9 HEROES OF SCIENCE. 



custom to many plants; and the healing power 

 of some plants, and the poisonous nature of others 

 began to be known ; the good and ill-disposed 

 amongst men endeavoured to learn all about them. 

 Thus the first steps in the science of plants were 

 to name them, and to ascribe properties to them. 

 It has often been noticed that there is some 

 resemblance between the history of the progress of 

 a science, during all the ages of civilization, and 

 that of the rise and progress of one in the child, 

 youth, and man. The child receives everything 

 that it is told, as a truth, and loves the wonderful ; 

 the youth likes to hear of mysteries, and his 

 emotions and poetic feeling lead him to desire 

 general truths ; and the man criticizes what he has 

 been told, tries to learn for himself, and longs for 

 exact knowledge and the absolute truth. So in 

 the early days of civilization, men believed in 

 everything that was told them, and ascribed 

 wonderful properties to the nature around them 

 which they saw was so beautiful and yet often so 

 terrible. As the world got older, curious legends 

 were associated with truths and falsities ; and with 

 the general diffusion of learning, and the careful 

 exercise of the reasoning powers, knowledge 

 became more exact and useful, and was followed 

 for truth's sake. 



All branches of knowledge relating to nature 

 passed through many stages, and were influenced 

 by the prevailing habits and methods of thought 

 of the age. The wonderful, the mysterious, the 



