PREFATORY NOTE 
THis work may be regarded as a new departure for Scotland 
in this branch of botany. The distribution of Hepaticew in 
Scotland, as in England and Wales, has hitherto been given 
only in fragmentary form. Only an increasing interest 
in the study, and the accumulation of a large amount of 
material and information, have rendered a more detailed 
distribution possible. 
For some years there has been an awakening of interest 
in the study of the Hepatice of the British Isles. The 
Moss Exchange Club, initiated fifteen years ago, and various 
publications, have stimulated this interest, and it is hoped 
that the issue of this volume will give a further impetus 
in this direction. 
In 1904 there appeared a paper by the author in the 
Annals of Scottish Natural History, entitled a “Census 
of Scottish Hepatice.” This was followed at intervals by 
other papers giving additions to the Census. Scotland is 
peculiarly rich in these plants, and several Scottish botanists 
have given attention to them. The discoveries of rare 
species have also attracted some English botanists, who 
have assisted by collecting in various parts of the country. 
The author has been investigating the flora for several 
years, with a view to the presentation of the facts set forth 
in the following pages. 
Hitherto the distribution has been given by counties 
only, these having been distinguished by numbers. The 
present work gives the localities, with the collectors’ names, 
of the older botanists whose specimens have been available 
for examination, as well as those of recent date. A few 
records have been taken from literature, but they have 
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