INTRODUCTION. xl 
All that remained sought refuge in Asia; and we 
find botanical writings, with others on natural his- 
tory, in the works of Galen, Oribasius, Aitius, Paulus 
Agineta, and, later, in those of the Arabian physicians, 
Aben Mesne, Serapion, Rhazes, Avicenna, etc.; they are, 
however, chiefly transcripts from the earlier writings of 
Hippocrates, Theophrastus, and Dioscorides. 
“Tt is melancholy to look back upon the state of 
Europe during the period which has been justly deno- 
minated the dark ages. A dismal gloom enveloped the 
whole of the civilized world; ignorance, superstition, and 
barbarism tyrannized over learning and genius ; knowledge 
of any kind was to be acquired only by searching among 
the rubbish of schools and monasteries ; fabulous legends 
supplied the place of truth, and the deceptions of a crafty 
priesthood debased, at the same time they enslaved, the 
minds of men. During this long and melancholy course 
of years, the few scattered writings that appeared on 
natural history were the productions of the monks, and 
compiled from the old authors, but even these were cloaked 
in an almost unintelligible jargon, and it was not till the 
middle of the sixteenth century that the sun of science 
again burst this thick cloud, and shed its rays upon the 
north of Europe. At this period, botany, which was ex- 
actly in the same state as the ancients left it, could not be 
considered anything more than a catalogue or list of names 
of about one thousand plants; for although the ancients 
were great observers, they did not make much use of their 
observations. They looked at nature rather with the eye 
of the poet than the philosopher; and on giving the reins 
to imagination, were too powerfully charmed with her more 
