460 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. LII 



does exist, and has existed for more than three centuries, 

 founded by Porta, and amply discussed in several chap- 

 ters of his "Phytognomonica." No mention is made by 

 Warming of Porta 's book. And, strange to say, no men- 

 tion is made of Planchon's either. By Sachs 3 Porta is 

 passed by in silence. 



Planchon (I.e.), Guy de la Brosse 4 and Adanson 5 refer 

 only to the part dealing with the secret virtues of plants ; 

 the chapters on plant societies are ignored, or let us say 

 not appreciated. 



To Porta the method of classifying plants as instituted 

 by his contemporaries must have been absolutely un- 

 known; of rendering the knowledge of plants more ac- 

 cessible by means of a system he had no thought. His 

 principal object was to demonstrate the virtues or prop- 

 erties possessed by plants, and, as stated above, Porta 

 combined these with the general aspect of plants, the 

 shape of their leaves, stems, etc. While making these 

 observations in the field, as he did, Porta became aware 

 of the distribution of a number of species under condi- 

 tions very variable, and especially with regard to the 

 soil. He noticed the fact that the general aspect of the 

 plants, their shape, color, odor, hairiness or smoothness, 

 at least to some extent, depended upon the environment 

 in which they grew, and from this point of view, we 

 might say "biologic," did Porta elaborate the introduc- 

 tion to his "Phytognomonica." He divided the plants 

 in two groups, aquatic and terrestrial, each with several 

 subdivisions. Of the former, examples are given of 

 species characteristic of lakes, swamps, rivers, brackish 

 marshes, etc., and he described the habit of several plants, 

 in most cases very correctly. With respect to the ter- 

 restrial plants Porta distinguished between those that 

 occupy a rich, a dry, or a sandy soil, illustrated by Malva, 

 Lithospermum, and Femicuhm. Furthermore, some am- 

 phibious species are described, such as are terrestrial but 



