HISTORY OF BOTANY. 231 



species. Before that time the species, instead of being thus desic;- 

 nated, required in some cases a whole sentence to express the name. 



But what most tended to render the works of Linnaeus popular, 

 was his artificial system, in which he had made the stamens and 

 pistils subservient to a most siniple and clear arrangement; he re- 

 nrarked the different insertion of the stamens ; their union by means 

 of their filaments had been before observed, but he employed them in a 

 manner entirely original. 



This " Northern Light,^^ as he has sometimes been termed, con- 

 tributed to the progress of physiology both by his own discoveries, 

 and by improving upon the suggestions of those who had gone be- 

 fore him. In the details of science, he was no less accurate than 

 bold and comprehensive in his general views. The world knew not 

 which to admire the most, the multiplicity, the novelty, or the pro- 

 found views of this modern Aristotle. His school became the resort 

 of men of science from all Europe ; and he seemed to have acquired 

 that influence over the human mind, which had been peculiar to the 

 ancient philosophers of Greece. The defects of this great man, 

 for human nature is never without its imperfections, were, that he 

 sometimes carried too far a favourite idea; endowed with a brilliant 

 imagination, he was at times somewhat blinded by the beauty of 

 his conceptions, and strove to reconcile nature to the visions of his 

 own fancy. 



We have, in our investigations of the artificial system, occasion- 

 ally pointed out some imperfections, particularly in the separation 

 of natural families ; but no means of remedying these have yet been 

 found, and after the lapse of near a century, with the exception of a 

 few alterations, we still receive this system as left by its author. 



Linnaeus died in 1778 ; he is honoured among the scientific by a 

 title far more proud that any hereditary distinctions, that of" Prince 

 of Naturalists." The most important works of this great man are, 

 " Philosophy of Botany," " Genera and Species of Plants," " System 

 of Nature," and " Flowers of Sweden, Lapland," &c. TheLinnasa 

 borealis was dedicated to him by Gronovius. Ten years after his 

 death, a society, distinguished by his name, was founded in London ; 

 this is now in possession of his library, herbariums, collections of 

 insects and shells, with numerous manuscripts. Sir James Edward 

 Smith was the founder of this society, and its first, and only presi- 

 dent until his death, which has recently occurred. He translated the 

 writings of Linnaeus, and illustrated them by his own comments. 



The study of plants, after the discoveries and classifications of 

 Linnaeus, became, in a degree, general. The knowledge of vegeta- 

 ble physiology began to be usefully applied to agriculture. Duhamel, 

 of France, very successfully laboured to exhibit the connexion be- 

 tween the science of Botany and the cultivation of plants. Bossuet, 

 of Geneva, proved by experiments that the vascular system of plants 

 is tubular and transparent ; and that leaves perform the office of respi- 

 ration. 



Grew, of England, had, before this period, ascertained the exist- 

 ence of the cambium, and Duhamel afterward proved that it was 

 distinct from the sap and proper juices. The latter opposed the 

 idea, till then entertained, that earth and water were the only food of 

 plants ; he proved that the various solids and fluids diffused in the 

 soil and atmosphere, are all important to vegetation. 



What most rendered his works popular 1— How did he contribute to the progress of 

 physiology, &c. ?— Death of Linnaeus— Linnaean Society in London — Botany after tho 

 death of Linnaeus— Puhaniel and Grew. 



