GARDENS PUBLIC AND BOTANICAL 



came renowned, and was visited by botanists from dis- 

 tant parts, among them the Swede Linnaeus, then at 

 the beginning of his fame. 



The place remains, to this day, little altered. The 

 time-honored yews, once clipped into the shape of 

 guardian giants, still watch at the gate. Many a plant 

 brought ages since from alien climes has become accli- 

 mated, and gradually wandered from the borders to find 

 congenial support in the crevices of the old walls, or, 

 farther still, abroad in the country. Such has been the 

 way of the Oxford ragwort, now common in the neigh- 

 borhood. 



It is a subject of congratulation, says Mr. Davidson, 

 that "the first English physic garden has been per- 

 mitted to remain with all its old-world associations so 

 far unobliterated." A green and fragrant spot, it con- 

 tinues to abide within the shelter of the university, 

 seemingly quite as immortal as the gray and ivy-hung 

 walls of the buildings that surround it. 



There were, nevertheless, at least two private physic 

 gardens before this one at Oxford. The first dates 

 back to before 1596, when John Gerarde, "the father 

 of English herbalism," published his famous " Herball " 

 and catalogue of the plants in the garden adjoining his 

 house in Holborn. There is an amusing story told of a 

 certain Thomas Johnson, who brought out an "Herball" 

 of his own, in which he derided Gerarde's work, and 

 proclaimed interesting discoveries made by himself, 



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