the nectary, or honey-cup; and the receptacle, or base.
It required the resolution, knowledge and ingenuity of Linnæus, to effect this reform with success. His system at first met with resistance, and meets with it still from his rivals in fame; but on account of its practical utility it has been almost universally adopted throughout Europe.
To pursue the study of plants with advantage, that of the nomenclature must not be neglected. Names, it is true, are abitrary; but if the most engaging part of Natural History merits the attention of the curious, it will be necessary to begin with learning the language of the writers, in order to know with precision to what objects the names employed by them actually belong.
The vegetables on the face of the globe may be considered as analogous to its inhabitants; under which view of the subject vegetables may be said to resemble the inhabitants in general; classes, the nations; orders, the tribes; genera, the families; species, the individuals; and varieties, the same individuals in different circumstances.
Beside the satisfaction which the study of the works of Nature, and especially that of botany, affords to an inquisitive mind, it counteracts the passion for more frivolous amusements, and always presents objects worthy of contemplation. Hence the late Dr. Withering very justly remarks, that, independently of its immediate use, the study of botany is as healthful as it is innocent; that it beguiles the tediousness of the road; furnishes amusement at every footstep of the solitary walk; and, above all, that it leads to pleasing reflections on the bounty, the wisdom, and the power of the Great Creator!
Among the latest elementary works of this branch of science are the following: Dr. Withering's "Arrangement of British Plants," in four volumes 8vo. (1l. 11s. 6d.)—Prof. Martyn's translation of Rousseau's "Letters on the Elements of Botany, addressed to a Lady;" (7s.)—Priscilla Wakefield's "Introduction to Botany;" (3s. 6d. with plain, and 7s. with coloured plates);—and, lastly, Dr. Hull's "Introduction to the Study of Botany."
BOTTLE, a small vessel made of glass, leather, or stone. Glass-bottles are better for cyder than those of any other substance.
Dr. Percival censures the common practice of cleansing wine-bottles with shot; for if, through inattention, any of it should remain, when the bottles are again filled with wine, the metal will be dissolved, and the liquor impregnated with its deleterious qualities. For this reason, he recommends pot-ash in preference to shot, as a few ounces of the former dissolved in water, will cleanse a great number of bottles: and where the impurities adhere to the sides, a few pieces of blotting paper put into the vessel, and shaken with the water, will remove them in an expeditious manner.
BOTTLING, the filling of bottles with liquor, and corking them in order to preserve it. Particular caution should be used in bottling cyder: the best way to secure the bottles from bursting, is to have the liquor thoroughly fine before it be bottled. If one bottle break, it will be necessary to give vent to the remainder, and cork them up
