PREFACE. 5 



Dartmouth College. I would here gratefully acknowledge, also, the important 

 assistance and encouragement I have received from him in other departments of 

 this work. 



To the Rev. Professor Dewey, to whom I am permitted to dedicate this 

 volume, I am indebted for that part of the Flora which relates to the difficult, 

 yet deeply interesting, fomily of the Cariccs. He has not only granted me access 

 to his former excellent Monograph on that genus, but has prepared the article 

 for the present work with his own hand. 



The six Primary Classes of the Vegetable Kingdom, adopted in this volume, 

 diifering somewhat from Torrey and Gray, to whose arrangement I have so gen- 

 erally adhered in other respects, rest upon the authority of Prof. Dewey, and 

 others. The Gymnosperms of Lindlcy are made a coordinate class with that of 

 Exogens, and yet are at the same time acknowledged to be only a subdivision of 

 it; an arrangement which certainly appears to us illogical. 



Finally, that the present work contains many imperfections, no one can be 

 more fully aware than the author. These it will be his constant care to detect 

 and amend in future editions, should any appear. Meanwhile, he confidently 

 relies upon the indulgence of all those who can appreciate the difficulties atten- 

 dant on a work like this, and humbly hopes that his long and arduous toil will 

 not prove wholly unproductive of useful results. 



Meriden, N. H., June 22, 1 844. 



