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Show HbR B A'E, The borbonia 13 aul printedoutamehpl a foralia alfc ie introduces among lithing the charaéters s confufion being f net lowers compote the papilionaceous an of th ees pec t of tha character, f} ve have taken, at siecne fical char m of the fo The and thefe for unde perly of eG sth CLA S| S*®XVIE Plants which have the flower compofed of FOUR PETALS, placed one upward, two fideways, and one downward; and the feed-veffel long, and formed of two fides, united by a ftrait future above, and another be- low, containing feveral ROUND SEEDS. HESE are the plants which botanic authors call papilionaceous and leguminous. term refers to the ower, the other to the feed-veffel. The firlt The flower is called papilionaceous, becaufe it is fuppofed to reprefent a butterfly (papilia), or other fuch winged infect, in the ftate of flying. Thefruit is eriietl leguminous, from the Latin w= legumen, fignifying a feed-veffel of this kind and no other. We are unhappy in the Englith language, that we have noparticular name or termfor this feed-veffel, which, according to the defcription we have given of it, is as diftin& from all others as that of the former clafs. We have lamented the want of a term to diftinguifh between the and fiicula in the two preceding claffes,; and we are as muchat a lofs here, the fame Englifh word pod being the only name we havefor all of-them. As there is a commonly known Latin name, it will be ufeful to introduce it, and call this feedveftel a legume. This is’a clafs plainly of Nature’s forming, and the plants belonging to it are by the ftructureof the flower and feed-veflel perfectly diftinduithed from all others : fo that nothing but blindnefs to the moft obvious characters of Nature, or an obftinacy fuperior to all reafon, could adie authors to place any other plants among thefe; or to feparate any of thefe into other claffes. Yet inftances of fuchblindnefs and fuch obftinacy are not wanting among thefe men of fcience, as will be feen in the defcriptions of the feveral genera. Indeed there feems no error too, abfurd. for fome, and I am forry to fay fome of namein this ftudy, to have committed. Linneus Keeps thefe plants together’: for Nature,,in whatever manner the is followed, will dire& that; and he has followedher, though oddly: but chufing to eftablith the charaGter of the clals, not upon this plain and obvious ftrugure of the flower andfeed- veflel, but on the peculiar arrangement of the threads in the flower, he has introduced among thefe ones which do not belong to them: This is the confequence of his attachment to the lefier, parts of flowers. inftead of the greater ; and this has led him here, as elfewheres, to contradic in many particular articles the ablolute eftablithed charaétersin his diftribution. Species thus frequently contradict the characters of their genus, and gener thofe of their clafs, In Nature there;is nothing of this: there all is conftant, uniform, and regul . Tt is. therefore unhappy for thofe..who have a detre to underftand thefcience, that the fyftemfathion now recommends to their ufe, directs them, inftead of regarding the large and confpicuous parts of flowers, to examinefor diftinGtions of genera, and even of clafles, the lefier and more ob{eure;. and bythat perplexed courfe carry themfelves out of the plain road of Nature, into uncertainty andinnumerable contradictions. In the Aah inftance, the great inventor of this modern fyftem allows, that the firft character of clafs is, to have four petals in the flower, enumerating the diftinét names by which they are called ; yet the very firit genus he introduces is Fumaria, which has but one. » which by no means belongs to the /eguminous clafs, is brought In the. fame manner the p into it by this author. His Heijteria alfo has a flower formedof a fingle tal, and yerit is introduced amongthefe ; the firft character of which is to have four: and the fini objection li sainft his 2 have J diftinét names, which it is needful the ftudent eftablifl yas been w ¢ ring:Eee but that he r is called illum. 'This,is larger nthe reft : it ae above in a manner Tt is infer pper edg of thé recepte or oblong. has,a k of ridge.or fla}in ih middle of the upper Bate preflure below ; and in the it falls over the reft in a rounded hollow fhape. At the fides théfe are two prominen formed by two hollows behind, which fall upon, and in fome d préfs the two fides. ; The two fide-petals are called a/ A re placed under 1 eachfide of y lar pair, anfwering exactly in fhape, fize, and fituz to one anan oblong form, ahd ate divided’ éach at the bafe: the upper part of this 1 inconfiderable, but the lower is very long andflender ; andit lies alongthe cup, ngth; and is infixed to tl is called the zz: > this’ is*hollow, comprefied, ahd in fome degree of the at: it is placed under the vexillum, and hecwech the alg. This petal is ff thes bafey Joits lower ‘partipims out in the fame manner;into;along flip, which goe tacle, iand’ is theres inferted: The! uppe r part is interwoven with the upper divyifion of the two, al If the ftudent in this pleafirig:fcience will Jay beforeshimthe frefh: gathered flower of a\bean, or fome other plant of this clafs;, obferve itentire, and examine it when taken to: pieces, as he hete »feads| the defcriptien. of the. whole, and of ‘its: feveral, parts,, he will fix upon his mind ‘in‘a very familiar and Jafting, manner the ftructure of aypapilionaceous flower. The threads from whence Linneus formsothe character of his clafs aredifpofed. in this\ manner. They.do, not run free, and feparate, as on other octafions, the length of the fowefs but join themfelves ether, and-form, not one, but two diftinétand feparate affortments. Ofthefe, the lower, which is formed of the bodies ofnine:of the threads;:is a thin membrane, furrounding in great part the rudiment of the fruit 5.and the upper one,’ which is formed of the ;body of only a fingle one, dies upon it. ,.The nine tops ofthe threads at the extremity! of this body turn up,, and imitate the form of the carina of the flower, in which they areenclofed.| This body formed of the. nine. threads has a flit or openingat.its, top 5 and, the fingle thtead, which lies above, fills up or covers, this openin This has its button at the extrentity,) and, the nine-points of the under body have alfo each its button; fo that. the whole numberis ten: Such is the ftruéture of this 7 ‘ ; and thus Linnzus has hi felfi eftablithed..it,..when he\.explains it sas! the claffical oe : yet, in his diftribution of the genera under it, heintroduces plants which have only fix of thefe points of threads, or buttons, and others which have eight. Thefe therefore contradict the very effential charaéter of his clafs, as him felf has explained it. They are the fame generain which the floweris formed ofa fingle leaf : they are not properly plants of this‘clafg, and fhould: not have been introducedinto it. The carina, which is naturally and ufually ah entire, fingle petal, is fometimes fplit in the lower part; and the fiflure in fome fpecies is continued almoft to the tip, in fome entirely ; but the appearance is the fame. Thecup inthis clafs is univerfally of one ftructure in the manner of the flower: it is cylindric, hollow, andlarge at the bafe, andis divided into five fegments at the edge; the under one or which is quite unlike “the reft, ‘and longer than’ any. The upper pair are thorter than the others, and ftand opener;. the other pair are lange andclofer. The regularity and uniformity in Nature in plants truly and prooperly of the fame clafs, is in no inftance feen: fo clearly as in this, Thefe are very numerous; yet they all agree tn thefe fingular characters. |
