i l
h i s t o r y o f g a r d e n in g .
iRRgM his phffosophy. This “ ’S " S a t l o r o L " \ Z
the side toivards Dipylon, on r S n td speoils of gratification, the enjoyment
corded was the first who introduced th rihilosonher Mclanthius was opposite to
r f Z e ’eountty in totvn. The a T l S first in the Memnis. I t was
the statue of Minerva P « o m ^ ;Y 4 L 4 ™ ^ ^ ^ o f Lyeophron, with some of tas deon
the way to the ^ Academy . M ^ expanse. On the graves were placed flat dMs
scendants.were buried m it at the puhhc . p ¡,5 the Academy. (Hob,,
S t a s c r i p t io n s . The ^ o y d um , or gmden r f dialogue on beauty 011
of resinous trees, so general m Y Z e Z o ice of for their brilliaut colours and odou-
ZrO TrpZfuZ Is)‘ap pZ ” to ^ Z e t T n h l Z s “ \ S S i t ' r D sZ 'c t seq.I
3i »0™ “ f Y r s i S " i " ■" 7 3 urofusion in the market of Atheiis wmie , , odition of Theophrastus. Lord
L -io u s observations J liis sMjert jq concur in S ” d ’
Bacon, in his Essay on Gardens .ma t^c sister a it ol
The academus or public garden „„......«i nimon, who conveyed streams ot watci to
InM tiv a ted spot, .‘ «1 P ^ Y ^ ^ Z ^ Z X ^ i ^ n a r o r places of e ir c is e , aud pMoso^nc
it and laid it out m shady S '°Y 4 n ive the plane, and the elm ; and the two last soits
walks. Among the trees ^ X ’th S Z tlm siege of Athens by Sylla, in the wm
had attained to such oxtraordinapi size, warlike engines. In the
withMithridates,they were selected to ’’« « 7 f®gam mid
was the first altar ‘^ rX Z m a Y he reckoned among their public S -'!® --
30. The cemeteries ofthe received those who had hvcd and died in
Athenian Ceramicus, the l”“ '®-''P!4mented with trees and sculptm-es, m such a mannu
the seivice of thoii- country, ^ h o wished to boirow inspiration to nMle deeds
s « - « “ " . ? ; . - . ™ - . ” “ » " " “
for eminent men.
SECT. v n . « . z .
31. In tbe primeval state » / S e X Z s t Z " ! o n X t
t X u f i r x " X r u i t . ^
effects of these vegetahlo Ptoh—^ OTien m i began to have settled habitations, the
lealn the use of herbs in medicine. t o J / J j c h were so necessary, would k a d
mconvonionce of havmg to search 4 , /¿ „ c U im r ; and as the spots of ground in
To the collection of them m P “ es n m ^ ^ y ® ^ them from the depredations
32 T h e first fr u it tree cultivated hy ma „f which serves not only for food, like
the flg The X is the next m order, pomegranate were early cultivated
that r f th e fig, but also f , X a n d 5.) ; i d h appears hy the eomplmnts
e s f r - r = . = r t , . £ : . a..... . . .k. - * — • -
olive ; the fig was introduced to Athens from Crete, and the chestnut from Sardis.
The olive, the fig, and the vine ai-c enumerated in Solon’s laws,
33. T h e fr s t herbage made use o f by man would be the most succulent leaves or stalks
which the surface around him afforded ; of these every country has some plants which
are succulent even in a wild state, as the Chenopôdeæ. Cabbage and asparagus were
known to the Greeks from the earliest ages, and still abound in Greece ; the latter on
the sandy plains, and the fonner on the sea shores. Of the green seeds of herbage
plants, the bean and other icguminôsoe were evidently the first in use, aud it is singular
that Pythagoras should have forbidden the use of beans to his pupils, because they were
so much of the nature of flesh ; or, in the language of modern chemistry, because they
contained so much vegcto-animal matter. Cabbage, crambe or sca-kale, pulse of various
kinds, aud onions are mentioned iu Solon’s law.
