it would be necessary to transcribe them. For brevity's sake we will here quote de l'Écluse only[1] the best of the three writers named above. In his 'Rariorum plantarum historia,' which appeared as early as 1576, but which lies before the writer of these pages in the edition of 1601, the first book treats of trees, shrubs, and undershrubs; the second of bulbous plants; the third of sweet-smelling flowers; the fourth of those without smell; the fifth of poisonous, narcotic, and acrid plants; the sixth of those that have a milky juice, and of Umbelliferae, Ferns, Grasses, Leguminosae, and some Cryptogams.
A similar arrangement is found in Dalechamps[2]; that of Dodoens in his 'Pemptades' is more perplexed and unnatural; but the design in both of them is evidently much the same as that of de l'Écluse. This design is best seen from the introductory observations to each book; de l'Écluse, for instance, says at page 127, 'Having treated of the history of trees, shrubs, and under-shrubs, and put these together in the preceding book, we will now in this second book describe such plants as have a bulbous or tuberous root, many of which attract and delight the eyes of all persons in an extraordinary degree by the elegance and variety of their flowers, and which therefore ought not to have the lowest place assigned to them among garland-plants ('inter coronarias'). We will begin with the plants of the lily kind, on account of their size and the beauty of their flowers, etc. etc.' The introductions to the several books of the 'Pemptades' of Dodoens are more learned and more diffuse. It is plain that the composers of these works had no thought of arranging
- ↑ Charles de l'Écluse (Carolus Clusius) was born in Arras in 1526. His family suffered from religious persecution in France, and he spent the greater part of his life in Germany and the Netherlands; in 1573 he removed to Vienna by the invitation of Maximilian II; in 1593 he became professor in Leyden and died there in 1609. See Meyer, 'Geschichte der Botanik,' iv, who gives full information respecting the eventful life of this distinguished man.
- ↑ Jacques Dalechamps, a native of Caen, who died in 1588, was a philologist rather than an original investigator of nature, as is remarked by Meyer in his 'Geschichte der Botanik,' vi. p. 395.
