The rules of my Father

The rules of my Father when a guy asked him and Mama to allow to date me... The guy was second year in college and me I was in the fourth year of high school and he was doing his research studies in the department of my father. So my TATA took this guy to a short meeting...

Rule NO. 1:

If you come by car to our home and  you start to honk, you better bring something with you ... anything. Because from here, sure you'll leave with nothing. 

Rule NO. 2: 

Do not touch my daughter in my presence. You can look in a shy way to her and quick, as long your eyes are not looking to anything below the neck. If you can not keep your eyes and hands away from my daughter, I will remove them from your body. 

Rule NO. 3:

I realize that is considered \ "cool \" for boys in your age to wear pants that fall wide on them. Please do not take as an insult, but you and your friends look like idiots dressed like this. However, I want to be open mind about this subject, so I propose you a compromise: you can come by the front door with your underwear able to be seen and your pants larger with 10 numbers, I will not object. However, to make sure that your clothes do not fall on you, I will connect your pants with an electrical cable around your waist.   

Rule NO. 4:

I'm sure you heard that these days unprotected sex, can kill you. Let me enter more in details and tell you that sex can kill with protection too. In this case, if it comes to sex, I'm the protection. 

Rule NO. 5:

It is understandable that to know each better, usually we could talk about sports, politics and other topics of the day. Please do not do it! The only information I need from you is an indication of the time you will bring back my daughter and the only word I need from you is \ "early \". 

Rule NO. 6:

I have no doubt that you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. It is OK for me if it is ok with my daughter too. On the other hand, once you date my little daughter, you will continue to date JUST her until she will be sick of you. If you make her cry, I'll make you cry too.   

Rule NO. 7:

While you stand in the hallway and expect my daughter to come, even if it take more than one hour, I don't want to see you bored or nervous. If you want to reach in time for the movie you should quit dating. My daughter needs time to makeup, a process that may take longer than painting a bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don' t you do something useful, like taking the garbage out?

Rule NO. 8:

The following places are not suitable for my daughter: Places where are beds, sofas or anything softer than a wooden chair. Places where parents are not present, police or any other authority figures. Dark Places. Places where people dance, people feel good and hold hands. Places where the temperature is high enough that it makes my daughter to wear shorts, short skirts, T- shirts or anything else than sweaters, blouses with long neck and pants. Films with romantic or sexual strong theme are forbidden. Films that present violence or where it appears at least a saw are ok. Football matches or hockey are ok. Our house is even better!

Rule NO. 9:

Do not lie to me. When it comes about my daughter, I'm all-knowing, the merciless god of the universe. If I ask where you go and with whom, you have only one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel and 24 acres of land in the country, which includes 3 acres of forest. Do not play with me!!!

Rule NO. 10:

Be afraid! Be very afraid!!! It's very easy for me to feel like the sound of your car's engine in the alley is the one of plain war. When this happens, the voices in my head tell me in an obsessive way to clean my guns while I wait you to bring my daughter at home. Once you get in front of the house, you get out of the car with both hands on your head. You say the password and announce that you brought my daughter at home safely and earlier than we discussed, then go back in the car and leave (there is no reason you enter the house). The figure camouflaged from the window is mine.

Of course after this "meeting", there was NO DATE :))))))))))))))))))). I found out after years that this guy married with a colleague of mine from high school and they have a daughter ^___^. Good for them and good for me too, because I was already promised by destiny to my Egyptian prince ^___^  ^____^.

The Paradise was born on Earth: Mauritius island

Geography

Mauritius is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the Republic includes the islands of St. Brandon, Rodrigues and the Agalega Islands.

Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands, with the French island of Réunion 200 km to the southwest and the island of Rodrigues 570 km to the northeast. This archipelago was formed in a series of undersea volcanic eruptions, as the African plate drifted over the Réunion hotspot. They are no longer volcanically active, and the hotspot now rests under Réunion. The island of Mauritius itself is formed around a central plateau, with its highest peak in the southwest, Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire at 828 metres. Around the plateau, the original crater can still be distinguished from several mountains.

The island's capital and largest city is Port Louis, in the northwest. Other important towns are Curepipe, Vacoas, Phoenix, Quatre Bornes, Rose-Hill and Beau-Bassin.

