BOTANY. 
7. Receptacidum, fq . 48, the receptacle, is 
the common base or point of connection of 
the parts of fructification. It is essential, inas- 
much as it must exist in some form or other. 
This part, however, comes chiefly into no- 
tice when it assumes any peculiar form, as 
in compound flowers ; the dandelion, daisy, 
and thistle, for instance. In some of this 
class it is naked, scaly, hairy, or cellular, 
and such circumstances afford excellent ge- 
neric characters. Such of the natural order 
of Proteaceae as have aggregate flowers are 
also furnished with as conspicuous a recep- 
tacle as the cdmpound flowers. The recep- 
tacle of the seeds is a term used for the 
part to which they are attached in a seed- 
'vessel. 
OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF PLAINTS. 
The species of plants, as well as of all 
other natural productions, are so immensely 
numerous, that the most superficial ob- 
server must be aware of the necessity of 
some regular mode of arranging them, as 
well as of naming and distinguishing them, 
in order to acquire or to retain any clear 
knowledge of their natures, differences, or 
comparative uses. Hence the distribution 
of plants into trees, shrubs, and herbs, into 
eatable, medicinal, or hurtful kinds, was 
very early conceived ; for the human mind 
is naturally prone to method and combina- 
tion. When the subject came to be scien- 
tifically studied, various plans were formed, 
as different in ingenuity and utility as possi- 
ble, proceeding on various principles, but 
all aiming at the same end, the commodious 
arrangement of plants. The authors of 
these various schemes seem all, as far as they 
considered the matter with any such view, 
to have thought their own plan most conso- 
nant with that natural classification which 
every one at first sight perceived to exist in 
the creation ; but a little experience proved 
that the clue of nature soon eluded their 
grasp. 
Linnaeus, the first person who took a 
very comprehensive and philosophical view 
of the laws of system, and at the same time 
carried them most happily into effect, for 
the purposes of utility and facility, was the 
first to perceive the difference between a 
natural arrangement and an artificial one. 
He ever considered the former as the great 
desideratum of philosophical botany, and 
indeed as necessary to be kept in view by 
all who describe or define new discovered 
plants ; while the latter was to be adopted 
for ready use and convenience, just as 
words are arranged in a dictionary according 
to their spelling, without any regard to their 
derivations or analogical meanings. The 
same great naturalist was also, from the 
first, aware of the essential importance of 
tire principle laid down by Gesner and Cse- 
salpinus, as we have already stated, that 
plants ought to be arranged by their parts 
of fructification alone, and not by their ge- 
neral habit or structure independent there- 
of. Hence he denominates heterodox all 
such systematics as class vegetables by 
their leaves, roots, uses, times of flowering, 
or places of growth, for, strange to tell i 
there have been such ; and he esteems truly 
orthodox those botanists only who derive 
the characters of their systems from the 
flower and fruit, in which, as he expresses it, 
the true form or essence of their being is 
displayed. On this point all botanists are 
now agreed, but they differ widely con- 
cerning the eligibility of a natural or an arti- 
ficial system for daily use, as well as the 
principles upon which each ought to be 
founded. 
The earlier systematics began with the 
consideration of the seed and seed-vessel, 
forming their classes upon the situation of 
the embryo, whether at the top or base of 
the seed, and the number of the seeds and 
seed-vessels, or their cells, in different 
plants. Some, as the great English natura- 
list Ray, took into consideration, over and 
above the fruit and its parts, the form and 
number of the parts of the corolla, and even 
the leaves and roots, which altogether make 
but a motley jumble of principles ; but in a 
second attempt this learned man was more 
uniform and successful in his scheme. Others 
founded their systems on the corolla alone, 
as Rivinus and Tournefort, whose methods 
are elegant and attractive at first sight, but 
far more unphilosophical, far more difficult 
in practice, than those founded on the fruit. 
The authors of these various systems dis- 
puted with great warmth concerning their 
respective merits, and each had his fol- 
lowers and advocates. Many other me- 
thods were contrived, partaking, more or 
less, of the principles of the few great lead- 
ing systematics who contended for the bota- 
nical sceptre, and frequently borrowing 
from them without due acknowledgment. 
All these systems have now' passed away, at 
least with respect to practical use. They 
are the study of the botanical antiquary, 
and they are instructive to the student of 
philosophical arrangement in general ; but 
no work that treats of plants is arranged 
