An Account of the Second Volume of a new and enlarged Edition of Prof for LINNEUS'S Systema Nature: In which is exhibited a View of the Author's Syftem jo far as refpects the vegetable kingdom. (See an account of the firft, Vol. xxiv. p. 555, Vol. xxv. p. 317.) TH HE 2d tome of Profeffor Linnæus's A new Syfiema Naturæ is an 8vo in which the pages are continued from the former tome, from 821 to 1384; this volume contains in a compendious manner, a view of the whole vegetable kingdom, difpofed according to the fyftem of which the author was the inventor, founded as to the claffi cal part upon the fexes of plants; a fyftem B which is now almoft univerfally received, and which has gained its author immortal honours. It is in this branch of the study of nature, that the illuftrious Swale fo eminently shines; from him botany may hoaft a new æra, and without derogating from the merit of former writers, it may truly be faid, that it was never really reduced to a fcience before. It is almoft needlefs to urge the neceffity of a method in the study of nature; it is the very foul of science, and amidst such a multiplicity of objects as the vegetable kingdom affords, all attempts towards the acquifition of knowledge without it, muft end in un certainty and confusion. We have fufficient proofs of this in the writers upon plants before the invention of fyftems; and we fee and deplore the want of it in the lofs of many valuable articles, not only in the Materia Medica, but in the Pictoria and Tinctoria of the antients. Articles, whose virtues and properties appear to have been admirably well afcertained, but, which are now loft te us, for want of a more scientific arrangement of their subjects and accuracy of their descriptions. plants into Bulbofæ, Siliquofæ, Umbellifera, Verticillata, &c. Thefe indeed were fo many claffes upon which nature herself had ftamped fuch evident characteristicks, that they could not efcape their notice, and we find that fome of the beft writers of the last century preferved them entire; fuch were Joon and Cafpar Baubine, and our own countrymen Gerard and Parkinson :. In their fubdivifions, or chapters, however, they fo far neglefted the minute parts of diftinction taken from the fructification,. that nothing like generical notes can be discovered in their method; fo that the only refource in finding many of their plants was to read over their long and tedious defcriptions, which after all were frequently, infufficient to distinguish the plant fought for That great naturalift Conrade Gefner, whom Boerhaave very emphatically ftyles' Monftrum Eruditionis, appears to have been of a method of claffing plants from the the first who thought with any precifion flower or fruit; he but flightly touches upon it in his epiftles, he lived not to bring aay thing to perfection in this way. This was referved for Cafalpinus, who was the first author that arranged plants in a true systematic manner. He was profeffor at Pija, and phyfician to Pope Clement VIII. and published his Libri de Plantis in 1583, he takes the claffical characters from the fruit itself. It is wonderful that after his time, tho' fo many very eminent Botanifts. flourished, among whom were the Baubines, none ever thought of pursuing the plan he had laid down, until DrMorifon, and MrRay, who both published nearly together, their feperate fyftems founded upon claffical diftinctions drawn from the fruit. Since their time others have laboured to bring their fyftems to perfection as Knaut, Herman, Boerbaave, &c. and Dr Dillenius had still farther perfected Ray's method as is evident from the arrangement he has given to the British plants, in the third edition of that author's fynopfis. Botanie writers have chofe very different methods of arranging plants, not only before, but fince the invention of fyftema. tic botany. The alphabetic has been much followed, efpecially in local catalogues and dictionaries. Some have difpofed their plants according to their time of flowering, as Pauli in his Quadripartitum Botanicum; Bifler, in the Hortus Eyftettenfis; Dillenius in the Catalogus Giffenfis; others have arranged them according to their dif ferent places of growth; as the authors of G the Hifloria Lugdunenfis; and fome again according to their virtues in medicine; others obferving that numbers of vegeta-i bles agreed with one another in their general habit and appearance, or had a certain harmony and proportion in the difpofition and form of their roots, leaves, flowers, or fruit, in their particular mode of growing, flowering, or foliation, faw that they naturally, as it were, fell into claffes according to fuch diftinctions. Hence, their divifion of trees into Pomifere, Prunifore, Bactifera, Nucifera, Glandiferæ,&c. of (Gent. Mag, FEB. 1765.) H The fruit of plants is not the only part upon which former authors have eftablished their claffical diftribution. Several elegant fyftems have been formed from the flower, in considering which both the regularity or irregularity, as well as the number of the petals has been made the bafis of different methods by different writers. Rivini, and his followers Heucher and Ruppius are of this number; Tournefort, whofe method may be allowed to be the moft perfect till Linnæus wrote, established his ciaffical characters upon the figure of the fituation of the piftil and calyx. flower, and the orders upon the different Befides thefe methods in which