272 On Definitions. 



of Linnaeus. The botanical definition of a plant, then, as may be 

 seen by looking into any book on the subject, consists of a statement 

 of the class, of the class and order, or of the class, order and spe- 

 cies, to which the plant belongs, (that is, the genus,) and then of 

 an enumeration of all the various peculiarities, often extremely nu- 

 merous, which distinguish it from every other plant. The distinc- 

 tion or distribution into classes is taken as much as possible from one 

 part of the plant, by which means the science of botany appears to 

 have been reduced to a greater degree of precision than the corres- 

 ponding branches treating of animals and minerals. Still there ap- 

 pears to remain a degree of vagueness in the characteristics of all 

 the organized productions of nature, which embarrasses to a certain 

 degree all the definitions that can be adopted, which necessarily 

 leaves the species and individuals to encroach indefinitely upon one 

 another, has hitherto formed a very serious impediment to those 

 studies, and must fill us with no small admiration of the genius and 

 perseverance of those individuals, who, notwithstanding all the diffi- 

 culties in their way, have yet made great advances in this extensive 

 circle of investigation. It is true, that all the qualities of a plant, or 

 of an animal, or of any substance found near the surface of the earth, 

 might be described in the fullest detail, without taking any notice of 

 the scientific arrangements that naturalists have adopted ; but it is 

 equally true, that it would in this case remain for ever uncertain and 

 doubtful, to what individual object the description was designed to 

 be applied. A conspicuous instance of the confusion which must 

 ever attend all descriptions of this kind, in which scientific arrange- 

 ment is neglected, is to be found in the writings of the ancients. 

 Their descriptions of plants, and even their allusions to them, ex- 

 cept those of the most common species, are for the most part in- 

 capable of being distinctly traced, with any degree of satisfaction. 

 Their accounts of animals are much more intelligible, and much 

 more useful, as there is generally some subject by which the ac- 

 count may be verified, and even many of the names have been 

 handed down, with little or no alteration. 



The only remaining class of names of visible objects, to which I 

 wish at present to draw your attention, is that of proper names. 

 These, it is believed, were the first of all names, and they deviated 

 into common names solely by being applied, in the infancy of hu- 

 man knowledge, to all the objects which possessed a striking resem- 

 blance to each other. These were never defined. They continue 



