474 



GRAY'S MANUAL OF BOTANY. 



There is, we may say, en passant^ an er- 

 ror, into which smatterevs in science not 

 unfreqiiently fall, that beginners ought to 

 guard against. This is pedantry ; a fond- 

 ness for display of one's knowledge by in- 

 troducing, on every possible occasion, hard 

 technical names, worse than "sounding 

 brass" in the ears of the majority of listen- 

 ers. This is an insufferable piece of bad 

 taste, to say the least of it ; not a whit 

 more pardonable than that of the shoolmas- 

 ter, who astonishes his rustic neighbors 

 with those hard words, of an indefinite num- 

 ber of syllables, which he had made espe- 

 cial search after in his dictionary. He who 

 possesses knowledge on any subject not 

 shared by those about him, will always find 

 a demand made for it when it is needed ; 

 and then it will be the better appreciated 

 and understood, from its not being intru- 

 ded at inappropriate seasons. Only a 

 very young botanist, therefore, will cry 

 out Hypericum perforatum, whenever he 

 passes through a field filled with Johns- 

 wort ! 



We must not forget, in this rambling sort 

 of gossip which flows from our pen, the work 

 before us, or its merits. To those who 

 know Prof. Gray, it is almost needless to 

 say anything. To those who do not, we 

 may remark, that he is both, one of the 

 most profound botanists, and one of the 

 most acute botanical writers of the age, in 

 any country. This work, therefore, which 

 has cost him much labor and study, (for it 

 is a book full o^ facts, which must be, and 

 have been, verified step by step,) is, we are 

 not surprised to find, the most co'mplete 

 Manual of Botany of the northern United 

 States ever published. Its purpose is to 

 enable the student to ascertain the name 

 of, or identify any and every plant to be 

 found growing wild from the northeast- 

 ern boundary to Wisconsin, and south to 



Maryland; to learn its natural family, its 

 habit of growth, and something of its 

 history. It is what the Germans signi- 

 ficantly call a "hand-book;" one that 

 the student may carry under his arm into 

 the fields, and, with a little practice, 

 very quickly find out the name of any 

 new plant or tree that is unknown to 

 him. 



In order to render this process as easy as 

 possible, the author has endeavored to 

 avoid, in his descriptions, the use of tech- 

 nical words whenever those in common use 

 would apply ; he has, by italicising the 

 leading traits in the description of a species, 

 enabled us, much more readily than before, 

 to distinguish it from such other species as 

 most nearly resemble it ; and he has ar- 

 ranged all those species most nearly alike 

 into defyiite groups or sections, to simplify 

 the task of analysis. 



We would very gladly, if our space al- 

 lowed us, give examples of this excellent 

 treatment of the subject from the work it- 

 self. But we feel that this is quite unne- 

 cessary ; for the work is one of such supe^ 

 rior character that it will directly become 

 the standard manual of the northern states. 

 Dr. Gray says, in the preface, that it is in- 

 tended chiefly "for the use of students and 

 practical botanists." We hope there are 

 thousands among our own readers, especial- 

 ly young persons, who are yet neither stu- 

 dents nor practical botanists, but who will 

 speedily become so, — and, after familiaris- 

 ing themselves with some good elementary 

 work,* will make this " New Botany of the 

 Northern States" their intimate companion, 

 till they know something of the " secret his- 

 tory" of every plant that grows or blos- 

 soms within twenty miles of their country 

 home. 



* Such as Gray's Botanical Text-hook, Lindley's School Bo- 

 tany, LindUy's Ladies' Botany, etc 



