THE WORKS OF MARCGRAV AND PISO. 201 
founded on firm principles, whose first dawn appeared with L. Fuchs 
and Cesalpin; and thus we have often as much difficulty in knowing 
and determining with certainty what plants those authors meant to 
describe. But what serves to enhance so highly the value of Marc- 
grav's labours, is his figures, and referring to these, as well as the 
unquestionable right of priority, demonstrated by the first edition of 
the work, systematists have habitually given Maregrav the first place 
among authors on Brazilian plants. This has been done accordingly 
by Casp. Bauhin, Ray, Johnston, Plukenet, Mentzel, Adanson, and 
Linné, who have all treated and quoted the works of those two men, 
as quite distinct from each other. In more recent times this has been 
less attended to, on account of Piso's work of the year 1658 being 
much more in the hands of botanists than the older edition of 1648, 
which is said to have been in part destroyed by fire. 
The original drawings which Moritz of Nassau had got made in 
Brazil, met with a better fate than fell to the lot of the edition in ques- 
tion, or the astronomical manuscript of Maregrav. The history of these 
literary treasures forms so important an illustration in my present at- 
tempt, that I deem it necessary to repeat it from M. Lichtenstein’s 
memoir*, Already in the year 1652 had the Count entered the service 
of the great Elector of Brandenburgh, who raised him in 1654 to the 
dignity of a prince and invested him with high offices. It is probable 
that the close friendship which continued between these princes until 
the death of Moritz (in 1679, in his seventy-sixth year), induced him 
to offer his original paintings as a present to a monarch who was 
attached to science. The collection consisted in figures of natural 
produets, executed on paper in oil by the before-mentioned master, com- 
prised in two volumes, and containing likewise similar, though smaller, 
representations in water-colour. Considered in the light only of their 
high degree of perfection as works of art, these oil paintings deserved — 
already great attention; and the Elector ordered them accordingly to be 
carefully put in order and preserved in his library. This business was 
confided to the experienced hands of his physician in ordinary Dr. | 
Christ. Mentzel, celebrated moreover as a scholar, and in high favour 
with his master. He caused the oil paintings, which were of unequal 
size (425 in number) to be bound together in four volumes of large 
size, the paintings being arranged according to a judicious plan (by 
* ‘Transactions of the Berlin Academy for 1814 and 1815, p. 204. 
VOL. Y. 2D 
