THEOPHRASTUS. 1/ 



true, but other things which are merely solemn 

 quackery. Thus they direct us to gather some 

 plants, standing from the wind and with our 

 bodies anointed ; some by night, some by day, 

 some before the sun falls on them. So far there 

 may be something in their rules ; but others are too 

 fantastical and far-fetched. It is, perhaps, not 

 absurd to use a prayer in plucking a plant ; but 

 they go further than this. We are to draw a sword 

 three times round the mandragora, and to cut it 

 looking to the west ; again, to dance round it, and 

 to use obscene language, as those who sow cumin 

 should utter blasphemies. Again, we are to draw 

 a line round the black hellebore, standing to the 

 east, and praying ; and to avoid an eagle either on 

 the right or on the left ; for they say if an eagle be 

 near, the cutter will die in a year." 



This was the nonsense, out of which Theophrastus 

 had to extricate the true wisdom of plants, and he 

 tried to put aside fancies, legends, and the opinions 

 of men, and to puzzle out the meaning of the simi- 

 larities and differences of plants, by first of all 

 learning and describing their construction, habits, 

 methods of growth, and increase. 



Only a fragment of the last of ten books on 

 plants written by Theophrastus has come down to 

 us. The writings made such an impression on the 

 students that their general bearing has been trans- 

 mitted, and the main points are as follows. Theo- 

 phrastus classified plants by the manner in which 

 they were reproduced, the localities where they 



I. C 



