6GG 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



longer points, and was the former representative 

 of this genus in Europe. The fruit of this liquid- 

 amhar is preserved, and also that of two species 

 of aoer, and one salix. 



The fossil linden tree of (Eningen, resembled 

 the modern large-leaved linden, t. grandiflora. 

 The fossil elm resembled a small-leaved form of 

 ulmus campestris. 



Of two species of juglans, one may be com- 

 pared with the American j. nigra, the other with 

 j. alba, and like it, probably belonged to the 

 division of nuts with bursting external shells. 

 Among the scarcer plants, is a species of diospy- 

 ros; a remarkable calyx of this plant is pre- 

 served, and shows in its centre the place where 

 the fruit separated itself; it is distinguished from 

 the living diospyros lotus of the south of Europe, 

 by blunter and shorter sections. Among the 

 fossil shrubs are two species of rhamnus, one of 

 which resembles the r. alpinus, in the costation 

 of its leaf. The second and most frequent spe- 

 cies, r. terminalis, may, with regard to the 

 position and costation of its leaves, be compared 

 in some degree with r. cathartious, but differs 

 from all living species, in having the flowers 

 placed at the tips of the plant. 



Among the fossil leguminous plants, is a leaf 

 more like that of a fruticose cy tisus than of any 

 herbaceous trefoil. 



Of a gleditcliia, there are fossil pinnated leaves 

 and many pods; the latter seem, like the g. mona- 

 sperma of North America, to have been single- 

 seeded, and are small and short, with a long stalk 

 contracting the base of the pod. 



With these numerous species of foliaceous 

 woods, are found also a few species of coniferte. 

 One species of abies is still undetermined; 

 branches and small cones of another ti-ee of this 

 family resemble the cypress of Japan. 



Among the remains of aquatic plants are a 

 narrow-leaved potamogeton, and an isoetes, si- 

 milar to the i. lacustris now found in small lakes 

 of the black forest, but not in the lakes of Con- 

 stance. 



The existence of grasses at the period when 

 this formation was deposited, is shown by a well 

 preserved impression of a leaf similar to that of 

 a triticum, tui-ning to the right, and on which 

 the costation is plainly expressed. Fragments 

 of fossil ferns occur here, having a resemblance 

 to pteris aquilina and aspidium filix mas. The 

 remains of an equisetum, indicate a species re- 

 sembling e. palustre. Among the few undeter- 

 mined remains, are the five-cleft, and beautiful 

 veined impressions of the calyx of a blossom, 

 which are by no means rare at ffiningen. No 

 remains of any rosacea; Iiave yet been disco- 

 vered.* 



* BucMand's Geology, p. 51-1. 



CHAP. LVIL 



PKACTICAL CULTURE OF PLANTS. 



As soon as nations begin to emerge from the 

 rudest states of society, in which condition they 

 have lived by the chase, and the precarious sup- 

 ply of the natural productions of the earth, they 

 turn their attention to the cultivation of vegeta- 

 ble substances in fields and gardens. We accor- 

 dingly find, that the artificial culture of the 

 cerealia has been of such early invention, that 

 not only all historical traces of its origin are lost 

 in remote antiquity, but even the specific kinds 

 of grains thus changed by cultivation, or the 

 countries where they were really indigenous are 

 at the present day impenetrable mysteries. To 

 agriculture, horticulture in due time succeeded. 

 In wann climates, where fruits are produced in 

 a perfect state by the liberal hand of nature, 

 gardening, as a means of subsistence, was of minor 

 importance; whereas, in colder regions, the trans- 

 portation of useful fruits and vegetables, and their 

 careful culture by artificial means, have afforded 

 incalculable advantages to mankind. 



We very earlj' begin to read of gardens con- 

 structed both for pleasure and utility. The 

 hanging gardens of Babylon have been repre- 

 sented as romantic in point of situation, and 

 magnificent not only for their extent, but also 

 for the natural difficulties which were sur- 

 mounted in their construction. The useful had, 

 however, but little part in their design; and of 

 the less aspiring spots, wliich were made to mini- 

 ster to the wants of the people of that city by 

 the production of esculent vegetables, it has not 

 been thought necessary to say one ^^ord. 



We have abundant reason for believing that 

 the Jews, during their existence as an indepen- 

 dent nation, were accustomed to cultivate fruits 

 in abundance, but no mention can be found of 

 the particular herbs and plants which they 

 without doubt produced for their daily con- 

 sumption. 



Our knowledge of the mode of gardening prac- 

 tised in the Chinese empire has been obtained at 

 periods of recent date ; yet, from what we know 

 of the inveterate pertinacity- wherewith its inha- 

 bitants adhere to the customs of their ancestors, 

 we are warranted in believing that the practice 

 of this art has been without any material altera- 

 tion for many centuries. Tiie learned Jesuits 

 Du Ilalde and Le Comte, who resided as mis- 

 sionaries in China, speak in commendation of 

 the manner in which the cultivation of culinarv 

 vegetables is managed in that country, where, 

 indeed, the practice of horticulture appears to 

 have reached to considerable perfection, although 

 the scientific principles upon which it should be 

 founded are wholly unknown. 



