32 



BOTANY. 



History, degree, to the advantages resultiug to botany from his 

 ' works already noticed, by the publication of his Ob- 

 servaliones Botanical, Hurt us Vindeboncnsis, Mis- 

 cellanea Austriaca, Collectanea ad Botanicam, C/ti- 

 miam et Historiam Natiiralem, Icones P/nnlnnim 

 rariorum, and within these few years, of the Planta- 

 rum rariorum horti Cesarcci ScJioenltrtamtntu de- 

 scriptiunes et icones, whichiare^all works of a miscel- 

 laneous nature upon an extensive scale, and characte- 

 rised by the features of his usual ability. We may 

 aho make particular mention of the late Professor 

 Rottboll of Copenhagen, as having been the author 

 of a performance, entitled, Descripliones et Icones 

 Plantamm, which came out in 1773; of the Younger 

 Linnaeus, who published not long afterwards, the 

 Supplement urn JPlaatorttm i of Andrew John Retzius, 

 professor of botany at Lund in Sweden, who has fa- 

 voured us with much useful and accurate information 

 in his Olscreationps Botanical, which appeared be- 

 tween the years 1779, and 1791 ; of Lamarck, as ha- 

 ving, with much ability, written the .botanical part in 

 the Encyclopedic Met/iodiyue, and more recently the 

 Illustration des Genres ; of the late Charles Louis 

 de Brutelle, Member of the National Institute of 

 Paris, author of several splendid miscellane9us publi- 

 cations, among which we may particularly specify the 

 Stirpes noi'te nut minus cognit<e t and the Sertum An- 



f'icum ; seu plant te rariores, qtue in hortis juxta 

 ondinum, iwprimis in horto tiegio Kewensi exce- 

 tutitur, nb anno 1786 ad annum 1787 observaitt; and 

 of Dr Smith, as having communicated to us much 

 accurate and useful information in his Plantarum 

 Icones hactemts ineditec, which was published be- 

 tween the years 1789 and 1791, and in the Icones 

 Plantarum rariorum Descriptionibus et Observationi- 

 tiux illustratie, which followed immediately after, as 

 well as in his numerous periodical communications; 

 nor can we forbear to record, with due praise, the 

 eervice rendered to botany, in a similar point of view, 

 by a late acute and expert observer of nature, 

 Mr William Aiton, author of the Hortus Ketuensit, 

 or Catalogue of Plants cultivated in the. Royal Bota- 

 nical Gat den at A'r, which appeared in 1789 ; or of 

 Professors Swarlz, Valil, and Cavanilles, the first of 

 whom published in 1791, a work entitled, Obsen-a- 

 tiones Biitaaica; the second, between the years 1790 

 and l~9t, his Symbolac Botanical, and in 1804, 1805, 

 his Eimmcratio Plantamm vel ab aliis, vel ab ipso 

 vbserralfirum, and the last more recently, but at dif- 

 ferent times, his Icones Plantarum, in six vols. fol. 

 which we have already referred to, as containing a 

 miscellaneous treasure of no ordinary value. We 

 may observe, at the same time, that most of the bo- 

 tanists "whom we have just now mentioned, but espe- 

 cially Jacquin, Swartz, Smith, Vahl, and Cavanilles, 

 are entitled to the greatest praise, for the superior 

 neatness and precision which they have introduced, 

 throughout their various publications, both into their 

 generic and specific descriptions. 



Such has been the progress of systematic botany 

 during the last sixty years. The talents of many 

 have been called forth in various ways to promote the 

 same general object; and the success with which they 

 have employed them has not been inconsiderable. 

 Some have made their \vaythroughdistant countries, 

 id gathered a rich harvest of discovery ; while others 



have patiently followed the less honourable, but, per- 

 haps, not less useful path of investigation at home. 

 Some have written on particular departments of the 

 vegetable kingdom, while others have directed their 

 attention miscellaneously to the whole; and some 

 have excelled in description, while others have nided 

 the science rather by the superior neatness and ac- 

 curacy of their delineations and figures. Plants which 

 could not otherwise have been examined in the diffe- 

 rent stages of their life, have been carefully observed 

 in their native ioil by resident botanists, or raised 

 from seeds and slips procured from distant or less 

 accessible parts, in gardens and hot-houses: and spe- 

 cimens in a dried state have been every where accu- 

 mulating. The transactions of societies and period- 

 ical journals, among which we may particularly men- 

 tion the Botanical Magazine of Curtis in England, 

 and the Magazines and Annals of Botany of Roemer 

 and Usteri, physicians at Zurich on the continent, 

 have served at once the purpose of recording other- 

 wise detached facts, and by exhibiting things in de- 

 tail as they occurred, of enabling the mind to keep 

 pace with the progress of discovery; and by way of 

 rendering the effect as complete as possible, a few men 

 of experience and talent, such as Murray, Reichard, 

 Schreber, and Willdenow, have from time to time col- 

 lected the fruits of intermediate discovery ; and by 

 publishing them, in their proper places, in new edi- 

 tions of that universal repository of botanical know- 

 ledge, the Species Pltfiilarum, have continued to fur- 

 nish us with a fair and adequate representation of the 

 state of the science ; nor has a munificent patronage 

 ceased in the mean time, both in our own country, 

 where the present amiable sovereign has long shewn 

 himself partial to botanical pursuits, and ready to 

 aid any scheme for promoting their success, and in 

 several others which could be mentioned, to diffuse 

 its animating influence, and to contribute in various 

 respects to the general result. And, of course, by the 

 operations of all these causes, botany, which, previous 

 to the days of Linnxus, was comparatively in its in- 

 fancy, has been ever since making rapid progress, and 

 is now arrived at that stage of advancement which we 

 have been attempting to trace, and of which some ade- 

 quate idea may be formed by examining Persoon's .S'y- 

 nopsis Plantarum, and the Species Plantarum, as it 

 has been for some years publishing under the care of 

 the learned Professor Willdenow. Nor is this all ; for 

 if the same scope be given to curiosity, and a similar 

 patronage continue to exert its benign influence as 

 heretofore, we may confidently expect that the pro- 

 gress of the science will in future be still more acce- 

 lerated. The number of learned men in different 

 parts of the world is increasing ; and it seems im- 

 possible that the fruit of their labours should not 

 bear some proportion to that increase. The spirit of 

 civilization, too, is daily taking a wide range, and 

 countries which of late were hardly known to us but 

 by report, are in the way of being explored. Nor 

 can war, which has long been extending its calami- 

 tous sway, and checking the spirit of exertion, by re- 

 straining the literary intercourse of nations, be always 

 supposed to continue. So that, in the course of 

 things, we may naturally enough anticipate the time, 

 and that, perhapg, at r,o great distance, when the 

 science will make still more rapid and successful ad- 



