SIR J. E. SMITH. 



77 



like his fellow-labourers for many years in this depart- 

 ment, believed ; yet he was too modest and too learned to 

 think he had brought this new and arduous design to per- 

 fection ; for whatever he has incidentally or deliberately 

 thrown out respecting the value of his labours, is often 

 marked Avith more diffidence on the subject of classifica- 

 tion than any other. He first applied his system to 

 practical use in a general ' Historia Plantarum/ of which 

 the first volume, a thick folio, was published in 1686, 

 and the second in 1687. The third volume of the same 

 work, which is supplementary, came out in 1704. This 

 vast and critical compilation is still in use as a book of 

 reference, being particularly valuable as an epitome of the 

 contents of various rare and expensive works, which 

 ordinary libraries cannot possess, such as the ' Hortus 

 Malabaricus.' The description of species is faithful and 

 instructive, the remarks original, bounded only by the 

 whole circuit of the botanical learning of that day ; nor 

 are generic characters neglected, however vaguely they 

 are assumed. Specific differences do not enter regularly 

 into the author's plan, nor has he followed any uniform 

 rules of nomenclature. So ample a transcript of the 

 practical knowledge of such a botanist cannot but be a 

 treasure ; yet it is now much neglected, few persons being 

 learned enough to use it with facility, for want of figures 

 and a popular nomenclature ; and those who are seldom 

 requiring its assistance. A mere catalogue or index, like 

 the works of Tournefort and Caspar Bauhin, which teach 

 nothing of themselves, are of readier use. The * Species 

 Plantarum' of Linnaeus unites the advantages of the 

 clearest, most concise, specific definition, and, by the help 

 of Bauhin, of a universal index. 



But if the fame or the utility of Ray's great botanical 

 work has neither of them been commensurate with the 

 expectations that might have been formed, a little octavo 

 volume, which he gave to the world in 1690, amply sup- 

 plied all such defects, and proved the great corner-stone 

 of his reputation in this department of science. We 



