REFORM OF LINNAEUS. 349 



Gronovius, Royer, Sloane, Sherard, Bobart, Miller, 

 Tournefort, Vaillant, Jussieu, Surien, Beck, Brown, 

 &c. : my dear disciples have gone to distant larfcls, 

 and sent me plants from thence ; Kerlen to Canada, 

 Hasselquist to Egypt, Asbech to China, Toren to 

 Surat, Solander to England, Alstroemer to Southern 

 Europe, Martin to Spitzbergen, Pontin to Malabar, 

 Koehler to Italy, Forskahl to the East, Loefling to 

 Spain, Montin to Lapland: my botanical friends 

 have sent me many seeds and dried plants from 

 various countries : Lagerstrom many from the East 

 Indies ; Gronovius most of the Virginian ; Gmelin 

 all the Siberian; Burmann those of the Cape." 

 And in consistency with this habit of immense col- 

 lection of materials, is his maxim 11 , that " a person 

 is a better botanist in proportion as he knows more 

 species." It will easily be seen that this maxim, 

 like Newton's declaration that discovery requires 

 patient thought alone, refers only to the exertions of 

 which the man of genius is conscious ; and leaves 

 out of sight his peculiar endowments, which he 

 does not see because they are part of his power of 

 vision. With the taste for symmetry which dictated 

 the Critica Botanica, and the talent for classifica- 

 tion which appear in the Genera Plantarum, and 

 the Systema Naturae, a person must undoubtedly 

 rise to higher steps of classificatory knowledge and 

 skill, as he became acquainted with a greater num- 

 ber of facts. 



11 Phil Bol. 259. 



