382 MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



bered among its cultivators the industrious Ges- 

 ner, Turner, the father of English Botany, quaint 

 old Gerard the herbalist, the philosophic Ray, the 

 learned Tournefort, and finally it took a lasting 

 stand on a fixed and sure basis under the presiding 

 genius of the illustrious Scandinavian Linnaeus. 

 Since his era it has occupied a high place among 

 the natural sciences, having been further advanced 

 by the labours of such men as Jussieu, Decandolle, 

 and Smith ; while among those still living, it may 

 not be invidious to mention the veteran Robert 

 Brown, " Botanicorum facile princeps." 



Phytology, or the study of plants and their pro- 

 ducts, embraces the consideration of the whole Ve- 

 getable Kingdom, and treats of the distribution, the 

 conformation, the properties, and the classification 

 of trees, shrubs, and herbs, from the minute lichen, 

 or simple floating weed, to the gracefully waving 

 palm or lofty mountain pine. The latter of these, 

 or classification, which will chiefly engage attention 

 in the following pages, is founded mainly on exter- 

 nal characters, although, more especially of late 

 years, differences in internal structure are likewise 

 taken into account. Omitting mention of earlier 

 more primitive plans, the first division which ob- 

 tained great reputation was the celebrated artificial 

 arrangement of Linnseus, which, from its simplicity, 

 and the comparative facility of its application, 

 gained a wide-spread popularity. But, after a time, 

 when its novelty had worn off, complaints began to 

 be made of its limited nature, as in the absence of 



