The Banksian school, altogether intent upon prac tical botany, had adopted the Linnican system as the most commodious, while it pursued and cultivated the Linnean principles, as the only ones which, by their 'transcendent excellence, could support the science of botany on a stable foundation. In these Dr &hinder wee of course, well trained ; and, has. ing added so wide a range of experience to his the oratiesi education, few botanists could vie with him, who had, as it were, caught his preceptor's mantle, and imbibed, by a sort of inspiration, a peculiar ta. lent thr concise and dear definition. Abstract pria ciples of classification, or even such outlines of na semi arrangement as Linnaeus had promulgated, seem never to have attracted &lender. In following the chain of his ideas, discernible in the materials he has left behind. him, one cannot but remark his singular inattention to every thing like botanical af finity, to which the artificial sexual system was, with him, entirely paramount. The genera which, for extemporaneous use, he named with the termination oinks, comparing each with some well-known *genus, till a proper appeliatioa could be selected, are seldom thaw compared because of any natural affinity, nor scarcely any external resemblance, but because they agree with such in their place in the artificial system, or nearly perhaps is technical character.. A great botanist it is evident, may exist, without that minted erudition in a peculiar line, which some wouid have us consider as the only road to know. ledge and to fame. We allow that this sort of eru dillya is now, since the attention it has received from Linens, Jassieu, and °then, become ind igo. peosable to a good theoretical or philosophical ha. moist, as is the study of mupology, in consequeoce of the labours of Gaertner ; we only contend that it is possible to know plants extremely well without either.
The learned Dryander, less skilled than his peed. caner as the coadjutor of Sir Joseph Banks, in a practical acquaintance with plants, exceeded him in theoretical lore and ingenioustion, and far excelled every ether Soo in • • blame tion, its•well as in the most precise fastidious exact ness relative to every subject within the wide extent of his various knowledge. He furthered, upon princi ple, and with unwearied assiduity, every object of the noble establishment to which he was devoted; but he, like Solender, now sleeps with his fathers, and his place is supplied by a genius of British growth, who unites talents with experience, and theoretical skill, in the most eminent degree, with practical knowledge. • , Although it is almost superfluous to name the • most eminent disciples of the London school of bo tany, it might seem negligent to pass them over without some particular mention. The ardent and. ingenious Curtis•has left a permanent monument be-. hind him, in the Flora Landinensis, to say nothing of the popular Botanical Magazine, continued by his friend Dr Sims. The Flora Scotica of Lightfoot first offered, in a pleasing and familiar garb, the bo tanical riches of that part of the island to its south ern inhabitants. The lynx-eyed Dickson, so long and faithfully attached to his constant patron, has steadily traced, through all its windings, the obscure : path of cryptogamic botany, with peculiar success. No more striking instance can be pointed out. to prove how totally the most consummate practical• skill, even in the most difficult part of botany, is in dependent of theoretical learning. Even those who. profit by the certain aids supplied by the discoveries of Heciwig, can with difficulty keep pace with this veteran in their pursuits, who, with conscious inde pendence, neglects all those aids.
Just at the time when. the school, whose history we are endeavouring to trace, had most firmly este blished its credit and its. utility, a great weight was given to England, in the scale of natural • science, by the acquisition of the entire museum, Ji- • brary and manuscripts of the great Linnaeus and his son, which came amongst us, by private purchase, in 1786, after the death of the latter. Hence •our no menclature has been corrected, and our knowledge . greatly augmented. These collections have sarily been consulted by most persons, about to pub-'1 lish on the subject of natural history, and a reference to them, in doubtful cases, secures a general con formity of sentiment and nomenclature, among the botanists of Europe, Asia and America. We are'
seldom obliged to waste time in conjecturing what Linnaeus, or the botanists with whom he correspond ed, meant, for we have before us their original spe cimens, named by their own hands. An entire Lon don winter was devoted to the almost 'daily labour, of comparing the Banksian herbarium throughout, with that of Linnaeus, and to a copious interchange • of specimens between their respective possessors, who, with -the aid of Mr Dryander alone; accom plished this interesting and instructive comparison. . Hence the Hort= Kewensis of the lamented Aka), which was at that period preparing for publication, became much more correct in its names,•than it,'or any 'other similar performance, could have been, without this advantage. It could scarcely be ima gined that Sweden would, unmoved, thus let•the bo tanical. sceptre pass from her • but it is much to -the • honour of the nation, that all her .naturalists have ever preserved the-most friendly intercourse with us, .
partieuharJy. with the • piston IA* deprived them of this treasure. They •have not merely pardoned, but ` publicly sanctioned, the scientific seal which prompt ed him. to this acquisition, by associating him with all their learned establishments, without any' solicitation on his part.
The institution of the Linnets° Society at London is 1788, especially under that name, must be woe dered as a triumph for Sweden in her tura. By this establishment the intercourse of science is facilitat ed ; essays, which might otherwise have never seen the light, are given to the world ; and a general taste for the pleasing study of nature is prometed. Learn ed and worthy people are thus made acquainted with each 'other, from the remotest corners of the king dom, and their information enriches the common stock. The state has given its sanction to this rising establishment. Its publications and its members are spread over the Continent, and other similar institu tions have borrowed its name, imitated its plan, and paid respect to its authority. Yet it is not in the name alone of Linnteue, that the members of this so ciety place their confidence ; still less do they bow to that name or to any other, at the expense of -their own right of private judgment. Their Transactions are open to the pupils of every school, and the ob servations of every .critic, that have,any prospect of being useful to the world. The writer of each com munication, must, of course, be answerable for the particulars of his own performance, but the Society is responsible for esch being, on the whole, worthy to be communicated to the public. The. ossession of the very materials with which Linnaeus worked, his own specimens sail notes, enable us very often to correct .mistakes, even, of that great man, many of which would 'be unaccountable, without the means . of thus tracing each to its source. At the same time, the acquisition of materials to which be never had access, tend' to improve and augment the history' of what he had left imperfect. His language, he definitions and charactere were, for some time, held so •Sacred, diet they were implicitly copied, even though manifestly inapplicable, in . some points, to the objects to which they were referred.. Synonyms were transcribed from his works, by Rose, Hudson, Curtis, and even Caresser, (we. assert it on the po sitive proof of errors of the press, copied in the transcribing), without reference to the original books, to vie whether such•synonyms,• or their accompany ing plates, agreed with the plant under considera tion.. The example of Dr Solander first led the writer of this to avoid such a negligent and unfaith ful mode of proceeding ; yet he has ever considered as sacred the very words of Linnaeus, where they re quire no correction.. They are become a kind of public..property, the current coin of Abe botanical realm, which ought not, with impunity, to be falai fied• or adulterated. To them we hope to be par doned if we apply the words of the poet, the Linmean style, in proportion as the number of those who can attain it is evidently so very small. By the light of our master alone can the science, which he so greatly advanced and refined, be pre .