mixing tlic gi-avcls with l.imit d ay iiiilycrisca, and the sands with tar, or any oily or greasy
matter, they will l.ocomo hard, so as not to requiro that continual liociiig and raffing
whidi, in tlicir present state, renders them more like gi'oiuid newly sown with seeds than
paths for walking on. Evergreen .shrubs do not tlirivo very well iii H ranee, from tl c
great severity of the winters ; it is surprising how few there arc iii the natural woods
J c r v whore • and tho gardens in the neighbourhood of I ’lms present a dreary appciu-
ancc during several months every year, for want r f what contributes so mu d i to tt a
beauty of tliose in the nciglibourliood of London during the same season, dins ddect
may be remedied by tlic freer use of the hardier evergreens, such as box, yew, holly,
juniper, common and Portugal laurel, Imteher's broom, ivy, & e .; of the rapid growing
cverhrccns, such as the D'lcx, Spartimn, &c. (which, li they arc easily killed by fiost, aie
casito renewed from seed) ; and by planting tlie more tender American cvcrgrcoiis, as
rliododcndrons, kalmias, vacdniums, &e. under the prdeetioii of Jc id 'io u s trees, in
■ tho mnimcv of undcrgrowths to them. In short, though wc ca,mmt altogcthra agioc
with the patriotic sentiment of our excellent friend Soulaiigo Bodm {Annaks de Irommt,
tom. iii. p. 96.) in his assertion, that Eranco was, in his day, pre-eminently the countiy
of landscape gardening, yet wc are conlidcnt th.at there is no defect in that countiy,
either natural or artificid, which may not ho greatly mitigated, if not entirely removed,
by the resources of art. , x i •
240. 'T/ic improvemmi wliich an Emjlish landscape gardener may derive from studying
the state of his art in France, is greater than might at first sight appear. By ohscrvmg
the exaggeration of either beauties or deformities, the causes of the pleasure or tlic dis-
liko that they cxcitc are more easily discovered; and conscciuently our_ resources ioi
onlargin«- tho ono or diminishing tho other increased. Modcraticin in tho nsc ol
walks is°a lesson taught hy ahnost every Ercnch garden; and not less so the use
of dcptli of perspective in most views, wiicthcr limited to the mtcnor, or extending
across tlio boundary. In general, all that leads an artist to recognise and appreciate tiie
minds of others in tlieir works, has a tendency to lead him to mfusc a superiority ot mind
into his own.
SunSECT. 2. French Gardening, in respect to the Culture o f Flowers and Plants o f
Ornament.
247 A taste fo r flowers appears to have existed very early in France. Charlemagne
loved gardens, and iVas most partieular in giving directions to his gardencr.s. In his
Caoilularium dc Villis et Curtis, which he must have written about the end of the
oiirhth ccntnry, he enumerates the sorts of plants whieh ho desires may he grown in
all his gardens. This list, however, excepting the rose and the hly, is entirely culraaiy
” "04 J l lw ? s 'i n the thirteenth cetituri/that ornamental plants began to be introduced into
Eranco as such. The cnisadcs had hroiight to notice the gardens of the inhdcls 111
Egypt and S y ria ; the Christian invaders, who could not avoid being struck with tlieir
beaiutv, imitated tlicir plans, and imported tlicir productions into Europe.
249. Tlu: .sixteenth ce n tu n /, liowevcr, liad arrived before the culture of flov/crs was attempted.
Botany now began to be considered a science, independent o t inodicme.
