MEMOIR OF RAT. 
45 
This arrangement is, to a considerable extent, con- 
formable to that of Caesalpinus, published in 1583, 
who was the first to avail himself of GesnePs judicious 
suggestion to arrange vegetables by means of their 
fructification. But while the peculiarities of the fruit 
were continually kept in view, and may be said to 
form the basis of his method, Ray perceived the 
propriety of seeking for distinctive characters in the 
other parts of a plant, in consequence of which he 
has made a nearer approach to a natural arrange- 
ment than any preceding systematist. He has cer- 
tainly surpassed his predecessor Morison, a native 
of Aberdeen, and professor of botany at Oxford, 
whose system was first published at Paris in 1669, 
and which is greatly more complex than that of 
Caesalpinus, without being more useful in the ex- 
trication of natural affinities. It will be perceived 
that Ray adopts the ancient primary division of 
plants into trees, shrubs, and herbs ; although, as 
Sir J. E. Smith observes, his own prefatory remarks 
tend to overset that principle, as a vulgar and casual 
one, unworthy of a philosopher. To this supposed 
fundamental distinction, however, lie continued to 
adhere, but he soon rectified many of the other 
errors of his first arrangement, ' such as the sepa- 
ration of the cereale grasses from their obvious as- 
sociates, in an improved method subsequently pub- 
lished. This arrangement, which contains his most 
matured views on the subject, consists of thirty-four 
classes, distributed as follows : 
