INTRODUCTION. XI 



subject is lost. The History of Plants by 

 Theophrastus is the most excellent of the 

 botanical writings of the ancients that have 

 come down to us. Indeed, nothing so fresh 

 or so good in the field of Botany appeared 

 again until after the middle of the six- 

 teenth century ; until that race of botanists 

 which culminated in Caesalpin. 



And yet we cannot call him the father 

 of the science of Botany. This honour 

 belongs, not to Theophrastus, but to Dios- 

 corides. For though Theophrastus has 

 much more of that spirit which is in sym- 

 pathy with the aims of modern science, his 

 work has not the form calculated for laying 

 the foundations of a classificatory system; 

 it is too highly organised, composite, and 

 elaborate. He wrote as a philosopher with 

 the most comprehensive aims, investigating 

 the structure, geography, culture^ and 

 economic uses of plants. His work is a 

 plenary Treatise in Natural History: — 

 addressed to a select and limited audience. 



Dioscorides commanded a universal 

 audience, he had a single aim, and his 

 plan was as simple as a catalogue. He 



