Ray was born at Black Notley, near Braintree, Essex, on Nov. 29, 1628; so that he was not much junior to Morison. He studied and graduated with such distinction at the University of Cambridge, that he was in due course elected a Fellow of, and appointed a Lecturer in, his College (Trinity). Here he remained until 1662, when he resigned his Fellowship on his refusal to sign the declaration against 'the solemn league and covenant' prescribed by the Act of Uniformity of 1661. After leaving Cambridge he spent some years travelling both in Britain and on the Continent; and eventually settled at his birth-place, Black Notley, where he died on Jan. 17, 1704-5. During his residence in Cambridge, Ray devoted much of his time to the study of natural history, a study which afterwards became his chief occupation. The first fruit of his labours in this direction was the _Catalogus Plantarum circa Cantabrigiam nascentium_, published in 1660, followed in due course by many works, for he was a prolific author, botanical and zoological as well as theological and literary, of which only those can be considered at present which contributed materially to the development of systematic botany. [Illustration: _Plate III_ John Ray (Joannes Rajus)] The first such work of Ray's was his contribution of the _Tables of Plants_ to Dr John Wilkins's _Real Character and a Philosophical Language_, published in 1669, which has already been mentioned in the course of this lecture (p. 21). The following is a summary of Ray's first attempt at a system of classification. He begins by distinguishing Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees. Proceeding to the detailed classification of Herbs, he divides them into _Imperfect_ "which either do want or seem to want some of the more essential parts of Plants, viz. either Root, Stalk, or Seed," the Cryptogamia of Linnaeus; and _Perfect_ "having all the essential parts belonging to a Plant." The Perfect Herbs are arranged in three main groups according to (1) their leaves, (2) their flowers, (3) their seed-vessel, each group being subdivided in various ways. HERBS CONSIDERED ACCORDING TO THEIR LEAVES: With long Leaves: Frumentaceous, "such whose seed is used by men for food, either Bread, Pudding, Broth, or Drink" (Cereals): or Non-Frumentaceous (other Grasses, Sedges, Reeds). Gramineous Herbs of Bulbous Roots (Bulbous Monocotyledons). Herbs of Affinity to Bulbous Roots (other Monocotyledons). Herbs of Round Leaves (_e.g._ _Petasites_, _Viola_, _Pinguicula_, _Drosera_). Herbs of Nervous Leaves (_e.g._ _Veratrum_, _Plantago_, _Gentiana_, _Polygonum_). Succulent Herbs (_Sedum_, _Saxifraga_). "Herbs considered according to the Superficies of their Leaves, or their Manner of Growing": more rough (_e.g._ _Borago_, _Anchusa_, _Echium_): less rough (_e.g._ _Pulmonaria_, _Symphytum_, _Heliotropium_):