CHAPTER XI 



LAMARCK AS A BOTANIST 



During the century preceding the time of La- 

 marck, botany had not flourished in France with the 

 vigor shown in other countries. Lamarck himself 

 frankly stated in his address to the Committee of 

 Pubhc Instruction of the National Convention that 

 the study of plants had been for a century neglected 

 by Frenchmen, and that the great progress which it 

 had made during this time was almost entirely due to 

 f oreignersA A 1\Si|M , 



" I am free to say that since the distinguished 

 Tournefort' the French have remained to some ex- 

 tent inactive in this direction ; they have produced 

 almost nothing, unless we except some fragmentary 

 mediocre or unimportant works. On the other hand, 

 Linnd in Sweden, Dilwillen in England, Haller in 

 Switzerland, Jacquin in Austria, etc., have immortal- 

 ized themselves by their own works, vastly extending 

 the limit of our knowledge in this interesting part of 

 natural history." 



What led young Lamarck to take up botanical 

 studies, his botanical rambles about Paris, and his 

 longer journeys in different parts of France and 

 in other countries, his six years of unremitting labor 

 on his Flore Frangaise, and the immediate fame it 

 brought him, culminating in his election as a mem- 



