233 



The Apetala begin with C'hlorcUUhaceae and Piperaceae. He 

 considers the Leguminosae as the most adxanced type of all. 

 Endlicher's system became much used in Germany. 



Adolphe Brongniart, one of the first to study fossil plants, 

 in 1843 introduced gymnospernis as a group of dicotyledons, 

 thus: 



Cryptogamae (Amphigenae and Acrogenae) 



[ Monocotyledonae 

 Phanerogamae i Dicotyledonae (Angiospermae and Gym- 



[ nospermae) 



His two main divisions of flowerless and flowering plants have 

 come into general use; these groups now appear less natural than 

 those of de Candolle. Many botanic gardens in France, includ- 

 ing that of Paris, are laid out by his system. Lindley arranged 

 families into alliances, terminating uniformly in -ales; his main 

 groups, Thallogens, Acrogens, Rhizogens, Endogens, Dictyogens, 

 Gymnogens, and Exogens were unfortunate. His system was 

 used for some time in England. 



The far-reaching studies of Hofmeister, who was, according to 

 Bonnier, perhaps the greatest genius of botanical science, were 

 begun when he was a music dealer in Leipzig. He followed in 

 detail the development of mosses, ferns, and seed plants, and 

 for the first time made clear the importance of the phenomenon 

 of alternation of generations, and the essential unity running 

 through the various groups of plants. From this time more 

 attention is given to the structure of flowerless plants. 



The early system-makers seized upon more or less arbitrary 

 characters which they considered fundamental. Their systems 

 emphasized difTerences, and were often very effective to find the 

 names of plants. The work of Hofmeister emphasized resem- 

 blances, implying, though not stating, the doctrine of evolution. 

 The growth of knowledge in other sciences of nature also gradually 

 prepared the way for acceptance of evolution instead of special 

 creation. Darwin's famous work on the "Origin of Species" 

 (1859) became a subject of general controversy. " Although fully 

 convinced of the truth of these views," says Darwin, " I by no 



