1840.J 



Wight's Illustrations of Indian Botany, 



375 



treat of Medical Botany. This objection could only be raised by 

 those who did not sufficiently consider that its object was to establish 

 principles on a scientific basis, as being the true way to attain the ob- 

 ject sought for. There is no royal road to science, and until the medi- 

 cal man studies the principles of Botany as a science, he need never ex- 

 pect, through an in^^pection of plates or specimens of medical plants, to 

 become a medical Botanist. But with only an elementary knowledge 

 of Botany, such, for example, as a perfect knowledge of the structure of 

 the flower and fruit, an acquisition not generally of very difficult at- 

 tainment, the case is widely altered ; since any one who had advanced 

 so far in the knowledge of the elements of the science may easily make 

 himself master of the characters of a few species of an order, and then 

 he can generally trace its relations with nearly allied orders, or even 

 recognize some of them from family likeness alone. Having ascertain- 

 ed the order of the plant under examination, the subsequent steps lead- 

 ing to the attainment of a comprehensive knowledge of its name, history 

 and properties, are comparatively easv; and not of it only, but of the 

 whole order. It is true, that to acquire a thorough acquaintance with 

 an order, frequently requires the student to examine and carefully com- 

 pare several, but every plant so examined facilitates subsequent research- 

 es, and les?;ens the difficulty of the next step, that, namely, of making 

 out the genus. But even without going so far, having once determined 

 the order of a plant, we are in possession of a fund of information ; since 

 but little further trouble is required to make ourselves acquainted with 

 all that is yet recorded respecting that order, and to ascertain whether 

 any applications we have learned are still unknown to science. The 

 natural method, in short, gives both precision and extension to any en- 

 quiries we may undertake respecting plants, whether considered with 

 reference to organic structure and its modifications, the products of 

 organic life in connection with structure, or the applications of these 

 products to the comforts and conveniences of life; and thereby to the 

 advancement of civilization among men. The difficulties to be sur- 

 mounted at the outset of the study are no doubt often great ; those, namely, 

 of determining the order of a plant when it departs from the normal 

 structure of the order to which it belongs: but even then, a futile 

 search is not unattended with advantage, as the examination puts us in 

 possession of much useful information, which will materially assist our 

 future research, should we be necessitated to turn to the artificial system 

 to find its name. 



" Should we, on the contrary, commence our examination with the arti- 

 ficial sexual system, the first step, that of determining the class and 