the authors have chiefly confidered one part only, either the flower or fruit, as the bafis of their claffical character, feveral other fyftems have been invented of late years, in which H as have the flamina and pistils, both within the fame empalement or petals, or where thofe are wanting arifing from the fame receptacle. Of thefe 20, the first 10 claffes proceed regularly, having fo many flamina, as the title expreffes, beginning with the Amonandria and proceeding as far as decandria. The 11th clafs is called dodecandria; for there are no plants yet difcovered which have only eleven flamina, 13 Icofandria; fuch plants as have about 20 flamina or fometimes more, but always arifing from the calyx, or corolla, and not from there which the plants are arranged as far as tem on that plan. Methods have also been formed from the different (pecies and arrangement of the. calyx in plants. Profeffor Magnol 1720, published on this plan, and Linnæus himself 1737, but he foon deferted it. Every fyftem has its advantage in some refpect or other, and as all artificial me- C thods are only fo many fuccedanea to the natural one, a due attention to each muft tend to illuftrate the natural claffes and pave the way for the completion of the natural scheme in botany; a perfection which if poffible to be attained we muft not bope to fee in our days. Linnæus is the first who conftituted the Stamina and Piftils as the batis of an arti ficial method of arranging plants, and he tells us, in his Claffes Plantarum, he was led to this by confidering the great importance of those parts in vegetation. They alone are the effential parts necessary to fructification all others except the Antheræ and Stigmata,being wanting in fome flowers, and the prefent philofophy of botany regards the former as the male, and the latter as the female organs of generation in plants. As fuch indeed they may be confidered in a philofophic view, but perhaps the Linnaan fyftem, admirable as it is, would not ceptacle. 13. Polyandria, fuch as have from twenty even to a thousandflaminabut always arifing from the receptacle. 14. Didynamia, fuch as have four flamina,two long and two fhort; the effential character of this class does not confit in the number of the ftamina, for if fo,the plants might be referred to the tetrandria; but in having two of the ftamina horter than the other; one pißil only, and an irregular fhaped corolla. 15. Tetradynamia; plants with fix ftamina, four long and two short, the latter placed oppofite to each other. 16. Manadelphia; fuch as have the filamenta united at their bafe into one body. 17. Diadelphia; fuch as have the filaments united at their base D into two bodies. 18. Polyadelphia; fuch as have the filaments united at their base into feveral bodies. 19. Syngentfia; fuch as have the antheræ, but not the filaments coalefcing together fo as to form a cylinder thro which the piftil is commonly transmitted. 20. Gynandria; fuch as have the stamina fpringing from the pilftil itself. 21. Monsecia; such vegetables as have feparate male and female flowers on the fame plant. 22. Dioecia; fuch as have separate male and female flowers on feparate plants. 23. Polygamia; fuch as have conftantly befides hermaphrodite flowers, others either male or female, on the fame plant. 24. This clafs is called Cryptogamia; because it contains the plants whofe fructification is not. yet fufficiently discovered. have been lefs acceptable had the claffical F terms been expretfive only of number and fituation, without regard to the offices of the parts. Ludwig, in his Definitiones Plantarum, where he has endeavoured to com.. bine the fyftems of Rivini and Linnæus into one, has avoided this mode of expreffion, by fubftituting the terms Monanibera, Mo nefylæ, &c. Before we fpeak of the volume under confideration it will be proper to exhibit a compendious view of the fexual system itfelf. All known plants are divided by Linnæus into 24 claffes, the characters of which are established upon the number or different Gtuation and arrangement of the famina or male organs; and the orders or fubdivifions of these claffes, as far as poffible, upon the fimilar arrangement of the ** Fifils, or female organs of generation. The first twenty claffes contain what the author calls bermagkredite. Howere, or fuch The orders or fubdivifions of the foregoing claffes are established upon the number of the piftils, or female parts of generation, But this arrangement is pursued only thro' the first 13 claffes; that is, fo long as the claffical character depends on the number of the stamina, so long the or Gders likewife depend upon the number of the pistils; but when fituation takes place as the character of the clafs,then the orders are founded upon other distinctions which we fhall briefly specify.The 14th clafs,or the Didynamie, is divided into Gymnofpermiæ, & Angro permia, the former have four naked teeds; the latter have the feeds inclofed in Ha Pericarpium, or feed veffel. 15. Tetradyna mia, has two orders according to the fize and shape of the pod or fhale; Siliculofa thart, and Siliquefa long fhale. The orders of the three next classes, viz, the Monadei, Phia, Diaspbia, & Polyadelphia are taken from the number of the ftamina. The orders of the Syngenenfis, are five, in four of which the plants are Polygamia, and the orders anfe from the different ftructure of the flowers, or rather flofcules constituting the radius and the difk; the fifth order is A Mangamia. 