Climate

Mauritius has a tropical maritime climate, with relatively little seasonal variation in temperatures, and generally pleasant and sunny on the coast year round. Winter from May to October is warm and dry. Summer from November to April is hot, humid and rainy. Cyclones occur between January and March. Sea breezes blow all year, especially on the east coast, and the inland central plateau around Curepipe is cooler and rainy year round.

The temperature on the coastal areas varies between 22°C in winter and 34°C in summer. The sea temperature varies between 22°C and 27°C. In the central part of the island, the maximum daytime temperature varies from about 19°C in August to about 26°C in February. The western and northern regions are warmer and relatively drier than the East and the South.

Fauna & Flora
 

The island is well known for its natural beauty. 

Mauritius boasts a huge range of sea treasures and infinite wealth. The Mauritian sea never fails to surprise: multi-coloured fish, moray eels, magnificent coral beds.
Skin-diving masks, flippers and scuba diving equipment. Enjoy one of the happiest experiences in the world! Whether you are in a diving suit or in a submarine, Mauritius can introduce you to the secrets of its submarine world.

One of the most spectacular ways to explore the ocean beds is to go on board the Blue Safari submarine. You will enjoy a superb encounter with the marine life and get a chance to see various wrecks dating back to the 17th century. Night diving, «honeymoon» diving and training sessions are available.

The flora of Mauritius is composed of 700 species of indigenous plants. Many of these plants are threatened with extinction. This is because there is less than 2% of their natural habitat left, and because introduced plants and animals compete and destroy thein fruits and seedlings.

History of Mauritius

Discovery
 

It has been frequently hypothesized that Mauritius was first discovered by the Arabs but this is without proof. The first historical evidence of the existence of an island which we now know as Mauritius, is on a map produced by the Italian cartographer Alberto Cantino in 1502. Cantino shows three islands which are thought to represent the Mascarenes (Reunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues) and calls them diba margabin, dina aroby and dina morare. What is known is that the mediaeval Arab world called the Indian Ocean island region, Waqwaq.

Portuguese sailors (1507–1513)
Mauritius was discovered and visited by the Portuguese between 1507 and 1513.

An official world map by Diogo Ribeiro described “from west to east, the first island, ‘’Mascarenhas’’, the second, ‘’Santa Apolonia’’ and the third, ‘’Domingo Froiz’’. The three islands (Réunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues) were discovered some years earlier by chance during an exploratory expedition of the coast of the Golf of Bengal lead by Tristão da Cunha. The expedition ran into a cyclone and was forced to modify course. Thus, the ship ‘’Cirne’’ of the captain Diogo Fernandes Pereira, came into view of Réunion island on 9 February 1507. They called the island ‘’Santa Apolonia’’ in honor of that day’s saint. Mauritius was discovered during the same expedition and received the name of ‘’Cirne’’ and Rodrigues that of ‘’Diogo Fernandes’’. Five years later, the islands were visited by Dom Pedro de Mascarenhas who left the name ‘’Mascarene’’ for the whole region. The Portuguese took no interest in these isolated islands. They were already implanted in Asia in Goa, on the coast of Malabar, on the island of Ceylon (now Sri-Lanka) and on the Malaysian coast where their main establishments were located.

Their main African base was in Mozambique, therefore the Portuguese navigators preferred to use the Mozambican canal to go to India. The Comoros at the north proved to be a more practical port of call. Thus no permanent colony was established on the island by the Portuguese.

In 1598, a Dutch expedition consisting of eight ships set sail from the port of Texel (Netherlands) under the orders of admirals Jacques Cornelius Van Neck and Wybrandt Van Warwyck towards the Indian subcontinent. The eight ships ran into foul weather after passing the Cape of Good Hope and were separated. Three found their way to the northeast of Madagascar whereas the remaining five regrouped and sailed in a southeasterly direction. On 17 September, the five ships under the orders of Admiral Van Warwyck came into view of the island. On 20 September, they entered a sheltered bay which they gave the name of ‘’Port de Warwick’’ (present name is “Grand Port”). They landed and decided to name the island "Prins Maurits van Nassaueiland", after Prince Maurits (Latin version: Mauritius) of the House of Nassau, the stadtholder of Holland, but from those days, only the name Mauritius has remained. On 2 October, the ships took to the sea again towards Bantam.

