PHYTOLOGY. 281 



by Oken, in the Ed. 1st of the Naturphilosophie, 1810 ; 

 further developed in Dietrich's Garten Journal, 1813; 

 carried out in his Naturgeschichte fur Schiilen, 1821, 

 and in his Lehrbuch der Nat. Gesch. Botanik. Weimar, 

 1825.) The artificial system collects the materials for 

 the edifice, but leaves them to lie without order and in 

 confusion ; the methodical or what has been called the 

 natural system separates these materials and arranges 

 them in homogeneous groups ; the genetic, philosophical 

 or truly natural, system, again mixes them amongst each 

 other, but thereby actually erects the edifice. All three 

 systems are therefore necessary and good, and no one 

 of them merits being despised by the other ; it is only 

 when one of them imagines that it is the other, or can 

 render the others unnecessary, that it trespasses from out 

 its circle, and deserves reproach. Thus for Floras, whose 

 ultimate object is to find out rapidly the names of plants 

 upon botanical excursions, as also for the labelling of 

 specimens in botanic gardens, the artificial system is the 

 best ; for the description, however, of foreign plants the 

 methodical; but for insight into the whole vegetable 

 world the philosophical or natural system. Would we 

 compare Floras with each other, the latter system must 

 certainly come into play; but then the matter to be 

 dealt with is not about an excursion-book. 



VEGETABLE SYSTEM. 



1508. Taken in a strict sense all the diversity of 

 vegetable structure of vegetables has reference first of all 

 to the difference in the tissues ; these being either un- 

 separated, or separated, into special systems and members. 

 At first the tissues lie confusedly, or without order, 

 amongst themselves. They then separate in a concentric 

 and tubular form into systems, that are encased within 

 each other, like the bark, liber, and wood, which form 

 the shaft. Furthermore they separate into members, and 

 appear one above the other, as root, stalk, and foliage, 

 which collectively may be called the stem; these are 



