340 HISTORY OF BOTANY. 



exercising, by means of his lectures, his constant 

 publications, and his conversation, an extraordinary 

 power over a multitude of zealous naturalists, be- 

 longing to every part of the world. 



In order to understand more clearly the nature 

 and effect of the reforms introduced by Linnaeus 

 into botany, I shall consider them under the four 

 following heads : Terminology, Nomenclature, Ar- 

 tificial System, and Natural System. 



Sect. 2. Linncean Reform of Botanical Termi- 

 nology. 



IT must be recollected that I designate as Ter- 

 minology, the system of terms employed in the 

 description of objects of natural history ; while by 

 Nomenclature, I mean the collection of the names of 

 species. The reform of the descriptive part of botany 

 was one of the tasks first attempted by Linnaeus ; 

 and his terminology was the instrument by which 

 his other improvements were effected. 



Though most readers, probably, entertain, at 

 first, a persuasion that a writer ought to content 

 himself with the use of common words in their com- 

 mon sense, and feel a repugnance to technical terms 

 and arbitrary rules of phraseology, as pedantic and 

 troublesome; it is soon found, by the student of any 

 branch of science, that, without technical terms and 

 fixed rules, there can be no certain or progressive 

 knowledge. The loose and infantine grasp of com- 



