INTRODUCTION 



Botany is the science which considers the nature of Plants, — how 

 they are constructed, what they are composed of, the circumstances of 

 their life and growth, what they are good for, the countries and places 

 they inhabit, their various and charming beauty, along with many 

 other curious and interesting facts, such as render the study of it 

 exceedingly pleasant and instructive, both to young people and old, 

 at all seasons of the year, and wherever we may go. 



There are thousands of different kinds of plants. Some grow on 

 land ; others in the water, and of these latter not a few belong to the 

 sea. Many lift their heads high into the air, and throw out beautiful 

 and spreading branches, so as to form trees, which in many cases, 

 when autumn arrives, are loaded with fruit ; other kinds are so 

 small and delicate, that in order to see them plainly, we must use a 

 microscope. Between these two extremes there are multitudes of 

 intermediate size, comprising garden flowers, wild flowers, shrubs, 

 vegetables fit to eat, weeds, moss, and whatever else forms part of the 

 green mantle of the earth. The whole of them receive the botanist's 

 attention, and reward him with something useful and satisfactory to 

 know. 



The individuals constituting this vast .mblage have, in every 

 case, their peculiar features. Just as ^ elephant, the rabbit, and 

 the glossy rook are distinguished ar .ig animals by their pecuHar 

 shape, habits, and colour, so are ^ants distinguishable from one 

 another by the variety in their lea . es, flowers, stems, roots, and seeds. 

 Every one knows how different a camellia is from a daisy, and a sprig 

 of parsley from a red-berried bough of Christmas holly ; — every one 

 is familiar with the grass of the green fields, so soft to the foot, so 

 cheerful and refreshing to the eye, and eees for himself, without any 



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