historical lectures and essays(查尔斯金斯利历史讲座)






of the Camargue; a scent of garlic caught the nostrils of the gentle bishop; 

and in the lovely pink flowers of the water…germander he recognised the 

Scordium       of  the   ancients。    〃The   discovery;〃     says   Professor     Planchon; 

〃made   almost   as   much   noise   as   that   of   the   famous   Garum;   for   at   that 

moment of naive fervour on behalf of antiquity; to re…discover a plant of 

Dioscorides or of Pliny was a good fortune and almost an event。〃 

     I know not whether; after his death; the good bishop’s bones reposed 

beneath some gorgeous tomb; bedizened with the incongruous half… Pagan 

statues   of   the   Renaissance;   but   this   at   least   is   certain;   that   Rondelet’s 

disciples imagined for him a monument more enduring than of marble or 

of brass; more graceful and more curiously wrought than all the sculptures 

of   Torrigiano   or   Cellini;   Baccio   Bandinelli   or   Michael   Angelo   himself。 

For they named a lovely little lilac snapdragon; Linaria Domini Pellicerii 

〃Lord Pellicier’s toad…flax;〃 and that name it will keep; we may believe; as 

long as winter and summer shall endure。 

     But    to  return。   To    this  good    Patronwho      was   the   Ambassador       at 

Venicethe newly…married Rondelet determined to apply for employment; 

and to Venice he would have gone; leaving his bride behind; had he not 

been   stayed   by   one   of   those   angels   who   sometimes   walk   the   earth   in 

women’s   shape。       Jeanne   Sandre   had   an   elder sister;   Catharine;  who   had 



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brought   her   up。     She   was   married   to   a   wealthy   man;   but   she   had   no 

children of her own。         For four years she and her good husband had let the 

Rondelets lodge with them; and now she was a widow; and to part with 

them was more than she could bear。                 She carried Rondelet off from the 

students   who   were   seeing   him   safe   out   of   the   city;   brought   him   back; 

settled on him the same day half her fortune; and soon after settled on him 

the   whole;   on   the   sole   condition   that   she   should   live   with   him   and   her 

sister。    For years afterwards she watched over the pretty young wife and 

her two girls and three boysthe three boys; alas! all died youngand over 

Rondelet himself; who; immersed in books and experiments; was utterly 

careless about money; and was to them all a mother advising; guiding; 

managing;       and    regarded     by    Rondelet     with    genuine     gratitude    as   his 

guardian angel。 

     Honour and good fortune; in a worldly sense; now poured in upon the 

druggist’s son。       Pellicier; his own bishop; stood godfather to his first…born 

daughter。       Montluc;       Bishop     of  Valence;     and    that   wise    and   learned 

statesman; the Cardinal of Tournon; stood godfathers a few years later to 

his   twin   boys;   and   what   was   of   still   more   solid   worth   to   him;   Cardinal 

Tournon took him to Antwerp; Bordeaux; Bayonne; and more than once to 

Rome; and in these Italian journeys of his he collected many facts for the 

great    work     of  his   life;  that  〃History     of  Fishes〃    which     he   dedicated; 

naturally enough; to the cardinal。 This book with its plates is; for the time; 

a   masterpiece      of   accuracy。     Those     who     are  best   acquainted      with   the 

subject say; that it is up to the present day a key to the whole ichthyology 

of the Mediterranean。           Two other men; Belon and Salviani; were then at 

work on the same subject; and published their books almost at the same 

time; a circumstance which caused; as was natural; a three…cornered duel 

between   the   supporters   of   the   three   naturalists;   each   party   accusing   the 

other     of  plagiarism。      The     simple     fact   seems    to   be   that  the   almost 

simultaneous   appearance   of   the   three   books   in   1554…55   is   one   of   those 

coincidences   inevitable   at   moments   when   many   minds   are   stirred   in   the 

same   direction   by   the   same   great   thoughts   coincidences   which             have 



