MODERN BOTANICAL GARDENS 163 



The educational value of a botanical garden did not 

 develop much, if at all, prior to the middle of the 

 1 7th century, when those at Bologna, Montpelier, 

 Leyden, Pans, and Upsala became more or less note- 

 worthy as aids to scientific teaching. The taste for 

 ornamental and decorative plants had meanwhile 

 been slowly growing and persons of wealth and influ- 

 ence, desiring to cultivate rare and unusual species, 

 began to employ men skilled in botanical knowledge to 

 take charge of their gardens. The world was searched 

 for new and rare plants which were brought back for 

 cultivation in the botanical gardens of Europe, and 

 many handsomely illustrated volumes describing these 

 plants were pubHshed by the rich patrons of botany. 

 These older gardens were essentially private institu- 

 tions, but gradually a few of the existing establishments 

 and a number of new ones were opened more or less to 

 the public. 



Modern botanical gardens, therefore, have a number 

 of functions which have not appeared simultaneously 

 but have been a matter of gradual development. Be- 

 ginning with the utilitarian idea, there have been added 

 to this the aesthetic, the scientific, and the educational. 

 Naturally these elements have been given different de- 

 grees of prominence depending upon local conditions; 

 but whether a garden be essentially scientific or mainly 

 utilitarian, or combine all of the essential functions of 

 a garden, it is clear that the educational features are 

 receiving more and more emphasis. Formerly a public 

 garden was a mere museum of living plants; at best a 

 place for recreation and pleasure. Nowadays the at- 



