24 A History of Botany, 1860-1900 



that the work of Eichler and of Engler almost universally 

 replaced the older proposals of de Candolle. In 1860 the 

 classification of the lower plants was almost entirely 

 empirical. Hardly anything was known as to either life- 

 history or structure of many of the Thallophytes, so that 

 classification of them was little more than guesswork. 

 The Vascular Cryptogams were the subject of much research 

 during the period we are dealing with, and after many 

 efforts at obtaining a satisfactory scheme the gradual 

 adoption of phylogeny as the clue to classification led to 

 at least an approximation to a satisfactory grouping. 

 This very desirable result was due in some measure to the 

 discoveries made during the study and investigation of the 

 fossil remains of the vegetation of past ages, which received 

 a great impetus from the labours of Williamson and of 

 Renault. 



The classification of the Thallophytes gradually took 

 shape as the elucidation of life- histories progressed. For 

 the Algae, through the researches of many workers, a scheme 

 was arrived at which met with general support towards 

 the end of the century, and which though not altogether 

 satisfactory may serve as a sufficient basis for a more com- 

 plete system in the future. 



The Fungi were studied in the same way and perhaps 

 to more purpose. Classification of them was in the first 

 instance made by De Bary, to whom, perhaps more than 

 to any one else, the progress of scientific and accurate 

 knowledge in this field is due. Following De Bary after 

 some years, a rival system was proposed by Brefeld, which 

 enjoyed a somewhat ephemeral success. Towards the 

 end of the century De Bary's views again came into 

 favour. 



The last few decades of the century were noteworthy 

 for the prevalence of exploration and the elucidation 

 of the floras of many regions of the world. Researches 



