“Rep 
PREFACE 
TO 
THE FIRST EDITAGe 
THE principal design of the author in the preparation of the 
present volume was, to furnish a comprehensive, and at the 
same time a practical, guide to the Properties and Uses of 
Plants, a part of Botany which in the majority of manuals is 
but very briefly alluded to. He hopes that in this respect the 
present Manual may serve as an introduction to works devoted 
particularly to Materia Medica and Economic Botany, and thus 
form a text-book of especial value to medical and pharmaceutical 
students ; as well as a work of reference generally for those 
engaged in commercial pursuits who have daily to make use of 
substances derived from the Vegetable Kingdom. 
Another prominent motive of the author was, to furnish the 
pupils attending his lectures with a class-book, in which the 
subjects treated of should be arranged, as far as possible, in 
the same order as followed by him in the lectures themselves. 
It may be noticed that this order differs in several respects from 
that commonly followed, but long experience as a teacher has 
convinced him that it is the most desirable one for the student. 
Great pains have been taken in all departments to bring the 
different subjects treated of down to the present state of science ; 
and much care has been exercised in condensing the very nu- 
merous details bearing upon each department, and in arranging 
them for systematic study. 
The author makes no claims for this work to be regarded 
as a complete treatise on the different departments of Botany ; 
it is only intended as a guide to larger and more comprehensive 
