226 
HISTORY OF BOTANY. 
who wrote about this period, are commemorated in the beauti 
ful genus Commelina, first discovered in America. Bonnet^ of 
Geneva, a close observer of facts, wrote upon the " Nature and 
Offices of Leases 1^'' and a work entitled, " Contemplation of 
Nature^ or the Regeneration of Beings P Gaertner of Germany 
wrote upon fruits, or, as he termed this department of the sci- 
ence, Carjpology. He dissected the f ruits of more than a thou- 
sand plants^ the figures of which he designed and engraved. To 
Gleditsch^ professor of Botany at Frankfort, is dedicated the 
genus Gleditscha. Rudheck the younger, who preceded Lin- 
naeus as professor of Botany in Upsal, was, by the latter, com- 
memorated in the genus Rudbeckia. At this period the plants 
of our own country hegan to excite the curiosity of scientific Eu- 
ropeans. Louis XIV. sent to America Plumier^ a man cele- 
brated for his mathematical and botanical knowledge, and who 
was styled Botanist to the King. He gave drawings and de 
scriptions of more American species than any other traveler 
had done. The practice of naming newly discovered plants after 
distinguished hotanists hecame common. History now presents 
us with many who were distinguished by their efforts in the 
cause of science. 
349. Botanists now began to study the stamens and pistils 
of plants ^ and it was suggested that the science would remain 
imperfect as long as species and genera were undefined. Orders 
and classes also were recommended, and natural resemblances 
and affinities studied. A work was written upon the umbel- 
liferous plants /* this was the first attempt at describing in 
one mass any single group of plants by characters peculiar to 
the whole. This was followed by several attempts to form a 
natural method of classification ; among the most approved of 
these methods was that of Ray, who published a work called 
" A General History of Plants in this he divided all plante 
into thirty -three classes, twenty-seven of which were composed 
of herbs.^ the rest of iTrees. The first botanist who proposed 
to class plants without any reference to their being either herbs 
or trees, was a German, of the name of Rivannus^ who proposed 
to consider, as the foundation of classification, the essence or 
presence offiowers / the manner in which they were situated^ 07' 
their inflorescence ; the number of petals ; the regular or irreg- 
ular form of the corolla ; the adherence or non-adherence of the 
calyx to the ovary ; the nature of the pericarp / the number of 
seeds and of cotyledons. A botanist of the name of Magnol at 
this time was honored by having his name given to the splen- 
* The author of this was Robert Moi-rison, a Scotchman. These monographs, or descriptions ot 
lingle families, are now of great value ; no botanist can thoroughly investigate the whole vegeftible 
Kingdom ; but by close attention to one department important discoveries may be made. 
349. Various improvements in Botany— Ray— Rivannus—Ma^jnoL 
