484 



on several of the most obscure departments of the science; 

 witness Mr. Sowerby's work on English Fiuigi ; the la- 

 bours of the learned Bishop of Carlisle on Carices, and, 

 in conjunction with Mr. Woodward, on Fuci ; of Mr. 

 Dawson Turner on the latter tribe, and on the Musci of 

 Ireland ; but especially Mr. Hooker's inimitable display 

 of the British Jioivermcunrice. Nor shall the contributions 

 of a Winch or an Abbot, a Withering, Knapp, Stackhouse 

 or Velley, nor the more splendid labours of the indefati- 

 gable Lambert, be forgotten. Each, in one way or other, 

 has enlarged the bounds of science, or rendered it easier 

 of access. We cannot, in the compass of our present 

 undertaking, pay the tribute due to every individual, our 

 aim being a general picture of the whole. From what we 

 have said, the zeal with which this lovely science has been 

 cultivated in England will sufficiently appear. Nor have 

 public lectures, or botanic gardens, been neglected, in 

 order to render the knowledge of botany as accessible as 

 possible, and to diffuse a taste for its pursuit. The po- 

 pularity of the study has, at least, kept pace with the 

 means of instruction. The garden and green-house, the 

 woods, fields, and even the concealed treasures of the 

 waters, are now the resource of the young and the elegant, 

 who in the enjoyment of a new sense, as it were, in the 

 retirement of the country, imbibe health, as well as know- 

 ledge and taste, at the purest of all sources. 



France alone now remains to be considered, in order 

 to finish the historical picture which we have undertaken, 

 of the state of botanical science in Europe. To do justice 

 to this part of our subject, we must turn our attention to 

 times long since gone by, or we shall scarcely render in- 

 telligible the state of affairs at present. 



The great Tournefort, by the force of his character, his 

 general and particular information, the charms of his pen, 

 and the celebrity which his name gave to his country, 

 through the popularity of his botanical system, was so 

 firmly established, in the ideas of the French, as the Grand 



