BOTANY. 279 



Linnffius, to whom we are indebted for the classification now 

 in general use, divided plants into Twenty-four Classes, and 

 farther separated the classes into an equal number of Orders; 

 the constituent characters of Avhich we shall proceed to 

 enumerate, premising that the characters of the first eleven 

 classes as taken from the number of stamens or anthers ; of 

 the succeding nine, from the number and situation of these 

 parts, as also, Avhether they are distinct, or separate one 

 from another, or connected by their filiaments ; the other 

 classes are composed of Plants, which have the Staminiferous 

 and Pistiliferous prrts of the flower, either in distinct or on 

 the same plant, or the stamens on one plant, and the pistils 

 on another; and lastly, of such as have Stameiiiferous, Pisti- 

 liferous, and Neutral flowers, on the same, or seperate plants. 



The last Class is composed of plants possessing no charac- 

 ters in common either with each other, or with those of other 

 classes ; their fructification being little understood ; the 

 flowers or parts of fructification, in most kinds, are only 

 discoverable by the Microscope, and the offices of these 

 parts have uot in many of the kinds been satisfactorily 

 defined. 



The characters of the first thirteen Orders are taken from the 



number of the Pistilla, or female parts of the flowers ; of the 



succeeding orders, from the structure of the Pistilla, Pericarp 



(or seed vessel) ; from the proportion and situation of the 



Stamens, or from the disposition and character of their 



Florets. It is almost unnecessary to add,that the male parts of 



the flowers are the Anthers or Stamens, those yellow masses 



suspended on thread-like filaments, conspicuous in the Lilly, 



and the female is that slender projecting part with a 



green tip, likewise conspicuous in the Common Wliite Lilly. 



T 4 



