ye ; 
_ Lntroduction. | 5 
‘position in the system to any newly-discovered species. The 
Linnean system is an artificial one, since it 1s not founded 
--on a combination of all, nor even of several, characters of a | 
plant, but takes into account only single characters as the 
primary principle of classification. There were therefore 
necessarily opponents of the system. ‘The first to propose 
in its place a natural system was the French botanist A. L, 
de Jussieu (00. 1836), who took as his starting-point the 
-presence and the structure of the embryo. He was shortly 
followed by A. P. De Candolle (04. 1841) and Endlicher 
(ob. 1849); the foundation of the primary classification 
being with the former anatomical structure, with the latter 
the mode of growth. The efforts to construct better systems ~ 
are not yet brought to a conclusion ; and we cannot yet see 
their end. In the meantime botanists are vigorously at 
work in completing the botanical material, whether by the 
compilation of ‘ Floras’ which treat of the plants of particular 
districts, or by travels through districts hitherto unknown 
or not yet sufficiently explored. 
, If we now attempt to sketch in a few lines the history 
of the development of the remaining departments of 
botanical science ;—it appears, as might be expected, that 
the study of the anatomy of plants came into existence 
shortly after the discovery of the art of manufacturing mag- 
nifying lenses. The English botanist Grew (0d. 1711) and 
Malpighi of Bologna (0d. 1694) must be considered as the 
true founders of this study. After the ground had been 
successfully broken by their researches, it was almost en- 
 tirely neglected during the eighteenth century, and the in- 
vestigation has only recently been again resumed, and this 
branch of botany carried to a truly remarkable perfection by 
our contemporaries Alex. Braun, Goppert, H. von Mohl 
(0b. 1872), Schacht (0d. 1864), Schleiden, Unger (00. 1870), 
and many others. 
- While during the eighteenth century the study of ana- 
tomy lay dormant, especial interest was excited by problems 
