BOTANICAL APHORISMS. 165 
SOLANUM. 
Corolla rotata. Antherz subcoalite, apice poro 
gemino dehiscentes. Bacca bilocularis. 
This essential character will easily distinguish the 
genus Solanum from the rest. But suppose there 
‘was found a plant which had all these characters, 
but had a berry that was quadrilocular ; if we were 
to make of this plant a separate genus, the character 
would be factitious ; for, as we shall shew afterwards 
{§ 159, 160), the plant does notwithstanding bes 
fong to the genus Solanum, 
§ 149. 
‘Nature has connected, as we have seen, (§ 120), 
each particular plant with others, by certain affinities 
or resemblances. ‘hese resemblances are the foun- 
dation of the genera, But it is obvious that on 
this account the genera are not really in nature, but 
imagined by botanists as assistances to the Know- 
ledge of plants. Genera must be founded only on 
the flower and fruit; but the resemblances which 
we observe in plants are not confined merely to 
these, but are found in every other part of the 
plant. 
§ 150. 
The establishment of genera is a necessary step 
in the science ; and to attain the knowledge of them 
we must attentively consider the whole structure of 
the flower and of the fruit. This structure is either 
it 3 natural, 
