ARRANGEMENT OF PLANTS. 317 



Rapum is altogether diverse in all other respects. 

 Or if we attend to the differences of stalk, so as to 

 make one genus of those which have a naked startk, 

 as the Junci, Ca3pe, Aphacse, along with Cicoracea9, 

 violse, we shall still connect the most unlike things, 

 and disjoin the closest affinities. And if we note 

 the differences of leaves, or even flowers, we fall 

 into the same difficulty; for many plants very dif- 

 ferent in kind have leaves very similar, as Polygo- 

 num and Hypericum, Ernea and Sesamois, Apium 

 and Ranunculus ; and plants of the same genus have 

 sometimes very different leaves, as the several spe- 

 cies of Ranunculus and of Lactuca. Nor will colour 

 or shape of the flowers help us better; for what has 

 Vitis in common with CEnanthe, except the resem- 

 blance of the flower?" He then goes on to say, 

 that if we seek a too close coincidence of all the 

 characters we shall have no species: and thus 

 shows us that he had clearly before his view the 

 difficulty which he had to attack, and which it is 

 his glory to have overcome, that of constructing 

 natural orders. 



But as the principles of Csesalpinus are justified, 

 on the one hand, by their leading to Natural Orders, 

 they are recommended on the other by their pro- 

 ducing a System which applies through the whole 

 extent of the vegetable kingdom. The parts from 

 which he takes his characters must occur in all 

 flowering -plants, for all such plants have seeds. 

 And these seeds, if not very numerous for each 



