THE FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA. 7 



GeschicJite der Botanik. I'nfortunately, this histoiT brings us 

 only up to, 1850. Wincicler divides the history into tlie following' 

 periods: 



The ancient writers. 

 Medicns— Bauliin, 1478— IGOl. 

 Bauhin— Tournetort, 1601— 1G94. 

 Tournefort — Linn.Tus, 1694 — 1735. 

 Linnipus— Jussieu, 1735 — 1789. 

 Jnssieu — R. Brown, 178V)— 1817. 

 R. Brown— , 1817— 1S50. 



Pritzel divides it into the following periods: 

 Ancient writers. 



Tournefort— Linnreus, 1694—1736. 

 Liumeus— R. Brown, 1736—1810. 

 R. Brown— DeCandoUe, 1810—1824. 

 De Candolle- , 1824— 



These two writers agree in regarding Tournefort, Linn;eus, 

 and Robert Brown epoch-making botanists. There is no question 

 that the two first were. As to Robert Brown, there is no doubt 

 that he was one of the greatest sj^steniatic botanists the world has 

 produced, and scarceh' anyone has known as manj^ plants as he; 

 but as far as the botany of North America is concerned, the writer 

 cannot see that a new epoch began either 1810 or 1817. There 

 are many more reasons for assigning the beginning of new^ epochs 

 with Jussieu and De Candolle, or rather with the appearance of 

 the works in which they proposed their new systems of classifica- 

 tion. 



As far as the North American botany is concerned, new epochs 

 apparently began about 1840 and 1890. The beginning of the 

 first of these was too near the time when Winckler and Pritzel 

 wrote, and was naturally overlooked by them. 



The writer has adopted in general the periods by Winckler, 

 but with some modification in the later ones. 



1. MEDICAN PERIOD, 1478-1601. 



This period extends from the time of iledicus to the appearance of Kaspar 

 Bauhin's Pinax. During this time nothing of any value was written on American 

 botany except tlie work of Hernandez, who traveled in Mexico in 1570 — 6. Only 

 a portion thereof was published 1615, 1648, 1651, and 1791. So even the publi- 

 cationof Hernandez's work does not lielong to this period. 



Nothing was contributed to the knowledge of the American flora by Scandi- 

 navians. 



