BRrXFELS AXD FUCKS 243 



nuts; Peach (601), Rihes (663), very well-done for inconspicuous 

 flowers, as also Erviom (571) with procession of flowers and fruits, and 

 the Isatis (415) with flowering and fruiting branches. 



It is difficult to beheve that the men who produced jthese figures 

 began with the feeble Herb Robert (206), ConvaUaria (240), Corn 

 Pansy (803), Scolopendrium (294), or faked the Nupliar, Yellow Iris, 

 and Coltsfoot as plants particularly adapted for bold decorative treat- 

 ment, yet made such beautiful studies from most insignificant flower- 

 types as Lettuce (229), Isatis (331), and Grood King Henry (463). 



On the other hand, with all their acquired skill in plant-presenta- 

 tion, Fuchs' men do not show any corresponding advance in the 

 observation and reproduction of the more minute botanical details 

 which we look for nowadays, and were present in the original 

 specimens ; Brunf els' figures with a wealth of accurate detail, expressed 

 ' summa cum diligentia,' rather reveal the true germ of scientific 

 enquiry. The draughtsmen of Fuchs are to be credited with their 

 steadfast labour and great output, on a rising scale of excellence, along 

 the lines on which they had been originally trained. Again, the 

 engraving of Wieditz for Brunfels is far superior to anything in the 

 earlier figures of Fuchs ; one has an uncomfortable feeling that 

 Speckle would have made a mess of Brunfels' Pulsatilla (i. 217) or 

 the Asarum (i. 71, P. 10). There is nothing in all Fuchs to 

 compare with the flower of the Pulsatilla or that of Hellehorus 

 (B. i. 30). Brunfels' figures are apparently drawn with a pen, giving 

 fine and deep strokes, with turns and movements intentiona% broken, 

 as well as in fine clean lines {cf. ii. 52, 53) : the earlier figures of 

 Fuchs have a poor thick line ; only in some of the early more 

 decorative designs (Cabbage, 416 ; Oak, 229 ; Melon, 368) is a heavy 

 line used locally with great effect. The special method evolved iii 

 later work tends to the use of a uniformh^ clear smooth line, in the 

 manner admired b}' modern process-engravers, and a limiting expression 

 of this type of work in the Comfrey (F. 695) may be at last fairly 

 placed by the side of Weiditz's 75 of Brunfels (A. 48). 



The significance of these records is sufficiently obvious ; the work 

 of Brunfels and Fuchs covers the whole province of the fundamentals 

 of botanical illusti-ation. To the construction of type-figures and 

 plate-filling with the dignity and restraint attained by the remarkable 

 draughtsmen of Fuchs — and the art of leaving out details too fine to 

 be repeated, as giving a breadth of design to the whole — requires to be 

 added the more faithful scientific observation of Brunfels, and his 

 recognition of the importance of pourtraying the distinct individuality 

 of every plant-organism, hi its natural mode of growth, and the 

 consideration of the plant as a whole. The addition of special 

 botanical details, as accurate drawings, or neat combinations in a 

 diagram of established convention, is again exemplified by Fuchs ; 

 while the clearness of line-reproduction exjDressed in the work of 

 Speckle puts to shame modern methods of line process-work, and on a 

 scale quite comparable with that of modern work. The admiration 

 and respect of posterity is earned only by those who utilize to the 

 utm(jst the resoui-ces of their age : and nothing is worth doing which 

 is not of the verv best. If the British Flora of the future, passing 



