26 MEMOIR OF LAMARCK. 



conferred on him a high reputation in this depart- 

 ment. These consisted of voluminous contribu- 

 tions to the Encyclopedic Metkodique, forming a 

 Dictionary of Botany, and an extensive series of 

 Illustrations of Genera. Of that portion of the 

 Encyclopaedia known by the former name, Lamarck 

 wrote the whole of the two first volumes, and a 

 part of the third, fourth, and fifth. The object of 

 the work is to give a detailed history of plants, 

 accompanied with descriptions, remarks on their 

 synonymy, an account of their uses, and peculiarities 

 of their structure. The Illustrations profess to aiford 

 " an exposition of the characters of all the plants 

 established by botanists, arranged according to the 

 sexual system of Linnaeus, with figures displaying 

 the characters of these genera, and a table of all the 

 known species referable thereto, the description of 

 which is found in the Botanical Dictionary of the 

 Encyclopaedia." This laborious work contains no 

 fewer than two thousand genera, illustrated by half 

 that number of quarto plates, executed with great 

 care, and generally representing one or two of the 

 typical species, with a view to afford a knowledge 

 of their general appearance and habit. The flower 

 and parts of fructification are carefully delineated, 

 and the precision and accuracy of the whole work, 

 renders it one of the most valuable that can be 

 named for conveying a speedy knowledge of the 

 extensive and interesting subject of which it treats. 

 The zeal with which Lamarck laboured to produce 

 works of such research and interest, is characteristic 



