OUR PRESENT KNOWLEDGE OF ANCIENT PLANTS.* 



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Prof. Dr. L. Wittmack, Berlin, Germany. 



The original text of my lecture is: " Our present knowl- 

 edge of prehistoric seeds," but you will allow me to enlarge 

 the theme a little and to speak not only on the prehistoric 

 seeds but on ancient plants in general. 



The first question is what sources and what authorities have 

 we for our knowledge of the ancient plants and seeds? 



First, we have the ancient literature, especially the Greek 

 and Roman ; but it is often very difficult to say what meaning 

 these authors intended to convey by certain words, for in- 

 stance the word olyra (»Xupa} which is rather a word for 

 cereals in general. 



We have, further, the wall-paintings in the Egyptian tem- 

 ples and the city of Pompeii, near Naples; also the paintings 

 in the temples of other countries such as Mexico. 



Third, we have the sculptural and architectural works 

 which often have attributes taken from the vegetable king- 

 dom ; for instance, the sheaves in the hands of Ceres, the 

 olive and the myrtle in the hands of Minerva, or the corn- 

 cobs fashioned in marble, and other stones in the American 

 and Peruvian temples. 



For the middle ages we have a work of Charlemagne, 800 

 A. D., entitled, " Capitulare de villis imperialibus." In this 

 he gives instructions to his administrators as to which plants 

 should be grown in the gardens of his residences called the 

 Pfalzes (singular Pfalz). Recently a study has been made 

 by a German, Dr. Konrad Plath, concerning these Pfalzes. 

 He has discovered that there were numerous residences of 

 that kind extending from the east of France to Hungary, for 

 all that country belonged to the Empire of Charlemagne. 



* Lecture delivered before The Academy of Science of St. Louis, May 2, 

 1904. 



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