CLASSIFICATION OF VEGETABLES. 20t 



side. All nature is then alive, and a thousand wise ends 

 are then accomplished by innumerable means that " seeing 

 we perceive not;" for tliough in the abundance of the crea- 

 tion there seems to be a waste, yet in proportion as we un- 

 derstand the subject, we find the more reason to conclude 

 that nothing is made in vain. 



Questions. 1. How did Linnaeus define "the fiower and fruit ? 2. 

 What do these constitute ? 3. What is said of the number and im- 

 portance of these organs ? 4. Describe the several parts belonging to 

 the flower and fruit. 5. What two parts does the corolla include ? 6. 

 When is the corolla termed monopetalous ? 7. Polypetalous ? 8. 

 What is the use of the honey with regard to the plant ? 9. What are 

 the parts of a stamen termed? 10. Describe the anther. 11. The 

 Pollen. 12. What are the parts of the Pistil .? 13. Describe the stig- 

 ma. 14. What are the seven kinds into which the calyx is divided ? 

 (see Appendix) 15. What are the seven kinds of seed vessels ? 16. 

 What are some of the parts of which the seed itself is composed .-* 17. 

 Look at Engr. VII. and describe the parts of the flower and fruit of the 

 Lily, (see the description in Appendix to Lesson 93.) 



LESSON 93. 



Classification of Vegetables. 



Ge'nus, (plural gen^'era) a set of plants, animals, or other things, 



comprehending many species. 

 Nomencla'ture, a term employed to denote the language peculiar 



to any particular science or art : a vocabulary. 



All the known vegetable productions, upon the surface 

 of the globe, have been reduced by naturalists to Classes, 

 Orders, Genera, Species, and Varieties. The classes are 

 composed of orders ; the orders of genera ; the genera of 

 species ; and the species of varieties. We may attain a 

 clearer idea of them, by comparing them with the general 

 divisions of the inhabitants of the earth. Vegetables resem- 

 ble Man ; Classes, nations of men ; Orders, tribes, or 

 divisions of nations ; Genera, the families that compose 

 the tribes ; Species, individuals of which families consist ; 

 and Varieties, individuals under different appearances. 



Linnaeus, dissatisfied with every system invented before his 

 time, undertook to form a new one. With an eye which could 

 at a single glance discern the peculiar features of an object ; 

 with firmness to encounter, and with talents to overcome, 



