62 CAROLUS LINNAEUS 



little oracle ; for when he gave a decision about 

 the affinity of any imperfectly known plant, 

 he was admitted to be correct. It was as if 

 an oracle had spoken. These brilliant pro- 

 nouncements must also have prepared the 

 way for that great success which his publica- 

 tions met with, and that ready adoption of 

 his new system which followed almost every- 

 where despite its character as radical and 

 revolutionary. 



If, then, Linnaeus, at the time when he 

 began publishing the fundamentals of his 

 new system occupied a place wholly unique 

 among botanists then living as to knowledge 

 and understanding of floral structures of all 

 kinds, so that the oldest and ablest among 

 them stood in speechless admiration of his 

 superlative attainments, there was forthwith 

 exerted by him a most salutary influence 

 upon the important part of plant description. 

 The revolution which he at once brought 

 about in the art of generic diagnosis was 

 perhaps the most priceless of his several strong 

 contributions to phytography. In his Genera 

 Plantarum of the year 1737, every genus is 

 so well characterized in words, that plates 

 and figures illustrating them are not needed. 

 The group which Linnaeus takes for a genus is 