From then on, the island’s ’’Port de Warwick’’ was used by the Dutch as a stopover after long months at sea. In 1606, two expeditions came for the first time to what would later become Port-Louis in the northwest part of the island. The expedition, consisting of eleven ships and 1,357 men under the orders of Admiral Corneille came into the bay, which they named “Rade des Tortues” (literally meaning Harbor of the Tortoises) because of the great number of terrestrial tortoises they found there.

From that date, Dutch sailors shifted their choice to “Rade des Tortues” as harbor. In 1615, the shipwrecking and death of governor Pieter Both, who was coming back from India with four richly laden ships in the bay, caused the route to be considered as cursed by Dutch sailors and they tried to avoid it as much as possible. In the meantime, the British and the Danes were beginning to make incursions into the Indian Ocean. Those who landed on the island freely cut and took with them the precious bark of the Ebony trees, then found in profusion all over the island.

Dutch colonization (1638–1710)
 

Dutch colonization started in 1638 and ended in 1710, with a brief interruption between 1658 and 1666. Numerous governors were appointed at the head of the island during which it was inhabited, but the continuous hardships like cyclones, droughts, pest infestations, lack of food and illnesses finally took their toll and the island was abandoned definitely in 1710.

The island was not permanently inhabited for the forty years since discovery by the Dutch, but in 1638 Cornelius Gooyer established the first permanent Dutch settlement in Mauritius with a garrison consisting of twenty-five persons. He thus became the first governor of the island. In 1639, thirty more men came to reinforce the Dutch colony. Gooyer was instructed to develop the commercial potential of the island, but he did nothing of the sort, so he was recalled. His successor was Adriann van der Stel who began the development in earnest, developing the export of Ebony bark. For the purpose, Van der Stel bought 105 Malagasy slaves to the island. Within the first week, about sixty slaves were able to run away into the forests and about only twenty of them were eventually recaptured.

In 1644, the islanders were faced with many months of hardships, due to delayed shipment of supplies, bad harvests and cyclones. During those months, the colonists could only rely on themselves by fishing and hunting. Nonetheless, Van der Stel secured the shipment of 95 more slaves from Madagascar, before being transferred to Ceylon. His replacement was Jacob van der Meersh. In 1645, the latter brought in 108 more Malagasy slaves. Van der Meersh left Mauritius in September 1648 and was replaced by Reinier Por.

In 1652, more hardships befell on the colonists, masters and slaves alike. The population was then of about a hundred people. The continuing hardships affected the commercial potential island and a pullout was ordered in 1657. On 16 July 1658, almost all the inhabitants left the island, except for a ship’s boy and two slaves who had taken shelter in the forests. Thus the first attempt at colonization by the Dutch ended badly.

In 1664, a second attempt was made, but this one also ended badly as the men chosen for the job abandoned their sick commander, Van Niewland, without proper treatment and the latter eventually died.
 

From 1666 to 1669, Dirk Jansz Smient administered the new colony at Grand Port, with the cutting down and export of Ebony trees as the main activity. When Dirk Jansz Smient left, he was replaced by George Frederik Wreeden. The latter died in 1672, drowned with five other colonists during a reconnaissance expedition. His replacement would be Hubert Hugo. The later was a man of vision and wanted to make the island into an agricultural colony. His vision was not shared by his superiors and eventually could not fully develop his vision.

Issac Johannes Lamotius became the new governor when Hugo left in 1677. Lamotius governed until 1692, when he was deported to Batavia for judgment for persecuting a colonist whose wife had refused his courtship. Thus in 1692 a new governor, Roelof Deodati, was appointed. Even if he tried to develop the island, Deodati faced many problems, like cyclones, pest infestations, cattle illnesses and droughts. Discouraged, Deodati eventually gave up and his replacement would be Abraham Momber Van de Velde. The latter fared no better and eventually became the last Dutch governor of the island for that period. Thus the Dutch abandoned the island definitely in 1710.

Treatment of slaves
 

Slaves were not particularly well treated by the colonists and revolts or the act of organizing one was severely repressed and punished. Some punishments consisted of amputation of various parts of the body and exposure in the open air for a day as example to others, eventually culminating in condemned slaves’ execution at sunset.

