NARROW-LEAVED EVERLASTING PEA. 59 



we figure ; but most botanists give it full specific rank as 

 the L. latifol'ms. It has at rare intervals been found in 

 woods in various counties throughout England ; but it is 

 a very doubtful native. We see that Edwards, in his 

 " Flora Britannica," speaks of it as follows : " The stalks 

 several, thick, climbing by means of tendrils to the height 

 of six or eight feet, or even higher in woods ; " while others 

 tell us that, when found as a wildling, it is always an escape 

 from cultivation. When, however, we find the plant in the 

 heart of a large wood far removed from human habitations, 

 we feel that this sweeping statement has its difficulties. 



The name Lathy rus was applied by Theophrastus to 

 some leguminous plants, but the exact species cannot now 

 be traced. The name was bestowed by the great Linna3us 

 on the present genus. 



As Theophrastus will be to many but the pale shadow of 

 a great name, we may advantageously diverge into a brief 

 biography. Botanical lore dates back, we are told by some 

 enthusiasts, to Adam himself, while Solomon's treatise, 

 that extended from the lordly cedar of the slopes of 

 Lebanon to the lowly hyssop on the wall, is a stock 

 reference. The writings of the somewhat mythical ^scu- 

 lapius date still earlier than those of Solomon ; but the 

 most ancient Greek writer whose works have actually come 

 down to us is Hippocrates. He was born at Cos, in the 

 year B.C. 459. Theophrastus was a Lesbian, and was born 

 about B.C. 390. He was one of the disciples both of Plato 

 and Aristotle, and is said to have written some two hundred 

 treatises on very diverse subjects. Twenty of these have 

 been preserved to us, and out of this small number 

 two only are on plants. He treated on vegetable 

 physiology, the nature and properties of various kinds of 



