i860] A Botanical Dialogue. 123 



shading into another by such gradual links that cannot be seen in so 

 small a series as the English Flora. 



Liberal. Stay, are you quite sure you know the species you are 

 talking about ? For instance, I am told that you consider all the 

 small chickweeds, or ' kerasts ' as you call them, to belong to one 

 kind. 



Conserv. That 's true enough. See, here are some on this bank : 

 pray, tell me how many ? Here 's a tall one ; there a stunted : all the 

 same I do assure you, my dear sir. 



Lib. I suppose you found that out by cultivating them at Kew, 

 didn't you ? I hear there are great facilities there for that sort of 

 work. 



Conserv. Oh no ! We are quite satisfied at Kew without cultiva- 

 tion ; and so would you be, looking at matters from a broader point of 

 view. 



Lib. But see, my dear friend ! here is a perennial ; that other is a 

 little annual ; time of flowering a month different ; petals as unlike as 

 possible : I wish they were as big as trees, and you would give them 

 warrant fast enough. 



Conserv. Let 's look ! Well, I 'm half-doubtful after all : in fact I 

 never looked so closely at such common things. 



Lib. Ah ! I '11 soon convert you. See this bramble ! 



Conserv. Yes, it is the blackberry. 



Lib. Ay, one of the forty, if you please. 



Conserv. What ! Can a man so waste his time and patience ? 



Lib. Sir ! I follow my bent, you yours. How many species do you 

 suppose you can claim acquaintance with ? 



Conserv. Some 4000, from Europe and elsewhere. 



Lib. And yet are so ignorant of the productions of your own country ? 

 It seems to me you are apt to overlook differences. 



Conserv. As I think, you mince species so small, there is no finding 

 a sieve fine enough to catch them ! 



Lib. Not I, but the Frenchmen do ; and I endeavour to steer a 

 course between the two. 



Conserv. But, you know, this close investigation will not answer for 

 a general or geographical botanist ; nor for a beginner. 



Lib. I don't wish to be thought a mere "species-man" anymore 

 than you do : only I do like to have an accurate knowledge to depend 

 upon. 



Conserv. But don't you see to what this tends ? You are fast becom- 

 ing too abstruse for the beginner ; there will be no more young hands to 

 join your side. 



Lib. On the contrary, I expect to have many deserters from your 

 side of the border. 



Conserv. We are sure of all the beginners. 



Lib. Well then, had we not better make an agreement ? you to 

 train the incipient, and I will give finishing lessons to any who care to 

 go beyond a mere smattering. 



