^ 



S P E 



Under this weight no gold was allowed to pafs by pro- 

 clamation. 



Species, Falfe, are thofe of different metal or alloy from 

 what they fhould be, &c. 



Species, in Algebra, are the fymbols, or chara£lers, by 

 which quantities are reprefented. 



Species Aromatlcis, a new name given in the late London 

 Difpenfatory to the compofition ufually called /pedes diam- 

 br<e. The College obferved, that the intention of this medi- 

 cine was beft anfwered, bv compofing it of fucli Ipioes as the 

 daily experience of the table (hews were moll grateful to the 

 Itomach, and by avoiding all ingredients which, though of 

 the aromatic kind, are accompa-.;ied with any thing naufeous 

 and difguftful in their flavour ; and, therefore, have or- 

 dered it to be now made in the following manner. Take 

 cinnamon two ounces, cardamom-leeds, ginger, and long 

 pepper, of each an ounce ; make all together into a fine 

 powder. 



Species e Scordto, the ingredients of the diafcordium 

 eleftuary in a dry form. The recipe is fomething altered in 

 the late London Pharmacopeia, and Hands thus : take bole 

 armenic, four ounces ; fcordium, two ounces ; cinnamon, 

 an ounce and half; ftorax, roots of torinentil, biltort, gen- 

 tian, dittany of Crete, galbanum, and gum arable and red 

 rofes, each an ounce ; long pepper and ginger, each half an 

 ounce ; opium, three drachms ; this may be left out at plea- 

 fure ; and all arc to be beat to a fine powder. 



Species, in Gardening, has fome which confift only of 

 one, as the flowering rufh, the hop, and fome more ; while 

 in others they are numerous, as in the fun-flower, the ge- 

 ranium, the honeyfuckle, the willow, and a great many 

 more. There is often, too, fome degree of fimilarity in the 

 culinary or domeftic and economical ufes, as well as the 

 medicinal properties, in the fpecies of cultivated garden and 

 other plants, which belong to the fame g^enus or family, as 

 in the cafes of garlick, onion, leek, ftiallot, and chives ; 

 cabbages, favoys, brocoli, and cauliflower ; parfley and 

 celery ; the bay-tree, benjamin-tree, faflafras, and cinna- 

 mon ; mugwart, wormwood, tarragon, and fouthernwood : 

 and the fame takes place in many other inllances. 



The fpecies likewife, in fome cales, ferves to denote the 

 mode of culture and management which are neceffary in the 

 raifing and growing of different plants, in the garden mari- 

 ner, as well as their habits of growth and production. 



Species of Plants., in Syjlematic Botany, appear, as far 

 as can be afcertained from the umverial exper'enre of thofe 

 who are converfant with them, as well as from every thing 

 that can be gathered from the records of remote antiquity, 

 to remain diftindl from each other, marked by their appro- 

 priate charafters and qualities, and renewing themfelve'! 

 periodically by fexnal generation. Such being the cafe 

 with all the p'ants of which we have any knowledge, wc 

 conclude it to be fo with the rcit, as well as with animals. 

 The White Blackbird of Arillotle Hill inhabits the Cyl- 

 leiiian groves and copies of Arcadia, undillurbed by the 

 revolutions of two thoufand years ; and we doubt not that 

 the banks of the Alpheus have been fringed witli the fame 

 violets and primrofes, through uncounted ages, as thofe 

 with which they are now, every ipring, adorned. 



Various plants indeed, and rfpecially domeilic ones, like 

 domeftic animals, are found liable to fome variations of 

 colour, luxuriance, and fenfiblo qualities, which have led 

 curious inquirers to doubt whether any fpecies are certainly 

 permanent. This doubt could arife only from a flight view 

 of the fubjeft. Whatever cafual aberrations there may be 

 in the feminal offspring of cultivated plants ; a little obferva- 

 tion will prove how tranfitnt fuch varieties are, and how 



II 



S P E 



uniformly their defcendants, if they be capable of producing 

 any, refume the natural charafters of the fpecies to which 

 they belong. Nothing can better exemplify this fadt, than 

 the feries of experiments inftituted, on a moft extenfive 

 fcale, upon the Apple-tree, by the celebrated prefident of 

 the Horticultural Society, Mr. Andrew Knight. They 

 prove that every thing but fexwal propagation is only the 

 extenfion of an individual, whofe corporeal frame has but a 

 certain limited exiftencc ; the period of which is indeed 

 much longer in fome varieties than in others ; and hence the 

 valuable Golden-pippin and Nonpareil have enriched our 

 orchards for a long courfe of years, while numerous new 

 varieties of apples are found to endure but for a few feafons. 

 Some, however, promife to be more lafting, and to fupply 

 the place to our defcendants, of thofe kinds, of which we 

 can tranlmit to them only the names. When varieties ori- 

 ginate in the crofs impregnation of plants of different 

 fpecies, they partake of tlie inability to procreate which be- 

 longs to mule animals, and are moreover feldom capable of 

 being long increafed by cuttings, budding, or other me- 

 thods. For confirmation of this, fee the article Pel.ir- 



GONIUM. 



The technical difcriminalion of the fpecies of plants, but 

 vaguely and fuperficially attended to by the ancients, makes 

 an interelling part of the philofophy of modern botany, 

 which confiders their differences as indifputably founded in 

 nature, and for the mofl part extends that opinion, even to 

 thofe afl'emblages of fpecies which we term genera. On this 

 fubjefl the reader may confult the article Genus. 



Although the dillnitlive charaftcrs of genera are wifely- 

 limited, by the moft philofophical botanifts, to the part8 of 

 fruftificatioii, ttiofe of fpecies are allowed to be taken from 

 any part of the plant. Some charafters are found more im- 

 portant or coiiftant in one tribe, others in another; none 

 are abfolute, or invariably conftant, in any. Number, 

 which in the natural orders i.f Caryophyllete and Rofiiceis will 

 fometimes afford even a generic di'tinction, in others, and 

 even in what regards the llamens of the Caryophyllee them- 

 felves, 'will hardly be found to limit a fpecies. The dif- 

 ferences between fimple or compound leaves, entire or in- 

 dents d, opjjofite or alternate ones, arc ufually llriking and 

 unchangeable ; but exceptions may be found to all thefe. 

 Colour of flowers is, on the other hand, feldom to be relied 

 on as a fpecific difference. It appears fo in Mefentbryanthe- 

 mum, but to prove it the fpecies mult be cultivated from 

 feed. Yet the yellow difk of a compound flower has never 

 been known to change hues with its blue or white radius, 

 nor does fuch a variation feem within the bounds of pof- 

 iibility. Pubelcence is found variable both in itrudlure and 

 quantity ; but lefs, or not at all, fo in direftion. Hence 

 the fpecific charafters of Mcnthjt, and more recently of the 

 genus Myofotis, have been determined better than by any 

 other means. 



The inflorefcence, or mode of connection of the flowers, 

 is pointed out by Linnseus, as yielding the beft fpecific cha- 

 rarters ; though he, in theory at leaft, excludes it from all 

 authority in founding genera. In graffes, neverthelefs, 

 every body recurs to this mark ; though perhaps founder 

 principles may hereafter be difcovered for arranging even 

 thefe. 



The root almolt invariably affords good and unchangeable 

 fpecific charatters ; but it is not always acceffible, wor rea- 

 dily prelerved in a herbarium. Some grades moreover change 

 their fibrous roots into bulbous ones, in confequence of a 

 fludluation of foil or nutriment ; and the bulbs of other 

 plants very much alter their t*xture or appearance from 

 fimilar caufes. 



Great 



