6 
The history of BOTANY. 
A Vein, he diftlnguifhes as larger than a Fibre, long, hollow'’, and filled 
with a fluid j thefe alfo, he fays, maybe fcparated lengthways. 
The Flesh, he defcribes as fpungy, fliapelefs, and equally capable of 
being divided in all diredlions. 
A Body compofed of thefe parts, and capable of extenfion and growth, 
by thefe allotted means. Heat and Moifture, he defines to be a Vegetable. 
As very diflerent Plants may be, and are conflruded of thefe parts, and 
as the fubjedl, when we proceed to the feveral fpecies, becomes very co- 
pious, he adopts, for a fimiliar and plain general divifion, the received 
liiflindtion into four kinds, according to the flature of the body, and firm- 
nefs of its fabftance 5 Trees, Shrubs, Under-shrubs, and Plants. 
Under the name Tree, he comprehends fuch Vegetables as are large, and 
rife with a Angle woody ftem, as the oak: by Shrubs, he underftands thofe 
which rife with many woody flems from the fame root, as the Alder: 
by Under-Shrubs, fmall Vegetables with a Angle woody ftem: and by 
Plants, fuch as have tender leafy ftalks. The author expreffes his fenfe 
of this diftindtion as vague and indeterminate, but, notwithftanding, ufe- 
ful : and fo all authors fince have judged of it. It is impoflible to fix w'hat 
are the diflindlive charadlers between Tree, Shrub, and Plant; yet man- 
kind have always conceived their abfolute difference. The article of Suf- 
FRu TICES, Under-shrubs, as we call them, has more perplexed thofe 
who adopted this divifion, than any other : but the charadler of thefe efta- 
blilTied by Theophrastus, which makes them Vegetables, more firm and 
durable than the herbaceous kinds, between the Trees and Shrubs in na- 
ture, but below both in ftature, is, in fome degree, corredt. A Suffru- 
tex, he fays, rifes with a Angle woody ftem, but is low and little ; and he 
gives Rue as an inftance. 
Having thus eftabliftied a philofoj hy of Plants ; and form’d, or adopt- 
ed rather, a divifion of the fpecies under a few natural clafies, he pro- 
ceeds to the fecond article of his original defign, their Particularities’, 
their natural differences, and the efedls of culture : and in all this he is 
clear, diftindl, and full of knowledge. Among the Particularities or Af- 
fedtions of Plants, he confiders largely the various places of their growth; 
Earth, Frefti Water, Sands, and Seas : and from this fource he gives another 
natural and obvious diftindlion of them, analagous to that of animals ; in- 
to Terreftrial, Aquatick, and Amphibious, naming many inftances of each 
kind. To this article of the Particularities of Plants, he refers alfo the 
difference of their juices; their various taftes, and fcents: fearching thefe 
qualities in that original difference of their juice j and that difference itfelf 
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