THE GARDEN AND ITS DEVELOPMENT. 415 



Park, at Harbcke, iK^ir Brunswick, and the landi>rav('\s park of Weis- 

 senstein Ca.stle, now known as Wilhelnishohe. The introduction of 

 these American forest trees was very important, as it essentially influ- 

 enced the entire appearance of the g-arden, the introduction of so many 

 characteristic tree forms sufficing to free modern landscape gardening 

 from the reproach of monotony. 



The modern garden, with which the name of Prince Piickler 

 Muskau is chiefly connected, adopts many peculiarities from other 

 styles, but rests chiefly upon an entirely new principle. The charac- 

 teristic beauties and surprising combinations that nature sometimes 

 attains with her plant materials is sought to be turned to account and 

 artistically regulated. Forest and meadow are so distributed that they 

 afl'ord the most beautiful efiects of light and shade. Trees are some- 

 times employed alone, .sometimes in masses, or by skillful combina- 

 tions of contrasted forms effects are produced suQh as nature herself 

 presents in plant growth. This idealized landscape is not carried 

 immediately up to the house, as was done in the original English gar- 

 den, but between the house and the landscape there intervenes, accord- 

 ing to the Italian-French principle, a piece of garden more or less 

 regularly laid out, a so-called pleasure ground, whose size and form is 

 regulated by the size of the dwelling. Upon this piece, according to 

 the conditions of the ease, there may be emploj^ed as a means of orna- 

 ment even terraces, sculpture, and water, and here especially can all 

 lovers of modern floriculture be gratified, here is a suitable place for 

 arabesques of tapestry beds, and here may beautiful, single plants be 

 cultivated. 



From the abundance of plant materials at hand the modern garden 

 chooses only what is good and suitable for the place. Among the 

 diversity of materials the standpoint of the collector of rarities whose 

 pride is to grow as many varieties as possible is here completely dis- 

 regarded. This task is assigned to the botanical garden, wherein not 

 the beauty of the specimen, but rather its scientific interest, is of first 

 importance. 



Originall}" the botanical garden was intended for physicians, who 

 could there find collected only those plants to which could rightly {or 

 more often wrongly) be ascribed healing virtues. Therefore, the Ital- 

 ians, who alread}" in the eleventh century possessed at Salerno the first 

 medical school, founded the first botanical garden. It was also a 

 Florentine, Angelo, a contemporar}' of Petrarch, who was called to 

 Prague by the Emperor Charles IV to establish for the universitv, 

 founded in the year 1348, a botanical garden, the first of its kind in 

 Germany. Since then the aim and style of the botanical garden have 

 changed very much, for it has become an institution in which are col- 

 lected from all zones plants of scientific interest. It derives its char- 

 acteristic form from the circumstance that in the course of time there 



