Mertens and Koch's DeutschlandCs Flora. 351 



on the south, the Adriatic Sea in lat. 45°, and a part of Turkey ; on the 

 north by Denmark and the Baltic Ocean ; on the west by France, Holland, 

 and a small portion of the North Sea ; and on the east by Russian Poland : 

 thus comprising a superficies of above 220,000 square miles. 



This great extent of country, too, possesses much variety of soil and 

 climate. The Sudetic chain of mountains rises in Westphalia, and stretches 

 southerly till it reaches the Carpathian Alps on the frontiers of Poland and 

 Hungary. In the south the Alps of Tyrol seem to vie with those of Swit- 

 zerland, which they join on the east. Near the centre of Germany is an- 

 other lofty range of hills, which, taking a semicircular direction, appears 

 to form a natural boundary to Bohemia and the neighbouring countries. 

 Many of the mountains have an elevation which reaches far above the line 

 of perpetual snow, and, consequently, produce a vast variety of highly 

 curious Alpine plants ; whilst in the vallies of the south, both the climate 

 and its productions resemble those of Italy. Even in the northern parts 

 the summers are warmer than in Britain, although the mean temperature 

 may not be equal ; and, taking a given space in the same degrees of lati- 

 tude, we find a vegetation both more abundant, and more varied than is to 

 be found in our island. In the north of Germany, sandy plains abound, 

 and heaths : and the Prussian dominions may be considered, upon the 

 whole, to possess a poor and sterile soil. Saxony is generally fertile ; but 

 Wirtemberg, Bavaria, and the Austrian dominions are the most diversified, 

 some parts being exceedingly rugged and mountainous, whilst others have 

 very extensive tracts of deep and fertile soil. The rivers are numerous, 

 and some of great magnitude, and the forests of Germany have been cele- 

 brated ever since the invasion of the country by the Romans. 



Situated in such a country, we must not wonder if the Germans early 

 devoted their attention to the study of plants. Cuba, a physician of 

 Frankfort, was the first who published figures on wood, along with his 

 descriptions of 509 vegetables, about the end of the 15th century. But 

 in what concerns the early attention that was given to botany by the Ger- 

 mans, I shall translate what Mirbel has said in his " Naissance et Progres 

 de la Botanique ;" since it is much better than anything I could myself 

 offer upon the subject. 



*' It must be confessed," he says, " that since the time of Theophrastus, 

 botany, far from advancing, may be said to have retrograded. A greater 

 number of plants were indeed known by name, but there was less acquaint- 

 ance with their organization, and the art of observing was lost. This 

 was the result of injudicious methods, much more injurious, as Malpighi 

 observed, to the developement of the intellectual faculties, and, conse- 

 quently, to the progress of science, than even the ravages of barbarians." 



" At length the light burst forth ; the evil was seen, and a remedy 

 sought out. The works of Otho Brunfels, of Jerome Tragus, of Antoine 

 Mvsa Brassarol, of Leonard Fuchs, and of some others, but little consulted 

 now, show the return of genius to the study of nature The greater 

 number of these authors combated stoutly the false opinions of their day. 



" Our blind respect for the ancients," said they, " is an insurinount- 



