16 I'REl-ACK. 



but they were designed for philosophers, and are not 

 calculated for every reader. Linnaeus and his scholars 

 have generally written in Latin. They address them- 

 selves to physicians, to anatomists, to philosophers, little 

 thinking that their science would ever be the amusing 

 pursuit of the young, the elegant and the refined, or 

 they would have treated the subject differently. It 

 appears to me, therefore, that an introductory publica- 

 tion is still desirable in this country, on an original plan, 

 easy, comprehensive, and fit for general use, and such 

 weie the reasons which first prompted me to the under- 

 takinsr. 



When, however, I had proceeded a considerable way 

 in its execution, I found that such a work might not 

 only serve to teach the first outlines of the science, but 

 that it might prove a vehicle for many observations, 

 criticisms, and communications, scarcely to be brought 

 together on any other plan ; nor did it appear any objec- 

 tion to the general use of the book, that, besides its 

 primary intention, it might be capable of leading into 

 the depths of botanical philosophy, whether physiolo- 

 gical, systematical, or critical, any student who should 

 be desirous of proceeding so far. A volume of this 

 size can indeed be but elementary on subjects so exten- 

 sive ; but if it be clear and intelligible as far as it goes, 

 serving to indicate the scope of the science of botany, 



