vii] ' The Book of Nature" 157 



bites or stings were supposed to be cured by the use of 

 a particular herb, were often introduced into the drawing, 

 as in the case of the Plantain (Text-fig. 1) which is accom- 

 panied by a serpent and a scorpion. In this figure the 

 cross-hatching of white lines on black — the simplest possible 

 device from the point of view of the wood-engraver — 

 is employed with good effect. Sometimes the essential 

 character of the plant is seized, but the way in which it is 

 expressed is curiously lacking in a sense of proportion, as 

 in the case of "Dracontea" (Plate XVI), one of the Arum 

 family. 



The figures in the ' Herbarium ' are characterised by an 

 excellent trait, which is common to most of the older herbals, 

 namely the habit of portraying the plant as a whole, in- 

 cluding its roots. This came about naturally because the 

 root was often of special value from the druggist's point 

 of view. It is to be regretted that, in modern botanical 

 drawings, the recognition of the paramount importance of 

 the flower and fruit in classification has led to a comparative 

 neglect of the organs of vegetation, especially those which 

 exist underground. 



We now come to a series of illustrations, which may be 

 regarded as occupying an intermediate position between 

 the classical tradition of the ' Herbarium' of Apuleius, and 

 the renaissance of botanical drawing, which took place early 

 in the sixteenth century. These include the illustrations 

 to the ' Book of Nature,' and to the Latin and German 

 ' Herbarius,' the ' Ortus Sanitatis,' and their derivatives, 

 which were discussed in Chapters II and III. 



'Das puch der natur' of Konrad von Megenberg 

 occupies a unique position in the history of botany, for 

 it is the first work in which a wood-cut representing plants 

 was used with the definite intention of illustrating the text, 

 and not merely for a decorative purpose. It was first 

 printed in Augsburg in 1475, and is thus several years 

 older than the earliest printed edition of the ' Herbarium ' 

 of Apuleius Platonicus which we have just discussed. The 

 single plant drawing, which illustrates it, is probably not 

 of such great antiquity, however, as those of the ' Her- 

 barium,' for its appearance suggests that it was probably 

 executed from nature for this book, and not copied and 



