42 
METHOD OF ANALYSIS. 
The vowels ae and oe are often used as dipthongs, when they 
have the sound of e, as Hepaticae, pronounced He-pat'i-ce. 
Dioecia, pronounced Di-e-cia. 
C and g as in English, are soft before e, i, and y, and hard 
before a, o, and u. 
The soft sound of c is like s, the hard sound like k. 
The soft sound of g is like j , the hard sound like g in the 
word gave ; thus Algae is pronounced Al-je. 
Musci Mus-si. 
The letters ch are hard like k, as in Orchis ; pronounced Or- 
kis. 
LECTURE VI. 
Method of analyzing Plants by a series of comparisons. — Gen- 
eral remarks upon plants. — Method of preserving Plants for 
an Herbarium. — Poisonous Plants, and those which are not 
poisonous. 
When we dissect a plant, or examine separately each of its 
organs, this is properly analysis ; for the meaning of the word 
analysis is a separation ; but when we speak of finding out 
plants by analyzing them, we mean something more than exam- 
ining each part of the flower ; this is indeed the first step in the 
process ; but by means of observing these organs, we are to as- 
certain the Class, Order, Genus, and lastly the Species of the 
plant. “ A person engaged in ascertaining the name of a plant, 
may be said to be upon a Botanical Journey , and the plant being 
his Directory ; if he can read the botanical characters impressed 
on it by the hand of Nature, he will, by following system, soon 
arrive at his journey’s end.”* 
In the first place we have two comparisons to make. 
1st. Whether the Stamens and Pistils are visible. 
2nd. Whether they are invisible. 
If the Stamens and Pistils are not visible, we have already ar- 
rived at the class which is Cryptogamia. 
If, however, the Stamens and Pistils are visible, we have 
now two comparisons to make. 
* Thornton. 
Meaning- of the word analysis — How used in botany — What two compar- 
isons to be first made in analyzing a plant — 
