PREFACE. V 



following ; and I can quite understand how the whole 

 system may appear to be an unintelligible mass of 

 confusion. It has, therefore, occurred to me that if, 

 without sacrificing Science, the subject should be 

 divested of the many real and of the still greater 

 number of imaginary difficulties that frighten stu- 

 dents, and if they could be taught to recognize the 

 Natural tribes of plants, not by mere technical cha- 

 racters, but by those simple marks of which the prac- 

 tised Botanist exclusively makes use, a work in which 

 such objects are attained might be found of some 

 utility. 



It is now admitted on all hands that the principles 

 of the artificial system of Linnaeus, which were so 

 important and useful at the time when they were 

 first propounded, are altogether unsuited to the 

 present state of science ; and in the latest work that 

 has been published in this country, upon that system, 

 the learned and amiable author is forced to rest his 

 defence of his still following it upon " the facility 

 with which it enables any one, hitherto unpractised 

 in Botany, to arrive at a knowledge of the genus and 

 species of a plant." But if a system of Botany is to 

 be nothing more than a contrivance to help those who 

 will not master the elements of the science, to deter- 

 mine the name of a plant ; and if it is really neces- 



