214 THE JOUR?TAL OF BOTANY 



Francis Malatesta, at the price, according to Pritzel, of 25 lire, which 

 even for those daj's seems astonishingly small. The volume has an 

 elaborate decorative frontispiece, at the foot of which is an open book 

 having on one page the figure of a Evphoi-hia and on the other 

 " Eques Joaes Bapta Morandi Inventor, Delineator, et Sculptor," 

 accompanied by implements of painting and engraving. The device 

 on the title-page is in the same style ; it embraces besides the imple- 

 ments mentioned those of agriculture and horticulture, and books, one 

 of which is opened at two figures of Euphorbias; the others, closed, 

 bear the names of Bauhinus, Tournefort, Boerhaave, and Morison : 

 the work is described as " Opus Equitis Joannis Baptista? Morandi 

 Mediolanensis Botanici-Galenici-Pictoris." There is a long dedication 

 to Cardinal Puteobonelli, Archbishop of Milan, followed by an address 

 to the reader. Having mentioned the two unpublished works whose 

 titles have been given above, he explains the plan of the present work : 

 the paragraph relating to the figures may be quoted, as it describes 

 their scope, and calls attention to certain features of special value or 

 interest : 



" Integrum Opus triginta quinque in Classes fuit distributum : 

 sua quodlibet continentur Classe germen, sua singulari notatur Stirpe ; 

 Genera, Specieque distinguitur : Figura nedvmi plantae, verum etiam 

 Scapi foliorum, Florum, Fructuum, Seminum, Iladicum exhibentur. 

 Quae omnia multis in Voluminibus peculiar! colore pinguntur. Cer- 

 titudo, quae hoc in negotio maximi profecto facienda est, non 

 desideratur. Quippe manibus meis Plantas Herbasque obtulit sedula 

 diligentia, qua veluti suscepto a natura exemplo, eas pro intelligibili 

 mensura,& magnitudine delineavi; postmodum fideliter sculpsi. Moneo 

 insuper hoc in loco de Capillaribus herbis &c., me ita ipsarum flores, 

 fructus, atque exigua semina j^i'opofuisse, ut plane dignosci micro- 

 scopio possint." 



The figures, although by no means equal in execution to the 

 originals, to which reference will be made later, are I think better 

 than Haller's description would imply ; the details are carefully 

 executed, and the plants Avere evidently, as the author states, drawn 

 from actual specimens. It will be noted that in some copies they 

 were coloured; Pritzel saw one of these, but those I have seen have 

 been plain. 



The address to the reader is followed by the imprimaiur and a 

 restriction of copyright to the author : then comes an index of the 

 classes, and a list, occupying two pages, of authors quoted ; this 

 shows, as does the text of the work, a wide range of reading. The 

 text is divided into two parts, separately paged: the first (32 pp.), 

 • headed " Explicatio Plantarum," contains a summary of the "distri- 

 butiones " or classes : the second a detailed description of each species, 

 with an account of the " temperamentum et vires " : the synonymy 

 is very full. The classification presents interesting features, and the 

 book from this point of view seems to merit more attention than it 

 has received: I do not find it mentioned in any of the lists in 

 Linnseus's JPhilosophia JBotanica nor in his BibUotheca Botanica 

 (1751). 



