12 



BOTANY. 



History, and merits of Ray in other respects, we now add, that 

 the improvements which he tried to introduce into the 

 science of botany, as a systematic writer, were not 

 the least interesting part of the service which he ren- 

 dered to it. In his earlier publications, he had adopt- 

 ed no better mode of arrangement than what had been 

 commonly followed before his time, the order of the 

 Ray's ar- alphabet. But as it is natural to suppose that a man 

 rangement. o f his luminous understanding could not advance far 

 in his multifarious labour, without seeing the neces- 

 sity of introducing some more scientific method, so 

 we find, that on the publication of Morison's system, 

 his thoughts, which had been already occasionally 

 occupied with the subject, were turned to it with 

 still greater interest. And two years after, that is in 

 1682, he accordingly ventured to propose a system 

 in the manner of Morison, whom he acknowledges as 

 his leader, having the fruit, flower, and external ap- 

 pearance, forits basis, and comprising 25 classes, which 

 were as follows : 



1. Arbores. 



2. Frutices. 



3. Herbx imperfects. 



4 flore careutc^. 



5 eapillares. 



6 staminas. 



7 semine solitario. 



8 umbelliferx, 



9 verticillatx. 



10 asperifolix. 



11 stellatx. 



12 pomiferx. 



13 baccifera; 



14 multisiliquK. 



15 monopetalas uniformed. 



16 difformes. 



17 tetrapetake siliquis majoribus. 



18 siliquis minoribus. 



19 papilionacex. 



20 pentapetalx. 



21 cerealia. 



22 gramina. 



23 graminex. 



24 bulbosse. 



25 bulbosis affines. 



This method, however, he continued for many 

 years, while he was engaged in preparing his great 

 work, the General History of Plants, to alter and 

 improve, so as to give it quite a new form : and in 

 1700 he at length published his corrected edition of 

 it, which was made to comprehend all plants, in 33 

 classes ; 27 of them being composed of herbs, and 

 ihe rest of trees, in the following manner ; 



1. Herbx submarine. 



2 fungi. 



3 musci. 



4 eapillares. 



5 apetalx. 



6 planjpetalx. 



7 discoidex. 



8. .... corymbiferz. 



*' capitals:. 



10. Herbae solitario semine. 



11 umbelliferx. 



12 stellate. 



13 asperifolix. 



14 verticillatz. 



15 poly sperm e. 



16 pomiferx. 



17 bacciferx. 



18 multisiliqure. 



19- < monopetala;. 



20 di-tripetalx. 



21 siliquosae. 



22 legunainosx. 



23 pentapetalx. 



24 floriferx. 



25 starm'nse. 



26 anomalx. 



27 arundinacex. 



28. Arbores apetalx. 



29 fructu umbilicato. 



30 iiou umbilicato, 



31 sicco. 



32 siliquoso. 



33 anomalx. 



From this synoptical view of Ray's method, it 

 will be seen, that he derived the characters of his 

 classes, generally speaking, from the habit of plants ; 

 their greater or less degree of perfection ; their 

 place of growth ; the number of their seed-lobes, 

 or seminal leaves, petals, capsules, and seeds ; the 

 situation and disposition of their flowers, flower cup, 

 and leaves ; the absence or presence of the buds, 

 flower cup, and petals ; the substance of the leaves 

 and fruit ; and the difficulty of classification in cer- 

 tain cases, where there is a want of allied character. 



The first four classes of the herbs being what he 

 termed without flowers, were made to consist bf sub- 

 marine plants, including corals, and of the mushrooms, 

 mosses, and ferns. The remaining 21 classes of thc 

 herbs being what he termed flower bearing, were 

 again subdivided according to the number of the 

 seed lobes, or seminal leaves, the plants of the first 

 19 being denominated dicotyledones, and those of the 

 two following monocotyledones. The fifth class be- 

 ing the first of the dicotyledones division, was made 

 to consist of such plants as are without petals, as 

 glasswort pellitory, plantane, and nettle ; the sixth 

 was- made to consist of such as have compound ligu- 

 late, or strap shaped flowers, as hawk weed, and nip- 

 plewort ; the seventh and eighth, of such as have 

 compound radiant flowers, the ground of distinction 

 being, that the seed in the one case is crowned with 

 a pappus, as in starwort, and ragweed, and in the 

 other, is without it, aa in feverfew, and ox eye ; the 

 ninth, of such as have compound flowers, swelling out 

 in the manner of a head, as thistle, and burdock ; the 

 tenth, of such as have one naked seed under each 

 flower, as valerian, and fumatory ; the eleventh and 

 twelfth, of such as have two naked seeds, those of 

 the former being what are known by the name of the 

 umbelliferous, as hemlock, and those of the latter by 

 the name of the stellatx, or star like plants, as woods- 

 roof, and ladies bed straw ; the thirteenth and four- 

 teenth, of such as have four naHed seeds, the ground 

 7 



History. 



