Subject
Botany -- Pre-Linnean works Books
Best books
John Ray
Mr. Ray's travels, Vol. 2 : $b A collection of curious travels and voyages. Containing Dr Leonhart Rauwolf's journey into the eastern countries, viz. Syria, Palestine, or the Holy Land, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Chaldea, &c., translated from the Original High Dutch, by Nicholas Staphorst. And also, travels into Greece, Asia minor, Egypt, Arabia felix, Petræa, Ethiopia, the Red Sea, &c. Collected from the observations of Mons. Belon, Prosper Alpinus, Dr. Huntington, Mr. Vernon, Sir George Wheeler, Dr. Smith, Mr. Greaves, and others. To which are added three catalogues of such trees, shrubs, and herbs, as grow in the Levant. By the Rev. John Ray, F.R.S.
"Mr. Ray's travels, Vol. 2 : A collection of curious travels and voyages.…." by John Ray is a collection of travel narratives and natural history observations written in the mid-18th century. It gathers translated journeys and reports focused on the Levant and wider Ottoman world—Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt, Arabia, and Ethiopia—emphasizing geography, customs, trade, and plants. Readers will find firsthand itineraries enriched with ethnographic detail and long botanical lists compiled from multiple travelers. The opening of this volume lays out an extensive table of contents and then begins Dr. Leonhart Rauwolf’s travelogue into the Eastern Mediterranean. He states his botanical aims, travels overland from Augsburg to Marseilles noting towns and plants, and then undertakes a stormy, wind-driven passage past Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, and Cyprus, including a brief audience with an Ottoman officer at Salamis, before reaching Tripoli. On arrival he describes a scuffle at the gate and then sketches Tripoli’s setting, irrigated gardens and fruits, flat-roofed houses, narrow paved streets, caravanserais, and especially the public baths and their routines (washing, depilation, and massage). He surveys trade and governance: European consuls and fondiques, bustling bazaars, silk and raisin commerce, soap and potash making from local halophytic plants, coinage, and the roles of Ottoman officials and courts, with examples of both punishments and corruption alongside avenues of appeal. Rauwolf also notes everyday manners—dress, music and games, washing habits, women’s seclusion and cemetery visits, and funeral customs. The section closes by starting a catalog of local flora around Tripoli, from shore plants to ricinus, squills, and sugar-canes.
Nehemiah Grew
The anatomy of plants : $b With an idea of a philosophical history of plants, and several other lectures, read before the Royal Society
No description available.
Nehemiah Grew
The Anatomy of Vegetables Begun With a General Account of Vegetation founded thereon
"The Anatomy of Vegetables Begun" by Nehemiah Grew is a scientific publication written in the late 17th century. The work delves into the anatomical structure and functions of plants, particularly focusing on the process of vegetation from seed to plant. Grew presents detailed observations and dissections of various vegetable parts, emphasizing the underlying principles of plant growth. At the start of this treatise, Grew outlines his methodology and intentions, emphasizing the lack of prior comprehensive work on vegetable anatomy compared to animal anatomy. He introduces the garden bean as a primary subject for dissection, detailing its layers and internal structures. The opening chapters describe the anatomy of the seed, including its coats, main structures, and the roles of the radicle and plume in the growth of the plant. Grew encourages a systematic examination of vegetable anatomy to enhance understanding of the natural processes governing plant life.
Recently surfaced classics