UTILITY OP BOTANY. 141 



sorts of tulips, you examine the plant, and read 

 the descriptions of the different kinds, until you 

 find one that corresponds with your flower, and 

 then you have both genus and species. 



Now, if this sort of character had not been 

 applied to this particular plant, and I wanted to 

 describe it to you, what difficulty should I have 

 found in making you understand, by letter, that 

 one I wished to describe! Try yourself to 

 write such a description of a plant, as shall give 

 every one who reads it a true notion of what 

 you intend to speak of; distinguish it from all 

 others in colour and shape, both of leaves, 

 flower, mode, and time of growing. 



The time which you would find that this 

 would take, would be almost endless ; besides, 

 the talent and powers of remark which would 

 be required, both in the describer and the 

 reader, would be considerable. 



