Encyclopædia americana. A popular dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, history, politics and biography, a new ed.; including a copious collection of original articles in American biography; on the basis of the 7th ed. of the German Conversations-lexicon. Ed. by Francis Lieber, assisted by E. Wigglesworth ...

212 BOTANY.
scientific classification must be founded every part; at the internal structure, as
on the former alone. Now itwas obvious well as the external relations, analogies
that the production of fruit and seed is the and differences. This can be done only
ultimate object of vegetation, and, accord- by a profound and toilsome investigation,
ingly, in the first attempts at classification, of which the mere follower of a system
the relations and component parts of the has hardly a notion. Seed is considered
seed and of the fiuit were made the found- as the ultimate object of vegetation. Its
ation of the arrangement. This arrange- parts, their formation, situation, and other
ment was confirmed by an observation of relations, must be critically examined.
the uniformity of nature in the formation of The most perfect natural system, in modthose parts in plants of similar kinds. ern times, is that of Jussieu, particularly
But it was found, also, that uniformity in as enlarged by Decandolle. (See Decanthese formations prevailed in too great a dolle's Regni vegetabilis Systema naturale,
number of plants to allow them alone to his The'orie elementaire de la Botanique,
be made the distinguishing characteristics: and his Prodromnus Systematis naturalis
It became, therefore, necessary to have Regni vegetabilis; also the Nouveaux Elrecourse to other parts. The flower was enmens de la Botanique, by Richard.)
first chosen, as it presents a great variety The second general division of this sciof forms, ald, at the same time, a unifornm- ence begins with the investigation of the
ity of structure. But the limits to this internal structure, or the anatomy of
untiformity, and the absence of flowers in plants. This study has been recently culinnumerable plants, with the consideration tivated, by the Germans, to an extent,
that they are not essential, suggested to which, 30 years ago, could hardly have
the immortal founder of modern scientific been conceived. It is closely connected
botany the idea that the sexual parts are with the first division, if the plants are
most intimately related to the growth of studied in their natural order. Without
the fi'uit, and that they are, therefore, of good microscopes, and the aid of the best
the greatest importance, and furnish bet- works in this branch, a distinct knowledge
ter grounds of classification than the of the structure of plants cannot easily be
flower. A general principle was thus obtained. Chemical botany must be conestablished, fertile in consequences, excel- nected with the anatomy of plants. Their
lently adapted to facilitate the diffusion constituent parts, their various changes,
and extend the sphere of the science. and the different combinations of their
The Linntean system was founded exclu- liquid and solid parts, are to be examined.
sively on the relations of the sexual parts. From those, at last, we ascend to the laws
Linneeus divided all known plants into of vegetable life, which are, in general, the
two general divisions, one of which has same as those of animal life. Animal
visible sexual parts (phanerogamous), physiology must, therefore, be intimately
while in the other they are invisible or united with the physiology of plants.
wanting (crnptogamous). The first divis- Connected with the latter are two
ion comprehends the 23 first classes of his branches of knowledge, which the botasystem, which are distinguished according nist cannot well dispense with, since they
to the situation of the sexual parts in the offer the most important conclusions on
same or in separate flowers, their number, the economy of nature, on the history
their length, &c. If any system has in- of the earth, and on the application of
troduced order in the midst of variety, science to the arts. These are, first, the
and shed light on the immense diversities science of the deformities and diseases of
of nature, it is that of Linneus. Hence, plants, which can be made certain only
even those who have departed from it in by correct physiological views, and which
their writings have considered it neces- is of great value in gardening, agriculture,
sary for elementary instruction. Many and the cultivation of woods; and, second,
objections, however, are brought against a knowledge of the mode in which plants
it. It has been made a question whether have been spread over the earth. If we
it is fitted for the investigation and classi- study the forms of vegetation which have
fication of unknown plants. It is said come to us from distant ages, in the fJi6tz
that the sexual parts may be very differ- formations, this observation affords the
ent in similar plants; that he never will most interesting discoveries in relation to
have a complete idea of nature, who pro- the history of our earth. If we trace the
ceeds only on one principle. It has, there- laws by which vegetation seems to have
fore, been thought necessary to find a more been distributed, we extend our knowlnatural arrangement. (See Plants.) In edge of the general action of nature, and
order to follow nature, we must look at arrive at conclusions which may be of