20. Gynandria. Here the orders take their titles from the number of the ftamina. 21, 22. Monoecia, Dioecia; in thefe two claffes the orders take the characters of the foregoing classes of the system itself, as far down as the Monoecia clafs itself. 23. The Polygamia, is divided into three orders, as the plants are, Manoccia, Dioecie, or B Tricia, 24. The Cryptogamia is divided into Filices, Mufci, Alge, & Fungi. The establishment of the two next branches of the Linnæan fyftem, viz. the generical and specifical characters of plants, as they are by far the most important, fo they are what the author has laboured at with unwearied and uncommon diligence, and C brought them to an amazing degree of perfection; far indeed beyond what could have been expected from the labour of any one man, and who but a Linnus was capable of it. D The generical characters are established upon the affamblage of all the parts of fructification, compared together according to their number, figure, proportion, and fituation. Thefe at large make an 8vo of 500 pages, and are really the natural characters of plants, having the advantage over those of all former writers in feveral respects, particularly, because they are applicable to any kind of claffical method that can be invented, fuppofing it founded on any part E of the fructification; whether that be the calyx, corolla, stamina, piftils, or fruit and whatever may be the fate of the claffical part of the Linnæan fyftem, there is no doubt but thefe generical characters will fand the teft of ages, and if it will not be thought too much to fay, I may add, that they must remain firm while nature herself F fall endure. ; Befides these natural characters at large, our author has invented, for brevity's fake,' two other kinds of characters, which he calis factitious and effential; the former ferves to distinguish each genus from other genera of the fame artificial order only, by G enumerating the most remarkable differences in each. The effential characters, could they be investigated, are designed to diftinguish the genera from one another in the natural orders, but these are discovered as yet, but in a few inftances, & poffibly they exist but in few ; nevertheless, our author has attempted them as far as they will bear thro' his whole fyftem, for the fake of brevity, and to fave the trouble of turning over the natural characters at large. In forming the specifick characters of plants, Linnus has taken incredible pains to as them upon distinctions as permanent H and invariable as poffible. This indeed is the ultimate intention of all method whatever, and here Linnæus has done infinitely more than all who wrote before him; he has upon this plan,however, been obliged to give new fpecifick names to all the plants that have come to his knowledge; names not taken as had been customary, from the name of the inventor, the likeness of the plant to other fpecies, its place of growth, time of flowering, its fize, the colour of the flower, or plant, smell, taste, virtue in medicine, or any other Yuch vague and mutable circumftance, but from some remarkable difference in the root, trunk, and par ticularly the leaf, the ftipula, or the gene. ral foliation, ramification, or fome other abiding diftinction. So happily indeed are his fpecifick characters conftructed, that they generally diftinguifh the plant in a few words with more precifion, after having taken in the claffical and generical characters, than the long and laboured defcrip. tions of former writers. Befides thefe fpecific characters, Linnæus has invented, and, in his later works, applied what he calls trivial names to each plant; thefe, confift of a fingle epithet expreffive of fome more remarkable diftinction of the fpecies; as for inftance, integrifolia, laciniata, erecta, repens, aquatica, montana, &c. fometimes of the name of the inventor, and where he has changed the generical name of a plant that was remarkably well known before, and especially if it is an officinal one, he frequently retains the old generical name as the trivial epithet. Thus the penny royal of the fhips, as it really belongs to the Mentba Gorus, according to his characters, therefore he calls it Mentha Pulegium. The horse-rhaddish as it agrees with the Genus Cochlearia, he calls Cochlearia Armoracia. In all former editions of the Syftema Naturæ, our author was very short as far as related to the vegetable kingdom, having after his Clovis et Characteres Claffium only given the names of the genera, with their effential characters, without touching at all upon specific distinctions, that was referved for another work, which was published in 1753, entitled Species Plantarum, where al the known plants are enumerated, and the most remarkable, best known, and useful fynonyms are added; but in this work there are no kinds of generical characters prefixed. The author begins this new and enlarged edition of the Sybema, by premifing a compendious view of the philofophy of vege. tation, and then proceeds to what he calls Delineatio Plante, fomething analogous to what he had entitled in the former editions,' Betbadus demonßrandi Vegetabilia ; here he introduces all the terms he makes use of, in defcribing plants, and by a methodical and apt diftribution really explains them, at at the fame time; this is a curions and ufeful addition. After this he gives the