HlSTOllY OF BOTANY. 
23 
Species. Before that time the species, instead of being thus desig- 
nated, required in some cases a whole sentence to express the name. 
But what most tended to render the works of Linnaeus popular, 
was his artificial system, in which he had made the stamens and 
pistils subservient to a most simple and clear arrangement ; he re- 
marked the different insertion of the stamens ; their union by means 
of their filaments had been before observed^ but he employed them in a 
minner e7itirely original. i 
This " Northern Lighf,^^ as he has sometimes been termed, con 
tributed to the progress of physiology both by his own discoveries, 
and by improving upon the suggestions of those who had gone be- 
fore him. In the details of science, he was no less accurate than 
bold and comprehensive in his general views. The world knew not 
which to admire the most, the multiplicity, the novelty, or the pro- 
found views of this modern Aristotle. His school became the resort 
of men of science from all Europe ; and he seemed to have acquired 
that influence over the human mind, which had been pecuHar to the 
ancient philosophers of Greece. The defects of this great man, 
for human nature is never without its imperfections, were, that he 
sometimes carried too far a favourite idea; endowed with a brilliant 
imagination, he was at times somewhat blinded by the beauty of 
his conceptions, and strove to reconcile nature to the visions of his 
own fancy. 
We have, in our investigations of the artificial system, occasion- 
ally pointed out some imperfections, particularly in the separation 
of natural families ; but no means of remedying these have yet been 
found, and after the lapse of near a century, with the exception of a 
few alterations, we still receive this system as left by its author. 
Linnaeus died in 1778 ; he is honoured among the scientific by a 
title far more proud that any hereditary distinctions, that of" Prince 
of Naturalists." The most important works of this great man are, 
"Philosophy of Botany," " Genera and Species of Plants," " System 
of Nature," and " Flowers of Sweden, Lapland," &c. TheLinnaea 
borealis was dedicated to him by Gronovius. Ten years after his 
death, a society, distinguished by his name, was founded in London ; 
this is now in possession of his hbrary, herbariums, collections of 
insects and shells, with numerous manuscripts. Sir James Edward 
Smith was the founder of this society, and its first, and only presi- 
dent until his death, which has recently occurred. He translated the 
writings of Linnaeus, and illustrated them by his own comments. 
The study of plants, after the discoveries and classifications of 
Linnaeus, became, in a degree, general. The knowledge of vegeta- 
ble physiology began to be usefully applied to agriculture. Duhamel, 
of France, very successfully laboured to exhibit the connexion be- 
tween the science of Botany and the cultivation of plants. Bossuet, 
of Geneva, proved by experiments that the vascular system of plants 
is tubular and transparent ; and that leaves perform the office of respi- 
ration. 
Grew of England, had, before this period, ascertained the exist- 
ence of the cambium, and Duhamel afterward proved that it was 
distinct from the sap and proper juices. The latter opposed the 
tdea, till then entertained, that eartii and water were the only food of 
plants ; he proved that the various solids and fluids diffused in the 
soil and atmosphere, are all important to vegetation. 
What most rendered his works oopular? — How did he contribute to the progress of 
Dhysiolo2;y, &,e. ?— Death of Linnaeus— Lianoean Society in London— Botany aft<ir the 
death of Luiuieus— Duhamel and Grew. 
