456 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol.LII 



Lobelius, Caspar Bauhin, all workers in botany, seeking 

 the same source for solving the problems of the plant 

 world, through demonstrating the relations between the 

 plants themselves, and beginning with classification first 

 of all. At that time literature was less than scant; there 

 was actually nothing to distract the views of investiga- 

 tors ; it was an era of thought original, with room only 

 for the gifted and talented, none for the mediocre. And 

 strange to say, Caesalpino, though secluded from the bo- 

 tanical centers of Holland, France, and Germany, rose to 

 hold the palm as the most brilliant of his contemporaries. 

 In modern times he is still revered as the father of sys- 

 tematic botany. To these men Porta was not known, and 

 presumably they were not known to him either. To de- 

 scribe the principal episodes in the life of Porta, the 

 various phases of his character and labor, history has 

 little to say, fame less. 



He was born in Naples, in the year 1545, and he did 

 succeed in gaining reputation as a noted naturalist, phi- 

 losopher, physician and pharmacologist. His home was 

 a favorite gathering place for men of learning; meetings 

 were held, dubbed "Accademia dei Secreti," and themes 

 wore discussed delving into all the mysteries of nature, 

 principally the chimerical secrets of magic. That Porta 

 held an eminent place among his associates seems proven 

 by the fact that they regarded him as "a new prophet," 

 and as such Porta was summoned to the court of Rome to 

 defend himself. He must have made a bold stand, tor 

 instead of meting out some punishment for his suspected, 

 supernatural power, the court exonerated him and elected 

 him a member of the Accademia dei Lincei. After that 

 time he lived in Rome for several years, and he died in 

 February 1615. The only botanical work written by 

 Porta is "Phytognomonica," published in Naples, 1588. 

 Three subsequent editions, 1591, 1608, and 1650, were pub- 

 lished m Germany. In the later years of his life Porta 

 acquired no small notoriety as an author of dramas and 

 tragedies. Considering the profuse material treated in 

 "Phytognomonica/' and the fact that Porta was only in 



