XVI * PREFACE. 



in our days, by his scientific skill alone, 

 has given the bread-fruit to the West- 

 Indies, and his country justly honours his 

 character and pursuits* All this is ac- 

 knowledged. We are no longer in the in- 

 fancy of science, in which its utility, not 

 having been proved, might be doubted, 

 nor is it for this that I contend. I would 

 recommend botany for its own sake. I 

 have often alluded to its benefits as a 

 mental exercise, nor can any study exceed 

 it in raising curiosity, gratifying a taste for 

 beauty and ingenuity of contrivance, or 

 sharpening the powers of discrimination. 

 What then can be better adapted for 

 young persons ? The chief use of a great 

 part of our education is no other than 

 what I have just mentioned. The lan- 

 guages and the mathematics, however 

 valuable in themselves when acquired, 

 are even more so as they train the youth- 

 ful mind to thought and observation. In 



