PREFACE. 



After the many elementary works on 

 Botany which have appeared in various 

 languages, any new attempt of the same 

 kind may, at first sight, seem unnecessar3% 

 But when we consider the rapid progress 

 of the science within a few years, in the 

 acquisition and determination of new 

 plants, and especially the discoveries and 

 improvements in vegetable physiology: 

 when we reflect on the views with which 

 those fundamental works of Linnaeus, the 

 basis of all following ones, were com- 

 posed, and to whom they were addressed, 

 we must be aware of their unfitness for 

 purposes of general and popular utility, 



