THE FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA 501 



'The Verities' 

 It is cold and moist as Galen saith in the second degree, and is effectuall 

 to helpe inflammations, and Saint Anthonies fire, as also the Goute, either ap- 

 plied by it selfe, or else in a pultis with barlie meale: it is also good for rup- 

 tures in young children. Some saith Matthiolus do highly esteeme of the des- 

 tined water of the herbe against all inward inflammations and pestilent feavers, 

 as also to helpe the rednesse of the eyes, the swellings of the cods, and of the 

 brests before they be growen too much, for it doth not weakely repell the 

 humours: the fresh herbe applied to the forehead, easeth the paines of the head- 

 ache comming of heate. Duckes do greedilie devoure it, and so will Hens if it 

 be given them mingled with branne. 



The progress of world exploration that followed the discovery and 

 colonization of the East and West Indies and the mainland of the then 

 dark continents of Asia and America brought to European gardens 

 many unusual plants which later writers, particularly those of the 

 eighteenth century, carefully described, often with elaborate illustra- 

 tions, in publications emanating from these public and private gar- 

 dens of the old world. "We give a copy of the title-page of the first 

 work of this kind which describes and figures American plants. 



JAC. COENUTI 



DOCTORIS MEDICI 

 PARISIENSIS 



CANADENSIUM PLANTAEUM, 



aliarumque nondum editarum 



HISTORIA. 



***** 



PAPJSIIS, 



M. DC. XXXV. 



CUM PBIVILEGIO REGIS. 



It will be noted that this bears the date of 1635, only fifteen 

 years after the landing of the Pilgrim fathers, and is primarily a his- 

 tory of the plants of Canada which was then the synonym of North 

 America. A sample illustration will give one of Cornut's figures of 

 one of our common spring plants, and its name, Asaron canadense, 

 the same it still bears, will show at a glance that the binomial system 

 of naming plants was not only not invented by Linnaeus, but was in 

 common use almost a hundred years before he published a single line 

 on botany, and more than seventy years before he was born! Our 

 common maidenhair, the bulb-bearing fern (also illustrated here), the 



