ANECDOTES OF LINNjEDS. 
XI 
spite of all attacks, his name will likewise be handed 
down in this science to the latest posterity. 
“ The vegetable reign possessed the greatest 
charms for Linnieus ; he bestowed npon it the best 
share of his timo and abilities. When he first ap- 
peared in the field of science in 1732, Toumefort’s 
system of botany derived from the structure of the 
inward cover of the flower, was every where popular 
and universally accepted. But during the latter 
part of its most flourishing epoch, a kind of bar- 
barism was perceived in that system. A great num- 
ber of new plants having been discovered, it so 
happened that the characters of the inward cover of 
the flower proved insuificient to distinguish one 
from another with plainness and regularity. Bota- 
nists began, therefore, to have recourse to the out- 
ward appearance, and to copperplates, not without 
prejudice to the certainty of the Teal system. 
“ Linnaeus soon perceived the error and its real 
foundation, in the want of sufficient and solid cha- 
racters, which the inward cover of the flower could 
never have procured. He songht, therefore, a safer 
basis for his system, and took at first the outward 
cover of the flower to effect his purpose. But he 
found it equally insufficient. He ultimately exa- 
mined the sex of the plants, which had in some 
measure been already known before him, though 
never used as a system. Upon these inquiries he 
built his sexual system, which soon met with uni- 
versal approbation and spread itself throughout Eu- 
