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ous amongst which must be reckoned the spider-wort , whose richlycoloured blue flowers , and luxurious green leaves , adorns to this day the gardens of all persons who admire hardy perennials . The skill and labour of these pioneers in the paths of natural history is
not to be over-estimated , and will contribute for a long time to come as an edifying sample of man's industry . There can be no question of the vast amount of beneficial influence which is exerted over men ' s minds by the zeal and enterprise of a master spirit , who is gifted alike with the capacity to observe , and to retain the results of his
observations . In order to follow , some one must lead , and having taken a good direction , such a man lends a helping hand which never wearies , and leaves behind him a name lustrous ever in the pages of history There are few things that conduce more largely to the growth and vigour of a nation ' s prosperity than the sense that a nation ' s sons entertain of their illustrious dead . So true it is that great and good
men need no monument , other than the bright memory of their worthy actions . These are never forgotten ; they remain engraven more firmly on the hearts of their countrymen than all that costly splendour which so frequently seems rather to detract from than to add to departed goodness . "A monument , indeed ! " said a famous old Spartan general ; " let me live in the remembrance of my sons and my sons' sons . "
The difficulties under which the elder Tradescant laboured , in collecting trees and plants , must have been very considerable ; for many of the countries which he visited and explored were in a half-barbarous condition , and their inhabitants could have afforded him no sort of assistance in his praiseworthy undertaking . His efforts were
not confined to the acquisition of vegetable wonders only , but were extended to minerals , articles of costume , artificial curiosities , and an almost incredible variety of things , all which were enumerated in a catalogue , published by the younger of the two travellers , and which was denominated " The Museum Tradescantianum . "
The museum or ark , as it was called , was also rich in antique coins , medals , and tokens . It was stated to contain two feathers of the tail of the phoenix , and the claw of the ruck—a bird able to trusse an elephant . Amongst other marvels were eggs , one of them supposed to be the egg of a dragon , whilst another is stated to be the produce of the griffin .
All this shows in what a low state zoological knowledge must have been , and also testifies to the extreme credulity of the age . Illustrations of the manners and habits of the . North Americans were to be seen , in the shape of garments and weapons of curious construction . These were , of course , objects of much interest , and formed
not the least interesting part of the collection . Gerard , whose famous Herbal was a text-book in its day , flourished somewhere about this time , and was probably the first originator of a botanical garden . In this respect , he may have given the cue to the labours and diligence of the Tradescants : but to them only is the meed due of having been
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
ous amongst which must be reckoned the spider-wort , whose richlycoloured blue flowers , and luxurious green leaves , adorns to this day the gardens of all persons who admire hardy perennials . The skill and labour of these pioneers in the paths of natural history is
not to be over-estimated , and will contribute for a long time to come as an edifying sample of man's industry . There can be no question of the vast amount of beneficial influence which is exerted over men ' s minds by the zeal and enterprise of a master spirit , who is gifted alike with the capacity to observe , and to retain the results of his
observations . In order to follow , some one must lead , and having taken a good direction , such a man lends a helping hand which never wearies , and leaves behind him a name lustrous ever in the pages of history There are few things that conduce more largely to the growth and vigour of a nation ' s prosperity than the sense that a nation ' s sons entertain of their illustrious dead . So true it is that great and good
men need no monument , other than the bright memory of their worthy actions . These are never forgotten ; they remain engraven more firmly on the hearts of their countrymen than all that costly splendour which so frequently seems rather to detract from than to add to departed goodness . "A monument , indeed ! " said a famous old Spartan general ; " let me live in the remembrance of my sons and my sons' sons . "
The difficulties under which the elder Tradescant laboured , in collecting trees and plants , must have been very considerable ; for many of the countries which he visited and explored were in a half-barbarous condition , and their inhabitants could have afforded him no sort of assistance in his praiseworthy undertaking . His efforts were
not confined to the acquisition of vegetable wonders only , but were extended to minerals , articles of costume , artificial curiosities , and an almost incredible variety of things , all which were enumerated in a catalogue , published by the younger of the two travellers , and which was denominated " The Museum Tradescantianum . "
The museum or ark , as it was called , was also rich in antique coins , medals , and tokens . It was stated to contain two feathers of the tail of the phoenix , and the claw of the ruck—a bird able to trusse an elephant . Amongst other marvels were eggs , one of them supposed to be the egg of a dragon , whilst another is stated to be the produce of the griffin .
All this shows in what a low state zoological knowledge must have been , and also testifies to the extreme credulity of the age . Illustrations of the manners and habits of the . North Americans were to be seen , in the shape of garments and weapons of curious construction . These were , of course , objects of much interest , and formed
not the least interesting part of the collection . Gerard , whose famous Herbal was a text-book in its day , flourished somewhere about this time , and was probably the first originator of a botanical garden . In this respect , he may have given the cue to the labours and diligence of the Tradescants : but to them only is the meed due of having been