BRUXFELS AND FUCHS O-tl 



Strawberry of Brimfels (ii. 35 ) is again botanically admirable within 

 its limitations, with regard to the diehasial inflorescence, runners, and 

 flowers ; but in Fuchs (853) it is ^particularly badly done ; fruits are 

 added to the flowering inflorescence, there are blossoms of two sizes 

 on the same axis ; the leaf-arrangement and shoot-construction, 

 recognizably correct in Brunfels, are hopelessh^ bungled, and the 

 biggest fruit is erected. The case of the Coltsfoot is of special interest, 

 because it is again illuminative with regard to the original mode of 

 work. The block of Brunfels (i, ttl) is a distinctly fine study of a 

 pulled up summer leafy shoot, with broken rhizome and wilting lower 

 leaves. The same shoot cooked appears in Fuchs (F. 140, Ar. 147), 

 reversed, the drooping leaves touched up, and two inflorescence axes 

 added. Everybody knows how straight these axes stand, and the 

 drooping of the older capitula. The graceful curves, and the insertion 

 of the new shoots out of sight behind the petioles, shows the ingenuitv 

 of the fake, as well as its definite disregard of the facts of the case. 

 The intention, however, was undoubtedly good, that of giving dilferent 

 aspects of the plant in a composite figure ; and the same applies 

 in a cruder manner to the Strawberry ; but Brunfels was tKe more 

 scientific. 



These presumably earlier figures based on Brunfels, and ahvavs 

 much inferior, present an earlier aspect of the work. It was succeeded 

 by a long period of indifferent studies representing the slow improve- 

 ment of the draughtsmen, and probabl}' also of the engraver of this 

 particular class of work. The cutting of the eailier figures is as poor 

 as the draughtmanship, witli a thick coarse line (Asarum, F. 10) ; 

 and perliaps half the plates may be included within this epoch. 



But once beyond this stage, and beginning to acquire facilitv in 

 handling leaf -form and spatial arrangement, improvement is verv 

 marked ; if the illustrations had not got beyond the preceding stage 

 the}'- would have never attracted any attention beyond those of Bock, 

 Matthiolus, or Tabernaemontanus. The new departures undoubtedly 

 express the result of several ^^ears" experience on the part of men, 

 originally formal draughtsmen and designers, who had now been put 

 through a course of natm-e-study, direct from the plant, in the manner 

 of Brunfels ; and though still ignorant of scientific " botany," the 

 results were wholly beyond expectation. Many of the older"^ blocks 

 are quite fine designs, and might be done by artists of no botanical 

 knowledge ; like many nowadays, in the ordinary course of conventional 

 art-instruction. Thus the Vine (F. 84) may be a good drawing, but 

 it is not a botanist's idea of Vitis ; nor is the beautiful conventional 

 figure of the Oak Tree (F. 229), which miglit be used for a book 

 cover : cf. also the Hop (164), Plum (403), Pumpkin (701). 



The first advance is noted in the improvement of the aspect of the 

 leaves in shape, insertion, angular divergence, and perspective — quite a 

 large number of plants afford fine studies of foliage ; the decussate 

 types begin to be well done ; in the case of the Teasel, a bijugate 

 system is well-expressed (224), Ar. 176 ; spiral forms take some doing, 

 and there may be at first a tendency to leave out the leaves on the 

 off-side of the stem : but some of the finest plates show a realiv 

 remarkable sense of 3-dimensional space-form : cf. 5Q, 57, 72, 129, 



