160 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



self suffered in this way, Wilson determined 

 that his researches should be open to all. It were 

 not otherwise than that he should look with 

 contempt on most of the work of his contem- 

 poraries. There was no regular method, some 

 disposing the plants in alphabetical order ; 

 others according to their supposed virtues; 

 though none by any chance giving the student 

 a ray of enlightenment as to how to identify 

 any rare plant he might find. The converse 

 of this Wilson attempted to do, and succeeded. 



In classifying plants into their natural orders 

 and genera, he seized upon one or two well- 

 marked and permanent characteristics ; nor 

 could he be turned aside by minor differences 

 or special modifications. And this was the key 

 to his success. He reduced order out of chaos, 

 and mightily simplified the work of succeeding 

 botanists. A feature of his book is that of 

 giving the habitat of each plant described, and 

 he seems to derive peculiar pleasure in this. 

 We have already testified to his accuracy of 

 description; he is always clear though some- 

 times quaint. The " herbalist " portion of the 

 book, which is almost always ridiculous, would 

 seem to have been dragged out of him and 



