pages on the horse. Leonardo dissected many plants, but
later fell back upon the rose for decorative purposes.

John Ray was born in Sixteen Hundred Twenty-eight near Braintree in
Essex. Now, as to genius--no blacksmith-shop is safe from it. We know
where to find ginseng, but genius is the secret of God.

A blacksmith's helper by day, this aproned lad with sooty face dreamed
dreams. Evenings he studied Greek with the village parson. They read
Aristotle and Theophrastus.

Have a care there, you Macedonian miscreant, dead two thousand years,
you are turning this boy's head!

John Ray would be a botanist as great as Aristotle, and he would speak
divinely, just as did Theophrastus. It is all a matter of desire! Young
Ray became a Minor Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; then a Major
Fellow; then he took the Master's degree; next he became lecturer on
Greek; and insisted that Aristotle was the greatest man the world had
ever seen, except none, and the Dean raised an eyebrow.

The professor of mathematics resigned and Ray took his place; next he
became Junior Dean, and then College Steward; and according to the
custom of the times he used to preach in the chapel. One of his sermons
was from the text, "Consider the lilies of the field." Another sermon
that brought him more notoriety than fame was on the subject, "God in
Creation," wherein he argued that to find God we should look for Him
more in the world of Nature and not so much in books.

Matters were getting strained. Ray was asked to subscribe to the Act of
Uniformity, which was a promise that he would never preach anything that
was not prescribed by the Church. Ray demurred, and begged that he be
allowed to go free and preach anything he thought was truth--new truth
might come to him! This shows the absurdity of Ray. He was asked to
reconsider or resign. He resigned--resigned the year that Sir Isaac
Newton entered.

Fortunately, one particular pupil followed him, not that he
loved college less, but that he loved Ray more. This pupil was
Francis Willughby. Through the bounty of this pupil we get the
scientist--otherwise, Ray would surely have been starved into
subjection. Willughby took Ray to the home of his parents, who were rich
people.

Ray undertook the education of young Willughby, very much as Aristotle
took charge of Alexander. Willughby and Ray traveled, studied, observed
and wrote. They went to Spain, took trips to France, Italy and
Switzerland, an