3 ® 
The history of BOTANY. 
added to the fcience. Tiie firfl: Cordus fpoke alfo of fome Plants from 
his own knowledge ; and the fecond of that name, fon to this firft, befides 
his comments upon Dioscorides, publithed A History of Plants, 
with Figures. He was careful in his obfervations, and his defcriptions 
arc fcarce otherwife imperfeft, than from the want of terms, for the 
diftindt parts; an imperfcdfion not to be charged upon him, fo much as 
on the flate of the fcience in his time. 
Riffus, who wrote a little before, and Amatus Lusitanus, who 
followed this Cordus, were rafli and ignorant commentators on the an- 
cients; prefuming to explain what they did not underftand. Lacuna 
had more learning, but not much Botany. Tragus, who appeared next 
after thefe, and flouriflied about the middle of the fixteenth century, was 
a proper fuccellbr of the laft Cordus ; he ftudied Vegetables in their 
own rtrudture, not in books alone. He publifhed a hiftcry of Plants, with 
tolerable figures; and he has given great light into the German Flora. 
Cornarius livcvl in the fame time, and he made fome, tho’ flight ad- 
ditions to the fcience. He is mofl; known by a difpute with Fuchsius, 
too potent an antagonifl:. Goupylus was a fcholar, and a good com- 
mentator ; but he added little, tho’ he explained much : a ufeful, rather 
than a great writer. Fuchsius a little after publiflied an excellent ac- 
count of tlie German Plants, with a gr^at many good figures: but Dio- 
scorides is too often the author of the defcriptions ; and they are fre- 
quently, therefore, unlike the Plants : for the time is not yet come, wlien 
the Cireck Botany is io cafily reconciled to what we fee in Europe. This 
Fuchsius wilhed to find ; and therefore often perfuaded himfelf he really 
found it. 
Rondeletiu*;, about the fame time, travelled in the fame path with ad- 
vantage. He was happy in an aflbeiate, Pellicerius, a dignified church- 
man; to whom thofe who envied Rondeletius, attributed his difeo- 
veries. He was a Naturalifl of great diligence, and underflood very well 
what had been done before him. Pliny’s Plants never were fo juflly un- 
derftood as hy his means ; tho’ in the nature of the fubjedf, there muft 
be great imperfedbion. About this time alfo, near the middle of the fix- 
teenth century, England produced a kind of Botanilb. Turner’s Herbal 
was publilhed in 1551 : a work better fpoken of by foreigners than it de- 
ferves : but its early date gives it fome claim to notice. Mathiolus, cele- 
brated for his laborious commentaries on Dioscorides, flouriflied a little 
after thefe. He had great advantages from the many excellent writers who 
had confidered that author before him ; but he wanted a real knowledge 
