HISTORY OF BOTANY. 
221 
prove the barbarity of the times; yet we cannot doubt thai 
these distant and romantic expeditions were in part suggested 
by the desire of change, and the vague wish to see and to know 
new things, and hastened the awakening of the human mind 
from the sleep of ages. 
337. The 12th and 13th centuries witnessed in Italy the re- 
vival of a taste for letters and the fine arts. The commerce oi 
that country was flourishing, the people made long voyages by 
sea, and in the accounts which they published, spoke of the 
vegetable productions of the countries they had visited in such 
a manner as excited the curiosity of the nations of Europe. 
338. About this period it is supposed herbariicms^ or colleo- 
tions of dried plants^ heg an to he preserved. This was an im- 
portant era in hotanical science / for nature is ever true and in- 
capable of leading into error ^ while descriptions may give false 
mews of natural objects. The science of Botany was not en- 
riched by a single work of any merit, from the fall of the Ro- 
man empire, a period which marked the decay of literature, 
until the 15th century. Those in the dark ages who pretended 
to any knowledge of plants, only quoted from the Greek and 
Roman writers, but they were ignorant even of the languages 
in which their works were written. In the 15th century Italy 
was governed by wise princes, who were influenced by a desire 
to promote knowledge among their people. They invited to 
their country learned men from Greece, from whom they might 
learn the language of Homer and Aristotle.* At this time the 
Turks threatened Constantinople, and that capital of the empire 
of the East at length fell into their hands. The literature of 
Greece now took refuge in Italy / the ancient languages were 
revived, and at this time translations of ancient writers, with 
learned commentaries, were given. But these labors, although 
exercising an important influence upon literature, were not 
equally fortunate with respect to the progress of natural history 
The learned writings of antiquity were accurately studied, but, 
blinded by the brilliancy of great names, men of learning looked 
not upon nature ; they had yet to learn, that without examining 
and comparing real objects, there can be no solid foundation in 
natural history. 
339. About this period a physician of Germ,any published 
some indifferent descriptions of plants^ accompanied by a few 
engravings. This connection of drawing and botany although 
the whole was badly executed^ was considered as an important 
improvement in the science. While Italy was thus a second 
time enriched with the literary treasures of Greece, Spain and 
Portugal were becoming enlightened by intercourse with foreign 
%37 Revival of Literanre.--338. Herbariums made.— 339. Literature pf Greece transferred to Italy 
