20 THE USES OF PLANTS. 



of Economic Botany, such as the Kew Museum and the 

 guides thereto, the Natural system of botanical ar- 

 rangement is undoubtedly preferable. It is, in fact, a 

 remarkable confirmation of the truly natural character 

 of that system, based, as it is, upon structure, especially 

 that of flowers, fruits, and seeds a proof that it 

 successfully approximates to a pedigree of the Vege- 

 table Kingdom that it is found to correspond in its 

 various divisions with marked distinctions in the 

 economic substances which the plants produce. The 

 acrid character of the Ranunculacece ; the pungent but 

 wholesome Cruciferce ; the aromatic pot-herbs of the 

 Labiates; the tough 'liber,' or inner bark of the 

 Urticace&i Thymelacea, Tiliacece, and Malvacece ; the 

 rubber-yielding ' latex ' of the Euphorbiacece ; the tonic 

 bitter of the CincJwnea, Gentianacecz, and Simarubea ; 

 the abundant resin in the Conifera ; and the poison- 

 ously narcotic character of so many of the Solanacece, 

 all alike serve to indicate this correspondence. In a 

 short practical manual, however, such as the present, 

 there is a great advantage in a grouping mainly 

 technological. Following out such an arrangement, 

 in an order as nearly logical as it seems any linear 

 arrangement can be, the main divisions of the subject 

 will be: I. Foods, food- stuffs, and food-adjuncts; II. 

 Materia medica, or medicines, drugs, poisons, and 

 other chemical substances of vegetable origin ; III. Oil- 

 yielding seeds, vegetable oils and materials used in the 

 manufacture of soap and perfumery ; IV. Gums, resins, 

 oleo-resins, and inspissated saps ; V. Dyeing and 

 tanning materials ; VI. Fibres and paper-making 

 materials ; VII. Wood, whether for timber, furniture, 



