26 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. [ Feb. 
cape notice. Our figure is taken from Trinius, Jcones, and shows. 
very well both the habit of the plant, excepting that it is densely 
cespitose, and the minute characters of the spikelets. The outer 
or empty glumes are very small and the lower one is sometimes 
wholly wanting. 
AGROPYRUM VIOLACEUM, Hornem.—This grass was collected 
at Ft. Conger, Grinnell Land, by Lieut. Greely and Dr. D. L 
Brainard. The specimens are fine, 8-15 em. high, with short 
spikes and densely pubescent glumes, a character observed in 
Greenland specimens collected by Thomas M. Fries. The figure 
illustrates one of the specimens nearly natural size. 
In 1883 Mr. Wm. M Canby collected at the Upper Marias 
Pass, Montana, alt. 8,000 ft., specimens of this Agropyrum in 
which the leaves are much narrower than in the Scandinavian 
plant and pubescent, as are also the floral glumes. The outer 
glumes are smooth. All the glumes are remarkably broad with 
very short awns. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE III.—A, Deschampsia brevifolia R. Br.; entire plant, 
nat. size and spikelet enlarged. B, Phippsia algida R. Br.; entire plants and 
details of flowers. C, Agropyrum violaceum, Hornem.; entire plant, nat. size and 
spikelets enlarged. 
The Life and Labors of Linnzeus. 
A. P. MORGAN, 
Previous to the time of Linnzeus, the science of botany was 
in a chaotic state. Discoveries there had been, it is true, and the 
science had made much progress ; each discoverer seemed disposed 
to attach most importance to what he found out himself and pro- 
ceeded to establish a system of classification upon the particular 
feature which he had investigated. The method of Cesal pinus 
was founded on the fruit, that of Rivinus on the number of petals 
of the flower, that of Tournefort on the figure of the same. All 
were artificial because they took into consideration only one or 
a few features of the plants. . 
e problem of the great botanists of all times has been to 
find a natural system, one in which every plant will be shown in 
its perfect relation to all other plants. With this problem all the 
distinguished botanists of Linneus’ time were busily engaged. 
Haller at Gottingen labored doubtfully, sometimes despairingly, 
over his Prodromus of a German Flora and Enumeration of the 
Plants of Switzerland. Dillenius at Oxford improved Ray’s 
Synopsis and labored faithfully upon mosses and other plants. 
