HISTORY OF BOTANY 
231 
should JituI great diffiovlty in ascertaining the names of jploAits / 
it is, as it were, a stepping-stone by which we must ascend to 
the vahiable knowledge which cannot well be reached in any 
other way. The more jpractical a hotanist hecomes^ the less need 
has for this assistance / the eye hecomes quich to seize on 
natxiral characters without reference to the dictionary^ as th^ 
artificial system is aptly termed. Thus a pupil, in studying a 
language, may in time be able to dispense with his dictionary ; 
though he could not have proceeded at first without its assist- 
ance. 
For more particular explanations of Jussieu's method, the pupil is referred to 
the comparison of that with the method of Linnaaus and Tournefort in the remarks 
on classification, and to the Natural Orders contained in Part V. of this volume. 
359. Adanson, previous to the time of the younger Jussieu, 
had published a system of classification, in which he arranged 
plants according to the resemhlances observed in all their organs. 
In one class all plants with similar roots were placed ; in another, 
all which had similar stems / a third was arranged by resem- 
blance of leaves in their forms and situations ; but the most 
important distinctions he considered as founded upon the orgam 
of fructification. The name of this ingenious botanist is com- 
memorated in the huge Adansonia, or calabash-tree, of Africa, 
which is considered as the Colossus of the vegetable kingdom. 
Louis Richard^ a French botanist, wrote an interesting account 
of the Orchidaceae of Europe, and assisted in compiling from 
ancient w^orks a very useful botanical dictionary. Des Fon- 
taines first showed that the steins of monocotyledonous and of di- 
cotyledonous plants differ from each other in tJieir structure and 
modes of growth / he divided them into endogenous and exoge- 
nous. 
360. Mirbel.^ a distinguished professor of Botany in Paris, 
has pursued his inquiries into the anatomical and physiological 
structure of plants, to an extent not exceeded by any other 
naturalist ; his " Elemens de Botanigue^"^ with many essays on 
the science, are now quoted as high authority. 
361. Baron Humboldt investigated the vegetable productions 
of the equatorial regions in America ; his remarks on vegeta- 
bles, a? a criterion of climate, are original and interesting. 
362. De Candolle's "Elementary Theory of Botany" is highly 
valued as a scientific and able performance ; but it is useful 
rather for those who have already attained a knowledge of the 
elements of botany than for the beginner in the science. The 
natural method of Jussieu has been modified and improved by 
the labors of De Ca/adolle^ Mirbel.^ Lindley., and Robert Brown. 
The NaturaJj System of Lindley, founded upon Jussieu's classi 
359. Adanson— Kichard.— 360. Mirbel.— 361. Humboldt.— 362. De Candolle 
