134 i;kv. w. woolls, ph.d., f.l.s., on the 



sncli a Avovk was to l)e inexpeiiKive, concise, and reliable I" 

 There can be no doul)t that the intentions of the author 

 have been highly ai)preeiated — his two volumes having- in a 

 great measure answered the purposes for Avhich they were 

 designed — but after all it must be admitted (as the learned 

 author is fully aware) that in a small genus or order the 

 dichotomous splitting-u}) of characteristics is but of little 

 help (as one may just as easily look over short diagnoses) 

 whilst in a large genus or order the system is frequently 

 misleading. Jf headings are made in a large genus or order 

 and then the salient points are brought out clearly in a 

 brief diagnosis, a complex of characteristics (which we lose 

 sight of in the dichotomous method) is obtained whereby 

 not merely the name of the species is ascertained but a 

 clue given to the better understanding of its properties. 

 Since the gradual disuse of the Linnean system the arrange- 

 ment of the natural orders has been viewed differently by 

 authors of eminence, but all seem to be now agreed in 

 following natural alliances as nearly as possible and ot 

 placing in close proximity those groups which are connected 

 with each other. The illustrious Robert Brown, when laying 

 the foundation of Australian botany, was one of the first 

 to recognize the advantages of the Natural System ; 

 but the Prodromus Novw Ilollandio' records only a limited 

 portion of the vegetation known in 1810. The laboiu' 

 therefore of extending that work, of elaborating new 

 orders and describing genera and species according to the 

 additional light thrown upon them, devolved on the great 

 systematic botanists, Bentham and Mueller, and it must in 

 justice be added that they have proved themselves worthy 

 successors of the Father of Australian Botany. 



At the present time about 1),00() species, exclusive of the 

 lower Cryptogams, have been subjected to scientific investiga- 

 tion. How many more are yet to be discovered, and Avhat 

 influence they may have in the modifying or reconstruction 

 of the Flora are mere matters of speculation. New species 

 are being found occasionally as travellers penetrate into remote 

 parts, l)nt noAv that Australia has been traversed from one end 

 to the other, it is scarcely probable; that many new types of 

 vegetation will be discovered on which additional orders or 

 genera may be established. It is to be hoped, however, that as 

 each succeeding species falls into its proper place in the sys- 

 tematic arrangement,the nomenclature of plantswill be t5im})li- 

 fied, the specific disti)ictions better understood, the genera 



