FORMATION OF SYSTEMS. 329 



Bauhins, in which he proves that many plants in 

 the Pinax are erroneously placed, and shows con- 

 siderable talent for appreciating natural families and 

 genera. His great systematic work appeared from 

 the University press at Oxford in 1680. It contains 

 a system, but a system, Cuvier says 35 , which ap- 

 proaches rather to a natural method than to a 

 rigorous distribution, like that of his predecessor 

 Csesalpinus, or that of his successor Ray. Thus the 

 herbaceous plants are divided into climbers, legu- 

 minous, siliquose, unicapsular, bicapsular, tricapsu- 

 lar, quadricapsular, quinquecapsular ; this division 

 being combined with characters derived from the 

 number of petals. But along with these numerical 

 elements, are introduced others of a loose and hete- 

 rogeneous kind, for instance, the classification of 

 herbs as lactescent and emollient. It is not unrea- 

 sonable to say, that such a scheme shows no talent 

 for constructing a complete system; and that the 

 most distinct part of it, that dependent on the fruit, 

 was probably borrowed from Ca3salpinus. That this 

 is so, we have, I think, strong proof; for though 

 Morison no where, I believe, mentions Csesalpinus, 

 except in one place in a loose enumeration of bota- 

 nical writers 36 , he must have made considerable use 

 of his work. For he has introduced into his own 

 preface a passage copied literally 37 from the dedica- 

 tion of Caesalpinus ; which passage we have already 



" Cuv. Lecons, &c. p. 486. 



36 Pref. p. i. 37 Ib. p. ii. 



