — the 

 answer is, very much ; it amused and gratified its possessors, and 

 its learned terminology tickled the ears of groundlings, as " words 

 of learned length and thundering sound" passed current among 

 the vulgar as the representatives of genuine scientific informa- 

 tion ; and those who could rap them out with more than ordi- 

 nary fluency and force, were deemed a race of superior beings. 



