THE NATURALIST. VOL. I. MARCH, 1831. No. III. BOTANY. 'Soft roll your incense herbs, and fruits, and flowers, Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints.' BOTANY is the science which treats of the vegetable kingdom, including everything that grows, having root, stem, leaf or flower. It comprehends the knowledge of the methodical arrangement of plants, of their structure, and whatever has relation to the vegetable kingdom. The study of this science is not a trifling employment, undeserving the time and attention bestowed upon it. Can we for a moment conceive that the works of nature are unworthy the attention of man-that those productions which bear such evident marks of the wisdom and power of the Creator, are too contemptible for the examination of his creatures? Whoever has had the curiosity to crop the humblest flower of the field, and to observe the wonderful conformation of its parts, combining the united purposes of elegance and utility, will not hastily despise the study of nature. But when these observations are extended through the immense variety of productions which compose the vegetable kingdom-when the different offices of each particular part of the plant, every one essentially contributing towards its existence and propagation, are considered-when we advert to the variety of modes by which these ends are effected, and the infinite contrivance which is exhibited in their accomplishment, a wide field for instruction and admiration is opened before us. We need not labor to prove how delightful and instructive it is to 'Look through nature up to nature's God;' neither, surely, need we attempt to show, that if any judicious or improved use is to be made of the natural bodies around us, it must be expected from those who discriminate their kinds and study their properties. Of the benefits of natural science in the improvement of many arts, no one doubts. Our food, our medicine, our luxuries are improved by it. By the inquiries of the curious, new acquisitions are made in remote countries, and our resources of various kinds are augmented. We find that gardening, the most elegant, and agriculture, the most useful of all arts, are improved only in those countries in which Botany is made the most subservient to their advancement. And when a knowledge of this science is more generally diffused throughout our own country, we may expect to see it more frequently enriched with fields and adorned with gardens, which, while they bestow honor on their possessor, shall prove a pleasant recreation to the old, and a useful study to the young. Nor should its influence on the moral character be disregarded. The late President Dwight was an eminent champion of the virtue which he practised. He often directed the attention of his pupils to Sweden, to point out the influence of natural history on the moral character of man. In that country Botany is taught in the schools, and the habitation of her excellent children presents a cheering picture of domestic felicity. Their piety and their patriotism both flow from the same source; for while they examine the productions of their country, they become attached to its soil; and while they contemplate the works of their Maker, they are animated with the glowing spirit of devotion. Botany deserves our highest regard as the source of mental improvement. Nothing so powerfully attracts the attention of the young observer as the gay, though fleeting beauty of flowers; yet these interesting objects serve to produce a true discrimination, which is the foundation of correct taste and sound judgment. To those whose minds and understandings are already formed, this study may be recommended, independently of all other considerations, as a rich source of innocent pleasure. Some people are ever inquiring what is the use of any particular plant? They consider a botanist with respect, only as he may be able to teach them some profitable improvement by which they may quickly grow rich, and be then, perhaps, no longer of any use to mankind or to themselves. They would permit their children to study Botany, only because it might possibly lead to professorships or some other lucrative preferment. These views are not blameable, but they are not the sole end of human existence. Is it not desirable to call the mind from the feverish agitation of worldly pursuits, to the contemplation of infinite wisdom in the elegant and beautiful economy of nature? Is it not desirable to walk in the garden of creation, and hold converse with the All-ruling Providence? If such elevated feelings do not lead to the study of nature, it cannot be far pursued without rewarding the student by exciting them. The more we study the works of creation, the more wisdom, beauty and harmony become manifest; and while we admire, it is impossible not to adore. The study of plants may be considered under three general heads. 1. That part of Botany which treats of the different external organs of plants, is called Vegetable Anatomy, and in many respects corresponds with the anatomy of animals. 2. The classification of plants by means of comparing their different organs, is termed Systematic Botany. 3. The knowledge of the relations and uses of the various parts of plants with respect to each other, is termed Physiological Botany. This department, strictly speaking, includes Vegetable Anatomy. Systematic Botany is divided into the Natural and Artificial Methods. The Natural Method of plants adopted by Jussieu, is founded on the agreement of general marks and habits, and mostly in medicinal properties, and are called Natural Orders. For example, the hop, hemp, fig, mulberry and others have a general agreement in the organization of their flowers, and of their medicinal properties, and are of the natural order Urticae. If the whole of the vegetable kingdom could thus be distributed into natural classes, the study of Botany would be much simplified; but there are many plants which cannot be thus arranged, and no principle has yet been discovered for systematic arrangement which bears any comparison to the Artificial System. Here plants may be conveniently arranged, like words in a dictionary, and thus easily found out and referred to their natural classes: no other system exists which can with certainty direct us to these classes. The artificial method is founded on different circumstances of two organs of the plant, called the pistils and stamens. Linné, or Linnæus, of Sweden, was the first who discovered that these organs are common to all plants, and essential to their existence. Taking advantage of this fact, he founded his classes and orders on their number, situation and proportion. By this artificial system, plants are brought together which are unlike in their general appearance, as in a dictionary, words of different signification are placed together from the mere circumstance of their agreeing in their initial letters. Before we can understand this method, we must become familiar with organs of fructification, which are seven in number, viz : 1. Calyx. The outer or lower part of the flower, generally not colored.* 2. Corolla. The colored blossom within or above the calyx, composed of one or more leaves, which are called Petals. 3. Stamens. The organs immediately surrounding or adjoining the central one. Each stamen is composed of two parts; one, long and slender, called the Filament; the other part, called the Anther, is a kind of mealy or glutinous knob, which, when the flower comes to maturity, opens and throws out a colored dust, called Pollen. 4. Pistil. The central organ of the flower; this consists of three parts, the top, which is called the Stigma, the slender filament which bears the stigma is called the Style, and the base is called the Germ, which becomes the pericarp and seed. 5. Pericarp. The covering of the seed, whether pod, shell, bag or pulpy substance. 6. Seed. The essential part containing the rudiment of a new plant. 7. Receptacle. The end of the stem where all the other parts of the flower are inserted. All the known vegetable productions upon the surface of the globe, have been distributed by naturalists into Classes, Orders, Genera, Species and Varieties. The classes are composed of orders, the orders of genera, the genera of species, and the species of varieties. We may attain a clearer idea of them, by comparing them with the general divisions of the inhabitants of the earth. Vegetables resemble man; classes, nations of men; orders, tribes or divisions of nations; genera, the families that compose the tribes; species, individuals of * In the language of Botany, any part of a plant is not colored when it in green. |