1S39] 



i^ARMERS' REGISTER 



625 



opposite leav'ies, vvliilst those of the ranunculus or 

 buller-oAip tribe. !iave~ as cofisuintly alternate' 

 Jeaves.v As to connejrion wiih ihe stem, it'is ob- 

 perval^Ip tJvai the icayes'bl'enLiiOi.rens never se.pi;irak>, 

 by till articulation, bu,t decay ^withqut lailing; 

 whilst a true joiijt fe jbrmed,, soo'ile^ or latter, in all 

 exoiTji^nous planJs. Cliai'aclers oi'^frreat importance 

 are rurnished bj tlie numuer iti' wiiJch the veins 

 of leaves ai-earranire'l. TUufvthe j^oard. tribe. e:>^- 

 hibit (hfe •raili,aied iijuii) oCyeifting, il^e fiiuentacece 

 [ex. oak] th'e^ it^at her- veined (twni, and the myr- 

 tle tribe is diislinijuisbed by the presencie of" an -io- 

 ira-marginaLvein, fbrmed by the confluence oftiie 

 veinletsjjjst withiri l4ie margin." . ' ■* 



Among the floral org.ans!, the pistil aflords more 

 important characlefs than any other. Botanists 

 always notice,- whether tliis orsran be inlerior 

 or superior, or, in other words, :)dherent to the calyx 

 or free from such adhesion.* Careful attention is 

 also paid to the stnir.ture of this orfjan, particular- 

 ly to the number ofcarirels of which it Consists. 



Thefriuit beinfj liic ^ipene"d,pistij, the characters 

 itafl'ords are ofnearl.3''t'he sarrie yahje ag those of 

 that organ; and se;^^e,rctl addjti'or)_al o^ies arejaffbrded 

 by the texture anil dehiscence or indehiscence o! 

 tiie pericarpi The tcxtfjre of the {rui't rarely fur- 

 nishes unexceptionable' orJiiuU ch-ara'c^jQr^, sjnae 

 membranous, jyoody, flegby Jtnd ii;)erry-!iij:e .Iruiti? 

 are sometimes fouiid f)i\ tlife sanie family, and 'evtn 

 in the same genu.=; it howf^yj^r usually afi"ord« ^ood 

 generic characters', if we maiie •allowtfiice for oc- 

 casional exceptions. .' ' * . », 



The sect', wliich ilniies. in itself the characters 

 of reproducfio.n' and" of .ve'geljition, affords nriQre 

 important characters than any o'her orojan. ■■The 

 presence or absence of gibumen .is, wjth eprae 

 qualifications, a mpst ia^,portant.diar,acfer fbrdi?*- 

 tiiigui.shing order,s.' The texture of the»albumen, 

 when this substance is present, is al^o tal<en into 

 account. Thus it is oily in the poppy ttibe, mealy 

 in the buck-wheat tribe, in'Traminea?, &c.,' horny 

 in the umbellilera, and rununated in the nutmeg 

 tribe. 



The embryo, or miniature plant contained within 

 the seed, is liaund to aflo'rd characters of the 

 highest importance. Its presence distinguishes 

 flowering froiu flowcrless plants ; the want of one 

 cotyledon distinguishes exogenous from endoge- 

 nous plants ; and its position with respect to the 

 albumen distinguishes graminefc from cypcracea?. 

 It is true that some of the characters afforded by 

 the embryo are ofien minute and somewhat diffi- 

 cult of observation ; hut their constancy renders 

 them extremely useful. 



