26 THE NEW BIOLOGY 



little interest in living nature, or in adaptation to 

 environment, takes notice of few rare plants, and does 

 not restrict himself to native species ; he thought chiefly 

 of meeting the wants of the pharmacist. 



The five hundred woodcuts of the Historia Stirpium 

 probably surpass in artistic quality any long series of 

 botanical figures that has ever been published, though 

 they are not remarkable for minute accuracy. Each 

 plant fills a folio page, on which no letterpress beyond 

 the name is allowed to encroach. The outlines are 

 clear, and there is little or no shading.^ Sometimes 

 but not often the flower and fruit are shown on 

 detached branches ; the structure of the acorn is 

 displayed in separate figures; on the other hand the 

 flowers of the nettle are indicated by mere dots. A 

 whole tree from the roots to the top branches may 

 be shown in one view ; then the leaves are out of all 

 proportion to the trunk. In the drawing of an entire 

 walnut-tree there are only about a score of leaves, 

 each perhaps one-fifth of the total height ; it would of 

 course have been better to show only a single branch, 

 as is done in the case of the savin. Greek vase-painters 

 could draw unmistakable olive-trees, with only one or 

 two leaves apiece, but natural history cannot allow such 

 liberties. Fuchs' own portrait occupies the frontispiece, 

 while his draughtsmen (Heinricus Fiillmaurer and 

 Albertus Meyer) together with his engraver (Vitus 

 Rodolphus Specklin or Speckle) share a page at th^ 

 end of the book. ^i 



A glossary of difficult terms is prefixed to the Latin 

 Historia Stirpium, but omitted in the German trans- 



^The practice of drawing plants in outline probably originated in the 

 colouring of the figures. Early woodcuts are often coloured by means of 

 stencils, but this is never the case with Fuchs' figures. 



i 



