] NATURAL SYSTEMS. [Baskervjllr. 



I!\-m.k\ili.e, Thomas.— (Affinities of Plants, vntk some Observations upon Pro-_ 



//■ vt loprm n>.) 



'I'll.' author of this trad was a very young man, with little experience; but he 



Bed strong pi rceptive powers, and would doubtless have distinguished himself had 



[to him. But he died almost as soon as his little book saw the light. 



In the main he adopted the scheme of Orders in the Nixus Plantarum, p. xli. ; but he 



criticised thai arrangement with some skill, and avoided many of its worst errors. Bas- 



kerville's main purpose was to establish a theory of progressive development in the 



table Kingdom, and to show by maps and other schemes all existing affinities. 



following observations deserve to be quoted: — 



•• l:, C,,r.- wi endeavour to establish any plan of affinity, it will be necessary to make a 



t. w observations u|.on a subject I tearing closely upon that, namely, the respective rank 



or dignitv of plants, and the means we possess of ascertaining the same. Thatthisisno 



matter "ill appear when we reflect that imperfection is impossible in any work of 



supreme intelligence : our ideas of one plant having a station above that of another will 



drawn from any positive defect observable in the lowest, but from excellency we 



fancy to discover in the higher being. A Moss or Lichen is as perfectly fitted to the 



conditions it is intended to fulfil, and its organs as completely adapted to that purpose 



aa the stately Palm, or magnificent forest tree. To imagine one plant, therefore, more 



ooble than another, we merely imply that we consider its organisation, either by its 



complexity or some other character, to raise the plant possessing such qualifications 



above the surrounding species. When our investigations are confined to plants upon, 



or nearly upon, the same level, the problem is so intricate that it scarcely admits of 



solution ; but when we take species separated by a long interval, the sum of additional 



properti es enables as to decide with more certainty ; yet the amount of difference is so 



trifling, and probably so exquisitely compensated for, that the balance is by no means so 



great as might be expected. In consequence of this it does not appear that any one 



baa as yet been able to suggest what ought properly to be considered as the highest 



kind oi plan! ; and the same difficulty would occur with regard to the lowest, were it 



not decided by the degree of proximity to the animal kingdom. 



" It will be sec n, therefore, that this kind of study is essentially comparative, and our 

 proper attainment of it dependent upon the extent of our acquaintance with the vege- 

 table species and their organisation, and on a proper interpretation of the importance 

 of the characters which we construct from these, which, as character scarcely ever main- 

 tains an equal value in all its relations, lays open another source of difficulty." — p. 39. 



1841. Traitvetter, Ernst Christian. — (De Novo Systemate Botanico.) 

 This js a speculative disquisition upon the philosophical way of classing plants. The 

 author begs that he may be understood to have executed his task not like a Botanist, 

 but hke a philosopher (non botanico Bed philosophico muuere perfungi). He divides 

 the Vegetable Kingdom into a mi-plants and true plants; the former into Favi or Acoty- 

 ledoiis, and Trou'tili or Monocotyledons; and the latter into Herbs and Trees. The 

 view- of the author cannot be given better than in his own words: — "Flagrant Daturas 

 venatoree nova semper et incognita visendi cupiditate. Nos vero antiquitatis alumni aliter 

 sumus affecti." The treatise will be found in the Bulletin de la SocUte Imp&riale des 

 ffatutxUist' ■ <i- J/-.-.', 11141, p. ."in; 1 . 



'•.»t\ Adolphe. — (Enumeration desOenres de Plantes cultivesau Museum 

 d'ffistoin Natvrellt <i< Paris, sviocmt VOrdre etabli dans I'ecole de Botaniaue en 



WWW). 



The spetalons division of Jussieu is abandoned on the ground that the Orders 

 belonging to it are an imperfect state of polypetsJous Orders, (called after Endlicher 

 dialypetalous). The impracticability of a lineal natural arrangement is insisted upon. 

 Rules are to be formed opon . i not « priori considerations. Albumen is 



led of high value, especially the difference between farinaceous albumen, and that 

 ; i is fleshy, oily, and homy, which last are taken to be slight modifications of each 

 other, finally, 'he direction of the embryo is regarded of more importance in its 

 rt lation to the pericarp than tothehflum. The following are the details of the system : — 



-Hi. CRYPTOGAMS No sexual organs, &c. 

 I'.r.inrii l. AjfPHiOBNA No distinct axis or appendages, &c. 

 ltramit •_'. Ai koukn.c Distinct ads and appendages, &c. 



I' 01 n. I'HANKKcti; \M.i.. sexual organs evident, &c. 



Hmnrli :t. MoNOCOTV LBDOIfB. Embryo with one cotyledon, &c. 

 s«r. i. Attmminotct. Albumen. 

 N-r. 2. Exttlbiimu,, ,, . No albumen. 



