CHARACTERS USED IN CLASSIFICATION. 
131 
very difficult to explain their reasons for this classification to others. 
It will appear, from this definition of natural characters, that in 
some respects, the method of Jussieu is no less artificial than that of 
Linnaeus, since it depends upon particulars which can only be 
learned and understood by the aid of science; and we must admit 
that the genera which its orders exhibit, are often as unlike, in habit 
and properties, as are those which compose the classes of Linnaeus. 
It is by their natural characters, that persons who have never, 
perhaps, heard of such a science as zoology or the classification of 
animals, are enabled to distinguish ferocious beasts from domestic 
and gentle animals; they see a sheep or cow without any terror, 
although that individual one they may never have seen before ; for 
nature teaches them to consider that as resembling other sheep and 
cows, which they know to be inoffensive. This natural character 
teaches savages to distinguish among the many plants of the forest, 
those which may administer to their wants, and those which would 
be injurious. 
Even the lower grades of animals have this faculty of selecting 
by natural characters, nutritious substances, and avoiding noxious 
ones; thus we see the apparently unconscious brutes luxuriating in 
the rich pastures prepared for them by a benevolent Creator, and 
cautiously passing by the poisonous weed, directed by an instinct 
given them by this same Almighty Benefactor. 
A natural family is composed of several genera of plants which 
have some common marks of resemblance, and its name is usually 
founded upon this general character; as Labiate and Cruciform , 
which are derived from the form of the corollas; Umbellate and 
Corymbiferous , from the infloresence ; Leguminous , from the nature 
of the fruit. In many cases the family takes its name from a con¬ 
spicuous genus belonging to it; as the Rosacec e, or rose-like plants; 
jP apaveracece, or poppy tribe, from Papaver , the poppy. 
Natural families or orders resemble artificial orders in being com¬ 
posed of genera, but the principles on which these are brought to¬ 
gether differ widely in the tw o cases. 
In the truly natural families, the classification is such as persons 
who have never studied botany, might make; thus, dill, fennel, car¬ 
away, &c., belong to the Umbellate family, on account of the form 
in which the little stalks, bearing the flower, and afterward the seed, 
branch out from one common centre, like the sticks of an umbrella ; 
this general resemblance being observable by all, it seems very nat¬ 
ural to class such plants together. 
But in the artificial orders, genera which may be very unlike in 
other respects, are brought together, from the single circumstance 
of plants having the same number of stamens and pistils. Thus, 
in the first order of the eighth class, we have the tulip and the bul¬ 
rush, the lily of the valley and the sweet flag. In the second order 
of the fifth class, we have the beet and the elm. You will at once 
perceive the striking disparity between these plants, and that an ar¬ 
rangement, wdiich thus brings them together, is properly called an 
artificial method. 
Many families of plants possess a marked resemblance in form 
Why is the method-of Jussieu no less artificial than that of Linnaeus ?—Ani¬ 
mals distinguished by natural characters—Savages distinguish plants by these cha¬ 
racters—Animals capable of discerning these natural characters—What gives name 
to a natural family of plants ?—In what respect do natural families resemble artificial 
orders ?—How do they differ ?—Why may natural families be formed without a knowl¬ 
edge of botany?—Genera in the artificial orders brought together by having the same 
number of stamens and pistils. 