It is impossible for any one to become f^imiliar 

 with a lari^e number of plants, and not group them 

 together, in accordance with certain observed re- 

 semblances. Evidence that the mind naturally 

 goes through with such an operation, is afforded 

 in the names which are frequently given to wild 

 plants ; thus, there is a very common wild plant, 

 called partridge pea; this name it doubtless re- 

 ceived from a resemblance observed between it 

 and the garden pea ; but whereia does this resem- 

 blance consist'? Perhaps few, whose attention 

 has not been particularly drawn to this subject, 

 could at once tell. They have observed a general 

 resemblance, and there their observation has slop- 

 ped. In this. particular instance, the resemblance 

 is not in the shape or texture of the leaves, nor in 

 the general character of the etem, lor in theee par- 

 VoL. VII~79 



ticulars the two plants in question differ widely 

 (rpiji.each other, hut in the form of the flower and 

 in the character of" their seed. The violet also 

 resembles tl%e garden pea in the general shape of" 

 its flou>er, and in its stem and leaves it is as much 

 like that plant as the partridge pea is ; and yet no 

 one would think of classing the violet and pea in 

 the ^afj.)e family, because its seed and seed vessel 

 difl'erso much from those of ihe pea. It is the ob- 

 ject df the botanist, in forming a natural classifica- 

 tion\of plants, lo lay hold of these observed re- 

 sembl<*.nces, inquire fnto. their nature, and to ar- 

 ralige (ilants according to them. 



'* The object of the artificial method is merely 

 to furnish the means of readily recognizing indi- 

 viduals, and arriving at their names ; the natural 

 method, with this object also in view, proposes 

 moreover to arrange plants so that those most re- 

 seulbling each other in all important particulars 

 ehall stand side by side, and form groups by them- 

 selves ; which groups are also to be arranged ac- 

 cording to their mutual affinities into larger groups, 

 and these again:inlo still larger; afl of which are 

 to be disposed in, the order of nature. This me- 

 thod accordingly, if'perfectly carried out, must ex- 

 press both tixip nem- and remote relations establish- 

 ed, by nature berween the individuals of the vege- 

 •table kmgd^qali. An artificial method is easily con- 

 trivedn as if tjrajrbp founded- on thf diversities of 

 Jovm, &c'j presented by one or two organs ; its 

 a^-)pJicffiit)n requiring nothing more than a know- 

 ledge qf structure sufficient for the observation of 

 -these diversities. On .the other hand t'ie natural 

 method, (for there can be luit one,) is not contrived, 

 but discovered ; ;md ;!s it expresses the aflinities 

 and analogies imprinted hj'- nature upon the mem- 

 ber.^ of the vegetable kiuirdom, it cannot be said 

 to be wholly perfected until all existing plants are 

 discovered, and properly described and arranired." 



The principal advantage possessed by the Lin- 

 nipan artificial system is its extreme simplicity, and 

 the consequent ease with which it enables the tyro 

 in botany to ascertain the name of any plant. 

 But there are some very serious objections to this 

 system. One is, that in many instances it widely 

 separates kindred plants; and as frequently brings 

 togetlter, those wholly unlike each other in struc- 

 ture, appearance, properties, and indeed in every 

 particular excepting the number and arrangement 

 of their stamens and pistils. Thus whilst th.e 

 mint balm, horehound, and the major part of the 

 mint tribe, are placed in the class didynaniia, 

 sage, the water horehound, the horse mint &c, 

 plants universal!}^ recognized as belonging to the 

 same tribe, as their popular names denote, and 

 agreeing with the others in every particular except 

 in having but two stamens, are arranced in the 

 class piandria. On the other hand, what resem- 

 blance can, be traced between the lilly and ti;e 

 bullrush, the cucumber and the pine, except in 

 thesingle.particular of the ntmiber and arrange- 

 ment of their stamens and pistils? A second ob- 

 jection is, that ver_v perplexing difhculties ofien 

 meet the'student, arising from the irrei^ularity in 

 the number of stamens, styles &c. in the several 

 speci,es of a genus, or in different individuals of 

 the same species, or sometimes even in different 

 flowers of the same individual. Thus, the greater 

 part ol"the species Stellaria have 10 stamens, and 

 JjLima?us accordingly placed the genus m the class 

 decandria; but the common chicUvveed, [S media,} 