Legacy of the Dutch
 

•Providing the name for the country and for many regions over the whole island. Some examples include the ‘Pieter Both’ mountain, the ‘Vandermeersh’ region near Rose-Hill as well as many other names.
•Introduction of sugar cane plants from Java
•Decimating the local dodo and giant tortoise population for food and by introducing competing species and pests, sometimes involuntarily.
•Clearing of large swaths of forests for Ebony bark exploitation
Abandoned by the Dutch, the island became a French colony when, in September 1715, Guillaume Dufresne D'Arsel landed and took possession of this port of call on the route to India. He named the island "Isle de France", but it was only in 1721 that the French started their occupation. However, it was only as from 1735, with the arrival of the most illustrious of French governor, Mahé de La Bourdonnais, that the "Isle de France" started developing effectively.

Mahé de La Bourdonnais established Port Louis as a naval base and a ship-building centre. Under his governorship, numerous buildings were built, a number of which are still standing today: part of Government House, the Chateau de Mon Plaisir at Pamplemousses and the Line Barracks. The island was under the administration of the French East India Company which maintained its presence until 1767.

From that year until 1810, the island was in charge of officials appointed by the French Government, except for a brief period during the French Revolution, when the inhabitants set up a government virtually independent of France.

During the Napoleonic wars, the "Isle de France" had become a base from which French corsairs organised successful raids on British commercial ships. The raids continued until 1810 when a strong British expedition was sent to capture the island. A preliminary attack was foiled at Grand Port in August 1810, but the main attack launched in December of the same year from Rodrigues, which had been captured a year earlier, was successful. The British landed in large numbers in the north of the island and rapidly overpowered the French, who capitulated. By the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the "Isle de France" which was renamed 'Mauritius' was ceded to Great Britain, together with Rodrigues and the Seychelles. In the act of capitulation, the British guaranteed that they would respect the language, the customs, the laws and the traditions of the inhabitants.

British rule (1810–1968)
 

Despite the only French naval victory (during the Napoleonic Wars) of Battle of the Grand Port on 19 and 20 August 1810 by the fleet commanded by Pierre Bouvet, Mauritius was captured on the 3 December 1810 by the British under Commodore Josias Rowley. Their possession of the island was confirmed four years later by the Treaty of Paris (1814). French institutions, including the Napoleonic code of law, were maintained. The French language was at that moment still used more widely than English.

The British administration, which began with Robert Farquhar as governor, was followed by rapid social and economic changes. One of the most important events was the abolition of slavery in 1835. The planters received a compensation of two million pounds sterling for the loss of their slaves which had been imported from Africa and Madagascar during the French occupation.

Mauritian Creoles trace their origins to the plantation owners and slaves who were brought to work the sugar fields. Indo-Mauritians are descended from Indian immigrants who arrived in the nineteenth century to the Aapravasi Ghat in order to work as indentured laborers after slavery was abolished in 1833. Included in the Indo-Mauritian community are Muslims (about 17% of the population) from the Indian subcontinent. The Franco-Mauritian elite controls nearly all of the large sugar estates and is active in business and banking. As the Indian population became numerically dominant and the voting franchise was extended, political power shifted from the Franco-Mauritians and their Creole allies to the Indo-Mauritians.

Conflicts arose between the Indian community (mostly sugarcane labourers) and the Franco-Mauritians in the 1920s, leading to several – mainly Indian – deaths. Following this the Mauritius Labour Party was founded in 1936 by Maurice Cure to safeguard the interest of the labourers. Cure was succeeded a year later by Emmanuel Anquetil who tried to gain the support of the port workers. After his death, Guy Rozemond took over the leadership of the party.

Indentured labour, the coolie trade and "coolitude"
 

When slavery was abolished in 1834, an attempt was made to secure a cheap source of adaptable labour for intensive sugar plantations in Mauritius. Indentured labour began with Chinese, Japanese, African and Malagasy labourers, but ultimately, it was India which was to supply the much needed coolies to Mauritius. This period of intensive use of Indian labour took place during British rule, with many brutal episodes and a long struggle for respect from the indentured. The island soon became the key-point in the coolie trade, as thousands of Indians set from Calcutta or Karikal to modify the social, political and economic physionomies of the island, but also beyond, till the West Indies.

