ON THE NATURAL SYSTEM 



other. But, then, genera, in the sense in which it is here 

 taken, means not families, as it ought to do, from its 

 Greek origin, but merely branches of families : is not this 

 liable to create confusion ? 



Mrs. B. I think your remark very just : using the 

 word in some measure in a different sense from which it 

 is derived appears to me an imperfection in this mode of 

 classification. 



Emily. Families are to genera, what genera are to 

 species ; or, to follow up the comparison you made be- 

 tween plants and the human species, we might say, that 

 families of plants were like nations of human beings ; and 

 that all these families collectively form the vegetable king- 

 dom, in the same way as all the nations of the earth form 

 the population of the world. 



Mrs. B. Exactly so ; and the families of plants, like 

 the different nations of the world, have each their pecu- 

 liar characters and habits. Thus, independently of the 

 analogy between their organs, plants of the same family 

 often resemble each other in their mode of life, and in 

 their peculiar properties. For instance, all the Ficoidece 

 have succulent leaves, suffer from moisture, and inhabit 

 climates where the sun's rays are powerful ; then, the 

 Valvaceous family bear leaves of an emollient nature ; the 

 embryo of all the Euphorbiacece is of an acrid nature ; the 

 roots of the Valerianece have all a particular smell, and act 

 in a peculiar manner on the nervous system ; the Cruci- 

 form family is, in all its branches, antiscorbutic. In a re- 

 cent voyage, undertaken with a view of discovering the 

 spot where the celebrated La Peyrouse was shipwrecked, 

 the whole of the crew was afflicted with a scorbutic com- 

 plaint, which was greatly relieved by feeding on an un- 

 known plant of the cruciform family growing on the coast 

 of New Holland a remedy which was pointed out to 

 them by the botanist attached to the expedition. There 

 is another point of resemblance between plants of the 



1467. What does Caroline say of the meaning of the terms Genera, 

 and Families, as used in Botany 1 ? 1468. What does Mrs. B. also 

 say! 1469. How does Emily follow up the comparison! 1470. 

 What does Mrs. B. say of the peculiar characters and habits which per- 

 tain to families of plants'? 1471. What does she say of the Ficoidere, 

 and the Malvaceous family! 1472. Of the Euphorbiaceae, the Val- 

 erianeae, and the Cruciform family! 1473. What anecdote is related 

 respecting the voyage made to New Holland? 



