xii ANECDOTES OF TINNjEL’S. 
rope. That he might render it the more firm and 
imperishable, lie introduced the natural characters 
of the genera, which he took from all the parts of 
fructification, and from which he obtained a great 
number of distinctive marks, which will never fail 
accurately to point out the genera. He demon- 
strated the true principles of a botanical system, 
introduced a solid, certain, and definitive techno- 
logy, and demonstrated the various errors of his 
predecessors, which had made their systems totter, 
and rendered uncertain the definition of the plants. 
This laid the foundation of his authority in the 
science of botany, which he extended still farther in 
a most extraordinary manner, by the excellent, con- 
cise, and plain Diffentim Speci/icce, by the trivial 
names, and a solid and precise synonimy. After 
the entire arrangement and completion of his system, 
when the denomination and definition of plants 
could no longer embarrass its progress, ho began to 
give a great number of the descriptions of the new 
species, which are all real master pieces, and the 
knowledge of which he partly owed to his travels, 
partly to his pupils, and from which the many edi- 
tions and the important emendations of his system 
have originated. He was, at the same time, ex- 
tremely cautious in not mentioning any plant as a 
species or as a genus, of which he either did not well 
know the characters, or did not find them sufficiently 
clear to his understanding. He acted thus, merely 
that he might not prejudice the solidity of his 
system. 
