Dioscorides was a Greek physician of the first century A. D. 
Little is known of his life, but it is evident from his writings 
that he had traveled considerably. His work on medical plants 
was considered a final authority for sixteen centuries; numerous 
editions and commentaries were published. 
Pliny the Elder was a Roman admiral, a friend of the Emperor 
Trajan, and wrote books on many subjects. His econorn)’ of 
time, writes his nephew, was almost beyond belief. He was 
killed by the eruption of Vesuvius, A. D. 79. His interesting 
“Natural History’’ was intended to be a general compendium of 
knowledge of nature; it contains thirty-seven books, sixteen of 
which describe plants and medicines from plants. A great many 
manuscripts and printed editions are in existence. The great 
prestige of Pliny’s work was largely due to its being the only 
work of its kind in Latin, the language of learning of the middle 
ages. 
Very little was added to the knowledge of plants between the 
time of Theophrastus and the sixteenth century. During the 
middle ages, it has been said, the Arabs kept aflame the lamp of 
knowledge. Plant names, such as Oryza (rice), Alfalfa, Alkanna, 
and others, testify to their studies. According to the so-called 
“doctrine of signatures,” plants indicated in some way their use— 
by heart-shaped or liver-shaped leaves, etc. Writings about 
plants during the middle ages were connected with their use in 
medicine, and often described magic and rites to be used when 
gathering or preparing the herbs. That the plants of Central 
Europe might be different from those of Southern Europe de- 
scribed by the ancients was not considered. 
The invention of printing and the discovery of America pro- 
foundly influenced all scientific study, including that of botany. 
The German Fathers of Botany, Brunfels, Tragus, and Fuchs, 
were the first to make pictures and descriptions direct from 
nature. Brunfels was in monasteries till probably past fifty. His 
“Herbarum Vivae leones”, published in 1530, contains 135 illus- 
trations, often with short phrases from Theophrastus or Dios- 
corides. A few plants unknown to the ancients are given, but 
these are not named. 
Hieronymus Bock, more generally known by his Latin name 
Tragus, also called Jerome the Herbalist, collected plants for many 
yeais. He writes that “when information about my labors and 
travels had been conveyed to the most learned Otto Brunfels of 
pious memory, he himself came journeying all the way from 
Strassburg to Hornbach, to see my gardens and collections.” His 
“Neu Kreuterbueh” contained at first no pictures, but German 
descriptions of plants. He describes herbs, shrubs, and trees, 
“keeping together such plants as nature seems to have linked 
together by similarity of form.” His characters are chiefly 
vegetative ones. 
Leonard Fuchs, a Bavarian, and also friend of Brunfels, was for 
