HISTORY OF BOTANY. 311 



moral world, while nature had moved on in her unchanging 

 course ? History is silent ! But while in the old world em- 

 pires had heen rising, continuing for centuries stationary, and 

 then decaying ; succeeded and succeeded by others pursuing 

 the same track : were no changes going on in the American 

 continent? Had no mighty nations ever existed here? Had 

 no arts or letters been cultivated ? Had the savage Indian for 

 thousands of years been sole lord of one half of the world 1 

 And when, and how, did the first inhabitants of this continent 

 come from Asia, where man was placed at -his creation? 

 These are inquiries which naturally arise, on tracing the his- 

 toric page through so long a period of time, until suddenly this 

 new world bursts upon our vision ! But, although many specu- 

 lations have from time to time appeared, respecting the proba- 

 ble history of America, all, until its discovery by Columbus, 

 remains a sealed book. 



LECTURE XLY. 



History of Botany, from the beginning of the sixteenth century 

 to the time of Linnaus. 



WE have now traced the progress of botanical knowledge 

 from the earliest periods of the world to the discovery of 

 America. About this time Botanic gardens began to be culti- 

 vated : these afforded new opportunities for investigation, by 

 comprehending the vegetables of all countries within such 

 limits as enabled the botanist to compare them ; and to watch 

 their growth and different stages of developement. 



From the days of Theophrastus until the beginning of the 

 16th century, botany, instead of becoming more perfect, had 

 been rendered more obscure. This was not owing to want of 

 attention or labour, but to the false rules of philosophy which 

 had so long prevailed. 



At length the cause of the evil seemed to be discovered. 

 Many writers protested against the erroneous opinions of their 

 times; they said, "our blind respect for the ancients is an in- 

 surmountable obstacle to the progress of botany. We expect 

 to find every where the plants of Theophrastus, Dioscorides, 

 and Pliny ; whereas they did not know one hundredth part of 

 the plants which cover the globe. The first of them never 

 went out of Greece ; the second left only unconnected notes, 



Botanic gardens first cultivated Botanists began to discover obstacles to 

 the progress of the science. 



