HISTORY OF BOTANY. 227 



did Magnolia, an American plant, which then began to be 

 known in Europe. 



350. Joseph Pitton cle Tournefort was born in 1656. Wliile 

 very young, he discovered an enthusiastic fondness fur l)otani- 

 cal pursuits : he had been destined by his friends for a profes- 

 sion ; but his genius seemed so strongly bent npon the study of 

 nature, that he was at length permitted to indulge without re- 

 straint in his favorite pursuits. He ranged over the Alps and 

 Pyrenees^ and many provinces of France^ collecting the flowery 

 treasures offered hy those fertile regions / often in peril from 

 banditti, and exposing his life to hazards in climbing terrific 

 precipices, or amidst the glaciers of the mountains. The method 

 of Tournefort, which was founded upon the form of the corolla, 

 although imperfect, greatly assisted the progress of Linnaeus, 

 who stands unrivaled in this department of Natural History. 



351. The attempts of botanists previous to this time had 

 been chiefly directed toward the attainment of some proper 

 method for the arrangement of plants • the attention of some 

 Investigating minds was now turned toward their Anatomy 

 and Physiology. Since the days of the first Greek naturalists, 

 these departments of botanical science had lain neglected ; but 

 the confused opinions of the ancients now served to suggest 

 experiments which .resulted in new observations and solid dis- 

 coveries. 



352. The invention of the microscope threw light npon the 

 mysteries of nature, which without this instrument must ever 

 have remained in obscurity ; hy its assistance hotanists studied 

 the internal structure of vegetahles ', they described the hearty 

 wood., tind pith; they perceived the i\qv;\j formed hud^ yet in- 

 visible to the naked eye ; the future plant existing in the hulb, 

 and eve?! in the seed ; pores were discovered, wdiich were found to 

 be the organs of the expiration and inspiration of gases, thrown 

 out as noxious, or inhaled as nutritious. Leuwenhoek, Grew, 

 Malpighi, and Camerarius, are among the first of the moderns 

 who investigated the internal structure of vegetables. The 

 importance of the stamen and pistil as essential to the perfec- 

 tion of the seed hegan to he suspected. 



353. As yet, however, the science of Botany lay in scattered 

 fragments of various imperfect and contending systems ;■ much 

 labor had been bestowed, and great improvements made, but 

 there was no central point around which these improvements 

 might be collected. The learned world were sensible of 

 the deficiency ; but it required genius, great observation of 

 nature, and courage to stem the tide of popular prejudices, in 



350. Tonrneforl.— 351. Attention of botanists turned toward anatomy and physiology.— 35'2. Mi- 

 croscope. — 353. Pcipnce of Botany yet impertect. 