Clavis et Characteres Claffium, and then comes to the fyftem itself. mous Plumier's, most of which were un defcribed before. Dr Brogun fent our au thor his whole collection of Jamaica plants, and he has many new (pecies from MrMil ler's elegant plates lately published. Thofe published by Dr Trew of Norimberg, from drawings made by that admirable artist A Mr Ebret; Dr Ruffel's natural history of Aleppo; Dubamel's tract De Arboribus, and M. Allioni's Piedmont plants, have all helped to enrich our author's volume: The private communications from his friends have likewife been very confiderable ; to inflance a few only: Cape of Good Hope plants from Dr Burman; Afiatic from Dr David Gorter, lately refident at Petersburgb; American, from Dr Brown, Mr Miller, and Mr Ellis; Italian alpine plants from M. Allioni of Turin, Segnier of Verona, and Dr Schmiedel; fouthern plants of Europe, from M. Sauvages of Montpelier, from Dr Gerard, M. B. Gabriel, and others. As this volume was intended to contain all the plants hitherto known, the natural generic characters at large could not be introduced, for we have before obferved that they make an 8vo volume of themfelves; to fupply, however, the want of these the author has here introduced the fictitious and effential characters. The former ftand at the head of each class, not always according to the natural order in which they fall in the fyftem itself, but are dif-. pofed under each order, or the fubdivifions of the order, in an artificial method, the B beft adapted to catch the eye and facilitate the labour of the young botanist in inveftigating the genera. After this the author inferts the effential characters at the head of each genus, and then gives the specific characters with the trivial names as they tand in his Species Plantarum, except where he has feen occafion to amend them, which is the cafe in many inftances. There are C few or no fynonyms introduced into this work, the plants ftand under each genus, in the order in which they are found in the Tpecies, and the new ones are distinguished by capitals, and arranged in their natural places under each genus. E The prefent work is very confiderably augmented by the addition of many new genera. The laft edition of our author's D characters of plants, published in 1754, contains 1105 genera; in this volume they are fo far enlarged as to extend to 1174. The old genera ftand numbered as in the last edition of his characters, the new ones are all introduced in their proper places in the body of the work; and their natural characters defcribed at large at the end of this volume. Our author's Species PlanJarum comprehends almost 6000 plants; in this work there is an addition of upwards of 800 fpecies. Varieties, which, for want of true fpecific characters, had almoft encreafed the number of plants double what Linnæus thinks they really are, in this work as well as in the Species, are totally excluded. For these additions the author is indebted not only to many confiderable works of great reputation, published fince bis Species, but also to the communications of F his friends and correfpondents in almost all parts of the world. Two centuries of new plants, or at leaft fuch as were unknown to him before, published in the Amanitates Academice are introduced. Our author has made great ufe of Rumpbius's Herbarium Amboinenje, published in seven volumes folio, by Dr Burman of Amfterdam; of which work only the two first volumes had reached Sweden, when the fpecies was printed. The fame Dr Burman has allo published a collection of plants of the fa The excellency of all claffical systems in botany is fuppofed to confist in their keeping together as much as poffible the genera in the natural claffes, and thus fo far ap proaching to the system of nature. All artificial fyftems will be found, in many infances, to break the order of the natural clatfes, and disjoin genera which nature feems evidently to have claffed together. The more fimple and uniform the claffical characters of a fyftem are, the more they are likely to intertere in this respect ; nevertheless it is beautiful to obferve how well many of the patural claffes are kept together in the fexual fyftem, the characters of which have the advantage of being very fimple, and easy to retain in the memory, and of being founded upon the parts of plants, as little fubject to variation as any whatever; and, yet perfect as it may be like all other methods, it has its defects, of which no one can be more fenfible, than the illustrious author himself. There are many inftances of particular species which break thro' the generical, and of course often the claffical characters of the fyftem itself; but for thefe defects there is no remedy at prefent, it is matter of surprize that the scheme is fo far elaborated as we fee it. In this new edition, wherever the species of any particular genus breaks thro' the claffical character, or that of the order, our author has mentioned it among the ficti tious characters under the clafs or order in which the number of stamina, or piftils, entitle it to a place this is a great help to a young botanist. The (pace of time elapfed fince the publication of the Genera, and Species Plantarum, G has enabled our author to make numerous improvements in his fyftem. The fpecific characters are frequently amended, and many removals of the genera, have been made, which greatly tend to advance the System |