looking glass. 
201 
from each other, were fuch able naturalifts as 
Desfontaines to continue refearches after the dif- 
tin^ion of fcxes, families, and colonies, in the ve- 
getable world. In the mean time, thofe plants 
which live more than one year anfwer the two 
following defcriptions, viz. — 
irt. Monocotyledones have no diftincl concentric 
fprigs or layers pointed towards the middle : their 
juice runs through the fibres or filaments, without 
any ramifications tending to, or from, one point. 
2dly. The Dicotyledones are of a defcription op- 
pofite to the laft, agreeable to the circulating fyfiem 
of the blood and fluids in other animals. 
In the firfl clafs we reckon the palm, cow-grafs, 
afparagus, fern, the daffodil, mofs, &c. &c. 
On the other hand, hart- wort, houfe-leek, Indian 
fig, and others, with two feminal leaves, are of the 
fecond order already defcribed. 
Thefe two claffes are invariable, and infeparable 
from every partial variation difcovered in the uni- 
verfal fyfiem : the firft is pliant or tender, and the 
fecond of a harder or more durable kind. Thus, 
at firfi fight, we difiinguifli the flender palm-tree 
from the beech, the fir, the elm, or other trees 
difiinguifhed by a double feminal leaf. Indeed, fo 
nicely do we find their kindred marked by fuch 
Phyfiognomical figns, that, after a feries of years, 
when only the remains of a trunk are brought to 
light. 
