Thomson* s Lectures on Botany' 127 



As a practical man, and, like my brethren, al\yays in quest of botanical 

 information, I have waded through almost every thing that has been pub- 

 lished on this head ; many of these authors I have traced along the same 

 beaten track without much improvement ; but I have lately met with a 

 volume of lectures (the title of which I have written at the beginning of 

 my letter) which, though published in 1822, is, I think, not so much known 

 as I am sure it deserves to be. And, though it necessarily contains much 

 which has been published before, yet there is less theoretical matter to be 

 objected to, and more practical demonstration to be commended, than is 

 found in any other published book on the subject. On this account I beg 

 leave to present you with a few remarks on the work; which, though of 

 trifling import in themselves, may be acceptable to some of your young 

 readers, to whom it may be useful to show where even science ^herself may 

 go astray, and how necessary it is that mere speculation should be corrected 

 by practical experience. 



The work is dedicated by permission to the President and Fellov/s of the 

 Royal College of Physicians of London, in " the hope that botanical 

 science will promote the future study of that branch of knowledge, as a 

 part of medical education." In the preface, the author says that it was not 

 his intention to publish these lectures, till, by chance, he saw a MS. copy 

 of them exposed for sale in a bookseller's shop. " Reflecting, therefore, 

 that any peculiar theories connected with vegetable physiolog}^ and many 

 facts taken from authors might be misstated, justice to my reputation re- 

 quired that I should rather publish my own opinions, than run the hazard 

 of them getting into the press in a mutilated condition. In revising my 

 MS., however, for this purpose, I found that the view of the subject opened 

 before me, that one investigation led on to another, and that a frequent 

 appeal to nature forced me to reject much of what I had formerly regarded 

 as truth ; so that the work imperceptibly extended far beyond the limits I 

 had allotted to it, and now retains little more than the name and the 

 arrangement of the original lectures." 



" The work, therefore, is published without any claim to indulgence, but 

 with a conviction that, although many objections may be raised to the 

 doctrines it contains, yet, if it have merit, that its faults will be lightly 

 handled, and if it be undeserving of approbation, that even the countenance 

 of the learned body, under whose patronage it is sent forth, cannot alter 

 the sentence which justice should dictate." 



Under this license I shall glance over the work, and " blame where I 

 must ; be candid where I can," and without fear, as it is without intention 

 of hurting the feelings of the author, freely point out what appears faith- 

 fully natural, and also as strongly mark what is only imaginary or incon- 

 sistent. 



The first lecture contains an introduction ; utility of the science, method 

 of studying it, and plan of the course, the whole particularly interesting 

 to the young botanist ; explains the terms botany, physiology, systematic 

 botany, and vegetable toxicology. The first is that branch of natural history 

 which concerns vegetables ; the second, that which treats of the structure, 

 habits, and properties of plants ; the third refers to the classification of 

 them by their exterior character, and the last refers to their poisonous 

 qualities. Then follows a concise view of the rise and progress of botany 

 and the kindred sciences, from the earliest ages to the present time, evincing 

 extensive reading and dihgent research ; all which is enriched by biographi- 

 cal sketches of eminent botanists. To the interesting particulars of the life 

 of Linnaeus, the author takes occasion to remark, that " The rage of making 

 new systems and arrangements of plants has passed away, because no longer 

 necessary ;" and farther on he adds, in a compliment to Jussieu, that " he 

 has immortalised himself by his attempt to arrange plants in a natural 