The meeting of people from mosaic India, China, Africa and Europe began a process of hybridation and intercultural frictions and dialogues, which poet Khal Torabully has termed "coolitude".

Towards independence
 

Elections in 1947 for the newly created Legislative Assembly marked Mauritius' first steps toward self-rule and was won by the Labour Party, headed by Guy Rozemont. It was the first time the elite Francophones were ousted out of power. An independence campaign gained momentum after 1961, when the British agreed to permit additional self-government and eventual independence. A coalition composed of the Mauritian Labour Party (MLP), the Muslim Committee of Action (CAM) of Sir Abdool Razack Mohamed, and the Independent Forward Bloc (IFB) – a traditionalist Hindu party – won a majority in the 1967 Legislative Assembly election, despite opposition from Franco-Mauritian and Creole supporters of Gaetan Duval's and Jules Keoing's Mauritian Social Democratic Party (PMSD). The contest was interpreted locally as a referendum on independence. The election was won by a small margin. The constituency No. 15 was capital to the winning of the pro-independence coalition. The MLP led alliance was able to win this constituency only due to the support of the CAM, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, MLP leader and chief minister in the colonial government, became the first prime minister after independence, on March 12, 1968. This event was preceded by a period of communal strife, brought under control with assistance from British troops.The communal strife that preceded independence lead to around 300 deaths.

From independence to the end of the twentieth century
 

The 1970s saw the emergence of the Mouvement Militant Mauricien/Parti Socialiste Mauricien (MMM/PSM) led by Paul Bérenger. The MMM was founded in 1970 and had three initial leaders, Paul Bérenger, Dev Virasawmy and Juneid Jeeroobarkhan. The MMM won its first election in a by election of constituency No.5 by electing Dev Virasawmy. Until 1982, Sir Seewoosagur was Prime Minister, his Labour Party in coalition with Duval's PMSD. In 1982, the coalition of Mouvement Militant Mauricien/Parti Socialiste Mauricien came to power in a landslide electoral victory, with Anerood Jugnauth as Prime Minister and Harish Boodhoo as the deputy Prime Minister. The coalition split in 1983, with Anerood Jugnauth forming the Mouvement Socialiste Mauricien (MSM), which became the governing party, with Jugnauth as Prime Minister. Sir Seewoosagur subsequently became Governor-General, although the MSM planned to make the country a republic within the Commonwealth, with him as President. An attempt to make the country a republic in 1990, with Bérenger as President failed, owing to political opposition.

Following Sir Seewoosagur's death, his son, Navin Ramgoolam succeeded him as leader of the MLP. However, the MLP and PMSD were defeated at the 1991 election, which saw Sir Anerood Jugnauth re-elected. On March 12, 1992 Mauritius finally became a republic within the Commonwealth, with Cassam Uteem as president.

Navin Ramgoolam formed a coalition with the MMM at the parliamentary elections in 1995, leaving the MSM in opposition.

Present day
 

At the next elections in 2001, Sir Anerood Jugnauth’s MSM, in coalition with Paul Bérenger’s MMM was returned to power, with Sir Anerood Jugnauth appointed as prime minister. He subsequently retired as Prime Minister after 3 years and assumed the office of President. For the remaining time of the elected government the Prime Minister’s post was filled by Paul Bérenger. At the 2005 general elections, the MLP led Alliance Sociale coalition won the elections and Navin Ramgoolam became Prime Minister. Sir Anerood Jugnauth remains at the presidency.

Botany: The History of a Science

The idea came from my friend, Elena... Thanx Elena :)

The very first ancient documents about plants (Babylonian souces, the Old Testament, HOMER's works) that came down on us regarded plants mainly under the aspects of utility and medicinal use. The interest of the old Greek philosophers focused more on the comparison of animal and man on one hand and plants on the other. EMPEDOCLES FROM AGRIENT, for example, dwelt on the question whether plants have a soul while ARISTOTLE ranks them in the middle between the inanimate and the animate. THEOPHRASTUS wrote two works of a general nature on plants: The Natural History of Plants and About the Reasons of Vegetable Growth . Both had a formative influence on the botanical research of following scientists. An estimated 1300-1400 different plant species were known under Roman reign.

