Linnaeus had no sooner published and explained his method of arranging plants, according to that which is generally termed the Sexual System, than it excited considerable attention: His elegant and in structive Flora Lapponica could not be perused by the philosopher or the physician, without leading its readers occasionally aside, from the immediate ob jects of their inquiry, into the paths of botanical speculation, and awakening in many a curiosity, hitherto dormant, on such subjects. But the scope of that limited Flora is by no means sufficient to show either the necessity or the advantages of any mode of arrangement. Linnaeus may be said to have grasped the botanical sceptre, when, in the year 1758, he published the first edition of his -Species Plantarunt ; and the commencement of his reign ' must be dated from that period. The application of his system to universal practice, in this compen dious distribution of all the known vegetables of the globe ; his didactic precision ; his concise, clear, and certain style of discrimination ; his vast erudition displayed in synonyms ; and, perhaps as much as any thing elite, the fortunate invention of trivial or specific names, by which his nomenclature became as evidently commodious, and indeed necessarily popular, as any part of his performance; all these causes co-operated to establish his authority. An immediate impulse was given to practical botany. The vegetable productions of various countries and districts were marshalled in due array, so as to be accessible and useful. A common language was established throughout the world of science; a com mon stock of knowledge and experience began to accumulate, which has ever since been increasing, and can now never be lost. Of these partial Floras to which we allude, those of Lapland and Sweden, productions of Linnaeus himself, were the models of most of the rest, and have mever, on the whole, been excelled.
Hence arose the Linnman school of Botany, which though founded in Sweden, extended itself through Holland, Germany, and more or less perfectly in other parts of Europe, though not without impedi ments of which we are hereafter to speak. In Bri tain it was firmly established, by the influence of some of the most able pupils of Linnaeus, and strengthened at length by the acquisition of his li terary remains. But these are adventitious sup pbrts. The strength of philosophical, like political, authority is in public opinion, and the cement of its power is public good.
As we proceed to trace the practical influence of the Linntean system, or rather of the facility which it Afforded, in botanical studies, it will be useful at the same time to observe the effects of adventitious circumstances, which render botany almost a differ. ent sort of study in different parts of the habitable globe.
In those northern ungenial climates, where the in tellect of man indeed has flourished in its highest perfection, but where the productions of nature are comparatively sparingly bestowed, her laws have been most investigated and best understood. The
appetite of her pupils was whetted by their danger of starvation, and the scantiness of her supplies trained them in habits of, economy, and of the most acute observation. The more obvious natural pro ductions of such climates are soon understood and exhausted. But this very cause led Linnaeus to so minute a scrutiny of Swedish insects, as had never been undertaken before in any country ; in conse quence of which a new world, as it were, opened to his contemplation, and the great Reaumur declared that Sweden was richer in this department than all the rest of the globe. Such indeed was its appear ance, because it had been more carefully examined. When the 'ardour and acuteness of the pupils of the Linneean school first sought matter of employment for their talents, some few had the means of visiting distant, and scarcely explored, countries; but this could not be the lot of many. The grater part were confined to their native soil ; and it is remark able that those who were longest so confined, have displayed in the sequel the greatest abilities, and have rendered the greatest to science, inde pendent of the accidents which made the labours of others imperfect or abortive. Such men as Ehrhart and Swartz were not to be satisfied with the general productions of the fields or gardens to which they had access. They had no resource but in the re condite mysteries of cryptogamic botany, in the first instance. To these they directed their microscopic eyes, and more discriminating minds, with the hap piest success. When they had derived from hence an ample harvest, Ehrhart, limited in circumstances and opportunities, hindered moreover perhaps, in some degree, by a singularity and independence of character, not always favourable to worldly pros perity, opened to himself a new path. The native trees of the north, and especially the hardy shrubs and arborescent plants of the gardens, had not, as he • judiciously discovered, received that correct atten tion, even from his master Linnaeus, which was re quisite to make them clearly understood. Difficulties attending the study of these plants, the various seasons in which they require to be repeatedly scru tinized, and the obscurity or minuteness of the parts on which their differences depend, were by no means calculated to deter this laborious and accurate in quirer. He submitted the supposed varieties of the shrubbery, the kitchen garden; and even of the par terre, to the same rigorous examination, and, for the most part, with the happiest success. His discoveries have not received the notice they deserve, for his communications were deformed with asperity and pedantry, and he did not, always keep in mind the concise and sober principles of definition, which his preceptor had both taught and practised, and to which he owed so large a share of his well-merited fame. Ehrhart died prematurely, but his name ought to be cherished among those whose talents have advanced science, and who loved Nature, for her own sake, with the most perfect disinterested ness.