UNSYSTEMATIC KNOWLEDGE. 295 



does not refer to the potato 4 . He is speaking of 

 the differences of roots : "Some roots," he says, " are 

 still different from those which have been described ; 

 as that of the arachidna* plant : for this bears 

 fruit under-ground as well as above : the fleshy 

 part sends one thick root deep into the ground, but 

 the others, which bear the fruit, are more slender 

 and higher up, and ramified. It loves a sandy soil, 

 and has no leaf whatever.'* 



The books of Aristotle and Theophrastus soon 

 took the place of the Book of Nature in the atten- 

 tion of the degenerate philosophers who succeeded 

 them. A story is told by Strabo 6 concerning the 

 fate of the works of these great naturalists. In 

 the case of the wars and changes which occurred 

 among the successors of Alexander, the heirs of 

 Theophrastus tried to secure to themselves his 

 books, and those of his master, by burying them in 

 the ground. There the manuscripts suffered much 

 from damp and worms; till Apollonicon, a book- 

 collector of those days, purchased them, and at- 

 tempted, in his own way, to supply what time had 

 obliterated. When Sylla marched the Roman troops 

 into Athens, he took possession of the library of 

 Apollonicon; and the works which it contained 

 were soon circulated among the learned of Rome 

 and Alexandria, who were thus enabled to Aristo- 

 telize~ on botany as on other subjects. 



4 Theoph. i.ll. 



5 Most probably the Araclmis kypogcea, or ground-nut. 

 fi Strabo, lib. xiii. c. 1, 54. 



