Philosophy of Botany. 197 



That some plants were known by specific names long before 

 Aristotle and Theophrastus is quite evident. Of many their 

 real or alleged wholesome or noxious qualities were kr^,own to 

 pharmacopolists, others to gardeners for adornments in use by 

 religious ceremonies or for sorcery. Vintagers and agricul- 

 turists had made and collected observations and experiments 

 with the cultivated plants, and much empyrical knowledge in 

 aid of success and profit in culture had accumulated and was 

 in general circulation. But efforts directed toward lucre and 

 increase of wealth only do not possess the elevating moral 

 character of science. This term signifies the operation of such 

 an intellectual energy which is spent in the discovery of truth 

 or the elimination from our judgments of that which is false, 

 impure, or confused. 



Science begins as soon as the student commences to ana- 

 lyze critically observations made by himself or others, to asso- 

 ciate their relations, and to bring to light the remote or occult 

 soiirces of externally visible phenomena. 



With this motive in his mind Aristotle founded the science 

 of nature in general, and Theophrastus became the father of 

 scientific botany. Not only that, but he collected a surpris- 

 ing array of trite and simple observations upon native and 

 exotic species gathered from the columns of Hercules to the 

 plains of the Euphrates and the waters of the Indus, from the 

 cataracts of the Nile to the shores of the Pontus ; he did not 

 confine his attention to vegetables of common utility only, but 

 he inquired with equal zeal into the nature of the humblest 

 plants when they appeared to him to confer to the solution 

 of general problems, which was the main object of his studies. 

 He queried : Wherein consists the diiiterence between plant 

 and animal? Which are the organs of the plant? What is 

 the function of root, stem, leaves, and fruit? To what age do 

 plants attain? What causes them to take on disease? How 

 can their diseases be prevented or be remedied? What influ- 

 ence on their thrift exert heat or cold, moisture or dryness, 

 external injuries or excessive fruit bearing, care or neglect of 

 cultivation, soil or climate? Can a plant originate sponta- 

 neously? Can one species transform itself into another one? 

 How do plants grown from seed differ from those grown from 



