CHARACTERS USED IN CLASSIFICATION. Ijl 



very difficult to explain their reasons for this classification to others, 

 tt will appear, from this definition of natural characters, that in 

 iome respects, the method of Jussieu is no less artificial than that of 

 ■jinnasus, since it depends upon particulars which can only be 

 earned and understood by the aid of science ; and we must admit 

 ,hat the genera which its orders exhibit, are often as unlike, in habit 

 and properties, as are those which compose the classes of Linnaeus. 



It is by their natural characters, that persons who have never, 

 perhaps, heard of such a science as zoology or the classification of 

 animals, are enabled to distinguish ferocious beasts from domestic 

 and gentle animals ; they see a sheep or cow without any terror, 

 although that individual one they may never have seen before ; for 

 natiu'e teaches them to consider that as resembhng other sheep and 

 cows, which they know to be inoffensive. This natural character 

 teaches savages to distinguish among the many plants of the forest, 

 those which may administer to their wants, and those which would 

 be injurious. 



Even the lower grades of animals have this faculty of selecting 

 by natural characters, nutritious substances, and avoiding noxious 

 ones; thus we see the apparently unconscious brutes luxuriating in 

 the rich pastures prepared for them by a benevolent Creator, and 

 cautiously passing by the poisonous weed, directed by an instinct 

 given them by this same Almighty Benefactor. 



A natural family is composed of several genera of plants which 

 have some common marks of resemblance, and its name is usually 

 founded upon this general character; as Labiate and Cruciform, 

 which are derived from the form of the corollas; Umbellate and 

 Corymbiferous, from the infloresence ; Leguminous^ from the nature 

 of the fruit. In many cases the family takes its name from a con- 

 spicuous genus belonging to it ; as the Rosacea; , or rose-like plants; 

 Papaveracea;, or poppy tribe, from Papaver, the poppy. 



Natural families or orders resemble artificial orders in being com- 

 posed of genera, but the principles on which these are brought to- 

 gether differ widely in the two cases. 



In the truly natural families, the classification is such as persons 

 who have never studied botany, might make ; thus, dill, fennel, car- 

 away, &c., belong to the Umbellate "family, on account of the form 

 in which the little stalks, bearing the flower, and afterward the seed, 

 branch out from one common centre, like the sticks of an umbrella ; 

 this general resemblance being observable by all, it seems very nat- 

 ural to class such plants together. 



But in the artificial orders, genera which may be very unUke in 

 other respects, are brought together, from the single circumstance 

 of plants having the same number of stamens and pistils. ' Thus, 

 in the first order of the eighth class, we have the tulip and the bul- 

 rush, the lily of the valley and the sweet flag. In the second order 

 of the fifth class, we have the beet and the elm. You will at once 

 perceive the striking disparity between these plants, and that an ar- 

 rangement, which thus brings them together, is properly called an 

 artificial method. 



Many families of plants possess a marked resemblance in form 



Why is the method of Jussieu no less artificial than that of Linnaeus ?— Ani- 

 mals distin^ished by natural characters— Savages distinguish plants by these cha- 

 racters—Animals capable of discerning these natural characters— What gives name 

 to a natural familyof plants?— In what respect do natural families resemble artificial 

 orders 1 — How do they differ ?— Why may natural families be formed without a knowl- 

 edge of botany 1— Genera in the artificial orders brought together by having the same 

 numDer of stamens and pistils. 



