PREFACE. 
ESTÁ VERYONE who Ма attempted to ascertain the name of в plant by comparing it with 
о miero Bascho ia avaro её iho Qty of ng e EN EE 
Bi Guitar it Qe одной language: of mienen tiui toss ¡any ES wi 
Mp 
24 
9 
| although admirers of delicate texture, beautiful colour, or graceful form, do not 
p profess to be skilful Botanists, Even with the aid of drawings, investigation often 
ү leads to no satisfactory result, in consequence of the inability of art to represent 
7 faithfully the minute peculiarities by which natural objects are often best distinguished. If 
ral it 
(/ this is so with plants in ge 
most especially true of Ferns, tho complicated б 
} tender organisation of which bafle the most skilful and patient artist, who can only gi 
the best an imperfect sketch. of wha 
he supposes to be their more important features. And 
herein lies the great defect of all pictorial representations. ‘The draughtsman can do no more than 
delineate a part of what he sees; and whether he secs correctly what he delineates will at all times be 
а matter of doubt, especially where, as in natural history, minute accuracy is indispensable. But if 
minuto accu 
1 importance in опе than another race of plants, it is most especially so 
among Ferns, in the distinctions of which the form of indentations, general outline, the exact manner 
in which repeated subdivision is effected, and most especially the distribution of veins scarcely visible 
to the naked eye, Мау the most important part. To express such fa 
¡cts with the necessary accuracy, the 
art of a Talbot or a Daguerre was insufficient, nor could they be represented pictorially until 
Naront-Prrvnixe was brought to its present state of perfection. 
Attempts were long since made to obtain Botanical portraits by printing from the plants 
themselves, flattened and otherwise prepared for the purpose. Ву this means impressions of leaves 
were produced with some success, and even of small branches, Rude as the process was, and imperfect 
the result, it was nevertheless found that the figures thus procured were far more characteristic tha 
any which artists could produce, as was to be expected, indeed, from the absolute of the 
representations as far as they went. No one who had ever seen a Rose-leaf could fail to recognise its 
impression, or was likely to mistake it for that of an Ash-tree; and the more the impression was 
studied, the more did the truth of all its details carry conviction to the mind. The fault of the method 
consisted in its limited appli 
ion, and its incompleteness. 
‘The process of the Imperial Printing Office at Vienna, to which the name of Nature-Printing has 
been happily applied, and to which the Work now offered to the public owes its origin, is a great 
improvement upon the old method, inasmuch as it represents not only general form with absolute 
accuracy, but also surface, hairs, veins, and other minuti of superficial structure by which plants are 
п details of their internal organisation. Moreover 
known irrespective of the hi an exact сор) 
copper of the part to be represe jeet as 
ted being employed by the printer, instead of so fragile an ol 
the plant itself, we obtain the means of multiplying copies to the same extent as in copperplate 
engraving ; and hence the method becomes suitable for purposes of publication. ‘The Germans have 
ady availed themselves of the art, and with considerable success Von Heufler has published 
a specimen of the Cryptogamous plants of the Valley of Arpasch,* some of the figures in which are 
admirable representat nature ; and other works are announced as having made their appearance, 
or being in preparation, in thé Austrian dominions. 
