HIStOEY OF BOTANY. 
did Magnolia, an American plant, which then began to be 
known in Europe. 
350. Joseph Pitton de Tournefort was born in 1656. While 
very young, he discovered an enthusiastic fondness for botani- 
cal pursuits : he had been destined by his friends for a profes- 
sion; but his genius seemed so strongly bent upon the study of 
nature, that he was at length permitted to indulge without re- 
straint in his favorite pursuits. He ranged over the Alps and 
Pyrenees^ and many jprovinees of France^ collecting the flowery 
treasures offered hy those fertile regions / often in peril from 
banditti, and exposing his life to hazards in climbing terrific 
precipices, or amidst the glaciers of the mountains. The method 
of Tournefort, which was founded upon the form of the corolla, 
although imperfect, greatly assisted the progress of Linnaeus, 
who stands unrivaled in this department of Natural History. 
351. The attempts of botanists previous to this time had 
been chiefly directed toward the attainment of some proper 
method for the arrangement of plants ^ the attention of some 
Investigating minds was now turned toward their Anojtomy 
and P*hyslology. Since the days of the first Greek naturalists, 
these departments of botanical science had lain neglected ; but 
the confused opinions of the ancients now served to suggest 
experiments which resulted in new observations and solid dis- 
coveries. 
352. The invention of the microscope threw light upon the 
mysteries of nature, which without this instrument must ever 
have remained in obscurity ; hy its assistance hotanists studied 
the internal structure of vegetables j they described the hearty 
wood^ and pith ^' they perceived the newly formed hud^ yet in- 
visible to the naked eye ; the future plant existing in the hulh^ 
and even in the seed ; pores were discovered, which were found to 
be the organs of the expiration and inspiration of gases, thrown 
out as noxious, or inhaled as nutritious. Leuwenhoek, Grew, 
Malpighi, and Camerarius, are among the first of the moderns 
who investigated the internal structure of vegetables. The 
importance of the stamen and pistil as essential to the perfec- 
tion of the seed' began to be suspected. 
353. As yet, however, the science of Botany lay in scattered 
fragments of various imperfect and contending systems ; much 
labor had been bestowed, and great improvements made, but 
there was no central point around which these improvements 
might be collected. The learned world were sensible of 
the deficiency, but it required genius, great observation of 
nature, and courage to stem the tide of poj)ular prejudices, in 
350. Tournefort.— 351. Attention of botanists turned toward anatomy and physiology.— 352. Mi- 
troscope. — 353. Science of Botany yet imperfect. 
