142 



Dr. T. R. Beck's Address. 



God made the country, (says the poet,) and man made the town. 



Among the knowledge which the wisest of men possessed was 

 that of the science we have just mentioned. It would appear that 

 he did not despise its acquisition, or think it beneath the dignity of 

 his intellect; and his example may at least serve as an apology 

 for those who desire to be its votaries. But even here, the argu- 

 ment of usefulness meets us, with its usual force. The perennial 

 grasses which afford sustenance to animals— the various vegeta- 

 bles which furnish food to man— the lofty forests which present 

 materials for his dwellings — and the numerous plants which are 

 ordained for the removal or mitigation of disease, all require elu- 

 cidation, Or deserve inquiry. It is an object of liberal curiosity 

 to be acquainted with these, and even were it only a subject of 

 <Jownright calculation, it would certainly seem to be necessary that 

 some individuals should be conversant with them. The meanest 

 flowret has its use. What the inattentive observer may consider 

 as a worthless weed, aids in its place, in preserving the face of our 

 country from being a desart— like the sands of Arabia, uninhabit- 

 able by man or animals. Modern Chemistry has also detected the 

 life preserving power of vegetables, and taught us how dependent we 

 are on the verdure of the fields for the continuance of perfect health. 



Botany at the present day, is not a mere description and classi- 

 fication of species. Amidst the systems which have been from 

 time to time presented by master spirits in the science, those of 

 Linnseus and Jussieu are at present most followed, and the latter 

 in particular is well calculated to group together such plants as 

 resemble each other, most nearly, in appearance and qualities. 

 This is an approach to generalization, but research has extended 

 it still farther. It has ascertained the natives of different eleva- 

 tions of land— traced the limits within which they are to be found 

 —and thus is gradually establishing rules, which may serve as 

 general principles in the science. When this is accomplished, the 

 study may be approached as a magnificent whole, where parts, ap- 

 parently dissimilar and unconnected, are yet all subservient to uni- 

 versal laws. Indeed in some late papers, and particularly in one, 

 read not long since before the Linmean Society, in London, by Mr. 



