26 MEMOIR OF LAMARCK. 
conferred on him a high reputation in this depart- 
ment. These consisted of voluminous contribu- 
tions to the Encyclopedic Mcthodiqne , forming a 
Dictionary of Botany , and an extensive series of 
Illustrations of Genera. Of that portion of the 
Encyclopiedia known by the former name, Lamarck 
wrote the whole of the two first volumes, and a 
part of the third, fourth, and fifth. The object of 
the work is to give a detailed history of plants, 
accompanied with descriptions, remarks on their 
synonymy, an account of their uses, and peculiarities 
of their structure. The Illustrations profess to afford 
“ an exposition of the characters of all the plants 
established by botanists, arranged according to the 
sexual system of Linnaeus, -with figures displaying 
the characters of these genera, and a table of all the 
known species referable thereto, the description of 
which is found in the Botanical Dictionary of the 
Encyclopaedia.” This laborious work contains no 
fewer than two thousand genera, illustrated by half 
that number of quarto plates, executed with great 
care, and generally representing one or two of the 
typical species, with a Anew to afford a knowledge 
of their general appearance and habit. The flower 
and parts of fructification are carefully delineated, 
and the precision and accuracy of the whole work, 
renders it one of the most valuable that can be 
named for conveying a speedy knowledge of the 
extensive and interesting subject of which it treats. 
The zeal with which Lamarck laboured to produce 
works of such research and interest, is characteristic 
