nt, it is
only a stepping-stone to the natural system. Linnaeus himself claimed
nothing higher for it. He says--"Methodi Naturalis fragmenta studiose
inquirenda sunt. Primum et ultimum hoc in botanicis desideratum est.
Natura non facit saltus. Plantae omnes utrinque affinitatem monstrant,
uti territorium in mappa geographica." Accordingly, besides his
artificial index, he also promulgated fragments of a natural method of
arrangement.

The Linnean system was strongly supported by Sir James Edward Smith
(1759-1828), who adopted it in his _English Flora_, and who also became
possessor of the Linnean collection. The system was for a long time the
only one taught in the schools of Britain, even after it had been
discarded by those in France and in other continental countries.

The foundation of botanic gardens during the 16th and 17th centuries did
much in the way of advancing botany. They were at first appropriated
chiefly to the cultivation of medicinal plants. This was especially the
case at universities, where medical schools existed. The first botanic
garden was established at Padua in 1545, and was followed by that of
Pisa. The garden at Leiden dates from 1577, that at Leipzig from 1579.
Gardens also early existed at Florence and Bologna. The Montpellier
garden was founded in 1592, that of Giessen in 1605, of Strassburg in
1620, of Altdorf in 1625, and of Jena in 1629. The Jardin des Plantes at
Paris was established in 1626, and the Upsala garden in 1627. The
botanic garden at Oxford was founded in 1632. The garden at Edinburgh
was founded by Sir Andrew Balfour and Sir Robert Sibbald in 1670, and,
under the name of the Physic Garden, was placed under the
superintendence of James Sutherland, afterwards professor of botany in
the university. The garden at Kew dates from about 1730, when Frederick,
prince of Wales, obtained a long lease of Kew House and its gardens from
the Capel family. After his death in 1751 his widow, Princess Augusta of
Saxe-Gotha, showed great interest in their scientific development, and
in 1759 engaged William Aiton to establish a Physic Garden. The garden
of the Royal Dublin Society at Glasnevin was opened about 1796; that of
Trinity College, Dublin, in 1807; and that of Glasgow in 1818. The
Madrid garden dates from 1763, and that of Coimbra from 1773. Jean
Gesner (1709-1790), a Swiss physician and botanist, states that at the
end of the 18th century there were 1600 botanic gardens in Europe.