ECOLOGICAL WORK IN BOTANY. 
6; 
publisher did not even give him a copy of the first part. Natural 
disgust with the way in which his work was treated led him to 
forsake botany and devote himself to the languages. 
One by one he takes up and describes the common wild flowers 
of his country, noting, as he does so, the adaptation they show 
to their environment and to insects. Setting out with the concep¬ 
tion of a “ wise author of nature who has not created one hair 
without a definite purpose,” Sprengel’s study of apparently insig¬ 
nificant facts brought out a much clearer understanding of the 
meaning of flowers than had ever been given. He fiist regarded 
the modifications of the flower as existing for the sole benefit of 
insects, but the study of some species of Iris led him to the dis¬ 
covery that many flowers are not fertilized without the aid of 
insects and finally to the conclusion that “ Nature seems to in¬ 
tend that no flower shall be fertilized by its own pollen.” One 
can but regret that Sprengel should have failed to discover the 
advantages which cross-fertilization brings and to have seen that 
all the arrangements which favor insects’ visits are of value to the 
plant itself, simply because the visitors effect cross-fertilization. 
The opening years of the nineteenth century saw the inception 
of some phytogeographical work of lasting value. A. von Hum¬ 
boldt had begun his travels and gave vivid accounts of the natural 
history of unknown regions in such works as his “ Essay on the 
Geography of Plants,” published in 1803. In the opening pages 
of the work cited he recommends the study of plant geography 
for exemplifying the philosophical side of botany. He states that 
at that time the science of plant geography scarcely existed, even 
in name. Humboldt seems to have observed, independently^ that 
plants are grouped into societies or “ associations ”; and speaks 
of the differing composition of plant associations in tropical and 
temperate zones. Later in “ Views of Nature ” he gives short 
sketches of the life history of various plants and of the aspects 
of vegetation in the lands he visited. His work helped furnish 
the basis for several contemporary treatises on phytogeography. 
The foundation of the present science of plant geography as 
a separate and distinct part of botany seems to have been laid by 
Schouw in 1823. He was professor in Copenhagen and had been 
