THE LURE OF THE GARDEN 



may become a preponderating one; and it is interesting 

 to look back through the centuries upon these ele- 

 mentary plantations that time has caused to blossom so 

 wonderfully, these beds of " weeds" that have turned 

 to lilies and roses. 



The earliest public "physick gardens" are discover- 

 able during the sixteenth century in various parts of 

 Europe, the first being that established at Padua in 

 1545, for the benefit of students at the university. 

 Others soon followed in different Italian and French 

 towns, all devoted to the cultivation of plants thought 

 to be potent either as medicine or poison. 



English scholars of that time complained bitterly 

 that they were forced to travel so far to study even the 

 elements of botany ; for it was not until close upon a 

 hundred years later that the first English public physic 

 garden was made possible, by the gift, in 1632, from 

 the Earl of Danby, of a tract of land to the University 

 of Oxford. This prospective garden contained some 

 five acres, much of it low and marshy, lying between 

 the water walks of Magdalene College and Christ 

 Church, close to the bridge over the Clerkwell. It was 

 even then historic ground, being the site of an ancient 

 Jewish burial-ground, and it had long lain neglected. 



Scholars and noblemen interested themselves in this 

 garden, much labor was expended upon it, and it 

 received many donations of plants and specimens, as 

 well as valuable volumes for its library. It soon be- 



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