Two years afterwards Tournefort published his first and great work, “The Elements of Botany, or a method of Distinguishing Plants.” This work established his reputation all over Europe. It was a very remarkable book. Tournefort travelled in Asia Minor, Circassia, Georgia, Northern Assyria, Candia, and Greece, and was the first man who gave publicity to the truth that the same plants are not found in all countries, and that most countries have many plants peculiar to them. He may be said to have founded the science of the geographical distribution of plants. His descriptions of plants were 10,000 in number; their arrangement in species and genera was excellent. Less praise must be given about the manner of his separating the greater divisions of the plants one from the other. Nevertheless, much of the work of this great traveller has lasted until the present day as good science. Plants are arranged in species, which consist of individuals, having a close structural resemblance without any constant differences of the form of the stem, roots, leaves, flowers, and seeds. A genus is a group of species with a general resemblance, some special character predominating. An order is a number of more or less similar genera, and a class contains orders which have greater resemblance than those of another class. All this classification relates to accurate observation and description, and then to comparison, and the greater the knowledge of the botanist of species and genera the more useful it is. There is a difficulty in selecting those parts of a plant which should be those on which the classification should depend, and this was the stumbling-block with these early botanists. Ray saw the value of the seed and of the reproductive organs in classification, and Tournefort, although he erred in classifying his “classes” by the coloured part of the flower or corolla, followed nature accurately in his description, and reasoned upon the facts he had discovered. This botanist, who lived in the days of great luxury, and when war was almost constant, pursued his useful and simple career, and by his collections alone, assisted in laying the foundations of botany as a science. His travels in the East read like romances, for the habits of Eastern nations were then but little known; and, moreover, the diligent student was a scholar, and paid great attention to the splendid antiquities which he constantly saw. Tournefort studied the zoology of the countries he passed through, and was an adept in mineralogy. On his return from his long journey in the East he was made Professor of Medicine to the College de France. For the future his life was destined to be quiet, happy it appears always to have been. Year after year he laboured in arranging, cultivating, and describing the treasure of plants he had brought from the East and elsewhere. Moreover, he taught as professor. His end was sudden, for he met with an accident in the street, and was killed by a passing waggon.