The vegetable SYSTE M. 
47 
feveral of the MuklfiliqUc'e. In the imperfed:, you find Equifetnrri 
and Ricinus : in the middle of the Amentacceae, Ficus, with Tri- 
ticum, &c. In the fecond Clafs there is only the Circoeaj in the 
I 2th, two Malabar Plants; in the i 3 and 17th none. This, with 
the coining many new names, is all very bad ; but nothing to the 
confufion that arifes in the Genera from this dillribution ; many of 
v/hich are terribly broke and divided ; thofe preferved, it is no 
great matter how an artificial Syftem is formed : it is an Index, 
and little more. How’ever, this has had many admirers, among 
whom RuPPius, Knaut, andLuDwiGE have correded and em- 
belliflied it much : the lafl has kept the Clafs of the Apetals, but 
calls it by the ftrange name of Dubii. This Author publiihpd, in 
1747, anew method, wherein mofl of Rivinus’s ClalTes are kept: 
he there calls this Clafs Apetalae : he makes no dihindion between 
the regular and irregular, in the DIapetalous, Tripetalous, and Hex- 
apetalous; but adds two new ClalTes from thofe unnatural ones, 
the Monacciae and Diaecis of Linn^us; which he calls Relativae 
Mono, and Diphytae. His orders are taken from the Chives and 
Pointal. His generical defcriptions are good, but generally borrow- 
ed from Linn^us; fo are many of his names. Upon the whole, 
many of the natural Clafles are pure ; but yet the foundation of this 
method will not admit of any approach to Nature. 
Tournefort was another competitor of Ray’s, and one of 
the moft accurate Botanifls of the age : he examined more Plants 
than moft people had done before him, or have indeed ever been 
able to do fince. He ftudied Nature, yet preferred the arbitrary 
Laws of a favourite Syftem ; fo that notwdthflanding he has many 
claffes tolerably natural, his orders are often excellent, and the Plants 
well ranged under them, it flill muft pafs for an arbitrary method. 
His diftindllons of the fliapes of Flowers render it alfo very difficult. 
His generical defcriptions, though not perfedt, are rendered tolerable 
by his Figures ; and indeed before him we had hardly any to be 
depended on. His Syftem confifts of twenty-two ClalTes : he divides 
all into Herbs and Trees; the former into Petalous or Apetalous; 
the Petalous into fimple and compound ; the fimple into Monopetalous 
and Polipetalous, and each of thefe into regular and irregular. His 
orders 
