122 Plant Dcscyipfioii I*"- 



as soR'll, and lialli a yclovvc llovvn'." As aiuUluT example; 

 wc; may cite; llu- Chicory, whicli is ck-scrilicd as liavini^ 

 "crokcd and vvrytlu'ii slalkcs, ami the; lloiin- is o\ y coKnii- 

 of the skyc." Of llu- Watcrlilics, we receive a still more; 

 generalised account : " Nrnular is an herhe that grovveth 

 in water, and hath large leves anel hath a Home in maner 

 of a rose, tin; rote thereof is called treumyan aiul is 

 very hygge. it is of two maners. One is whyte, and 

 anotln'r yelowe." C)ccasionally we meet with a hint ol 

 more detaili'd observation. l'"or instance, the coloured 

 central (lower in the nmhel of the C'airot is mentioned, 

 tliough in terms that sound somewhat strange to the modern 

 botanist. We read that it " hath a large lloure antl in the 

 myddle tluM'ol a lytell reed |)r)'cke." 



It is somewhat ri:markal)le th.it Hanckes' 1 lerb.il, though 

 originally publislutl a yeai' earlier than the hrst edition ol 

 the CJrete lierball, shows a slight but distinct su|)eriority 

 in the matte'r of elescription (see p. 3S). Perhaps this is to 

 be connected with the fact that l^anckes' lierbal is without 

 illustrations. Hut even if we allow that tin; elescriplions 

 in l?anckes' lierbal occasionally seize on salient features, it 

 must be admitted that they still leave a gre.it deal to the 

 imagination. As two ty|)ical examples, which are perha|)s 

 as good as any in the book, we may take; thos(\ of Tutsan ' 

 and ol She[)hertrs Purse. Of the In-st the; he;rbalist writes, 

 "This herbe hathe leves somele'le re'e-d lyke; unto ye leve's 

 of Orage'. Anel this he-rbe' hathe; se:nowes on his le;ves as 

 hath I'lantayne;, .ukI it hathe; yelowe; (loures and l)e;re'th 

 blacke; berys, anel it growe'th in elry wexiele's." Of She'ijherel's 

 I'urse he' says, "This lu'rbe- hathe a small staike anel lull 

 e)l braunehes and raggeel le:ve:s anel a whyte- (le)wre. The; 

 ce)eleles the-rol be; lyke; a purse;." 



The; ' I lerbarum viva; e'ice)nes ' eif ()lto lirunfe-ls (1530) 

 was the hrst herbal illustrale-d with eirawings, whie:h are 

 thre)ughout both beautilul anel true te) nature;. 'idle ele- 

 scriptie>ns, on the othe-r hanel, are epn'te; unworthy e)f the 

 figures, being nie)stly borrowed from e-arlier write-rs. The 

 weinderlul e;xcellence; e)i the W()e)dd)loe;ks, with which the 

 (Je;rman I'athers e)l ]ie)tany e;nricheel the-ir books, was, in 

 one sense, an actual hindrance to the; ele;vele)pmeiit of the 



' I lypfricmn ttiiiln>siniiiiiii I-. 



