260 ON ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS 



discovering the name of the plant, it is not very easy to 

 remember the characters which enabled you to find it out. 

 Notwithstanding these objections, which certainly have 

 their weight, I cannot but think this method the best for 

 beginners. 



Caroline. Still, if it is not used in England, it would 

 not be of much use to us. Pray, what mode of nomen- 

 clature is adopted by English botanists ? 



Mrs. B. That which we owe to Linnaeus, which I 

 have- here, and will show you. 



Emily. Pray do ; for the name of Linnaeus is so cele- 

 brated, that any method invented by him cannot but be 

 interesting. 



Mrs. B. You are right. A method derived from a man 

 so eminent in science, and which has been adopted by so 

 many other scientific men, well deserves our attention. 

 Here is a table of the different classes into which Linnae- 

 us divided the vegetable kingdom.* 



'Caroline. It appears very complicated! 



Mrs. B. It is less so than you imagine. This system 

 of Linnaeus forms precisely an analytical table. Return 

 to your myrtle, and let us follow it. Stamens visible to 

 the naked eye, in the same flower as the pistils, but not 

 united to them; all of the same size; about twenty in 

 number ; growing from the calyx : the myrtle belongs to 

 the class Icosandria of Linnaeus. 



Caroline. And then what follows ? 



Mrs. B. These classes are divided into orders, which 

 depend principally on the number of styles. 



Caroline. The myrtle has only one style. 



Mrs. B. Therefore it belongs to the order Icosandria 

 Monogynia. Here is an edition of Linnasus, published 

 by Willdenow. You see that the above order contains 



* See, at the end of the Conversation, page 264. 



1407. When the name of the plant is discovered what other difficulty 

 occurs 1 ? 1408. On the whole what is the opinion of Mrs. B. of this 

 system 1 ? 1409. What mode of nomenclature is adopted by Botanists 

 in England! 1410. On what account is liis system entitled to notice 1 ? 

 1411. How does the system of Linnaeus apply to the myrtle'? 1412. 

 On what does the order depend into which these classes are divided? 1413, 

 -What is seen respecting the myrtle in the edition of Linnaeus published 

 by WiJldenow? 



