SECT. II. TAXONOMY AND PHYTOGRAPHY. 139 



facts is, that the cotyledons and leaves are abortive ; 

 and hence we might expect, if ever such a phenomenon 

 should occur as a leafy Cuscuta, that its cotyledons 

 would certainly resemble those of other Dicotyledones. 

 When the class of any plant has been determined by 

 the presence of some one character, or by the com bin. 

 ation of several, we next renew our search for other 

 characters of a less general description, to ascertain the 

 ee order" to which it belongs. And when we have found 

 the order, we must descend to still more minute particu- 

 lars for fixing the " genus." It is, therefore, of the 

 utmost consequence to these inquiries, that an accurate 

 subordination of characters should be established ; and 

 for this purpose a few rules have been framed, which 

 are the result of an extended examination of facts, or 

 the deductions of common sense. We must remark, 

 that a direct comparison can only be made between 

 two organs which belong to the same class of functions: 

 the nutritive organs must therefore be compared toge- 

 ther, and the reproductive together, in order to esta- 

 blish a subordination in each series respectively. We 

 may, however, afterwards determine, whether one of 

 these two functions can not be considered more im- 

 portant than the other ; and then we shall also be able 

 to establish something like a fresh relation, between the 

 several degrees which had been previously settled for 

 the two series of organs. Suppose, for example, it were 

 determined, that the cotyledons are among the organs 

 of most importance to the nutritive system, and the 

 root among those of the next degree. Suppose, also, 

 the stamens were determined to be organs of the highest 

 importance to the reproductive function, and the co- 

 rolla among those of the next. Now, if it were also 

 determined that the nutritive function was of more im- 

 portance than the reproductive, then the cotyledons will 

 be of more value than the stamens. But, although the 

 root may be of more importance than the corolla, it 

 does not follow that it is necessarily of more than the 

 stamens ; it may be of equal or less importance. In 



