8 SCANDINAVIANS AND 



2. BAUHINIAN PERIOD, 1601-1694. 



This period extends from Bauhln's Piuax to Tourneiorts Institutlones. The 

 former of these ^vas a remarkable book for its time. It aimed to catalogue and 

 describe all kno^\Ti plants. The names of the plants and the descriptions were of 

 the usual form of the the time. Of course, the work is w^ritten in Latin. The 

 names consist of a noun together with a descriptive phrase of one or more 

 adjectives or adjective modifiers. The descriptions are crude, but often as good 

 as were used by the immortal Linnwus himself, 150 years later. 



During thi.s period the flora of the "rt'est Indies and Mexico was explored and 

 described by Sloane. a noted Irish physician and naturalist, and the Jesuit Barna- 

 bas Coba: but nothing was done by Scandinavians. 



3. TOURNEFORTIAN PERIOD, 1694-1735. 



Tournefort's Institutlones was the epoch-making book. In this appear for 

 the first time botanical genera in their modem sense. Tournefort had in many 

 cases even a clearer idea of generic limitations than Linnseus himself. The major- 

 ity of the genera in the Genera Plantarum of the latter were adopted from this 

 ^vork of Tournefort. Tournefort" s descriptions are about as good as those of 

 Linnaeus, and have the advantage of being accompanied by illustrations. What 

 Tournefort's Instiutiones lacked was the systematic arrangement. 



During this period the flora of Xorth America was investigated by Plumier. 

 who made four journeys to this continent. W. Houstoun. who collected in the 

 West Indies and Mexico, John Lawson, in Carolina, and M. Catesby, in Virginia. 

 Florida, and the Bahamas. 



The first Scandinavian who,. a.s far as the ^Titer knows, con- 

 tributed to the knowledge of the flora of Xorth America, was 

 Hans Eg-ede. who spent fifteen years as missionary in Greenland. 

 Greenland is not always counted to America, but there is no rea- 

 son why it should not be. It is much nearer America than Europe. 

 Even botanieallyit belongs to the former. It is true that it contains 

 many plants common to northern Europe but not found elsewhere 

 in Xoi'th America, but stiU it is more American than European. 

 The larger number of plants growing- in Greenland ai-e circumpo- 

 lar ones, i. e. found in America as well as in Europe and Asia. If 

 these are excepted, the flora is decidedly more American than Eu- 

 ropean, especiaUy in the northern part. This is not the case at 

 all vdih the neighboring Iceland. The latter could be counted 

 geographically to America, but not so botanically. Its flora con- 

 sists almost exclusively of plants common to it, northern Scot- 

 land, northern Scandinavia, Spitzbergen. etc., with a few common 

 to it and Greenland but with no American plant.?, if thecircumpo- 

 lar ones are excepted. 



