are, with a single exception,* all nutritious and 

 wholesome, and probably attracted the attention of 

 mankind at a very early period. Through the inat- 

 tention of man to any thing except that which de- 

 pended on his immediate physical wants, and this at 

 first from imperious necessity, and then from careless 

 indifference, the very native countries of many of our 

 now valued plants are unknown. The potato, so 

 generally cultivated over the civilized world, in its 

 endless varieties, was, for a long time, lost as a spe- 

 cies, until very recent discoveries have detected it in 

 South-America, as an almost worthless plant.f The 

 effect of soil, climate and other circumstances, on the 

 vegetable kingdom, seem a wise provision of Nature, 

 in favor of the industry and enterprise of man ; but, 

 although thus liberal in her gifts, she retains the right 

 of reducing to original forms, these very changes, 

 when uncontrolled by art. 



However interesting such inquiries may be, it is 

 equally vain as idle, to enter into speculations on 

 these points, as conjectures and theory must necessa- 

 rily supply the want of truth. 



From mere articles indispensable for food and nu- 

 triment, the vegetable kingdom became subservient 

 to the luxury of the human race, and rare and cu- 

 rious plants, and their cultivation, were sought out, 

 to add comfort and beauty to necessity. The sacred 

 scri})tures give us vivid descriptions of the advance of 

 Horticultural taste and knowledge among the Jewish 

 nation, and the relics of antiquity serve to show that 



* Lo'.ium temulenlum. 



t Journal of Science and Arts: London, No. 31, pp. 2C2— 3. Ibid. No. 19, pp. 25— 7. 

 Edinburgh Pfiilosopliical Journal, Vol. XVI. p. 193. 



