362 



THE UNIVERSE. 



This writing lighted up the flames of discord in the camp 

 of the botanists ; some warmly espoused the discovery, 

 others combated it to the very utmost. The dispute be- 

 came violent ; the schools took part in it ; men quarrelled 

 about it on every side, the pupils on their benches and the 

 professors in their chairs. In the Jardin du Roi, Tournefort 

 and Le Vaillant had a deadly dispute on the subject. Pon- 



171. Pollen of different Plants, seen with the microscope. 1, Hellebore ; 2, Sea Lavender ; 

 3, Wild Oleander; 4, Convolvulus; 5, Scolymus ; 6, Lily: 7, Gourd; 8, Hibiscus; 9, Cobaea; 

 10, Pine-Tree; 11, Passiflora; 12, Animalcules of the Pollen of Ferns; 13, Animalcules of 

 the Chara. 



tedera, a cross-grained, obstinate savant, imagining that 

 ascribing sexes to the flowers sullied their virgin purity, 

 treated all those botanists who accepted the new heresy as 

 devoid of decency. And yet there was nothing in it that 

 could alarm even the modesty of a rose. 



But notwithstanding the denials of Tournefort and the 



