iv PREFACE. 



botanical study. In order to present these facts in 

 a concise form, divested of their more technical 

 surroundings, I have collected them into a volume 

 for general reading, in the hope of exciting some 

 interest, where no interest was felt before, in the 

 wonders of the unseen world. Some of them are 

 "curiosities of vegetable life," some are exploded 

 theories or wild romance, and some will come as 

 revelations of the Master's work in the most minute 

 of His creations ; but all will furnish material for 

 thought and reflection, and teach by fact — more con- 

 vincing than argument. To present, in a popular 

 manner, a few of the phenomena of plant life, as 

 exhibited in the simplest and lowest forms, can scarce 

 need further apology. 



M. C. COOKE. 



