102 



MEMORIALS OF RAY : 



the characters he gave would serve to render recognition 

 of the plant more easy ; and proceeds to recriminate, by 

 shovv^ing that Tournefort had frequently employed similar 

 characters in his genera of the second order. To this 

 Tournefort gave the best possible reply, by omitting in 

 his ' Institutiones' expressions which were not only 

 offensive to the person to whom they referred, but were 

 also annoying to the reader, and by professing on all 

 occasions the highest esteem for Ray ; by whom aU these 

 discussions were collected in his 'Dissertatio nova de 

 variis Plantarum Methodis,' (1696,) in which he attacks 

 Tournefort's method at greater length ; but to this attack 

 he himself gave an involuntary reply in the edition of his 

 ' Methodus Plantarum emendataet aucta,' which appeared 

 in 1703, in which, instead of simply giving his former 

 method corrected, he furnishes an entirely new one ; for 

 at this time, according to the expression of Linnseus, 

 " E fructista corollista evasit," which means, that he imi- 

 tated the example of Tournefort and Rivinus, in taking 

 the corolla for the basis of his method, following the one 

 with regard to its form, and the other with respect to the 

 number of its parts ; besides this, he made many correc- 

 tions in his generic characters, yet in spite of these altera- 

 tions there can be no doubt that he retained fewer natural 

 families than Tournefort had done. After all, however, 

 these illustrious rivals came out of their contention with 

 honour and mutual respect ; and vrithout deeming one 

 superior to the other, we may profit by the light the 

 labours of both shed upon botanical science. 



To the observations of all kinds made during his great 

 tour, and published in 1673, Ray subjoined catalogues 

 of the species he had observed, or which were communi- 

 cated to him ; and in the same year he inserted, in a 

 Collection of Travels of Rauwolf and some other natural- 

 ists, republished under the title of, ' Collection of curious 

 Travels and Voyages,' (London, 1705, 8vo) three cata- 



flowers should arise vmmediately from the root, and that tlie root should be 

 large, as Ray describes it; for a species might be found with a tall stem and a 

 slender root" 



