DE CANDOLLE' S PHYTOGRAPHY. 283 



Candolle is now one of our oldest systematists, one who as 

 editor as well as author has had to consider every sort of phy- 

 tographical question ; and the volume he has hex-e produced is 

 a needful supplement to the " Philosophia Botanica " of Lin- 

 naeus and the " Theorie Elementaire " of the elder De Can- 

 dolle, the two classical books which the serious botanical stu- 

 dent should early and thoroughly master. Phytography has 

 to do with form and method in botanical works ; and natural 

 history is nothing if not methodical. Its advancement by 

 research and its educational value — which will be more and 

 more appreciated as it is better taught — both depend upon 

 correct morphology and upon well-settled method. Those 

 who will not use its proper language and respect its customs, 

 must not expect to be listened to, any more than is unavoid- 

 able. Observation and interpretation must go together, if 

 either is to be of value ; the naturalist must not only observe 

 that he may describe, but describe if he would observe. In 

 his preface De Candolle remarks upon the peculiar advantage 

 of natural-history study in the combination of observation 

 with judgment, and upon the importance to a student of 

 acquiring a clear idea of what natural groups are, what a 

 natural classification and the subordination of groups really 

 mean, and how a naturalist arranges, names, and with pre- 

 cision defines the immensely numerous objects of his study. 

 Men who have distinguished themselves in various professions 

 and lines of life, have owed the advantage they have derived 

 from this kind of training in youth, even though they never 

 became naturalists. 



De Candolle's book is in thirty chapters, many of them 

 short and somewhat discursive, and generally abounding in 

 recommendation and advice, rather than laying down positive 

 rules. 



The first chapter glances at " the evolution of botanical 

 works " from Cesalpino, with whom scientific botany began 

 in the middle of the sixteenth century, to Linnaeus, whose rules 

 and spirit still govern, and to our own times, noting the grad- 

 ually increasing importance of herbaria as compared with 

 botanic gardens. The second chapter touches upon the moral 