The interest of the Romans concentrated more on practical problems: PLINY THE OLDER reviewed plants mainly under aspects of utility while the work of DIOSKORIDE on pharmacology gained him the reputation as the superior authority on this subject for more than sixteen centuries to come. He describes more than 500 different plant species. No further knowledge was gained during the Middle Ages though Europe was confronted with the works and thoughts of antiquity through the Arab reign. The first original observations were made by HILDEGARD von BINGEN, but it is ALBERT THE GREAT who is regarded as the rediscoverer of scientific botany. His work had a large influence on Western scientific literature. New knowledge was also gained by the travellers and discoverers of the time, MARCO POLO, for example, and the crusades. The ideas of antiquity became popular again during the Renaissance, while the 17th and 18th century was the time of the beginning specialization. The attempt to find a natural system for the great variety of plant species led to decisive contributions to botany. At about the same time another field of modern biology, cell biology, took its beginning with the invention of the microscope. Since the 16th century physiology became a botanical topic, too.

Botany is the science of plants. What does this mean? Is science what is worked on in laboratories or what is found out in field studies or is it something you can find in big libraries? All these are certainly aspects of science, but they do not present the whole picture. Science might be defined as an intellectual analysis of a given subject. It is the attempt to conclude from single observations to a general validity, to extrapolate from known to unknown and to have a look at different arguments. Plant science has a long history. It has -just like all human cultural science- no straight course, nor a declared aim: phases of profound gain of knowledge alternate with periods of ignorance. Especially during the last centuries, opinions have often been expressed with utter harshness, with polemics or even with personal defamation of people having different views, peaking maybe in G.GALILEI´s inquisition. 

By somehow, this subject is related to another one... Ancient Egyptian Papyrus...

The Egyptians produced paper out of the pith of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus), but papyrus was not only used for the production of paper. It was needed for the wreathes of kings and gods, too. Beside this, it served as a model for the columns of the temples in Upper Egypt and was often seen to decorate their reliefs.

The Egyptians knew initially only spring wheat; winter wheat being cultivated from spring wheat only much later. They knew also olive trees, grapevines and fig trees, the latter giving tasty fruit, but only bad building timber.

Plants were not only looked at from the point of view of utility. Special powers were attributed to them and some were even considered holy. Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), for example, was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, to the Hindus and to other people of the east. They did nevertheless eat the lotus fruits: these were forbidden only to Egyptian priests. 

In many ancient tales, plants were seen as symbols of gentle and delicate feelings and in all cultures the beauty and transitory nature of flowers was noticed and attributed emotional values. Only few depictions of plants by the Greeks or the Romans were handed down on us, but plants were very often subjects of their mythology. The creation of plants was connected to the myths of gods. The Spartan HYACINTHOS, for example, was loved by APPOLON and, when accidentally killed by the god, was turned into a flower with the same name. This happened to NARCISSOS, too, who committed suicide after falling in love with his own reflection. The Heliads, daughters of the sun, were transformed into electron (amber)-excreting poplars.  

And not just this... in the Arab world, Botany had a special place...

The influence of the Arabs on the culture of the Occident had but little stimulating effects on botany, though they confronted Europe with the literature of antiquity. One of their most important inventions, destillation, was introduced to botanical research only centuries later. Among the opinions that prevailed in Arab culture was the following (cited from F. DIETERIER: Die Naturanschauung und Naturphilosophie der Araber im 10. Jahrhundert, Berlin 1861):

"On the lowest level is the ruin«s green (i.e. lichens and moss) that is merely dust pressed together. On the highest level is the palm tree. It is an animal plant, that does not resemble other plants in some actions and conditions, although its body stays plant-like. With the palm tree the acting (male) force is separated from the suffering (female) force. With other plants these forces are not detached."

The observation that the female and the male genders of the palm are separated goes back to antiquity. Both ARISTOTLE and THEOPHRASTUS were aware of this fact, but they were not able to draw any conclusions or to examine whether this feature could be found with other plants, too.

