ME^rOIR OP RONDELET. 29 



natural history which has derived important benefits 

 from Rondelet's labours, he by no means confined 

 his attention to that, but carefully investigated 

 many others, particularly such as afi^ord the most 

 valuable contributions to the materia medica. On 

 one occasion we find him enumerating the subjects 

 of his study in the following terms : — " R-ursus in 

 hac nostra pr^eclara Monspeliensi Academia tractare 

 et contemplari res cognitione dignissimas, divinam 

 et nondum omnibus plane perspectam corporis hu- 

 mani fabricam ; stirpes plantasque ; multiplices et 

 varias quibus regio nostra abundat metalla, pisces, 

 aliaque plura quse medico vel necessaria sunt, vel 

 perutilia; neque enim brevibus cancellis circum- 

 scripta est medendi scientia, sed multarum et mag- 

 nanim rerum cognitione instructus atque omatus 

 esse debet is, qui Medici nomine dignus haberi 

 velit." The progress he made in botany, in parti- 

 cular, is known to have been considerable. He left 

 numerous manuscripts on that subject to Mathias 

 de Lobel (whose name is familiar to botanists of 

 the present day, as afibrding an appellation to a 

 beautiful genus of pentandrous plants), who found 

 them of much value. To commemorate his services 

 in this department of natural history, Plumier has 

 named after him his genus Rondeletia, comprising 

 a series of simple and entire leaved West Indian 

 shrubs, of the class Pentandria, order Monogynia, 

 natural order Stellate (Rubiaceae of Jussieu). 



Rondelet was justly regarded, both by his cotem- 

 poraries and successors, as one of the greatest oma- 



