304 HISTORY OF BOTANY. 



of the earth, before they settled in Judea. When in possession 

 of this fertile country, they extended their intercourse with 

 foreign nations ; the vessels of Solomon frequented the shores 

 of the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the East Indian Islands. 

 In the Book of Kings it is said, " God gave Solomon wisdom 

 and understanding above all the children of the East country, 

 and all the wisdom of Egypt, for he was wiser than all men. 

 He spake proverbs and songs; he also spake of trees, from 

 the cedar tree that is in- Lebanon even unto the hyssop, that 

 springeth out of the wall ; and people from all countries came 

 to hear his wisdom." 



The Magi, or " wise men of the east," cultivated the scien- 

 ces to a great extent ; but they kept their discoveries in mys- 

 terious concealment, in order the better to tyrannize over the 

 minds of the people. Their researches were in a great mea- 

 sure lost to the world. Greece, however, received from Asia 

 and Egypt the first elements of knowledge. 



The philosophers of Greece, too eager to learn nature at 

 one glance, were not satisfied with the slow process of observ- 

 ation and experiment, and to ascend from particular facts to 

 general principles ; but they believed themselves able, by the 

 force of their own genius, to build up systems that would ex- 

 plain all phenomena ; supposing that man had in his mind, pre- 

 conceived ideas of what nature ought to be. This error in the 

 philosophy of the ancients, for a long time obstructed the pro- 

 gress of all science ; and it was not until laying aside this false 

 notion, and admittirig that the only sure method of learning 

 nature was to study her works, that the labours of philoso- 

 phers began to be followed by important discoveries. 



The greater part of the ancient Greek philosophers assert- 

 ed, that plants were organized like animals, that they possessed 

 sensible and rational souls, capable of desires and fears, plea- 

 sure and pain. Pythagoras of Samos, who travelled in Egypt, 

 and was there instructed by the priests of the goddess Isis, is 

 said by Pliny to have been the first of the Greek writers who 

 composed a treatise on the properties of plants. 



Seven men of the name of Hippocrates, wrote upon the 

 medicinal properties of plants ; but their descriptions, being 

 destitute of system, are vague and cannot be applied to plants 

 with any degree of certainty. 



Aristotle, perceiving that the course taken by preceding 

 philosophers had not conducted them to the true knowledge of 

 things, partially renounced their false ideas, and rested more 

 upon observation and experience. In his researches he was 



Solomon is said to have spoken of trees and other plantsThe Magi Phi- 

 losophers of Greece Pythagoras Hippocrates Aristotle. 



