46 
The vegetable SYSTEM. 
which the befl: of Men arefubjedt; let them be forgot: and as I 
have pointed both the good and tlie bad of this Author, it will net 
be difficult to avoid the one, whilll; we reap the fruit of his labours 
by carefully examining the other. 
PTerman’s method was publiffied by one of his Scholars in 1690, 
and is taken folely from the PTuit. It is entirely artificial ; Nature 
is little attended to, except in the natural Claffies, kept by mod 
authors. The others are formed of many various Plants; and as it 
is chiefly compiled from C^salpinus and Morrison, it will be 
unnecefl'ary to dwell longer upon it. 
Rivinus was cotemporary with Ray and Herman : he had very 
bitter difputes with the former about his Syftem, which Ray very 
properly condemned. This Author is remarkable for having drop- 
ped the diftindlion between Trees, &c. and Herbs : he alfo mixes 
the Apetalae amongfl: the reft. He divides Plants into perfedl and 
imperfedt : the firft into Ample and compound, the Ample into regu- 
lar and irregular; the regular form feven Claftes, viz. the i, 2, 3, 
4, 3, 6, and many Petal’d : the irregular the fame. Of the com- 
pound he has regular and irregular ; and regular and irregular mixed. 
The imperfedl make the i8th Clafs. His orders are taken from 
the Fruit. He has not one pure Clafs ; for though he keeps many 
of the Pants together that form the beft natural Claffies, as the Um- 
beliferrc, CompoAtas, Ringentes, &c. ; they have very improper ones 
joined to them. The following inftances prove this aflertion. 
In the regular, Tetrapetalous in the midft of the Siliquofae, are 
placed Potamogiton, Clematis, Epimedium, &c. and there are added 
Euonymus, Laurus, Vaccinium. To his regular compound Clafs 
is added Nymphaea : to his regular and irregular, Granadilla, Ni- 
gella, Helleborus, &c. His irregular compound are the beft, but 
far from well. In his irregular Monopetalous, with the Ringentes 
are Lobelia, Ariftolochia, Lantana, Lonicera, Arum, &c. With the 
l^eguminofae : in the regular Tetrapetalous appear Iberis, Cardifper- 
mum, Impatlens, Euphorbia, &c. Joined to the Umbelliferae in 
the irregular Pentapetalous are Tropaeolum, Geranium, Caffiia, and 
feveral 