The beginning of science in the West was arduous and dragged on for centuries. Plants were for the first time catalogued in the capitularies of CHARLEMAGNE (771 - 814). These records are regulations concerning the instruction of the youth, the improvement of agriculture and the lay-out of gardens. English Benedictines made an inventory of the plants grown in imperial gardens of Lower Palatine. The inventories contain 6-7 different cereals, 17-18 varieties of fruits, 38 varieties of vegetables and herbs, 35-37 different medicinal plants and 5 plant species used for dyeing and the production of fabrics. Although the influence of the Arab culture as represented by the Arabs ruling in Spain till the beginning of the 14th century on Western science was but small that on the attitude of the minds was considerably larger. Monks, priests and scholars went on pilgrimages to Spain to visit its large libraries (that of Cordoba had since 755 660,000 volumes) and to study the works of antiquity there. Many works were translated into Latin. In the course of this - and in that of the numerous copies made - a lot of mistakes and distortions slipped in. Confusion was especially generated by the way plants' names were used. The knowledge that the flora of Central Europe is of a fundamentally different nature than that of the Mediterranean common to us today was missing. It was expected, and for many centuries to come, that the plants reviewed by PLINY and, after works of ARISTOTLE and THEOPHRASTUS became known, the plants reviewed by them, too, had also to exist in Central Europe. It was further assumed that the lists made in antiquity of plants and the descriptions given of them were complete. First signs of original observations go back to the abbess HILDEGARD VON BINGEN (1099 - 1179). She gave descriptions of more than 300 different plants and put German names on them, though she was writing, as was usual, in Latin. Some of these names have been used in the local dialect (Rhineland) up until the last century. 

More knowledge was gathered by the numerous travellers. The crusades made the cause. In the second half of the 13th century, the Venetian MARCO POLO travelled through large parts of Central Asia and China and thus increased the knowledge of plants, countries, people and animals: bamboo, clove, ginger, cotton, sugar cane, indigo, rhubarb, camphor, pepper and nutmeg got to Venice. During the 14th century, monks and merchands travelled often to the Orient, but they gained only little knowledge. Partly because they had no exact powers of observation and lacked the necessary previous knowledge, partly because the travels were often badly prepared.  

Scientific literature was far more and far easier spread after the invention of letterpress by J. GUTENBERG (Mainz, 1446). The number of reviewed plant species increased rapidly:

1532: BRUNFELS, 800 species
1551: LONICER, 879 species
1552: BOCK, 240 species
1552: DODONAEUS, 884 species
1586: DALECHAMP, more than 3,000 species
1623: BAUHIN, over 6,000 species 

The position of the first scientist to use flower properties as features of classification is due to the British researcher J. RAY (lat.: RAJUS, 1628 - 1705). He drew a clear line between mono- and dicotyledons after closely examining plant embryos. He did adopt the terminology from J. JUNGIUS and he additionally did influence C. V. LINNÉ. RAY established six rules (1703) which belong to the fundamental principels of plant systematics till today:

1. Names have not to be changed to avoid confusion and errors.
2. Characteristics have to be exactly and distinctively defined which means that those basing on relative relations like heights are not to be used.
3. Characteristics have to be easily detected by everybody.
4. Groups that are accepted by almost all botanists have to be kept.
5. It has to be taken care that related plants will not be seperated, unnatural ones and those that are different are not to be united.
6. Characteristics shall not without necessity be increased in number, but only as many shall be used as are necessary to make a reliable classification.

Based on these rules, he did try to deduce wider relationships (families, genera), introduced definitions for several genera and developed a key for the determination of plants that was founded on the principles mentioned above. Despite many positive ideas, he did, too, still adhere to the separation of wooden plants and herbs. 

Although the drawing up of botanical systematics was one of the main aims of botanical research of this time, all attempts to deduce natural relations failed due to the premises which were still partly wrong. It was believed that natural relations could be come to by a number of easily perceived features whose value for systematics was still a priori set in a subjective choice. The change came with CARL v. LINNÉ. 

After the guidelines for systematics had been developed, the classification of plants made speedily headway. A. L. DE JUSSIEU (1748 - 1836) designed familiy diagnoses, in which the features of the flower, the fruit and the vegetative organs were all taken into account. Instead of merely enumerating small groups and place them next to each other, he did introduce a conception of the plant kingdom as devided into bigger and gradually subordinated groups. LINNÉ had explicitly found this to be beyond his limits.

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. " ~John Muir