HISTORY OF BOTANY. 231 



shmildfind great difficulty in ascertaining the names of plants • 

 it is, as it were, a stej^ping-stone by which we must ascend to 

 the vahiable Imowledge which cannot well be reached in any 

 other way. The tnove practical a hotanist hecomes^ the less need 

 T^£- has for this assistance; the eye heconies quick to seize on 

 natural characters witlioxht reference to the dictionary^ as the 

 artificial system is aptly termed. Thus a pupil, in studying a 

 language, may in time be able to dispense with his dictionary ; 

 though he could not have proceeded at first without its assist- 

 ance. 



For more particular explanations of Jussieu's method, the pupil is referred to* 

 the comparison of that with the method of Linn£eus and Tournefort in the remarks 

 on classiiication, and to the Natural Orders contained in Part V. of this volume. 



359. Adanson^ previous to the time of the younger Jussieu, 

 had published a system of classification, in which he arranged 

 plants according to the resemblances observed in all their organs. 

 In one class all plants with similar roots were placed ; in another, 

 all which had similar stems / a third was arranged by resem- 

 blance of leaves in their forms and situations ; but the most 

 important distinctions he considered as founded upon the organs 

 of fructification. The name of this ingenious botanist is com- 

 memorated in the huge Adansonia, or calabash-tree, of Africa, 

 which is considered as the Colossus of the vegetable kingdom. 

 Lonis Richard., a French botanist, wrote an interesting account 

 of the Orchidaceoe of Europe, and assisted in compiling from 

 ancient w^orks a very useful botanical dictionary. Des Fon- 

 taines first showed that the stems of monocotyledonous and of di- 

 cotyledonous plants differ from each other in their structure and 

 modes of growth ; he divided them into endogenous and exoge- 

 nous. 



3G0. Mirhel^ a distinguished professor of Botany in Paris, 

 has pursued his inquiries into the anatoniiccd and physiologiccLl 

 structure of plants, to an extent , not exceeded by any other 

 naturalist ; his " JElemens de Botanigue^'^ with many essays on 

 the science, are now quoted as high authority. 



361. Baron Humholdt investigated the vegetable productions 

 of the equatorial regions in America ; his remarks on vegeta- 

 l^les, as a criterion of climate, are original and interesting. 



362. DeCandolle's "Elementary Theory of Botany" is highly 

 valued as a scientific and able performance ; but it is useful 

 rather for those who have already attained a knowledge of the 

 elements of botany than for the beginner in the science. The 

 natural method of Jussieu has been modified and impi-oved by 

 the labors of De Gandolle^ Mirhel^ Lindley^ and Bohert Brown. 

 The Natural System of Lindley, founded upon Jussieu's cla^si- 



359. Adanson— Richard.— 360. Mirbel.— 361. Humboldt.— 36-2. De Ciindo!"..- 



