LKCT. I.] AND JPHOGKEfcS OF BOTANY. 13 



gave the first hint of this circumstance, but he did 

 not pursue the idea ; and the honour of starting 

 this important physiological proposition has also 

 been given to Sir Thomas Millington, who is said 

 to have made the discovery in 1676. He never 

 wrote any thing, however, on the subject ; but 

 merely communicated his ideas to Dr. Grew ; and 

 the uncertainty of the claim of originality on this 

 account, detracts much from the celebrity, which 

 such a discovery would have conferred on his 

 name. 



The improvements in Botanical science, that 

 had at this time gradually taken place, were much 

 forwarded by the inventions of printing and of en- 

 graving r which disseminating to a wide extent 

 every new discovery, and displaying the figures of 

 plants, in a correct and natural manner, attracted 

 men of genius in every country to the study of the 

 science. The advancement of navigation, and the 

 increase of commerce, had also a considerable 

 share in producing those beneficial effects: for by 

 their means the plants of different climates were 

 brought together; and the Botanical gardens of Eu- 

 rope enriched with the productions of every quarter 

 of the globe. It may not be uninteresting to know, 

 that the first Botanic garden was established at 

 Padua, in 1533; and that it still exists, after the 

 lapse of more than two centuries and a half, amidst 

 the changes of revolutions and the overturn of 



