142 PROVINCE OP BOTANY. [AUG. 



Botany is a new science. In ancient times, 

 there were no such divisions of plants, and, 

 therefore, none or few of those described in the 

 works of old authors, can be with any certainty 

 known. 



The mode of dividing plants into classes, is 

 done by taking some particular parts of the 

 flowers as characters, and all that answer in 

 that respect, are ranged under the same class ; 

 thus you will find what are termed the anthers, 

 always of the same number in a tulip, and this 

 is made to form one of the signs, or marks, of 

 the family ; and it is by knowing thoroughly 

 these signs, or marks, that a botanist is able at 

 once to distinguish any flower. 



Suppose, therefore, a person wishes to tell 

 you all the flowers he finds growing on the 

 Alps, and he sends you a list of three hundred 

 names of the different genera, adding to the 



