PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 



ooME years ago I was asked by a number of friends 



in Mangalore to help them in the study of Botany. The 



promise given at that time led me to compile this little 



^^^uvjK, which, I hope, will rouse their interest in the life of 



'>.plants they were so anxious to know. 



^^ At the same time I was prompted to come forward in 



-^writing a simple book on Indian Botany by the sad dis- 



. appointment I felt when I witnessed the poor and lifeless 



/7way in which object-lessons on plants were taught in our 



elementary schools. I understood that, if any improve- 



j ment in this subject was to be made, the teachers them- 



y selves had first to be interested in nature-study. And as 



^ a treatment of Botany in the old way could not secure 



the object in view, I adopted a course which I was glad 



to find in Dr. O. Schmeil's Manual of Botany, intended to 



open to any student of ordinary intelligence an under- 



i standing of plant-life and to enlarge and quicken in him 



a sense of that infinite harmony which runs through 



j^ every part of the Creator's marvellous plan of nature, 



;-^ which would make the educational value of this subject 



equal to that of any other subject taught in schools. 



g'"* To this end I combined the structural description of 



l!|)lants with a plain description of their vital processes. 



:^he technical terms, which so often form the crux of begin- 



<^iers, are reduced to the smallest number possible, and 



Snany statements are illustrated by suitable cuts. The 



"illustrations may also be supplemented by the coloured 



plates of Indian Plants, published by the Basel Mission 



Book and Tract Depository, Mangalore, at a very moderate 



