THE REVIVAL OF SCIENCE 277 



the male and female Manucodiata, the male having 

 an hollow in the back, in w ch 'tis reported the 

 female both layes and hatches her egg ; the 

 mandragoras of both sexes ; Papyrus made of 

 severall reedes, and some of silke ; tables of the 

 rinds of trees written with Japoniq characters ; 

 another of the branches of palme ; many Indian 

 fruites ; a chrystal that had a quantity of un- 

 congealed water within its cavity ; a petrified 

 fisher's net ; divers sorts of tarantulas, being a 

 monstrous spider with lark-like clawes, and some- 

 what bigger/' 



But Evelyn's chief contribution to science, as 

 already indicated, was horticultural. He was 

 devoted to his garden, and, both at his native 

 Wotton, and, later, at Sayes Court, Deptford, 

 spent much time in planting and planning land- 

 scape gardens, then much the fashion. 



In the middle of the sixteenth century, the 

 fact that " nitre " promoted the growth of plants 

 was beginning to be recognised. Sir Kenelm 

 Digby and the young Oxonian John Mayow, 

 experimented de Sal-Nitro ; and, in 1675, Evelyn 

 writes : "I firmly believe that where saltpetre 

 can be obtained in plenty we should not need to 