Gardens were constructed, destined for curious and bcmitiful p la n ts ; and the discovery
of America and tlic passage to tlie Indies angmciitcd their number. Travellers collcctccl
seeds wliicli they sent homo to tlicir respective countries ; great care was bestowed on
sucli as appeared the most oriiamontal; of some flowers doiililc varieties were produced,
and the colours and size of others varied by culture, till, advaneiiig hy degrees, they at
lemrih became an object of h ixm y ; and trade and caprice, fashion and variety, gave
incredililo prices for some of these productions; for in wliat, ohsorycs Deleuze, will
cxtravagaiieo not interininglo ? Henry IV. liad a taste for flowers : liis gardener, Joan
Robin, piilillstad a catalogue of plants iu 1610, in whieh the passion-flower and crown
imperial arc mentioned ; tlic former as newly imported, and the latter as rare. In lli.i.),
the immlicr of varieties of tulips, raminenhiscs, and aiicmonos, in the Jard in des 1 lantos,
cxeoodcd that of the species in 1800. Evelyn mentions, in 1644 {M em o ir s , vol. 1. p. j2 . J ,
a M Moriiie, who from an ordinary gardener had become one of tho most skiliul persons
ill Franco; wlio had a rare collection of sliclls and flowers, and above 10,000 8(^8 01
tiilh)S alone. This florimania seems to have declined, and given way to a taste loi
e.xotics, during tlio reigns of Louis XV. and Louis X V I .; and this taste has ever since
coiitiimcd to prevail. ^ «
2.60 In the time ofth e director,/ and ofthe. consulate, preparations wore commenced lor
establishing a general system of botanic gardens tlironglioiit Franco ; but tiimi di(t not
Iierinit tlio execution of tlic plan. Iinprovcmonte, liowevcr, wore made m the Jardm des
Flante-s, and ill that of tlio Fetit Trianon; and tho garden of Malmaison wi
iu oi the I'etit irianon;an<i uie gamun ui was established. iH a n f v s ....
251. Durlnq w, . the . empire . 1 botanic J • _ gardens _____1__— .........were re 4'...........ibrmed 1 i in . i 41'tlic ».'. AVI'..\provinces;nnrerec! • il
and siftcUung
like a o-encral svstcm of correspondence was established between them and tho I a n s
garden. The latter garden was, during tliis ¡icriod, carried to a high degree of perfection,
under the direction of Professor Thouin : it was liberally su]>ported, and kept
ill admirable order. The constant wars in whieh the country was engaged daring tliis
period almost prevented the introduction of new p la n ts ; and tlie culture of flowers and
plants of ornament was very little attended to hy any part of society througliout the
country. With the excei>tion of the gardens of M. Boursault and M. Foulchiron, and
pcrha])S ono or two otlicr.s, none of those now eminent for botany, or floriculture, date
Irom a period earlier than the Restoration.
252. With the restoration o f the JSourhons, in 1814, commenced the introduction of
immense quantities of rare and new plants from England ; and a great stimulus was thus
given to botany and floriculture throughout Franco. The floivcr market, which was established
during the empire, now displayed in abundance plants forineiiy considered r a r e ;
and the numher of commercial florists increased in proportion. The Paris giu-den, however,
has declined since this period, from a diminution o fth e I'unds allowed for its nuiintcimnce.
Private gardens, on the other hand, have ra]ñtlly improved hotli in liotanical
riches and floral beauty. We shall notice some of the principal gardens devoted to botany,
or the culture of flowers ; and commence with the ])ublie botanical cstahli.slirnents.
253. The study o f botany began to he cultivated in France at an early period, and has
since attained great consideration in tliat country from the labours of Tonrncfurt, Vail-
lant, Adanson, tlic Jussieus, Rieliard, Mirbcl, Kuntli, and De Candolle. The first
botanic garden was furmed iu 1597, at Montpelier, in Henry the Fourth’s reign, through
the rejirescntations of Bclon. in the following yciu’ it contained 13ÜÜ distinct species,
the greater part gathered iu the neighbourhood.
254. France, in respect to botany, and indeed natural history in general, may ho tmly
called the cradle of science. She has long been celebrated for the numher and importance
of her public botanical institutions ; and for tho deep interest which her government
Inus taken in tlio prosecution of every department of natural history. From the days of
Tournefort, there has scarcely been an expedition of discovery undertaken from France,
to wliich a botanist has not been attached, with ample means of prosecuting liis pursuits.
