211 HISTORY OF BOTANY. 



plants, althougli very important, as furnisliing from their leaves 

 food for cattle, are yet more especially useful for their seeds, 

 which furnish food for man. Some j)lants furnish oils, which are 

 of imj^ortant uses in various ways. The fixed oils are extracted 

 from plants called oleaginous ; they may be considered undei 

 three heads : 1st, olive-oil^ j)roduced from the olive in warm coun- 

 tries ; 2d, ovut-oil^ of temperate climates, as obtained from wal- 

 nuts, &c. ; 3d, linseed-oil^ obtained from the seed of oleaginous 

 or oily plants. Many of the labiate plants, as thyme, sage, &c., 

 are used in cookery. The Cruciform family afford the cabbage, 

 cauliflower, turnips, &c. ; the Leguminous family, beans, peas, 

 <fec. The Cucurbitacese furnish us with melons, squashes, and 

 cucumbers ; umbelliferous j)lants, with the aromatics, as cara- 

 way, coriander, &c., which are usefid. in medicine and confec- 

 tionery. The plants chiefly used in domestic economy difter in 

 difierent climates and countries ; some, as many kinds of grain 

 and grasses, are in common use in all countries ; while others, 

 as the bread-fruit and plantain, are only used in the few coun- 

 tries which produce them. The bread-corn of the temperate 

 climates is chiefly wheat, rice, and maze ; rice is a substitute 

 for these in warm countries, and barley in cold countries. The 

 esculent roots of the old world are chiefly the yam, carrot, and 

 turnip ; of the new, the potato. The pot-herbs^ such as the cab- 

 bage, sea-kale, and others of the cruciform family, are mostly 

 used in temperate climates. 



LECTUKE XLI. 



FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD TO THE 

 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 



327. "We now propose to give a brief sketch of the progress 

 of botanical knowledge ; and is this is closely connected with 

 other branches of natural science, a history of the advancement 

 of the one will necessarily be in some degree a record of the 

 march of the others. ]N"atural Philosophy, Chemistry, and 

 Botany, were all nursed in the same cradle, and thus grew and 

 gained strength side by side ; though Botany (at first rude and 

 imperfect) may be considered the elder sister. 



328. Alter becoming familiar with a science, the mind natu- 



Oleaginous plants — Labiate and Cruciform plants— Melons — Umbelliferous pi ants^— Bread-corn — Pot- 

 herbs — Legumes. — 327. History of botanical science. — 328. Why do we unsh to learn the progress of 

 science '] 



