PRELIMINARY NOTICEs. 
ORE than ten years have elapsed since I published a little 
essay’ intended to show the mode adopted by the Chinese 
in treating of Natural science, especially Botany, and what degree 
of advantage European Botanists may derive from the study of 
Chinese botanical works. The present paper now brought before’ 
the public, although treating of the same subject and reproducing 
occasionally the matter of my former essay, will prove to be — 
virtually a work new in substance, entirely recast, into which 
also a considerable amount of new information has been intro- 
duced. 
In resuming my past labours after a long interval I cannot but 
repeat what I confessed in the preface of my former paper, that 
I am neither a Sinologue nor Botanist, my knowledge of Chinese 
as well as of Botany being quite limited. It may well then be 
a i a i 
1 On the Study and Value of Chinese Botanical Works, with Notes on the History 
of Plants and Geographical Botany from Chinese sources, by E. Bretschneider, 
Illustrated with 8 Chinese wood-cuts, This article appeared originally in the “ Chinese 
Recorder” of 1870 and 1871, published in Foochow. The editor of this periodical, at 
_ that time, seems to have had little experience in proof-reading ; at any rate my paper 
(although presented in a very clear manuscript) came to light with such a profusion 
of misprints and other inaccuracies, that it would have been ridiculous to append to it 
_ acomplete list of errata, I therefore would feel quite disposed to disavow this my — 
= first scientific essay ; all the more sinee at the time I wrote it I had not yet sufficiently 
. : aay : 
