PREFACE 



The very first words I would write in this book are addressed 

 to my botanical colleagues, whom I wish to inform that the work 

 is not intended for them. In this statement I am by no means 

 invoking immunity from scientific criticism, but emphasizing the 

 aim of the book. It is not designed as a digest of our present 

 scientific knowledge of plant physiology for the use of experts in 

 that subject, but, in conformity with the aim of the series of which 

 it is a part, it seeks to present to all who have interest to learn an 

 accurate and vivid conception of the principal things in plant life. 

 I was once myself such a learner, and I have tried to write such a 

 book as I would then have delighted to read. It is, in a word, an 

 attempt at that literature of interpretation which was fore- 

 shadowed by Francis Bacon in the fine passage that stands on its 

 dedicatory page. 



This aim will explain peculiarities of the work not otherwise 

 obvious. Thus, I have been at more pains to be clear than to be 

 brief, assuming on the part of my reader no great knowledge of 

 the subject, but a large willingness to take trouble to learn; and as 

 I have tried to discuss every process with fulness enough to eluci- 

 date its nature, my book has wandered through a leisurely course 

 to a length quite shockingly great. But I comfort myself with the 

 reflection that the plan and the subject hardly permit other treat- 

 ment ; for a royal road to a real understanding of plant phenomena 

 does neither exist nor can it be built. Perhaps, indeed, the very 

 portliness of the volume will act as a deterrent to any attempt at 

 a desultory reading in the hammock, and will rather suggest the 

 study table, and the principal feature of an evening's business, 