34. The f r s t roots, or root-like parts, o f plants made use o f must have been some ot
the surface bulbs, as the onion. {Numb., xi. 5.) Under-ground bulbs and tubers, as
the edible crocus (C. aureus F I Gi-oec.) of Syria, the orchis, the Omithogalum, which,
under the name of doves’ dung, was eaten in Persia, and the earth nut, would probably
be next discovered ; but such under-ground plants as the turnip and the carrot must
liave been of much later discoveiy, as they ai-e only produced in an eatable state by
culture. , ,
35. The use o f plants fo r preternatural, religious, funereal, medical, and scientifc purposes,
is also of the remotest antiquity. Rachel demanded from her sister the mandrakes
(Afandragora officinàlis W.), whose roots are thought to resemble the human form,
which Reuben had brought from the fields ; impressed, as she no doubt was, with the
idea o fth e efficacy of that plant against sterility. God appeared to Moses in a bush.
Jacob was embalmed, in all probability, with aromatic herbs. Solomon wrote on botany
as a philosopher, and appears to have cultivated a general collection, independently of
his plants of ornament. Bundles of flowers covered the tables of the Greeks ; and were
worn during repasts ; because the plants of which they consisted were supposed to
possess the virtue of preserving the wearer from the fumes of wine, of refreshing the
thinking faculty, preserving the purity of ideas and the gaiety of the spirits. Altars
were strewed with flowers both by Jews and Greeks ; they were placed on high places,
and under trees, as old clothes ai-e still sacriflced on the trunks of the Platanus in
Georgia and Persia. In the Greek mythology, most of the gods and goddesses had
plants dedicated to them. The oak was devoted to Jupiter; the olive to Minerva; the
holly to Saturn ; the cypress to Pluto; the hly to Ju n o ; and the myrtle and the rose to
Venus. The favourites of the gods were sometimes changed into flowers after their
death, as Hyacinthus the favourite of Apollo, &c. {Ovid. M e t, ix. 219.) Other moitids
were also sometimes changed into plants, trees, and flowers; as Myrrha into the myrrh,
Daphne into the laurel, Narcissus into the narcissus, &c. {Ovid. M e t, x. 298.; i. 452.;
iii. 346, &c.) Aristotle’s materia medica consisted chiefly of plants. In the northern
nations, the Druids and other priests employed plants in their religious ceremonies : they
offered up their worship in oak groves, and regarded the vervain and the mistletoe as
sacred. . , .
36. Flowers, as decorations, must have been very soon used, on account of their
brilliant colours and smell. The Greeks, Thcophi-astus informs ns {H ist P lant, lib. vi.
c. 5.), cultivated roses, gillyflowers, violets, narcissi, and the iris; and we read in Ans-
tophanes {Acharn.,v. 212.) that a market for flowers was held at Athens, where the
baskets were very quickly disposed of. Ei'om the w itin g s of other authors, we learn
that a continualuse was made of flowers throughout all Greece. Not only were they then,
as now, the ornament of beauty and ofthe altars of the gods, but the youths cro -^ e d themselves
with them in the fêtes, the priests in religious ceremonies, and the guests m convivial
meetings. Garlands of flowers were suspended from the gates of the cities in times of
rejoicing; and, what is still more remarkable, and more remote from our manners, the
philosophers themselves wore crowns of flowers, and the warriors ornamented thefr
foreheads with them in days of triumph. These customs existed in every part of the
East. There were at Athens, as afterwards at Rome, florists, whose business it was to
weave crowns (coronariæ) and wreaths of flowers. Some of these crowns and garlands
were of one species of flower; others of different species; and others of branches of peculiar
plants, relating to some symbolical or mythological idea. Hence the tenn coronariæ
was applied to such plants as were consecrated to these uses. Of these some were
cultivated, and others gathered in the fields; but the name was applied to all such as
were distinguished by the beauty of fragrance of thefr flowers. {Cu rt Spreng., H is t R .
Herb., lib. i. ii.; Paschalis de Coronis, lib. x .; Sabina by Boettinger, in N . M m . Mag.,
Jan. and Eeb. 1819; Theophrastus by Stackhouse.)
37. T h e fr s t implement used in cultivating the soil, antiquarians agree, must have
been of the pick kind. A medal of the greatest antiquity, dug up near Syracuse, contained
the impression of such an implement (fg . 5. a). Some of the oldest Egyptian
I i
H , . ;