224 Notice of Prof. De Candolle. 



In 1826 he had prepared for pubhcation his work on the organs 

 of plants,* another portion of his course of botanical lectures. 

 Rich as they had become from his extensive reading, from observa- 

 tion, and from the constant suggestions of his vigorous and original 

 mind, it was no longer just to withhold them from the public. 

 In this work on Organography, following out the hint given by 

 the German poet Goethe,f taking advantage of the light afforded 

 by those who v/ere successfully engaged in exploring the animal 

 kingdom, and gathering conclusions from the immense number of 

 new facts presented by other botanists, and by himself in prepar- 

 ing the Prodromus, he exhibits a fuller and more philosophical 

 view of vegetable structure, than had previously been given, in 

 the language. 



Five years after, in 1831, he completed his great work on Veg- 

 etable Physiology ,J also taken from his lectures, a rich storehouse 

 of facts, upon the properties and functions of the organs of plants 

 and the forces external and internal which act upon them. The 

 title of Physiology he admits to be not the most proper which 

 could be devised ; and he would have preferred that of Organo- 

 dynamy — the forces of the organs, as more descriptive of the sub- 

 ject of his treatise.^ 



One of the most interesting portions of this work, at least for 

 the young philosophical student of botany, is the Appendix ; 

 marking out, as it does, the limits of the science in its most im- 

 portant particulars, and indicating to the physiologist, the travel- 

 ler, the cultivator, the chemist, and the natural philosopher, as 

 well as to the botanist, to what points it is important that atten- 

 tion should be directed, to advance still farther the boundaries of 

 our knowledge. How many inquirers have these questions al- 

 ready stimulated to action ! Many of these questions he would 



* Organographie Vegiitale ou Description Raisonnee des Organes des Planfes. 

 Deter\7ille, Paris, 1827. 2 vols. 8vo. 



t Org. Veg. p. 8. 



X Physiologie Vegetale, ou Exposition des Forces et des Fonctions vitales des 

 Vegetaux. Paris, 1832. 3 vols. 8vo. 



§ According to the idea of De Candolle, vegetable physiology is but one depart- 

 ment of general physiology. It cannot be fully comprehended by one who is 

 ignorant of its principles in their other forms. Adequately to understand the 

 nature of plants, he must study atmospherical influences, the action of light, 

 electricity and heat, the laws of chemistry, the nature of soils ; and whatever can 

 be known of the laws of life. 



