304 Historical Notice of 



mention of the sources from which he has derived them, always en- 

 ables us to judge of their value. 



If tlie characters of the genera, then, are partly a work of compi- 

 lation, it is a kind of compilation which is indispensable in a pro- 

 duction of this nature, and often requires more talent and discern- 

 ment than direct observations. 



It may therefore be affirmed that the Ge?iera Plantariim, pub- 

 lished in 1789, was a work as perfect^ in its execution as the state of 

 botany admitted of, and this execution is entirely due to Antoine- 

 Laurent de Jussieu. 



With regard to the principles of the classification, the fundamen- 

 tal basis of the method, they were the same as those explained by 

 the author in his memoir on the series of plants in the garden of 

 Paris ; that is to say, the same as those admitted by Bernard de Jus- 

 sieu, and deduced from the number of the cotyledons, and the rela- 

 tive insertion of the parts of the flower, to which were added such 

 as are derived from the presence and structure of the corolla. 



The adoption of these characters, as the base of the first clas- 

 sification of the dicotyledones, has perhaps contributed to interrupt 

 the relations which Jussieu no doubt perceived to exist between the 

 apetales and the polypetales, and in some rarer instances between 

 the monopetales and these two last classes. But it is necessary on- 

 ly to refer to the memoir above-mentioned, to perceive that the de- 

 sire of multiplying the number of the classes, to render the natural 

 method of more easy use, determined the author, in this instance, 

 to depart from what he considered the rigorous principles of his 

 method. If any blame attaches to the author of the Genera rela- 

 tively to the classification he has adopted, it arises, I conceive, from 

 his having made this concession for the purpose of rendering his 

 work of easier application ; for it is probable that the characters 

 furnished by the corolla will one day be dispensed with, to a great- 

 er or less extent ; and this, to appearance, will be the most import- 

 ant modification which the method of the Genera Plantarum shall 

 have undergone, although in reality it will merely consist in revert- 

 ing to the original principles of the author. 



The public events which almost immediately succeeded the pub- 

 lication of the Genera Plantarum, necessarily diverted the author's 

 attention from his botanical studies. The period which elapsed be- 

 tween 1789 and 1800, was but little adapted to the peaceable study 

 of natural history : Jussieu employed it in rendering himself useful 

 both to his own species and to science, by lending his aid in improv- 

 ing the hospitals, and in organizing the museum of natural history. 



