26 UTILITY OF THK [LECT.-J. 



Avoided in future. But a more important consider- 

 ation still, to a reflecting mind, is, that by the 

 degree of acquaintance which a practitioner has 

 with plants that are poisonous to the animal eco- 

 nomy, the life of a fellow-creature may be lost or 

 saved. All poisonous plants do not produce the 

 same effects, and these, consequently, require dif- 

 ferent modes of treatment ; but if the plant which 

 has caused the mischief cannot be ascertained, 

 how is the remedy to be selected ? 



The utility of Botany to many of the other arts 

 is not less obvious ; and we are indebted to it for 

 a variety of our comforts, both as to food and the 

 luxuries of life. The grains so indispensable for 

 pur existence, the greater number of the fruits, 

 and the most beautiful flowers, that enrich our 

 orchards and ornament our gardens, are of foreign 

 origin ; and many of them have been brought to 

 us by Botanists whose inquiries had led them to 

 visit remote countries. The Horse Chestnut, for 

 example, now so common in our plantations, was 

 conveyed to Europe from the north of Asia, by 

 Clusius, a Botanist, in the year 1550. The Kidney 

 Bean, Phaseolus vitlgaris, was brought from the 

 East Indies : and the Nol-kol, the root of which 

 affords a large supply of wholesome nutriment, 

 has just been introduced from the same place. 

 The Crown Imperial, Fritillaria imperialis, was 

 transported from Constantinople ; the Camellia, 

 4 



