JAMES PETIVER 41 



History of Plants ; and he published two folio 

 volumes, with hundreds of engravings, dealing 

 with almost every branch of Natural History, 

 and yet he found time to act, for years, as 

 Demonstrator of Botany at the Physic Garden. 



There are volumes of his dried "plants in the 

 Natural History Museum in Cromwell Road. 



Petiver's plates represent all branches of 

 Natural History. Everyone who looks at the 

 old Natural History books must be struck by 

 the extraordinary contrast between the beautiful 

 illustrations of flowers and the monstrous 

 illustrations of beasts and birds. A great 

 artist like Albert Durer can make an accurate 

 etching of an Indian rhinoceros, or a water- 

 colour drawing of the Little Owl (its worn 

 tail-feathers showing how long it had been kept 

 in a cage !) ; but the book illustrations of 

 birds and beasts up till quite recent times are 

 grotesque, and often imaginary. 



For this there are obviously two reasons. 

 First, as has been already pointed out, the study 

 of plants was a more necessary, and con- 

 sequently an earlier study for mankind. 

 Secondly, plants were more accessible, and also 

 easier subjects for the artist. They were 

 perfect " sitters." Not so the animals. It is 

 only in quite recent years, owing to the growing 

 love of Natural History, that the world has seen 

 the beautiful drawings of birds and beasts, 

 which delight the present generation of 

 naturalists. 



Midway in time, between the good drawings 

 of plants and the good modern drawings of 

 animals, come the good drawings of butter- 



