Page:Illustrations of Indian Botany, Vol. 1.djvu/15

Rh of determining the order of a plant when it departs from the normal structure of the order to which it belongs ; but even then, a futile search is not unattended with advantage, as the examination puts us in possession of much useful information which will materially assist our future research should we be necessitated to turn to the artificial system to find its name.

Should we on the contrary commence our examination with the artificial sexual system the first step, that of determining the class and order of a plant is the easiest, but that done, it often happens that nothing is learned, for, should the specimen under examination have a stamen or style more or less than the regular number, and nothing is more common among tropical plants, we look in vain in the class or order where according to our specimen it should be found, and when found, still that system conveys no collateral information regarding the relations of the plant or of the nature of the properties with which it may be endowed.

In drawing these comparisons it is not my wish unduly to exalt the one at the expense of the other, for in truth they are so very different that it is impossible to compare them, they both have their advantages and disadvantages, and in the present state of the science are both necessary, I certainly think however the preponderance of good is greatly in favour of the natural method. In thus giving the preference to that system which enables the student, who has made considerable progress in its study, to look over a large collection of plants, not one of which he had ever seen before, and readily refer probably as many as 19 out of every 20 to its proper natural order, from family likeness alone, I am far from as yet wishing to see the other altogether exploded, since by it we are often enabled quickly to determine abnormal plants that we could not so easily have done by the other ; and in such cases, I still occasionally find the advantage of having formerly become familiar with the Linnaaan system. Though to this extent I approve of it, I could not recommend it for general use, as its natural tendency is to contract our ideas by concentrating our attention too exclusively on one set of organs and confining our enquiries to the investigation of the names of species only, in place of, as is the case with the other, expanding them with the growth of our knowledge by extending our researches, from the examination of species to the investigation of masses in all their bearings.

While for these cogent reasons, we are in the present advanced state of the science gradually permitting that once celebrated system to drop into oblivion, we must not forget how much Botany is indebted to it for its present advancement. The extent of these obligations can only be justly appreciated by comparing the Botanical works of its great author with those of his immediate predecessors, not one of the plants described by whom can now be made out from their descriptions unaided by some collateral circumstance or by plates and too often, even with these aids, they are still unknown. Immediately on its introduction into practice order supplanted dis- order, arrangement and method succeeded and dispersed the previous confusion and perflexity as light disperses the darkness. From this hour materials accumulated with unprecedented rapidity and have continued to do so to such an extent, that the catalogue of known plants which on the most liberal computation, did not at Linnaeus' death exceed 12,000, is now but little if at all short of 100,000 species. To this increase the natural method owes much of its present admirable precision, as without such a mass of materials innumerable breaks in the chain of affinities must still have existed, marring both its beauty and usefulness. We may thence I think fairly conclude, that the sexual system of Botany, however defective in scientific precision and comprehensiveness of design, was yet of incalculable benefit to the science, the im-