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happened in our own day on questions of geology; biology; and astronomy; 

and   which;   when   the   facts   have   been   carefully   examined;   and   the   first 

flush   of   natural   jealousy   has   cooled   down;   have   proved   only   that   there 

were more wise men than one in the world at the same time。 

     And this sixteenth century was an age in which the minds of men were 

suddenly and strangely turned to examine the wonders of nature with an 

earnestness; with a reverence; and therefore with an accuracy; with which 

they     had   never    been     investigated     before。     〃Nature;〃      says    Professor 

Planchon;   〃long   veiled   in   mysticism   and   scholasticism;   was   opening   up 

infinite    vistas。    A    new    superstition;     the   exaggerated      worship     of   the 

ancients;   was   nearly   hindering   this   movement   of   thought   towards   facts。 

Nevertheless;   Learning   did   her   work。         She   rediscovered;   reconstructed; 

purified;     mented       on   the   texts   of  ancient    authors。     Then     came    in 

observation; which showed that more was to be seen in one blade of grass 

than in any page of Pliny。 Rondelet was in the middle of this crisis a man 

of   transition;   while   he   was   one   of   progress。     He   reflected   the   past;   he 

opened and prepared the future。              If he mented on Dioscorides; if he 

remained faithful to the   theories of   Galen;  he   founded in   his   ’History  of 

Fishes’    a   monument       which    our   century   respects。      He    is  above    all  an 

inspirer; an initiator; and if he wants one mark of the leader of a school; 

the foundation of certain scientific doctrines; there is in his speech what is 

better     than    all  systems;     the    municative         power     which     urges    a 

generation      of   disciples    along    the   path   of  independent       research;    with 

Reason for guide; and Faith for aim。〃 

     Around Rondelet; in those years; sometimes indeed in his housefor 

professors in those days took private pupils as lodgersworked the group 

of    botanists    whom      Linnaeus      calls  〃the    Fathers;〃    the   authors    of   the 

descriptive   botany   of   the   sixteenth   century。       Their   names;   and   those   of 

their disciples and their disciples again; are household words in the mouth 

of every gardener; immortalised; like good Bishop Pellicier; in the plants 

that   have   been   named   after   them。       The   Lobelia   memorates   Lobel; 

one    of   Rondelet’s     most    famous     pupils;   who    wrote    those   〃Adversaria〃 



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which      contain     so    many      curious     sketches     of   Rondelet’s      botanical 

expeditions;   and   who   inherited   his   botanical   (as   Joubert   his   biographer 

inherited   his   anatomical)   manuscripts。   The   Magnolia   memorates   the 

Magnols;   the   Sarracenia;   Sarrasin   of   Lyons;   the   Bauhinia;   Jean   Bauhin; 

the    Fuchsia;    Bauhin’s     earlier   German      master;   Leonard      Fuchs;    and   the 

Clusiathe received name of that terrible 〃Matapalo〃 or 〃Scotch attorney;〃 

of the West Indies; which kills the hugest tree; to bee as huge a tree 

itself   immortalises   the   great   Clusius;   Charles   de   l’Escluse;   citizen   of 

Arras;  who;   after   studying   civil   law   at   Louvain;   philosophy  at   Marburg; 

and   theology   at   Wittemberg   under   Melancthon;   came   to   Montpellier   in 

1551; to live in Rondelet’s own house; and bee the greatest botanist of 

his age。 

     These were Rondelet’s palmy days。                He had got a theatre of anatomy 

built   at   Montpellier;  where   he himself   dissected publicly。            He   had;  says 

tradition; a little botanic garden; such as were springing up then in several 

universities;   specially   in   Italy。     He   had   a   villa   outside   the   city;   whose 

tower; near the modern railway station; still bears the name of the 〃Mas de 

Rondelet。〃       There; too; may be seen the remnants of the great tanks; fed 

with    water   brought   through   earthen   pipes   from   the         Fountain   of   Albe; 

wherein he kept the fish whose habits he observed。                     Professor Planchon 

thinks that