CHAPTER II. 



BOTANY FEOM THE FIKST CENTUKY TO THE 

 TIME OF THE ARAB PHYSICIANS. 



§ 1. FiKST Century. Pliny. 



The first century of the Christian era is signalized in the 

 history of Botany hy the work of Pliny, who set himself the 

 task of recording all that was known or accepted concerning 

 every branch of Natural History, and what we might now 

 call Social Science ; a work which he completed two years 

 before his death, and which will ever remain a monument of 

 his intellectual power, his untiring perseverance, and his 

 enormous erudition. 



This remarkable man, Caius Plinius secundus, called 

 Pliny the elder, was born either at Verona or Como, a.d. 23. 

 A considerable part of his life was spent in the army, and 

 after he had been made one of the augurs at Rome, he was 

 appointed Governor of Spain ; but though much occupied 

 with public work, he was such an enthusiastic student as to 

 devote every moment of his spare time to literature. Even 

 during his meals some book was generally read to him ; he 

 always moved about at Rome in a litter, so that the time 

 might not be lost from study, and he disapproved of walking 

 as a waste of time. We are told by his nephew (Pliny the 

 younger) that when in retirement in the country, the time 

 spent in the bath was the only portion that was not allotted 



