﻿OF THE ANTIENTS. 417 



them are not fully expanded. Mr. Burt assures me 

 that the four radical leaves are hearted and petioled; 

 and it is most probable, that the cauline and floral 

 leaves would have a similar form in their state of per- 

 fect expanbion ; but, unfortunately, the plants at Gaya 

 are now shrivelled ; and they who seek farther infor- 

 mation, must wait with patience until new stems and 

 leaves shall spring from the roots, or other plants shall 

 be brought from Nepal and Butan. On the proposed 

 inquiry into the virLues of this celebrated plant, I must 

 be permitted to say, that, although many botanists 

 may have wasted their time in enumerating the quali- 

 ties of vegetables, without having ascertained them by 

 repeated and satisfactory experiments, and although 

 mere botany goes no farther than technical arrangement 

 and description, yet it seems indubitable that the great 

 end and aim of a botanical philosopher is to discover 

 and prove the several uses of the vegetable system ; 

 and, while he admits with Hippocrates the fallaciousness 

 of experience, to rely on experiment alone as the basis 

 of his knowledge. 