Resident botanists and collectors have been placed iu every colony belonging to the
French government, wliose foreign possessions have sonrccly been less assiduously investigated
tluin its jn’oviiices at home. The voyages of Commerson, of Michaux, of Olivier,
of Jjabillardicre, of Du Petit-Tliouars, of Leseheinuilt, of Bory dc St. Vincent, and uf a
host of other scientific travellers, and the large collections formed by Dumhey, Auhlct,
aud others of less note, have supiilicd the French botanist with stores of knowledge
more ample than have been possessed iu almost any otlier country. The imiiortance
of these is shown by the extent of the advantage derived hy the French botanists from the
aeqiiisition of them ; aud by the multitude of new genera and species with which the
publications of Jussieu, Lamarck, their successor Desfontaines, and more recently of
De Candolle, are replete. Ol' private means applied to the prosecution of investigation in
natural history, the exiicditiou of lliimholdt to South America is a s])lcndid example.
The various scientific publications in illustration of its results ai-e a noble mommiciit
of the zeal aud knowledge, and well applied resources, of the mo.st illustrious trai'cller
now existing. Tiic public hoLauieal gardens of France arc numerous; Init, with the
exception of those of Baris and of Montpelier, have not much celebrity. That of Moiit-
jiclior, which has successively been under the direction of Magiiol, Gouan, De Candolle,
and Delilc, all botanists celebrated in tlicir day, has acipiircd a high degree of reputation.
Tlie Jardin dos Plantes, at Baris, is also an cstahlislimeiit of great celebrity, aud numbers
of the rarest jilaiits have been reared ivitliin its ivalls.
255. The. Jardin des Plantes was founded hy Louis X U h , in 1010, and fini.slicd in
1634 ; after, as L a Brosse, the first director, remarks, “ eighteen years of prosecution
and six of culture.” The subsequent history and description of this garden, at dillercnt
epochs, are given hy Adanson, Jussieu, and Thouin.
A fla n o fth e Jardin des PUintes Has been given by G. Thouin, in liis Plans Raisonnús des Jardins,
which contains not only tho ichnography of tlio garden 1 to 21), but in tbe margin are placed
elevations (22 to 42) of the houses in which the living animals ant kept, of tlic immense buildings in
whicb the museum of natural history is contained (24), and of tlui hothouses (23), and entrance gates (32).
The entrance to the garden is tlirough u handsome iron railing, between lodges (1, and the elevation 32),
opposite ttic Bridge of Austerlitz (42). On the loft is the menagerie, commencing with tho ferocious
animals, in a long building, with wings and a fore c o u rt; and next in order is a number of small irrc-
gularly-shapitd enclosures of pasture, covered by trees, each devoted to ono genus of animals, and containing
a building in the centre for their repose or shelter (2 and 3). Passing tiiese wc arrive a t tlic
dwelling-houses of the professors of natural history; and the large amphitlicatre (4, and elevation 2(j),
in whieh the lectures arc given. Here is also the hotliouse department (7, and elevation 23), with i
sunk
nk urea in front, for pots and frames; a space ca
:allcd the soed-garden, for r ng seeds, and for nursing
them
om .................till they J (lower. Adjoining ^ is an artificial 1 mount,i
crowned with a kiosmie (.5), which overlooks
not only the whole garden, but great part of P a ris ; it contains a sundial, which, by means of a lens, i.s
contrived to discharge a cannon every day a t noon. The museum of natural history is a large building
a t the upper end of the garden, exactly opposite the entrance (G, and elevation 24); it is separated by a
handsome low wall and iron rails from the open garden, whieh consists of 30 plots, encloscjtl by latticc-
times open to tbe public. These plots contain specimens of the
2
work from the walks, which are at all 1