PREFACE. 



ledge is power, and I am quite sure that it 

 contributes greatly to enjoyment. A man 

 knowing nothing of natural history, and of 

 course not caring for anything relating to it, 

 may travel from one extremity of a country to 

 the other, without finding anything to interest, 

 or even amuse him ; but the man of science, 

 and particularly the Botanist, cannot walk a 

 dozen yards along a beaten turnpike-road with- 

 out finding something to excite his attention. 

 A wild plant in a hedge, a tuft of moss on a 

 wall, and even the Lichens which discolour the 

 stones, all present objects of interest, and of 

 admiration for that Almighty Power whose 

 care has provided the flower to shelter the 

 infant germ, and has laid up a stock of nourish- 

 ment in the seed to supply the first wants of the 

 tender plant. It has been often said that the 

 study of nature has a tendency to elevate and 

 ameliorate the mind ; and there is perhaps no 

 branch of Natural History which more fully 

 illustrates the truth of this remark than Botany. 



