He did not rest satisfied with the books of Plinius and Aristoteles, or of the feeble botanists of his youth, but he intended to study plants as they grew, to discover their uses, and to endeavour to classify and name them. Besides, he got a love for the healing art, for one of his first teachers was a chemist of Aix, who gave him lessons about the common simple plants which were used in medicine. So, after roaming over the country far and wide, month after month, and collecting plants in Provence, on the mountains of Dauphiné and Savoy, he went to Montpellier in 1679 to study anatomy and medicine. The young student was there for two years, and then he seems to have set the example to his fellow-students, for botanical excursions became a favourite method of passing away time. In 1681, in company with several fellow-students, he went to the Pyrenees, and wandered about those difficult mountains, submitting to much fatigue, cold, and hunger. Very robust in health, and vigorous, his fatigues and hard fare seemed to do him good, and at last he obtained a very fine collection of the plants of that region. It is always told that the ardent young botanist and his friends got into trouble, being taken prisoners more than once by _Miguelites_ (smugglers); but it is not likely that those people got much out of them. On his return home he found that his reputation as a practical botanist and as knowing useful plants, had spread about, although he had not written any work at that time. M. Fagon, a distinguished botanist of the age, was physician to Louis XIV., and had had many an excursion to collect plants in Provence, Languedoc, and Auvergne, before he became a great man at court. He got plants from those localities, and had them planted in the botanic gardens, of which the king was fond; and, fortunately for his prospects in life, he discovered the medicinal uses of some natural baths at Barèges, which he recommended to the Duc de Maine. On his return to Paris, M. Fagon was made professor of botany and chemistry to the Jardin des Plantes, and subsequently became physician to the king and princes, and director of the gardens. M. Fagon wanted help, for little was known about the plants of the countries beyond Europe, and he sought the services of a young and wise botanist who had plenty of energy. He destined young Tournefort for a great career, and offered him the professorship of the Botanic garden, intending that the young teacher, after a while, should travel, and collect for the garden. Finding the prospects good, Tournefort accepted the position, and desirous of adding to the collection of plants, visited Spain again, and then Portugal. Subsequently he came over to England, and then collected in Holland. His name was well known as that of a practical botanist, and the Dutch offered him a professorship at Leyden. He was elected to the highest scientific honour in France—to the membership of the Academy of Science.