The history of BOTANY. 
27 
PERIOD THE FOURTH. 
The Stateof BOTANY during the BAR.BAROUS 
AGES. 
CHAP. vir. 
The Decline of Botany to an abfolute Neglect. 
W ITH Ebenbitar died the Arabian knowledge; and Barbarifni 
overfpread the world : this and the other fciences lay for a long 
time negledled. This Period takes its date from the latter end of the 
twelfth century ; and it continued till the time but little earlier than our 
lateft ancedors. Books were no longer written on any part of Medicine ; 
and the entire art now, like Botany in a fomewhat earlier time, depending 
on tradition, gradually decayed. But it was fated, that this fcience, as it 
had its origin in Greece, fhould yet owe alfo to the Greeks of this period 
a faint attempt towards its reftoration. The firft Botanic writer who ap- 
pears after the juft celebrated Arabians, is Myrepsus. Pie wrote when 
every thing was yet obfcured in clouds of ignorance, and appears himfelf 
with difficulty, emerging from the general barbarifm. His language is in- 
elegant, and full of ftrange terms ; and his knowledge of Plants is extreme- 
ly confufed, not to fay very imperfetft. This dawn of a reviving fcience 
was afterwards clouded over, and a more perfed: negled followed. The 
next writer of thefe Greeks, Nicolaus Propositus, is much inferior 
in all refpeds to Mvrepsus; he is a crude collector, with plainly nothing 
of his own. The next in order of time to him is Hildegardis, and he 
finks yet below Propositus, degrading the little knowledge he appears to 
have collected, by puerilities, and fuperftitious folly. Soon after this flight 
author appeared Platearius, with fomething more of ftudy and defign. 
This writer opened the fourteenth century; and gave fome promife of a 
reviving literature. His diftindion of the Vegetable part of the Materia 
Medica, is upon the received plan of Tree, Shrub, and Plant, and he 
writes with fome knowledge of the fubjeds : poor in comparifon with thofe 
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