INTRODUCTION. XXIX 



Csesalpin who first worked it — 'primus 

 qui summum hoc inventum in usum de- 

 duxit,"* He also called him — ^ Primus verus 

 sjstematicus/ His book De Plantis Lihri 

 xvi (Florence 1583) is rich in ideas which 

 were overlooked at the time, but of which 

 the truth was recognised long afterwards. 

 The greatness of his stride is measured 

 by the fact^, that though he had opened 

 the true path, no one entered it for nearly 

 a hundred years. 



Attempts have been made to account 

 for the disregard of Csesalpin in his own 

 day. Some observe that he gave no 

 Figures of plants ; others allege that he 

 neglected Synonymy. These two defects 

 were identical in their significance, and 

 when thrown into one, they made a valid 

 obstruction. This will be plain if we con- 

 sider the exigence of the time. The whole 

 science laboured under this radical infir- 

 mity, that its objects were hard to identify; 

 the vocabulary was involved in ambiguity. 

 This crippled the whole pursuit^ and made 

 progress drag : and if a genius appeared 

 among the botanists, it prevented them 



