1009. The object of all methods of classification is to promote a knowledge of plants by rendering it easy to discover their names and qualities. The Linnï¾µan system is generally considered the best for discovering the names ; as plants classed by it have been compared to words in a dictionary. Plants classed according to the natural method have, on the contrary, been compared to words arranged according to their roots or derivations; and hence, when their names are discovered the student acquires at the same time a general idea of their construction and functions, as well as their alliances with other plants. It is, however, quite as easy to discover to what order a plant belongs by the natural as by the Linnï¾µan system; as generally all plants belonging to the same natural order bear a certain degree of resemblance to each other, which makes it easy to recognise them at first sight. As a proof of this, we need only suppose that a new plant has been introduced, of which it is wished to discover the name. We will suppose that it belongs to the genus Hypericum, as this genus is particularly easy to be discovered by a Linnï¾µan botanist, on account of its being the only British plant which has polyadelphous stamens, that is, the stamens in distinct bundles. The Linnï¾µan botanist, however, can only ascertain this fact when he sees the flower, and consequently it is only during the flowering season, or, in other words, during only a very few weeks, that he has any chance of discovering that the plant belongs to the genus Hypericum; whereas the student in the Natural System need only hold a leaf up to the light, when he will find that it is full of cells containing a yellow nonodoriferous liquid, and he will know immediately that the plant must be some kind of Hypericum. This is a very great advantage, as the flowering season is confined to so short a period of the year.
