HISTORY OF BOTANY. 
227 
These species were arranged according to certain general resem¬ 
blances, or natural relations ; thus we see that natural methods were 
prior to any attempts at an artificial system. 
In the beginning of the 16th century, we find the names of many 
who were engaged in investigating the vegetable kingdom. Some 
are commemorated by the names of plants ; Leonard Fuschs of 
Germany, by the plant Fuschsia ; Lobelius, physician to James I., by 
the Lobelia; and Lonicer, by the Lonicera. 
Lobelius distinguished the cotyledons of seeds, divided monocoty- 
ledonous from dicotyledonous plants, and attempted to form fami¬ 
lies by grouping species according to their natural relations. Zalu- 
zian of Bohemia laboured to perfect the natural groups of former 
botanists ; he is the first of the moderns who positively affirmed the 
existence of stamens and pistils in all species of plants, and suggest¬ 
ed the necessity of these organs. 
But, notwithstanding the labours of many learned men, little real 
improvement would have been made in the science of Botany, had 
there not, at that time, existed some minds of superior genius, who 
turned their attention to tracing some proper method of classifica¬ 
tion. These were Gesner, Clusius, Ccesalpinus, and Bauhin; of the 
latter name were two brothers, both of whom are deservedly cele¬ 
brated. 
Gesner, called the Pliny of Germany, born in 1516, was of an ob¬ 
scure and humble origin, but possessed of a powerful and penetra¬ 
ting mind. He attempted to make'a general collection of the ob¬ 
jects of natural history ; he explored the Alps, and discovered many 
plants until then unknown. He is distinguished from those who had 
gone before him, in his suggestions that there existed in the vegeta¬ 
ble kingdom, groups, or genera , each one composed of many spe¬ 
cies, united by similar characters of the flowers and fruit. Soon af¬ 
ter the publication of this opinion, botanists began to understand 
that the different families of plants have among themselves natural 
relations, founded upon resemblances and affinities, and that the 
most obvious are not always the most important. These are fun¬ 
damental truths ; and the distinction of species , the establishment of 
genera , and of natural families , seemed to follow of course, after 
these principles were once established. The Tulipa gesneriana , 
*and genus Gesneria, have been dedicated to this botanist. 
Clusius was born in 1526; his parents had destined him for the 
profession of law, but his decided taste for Botany induced him to 
abandon this profession. He was learned in the ancient and mod¬ 
ern languages, but his enthusiasm for natural history induced him 
to lay aside every other pursuit. He travelled over almost all the 
west of Europe, in order to make discoveries in the vegetable king¬ 
dom ; and soon excelled all the botanists of the age in the knowl¬ 
edge of both native plants and exotics. He had the direction of the 
imperial garden at Vienna, and afterward was public professor of 
Botany at Leyden. His enthusiasm for this science terminated only 
with his life. Before his time, the art of describing plants with pre¬ 
cision and accuracy was unknown ; but, unlike the descriptions of 
his predecessors, his were neither faulty from superfluous terms, nor 
from the omission of important circumstances. 
Caesalpinus, a native of Florence, who was contemporary with 
Clusius, proposed to form species into classes . The characters which 
Botanists of the 16th century— Lobelius—Zaluzian—-Gesner—How distinguished 
from his predecessors %—ClusiuSi the first who proposed to divide plants into classes 
—CsesalpinuSo. 
