INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
On commencing the Flora of New Zealand I addressed a few remarks to my readers at the Antipodes, 
in which I represented the advantages of the study of Botany, if only for the utilitarian purpose of ac- 
quiring the names of many little known and useful plants that contribute so much to their comfort 
and enjoyment. In the absence of such aids as are attainable in countries where a knowledge of bo- 
tany is more generally diffused, the necessary examination and study required to name plants properly 
by their natural characters is considerable ; but by going through the process for himself, the beginner 
rapidly acquires a knowledge of the structure and anatomy of Natural Orders, Genera, and Species, 
which will enable him to prosecute the study of their affinities, geographical distribution, and varia- 
tion, so as greatly to extend the very limited knowledge we possess of these difficult branches of the 
science. He will discover that an elementary acquaintance with the Natural Orders and Species of 
plants is not so readily acquired as in many divisions of the animal kingdom, where it is deduced 
from a consideration of external characters of form, clothing, and colour, or from modifications of 
conspicuous organs: he must commence with the knife and the microscope, tracing the development 
of important organs, however minute; and if he desire to obtain that knowledge of the affinities of 
plants which alone will enable him to prosecute other branches of the science, he can only do so by 
first making himself thoroughly acquainted with their comparative anatomy. 
In the hope of being able to offer some remarks that may facilitate the labours of those who 
would pursue the higher branches of this science, I shall preface the observations I have to offer on 
the affinities and distribution of the New Zealand Flora, with some general theoretical views on the 
origin, variation, and dispersion of species. These are seldom alluded to in such botanical works as 
are within the reach of the colonist; and, though probably familiar to most of my English readers, 
I need hardly apologize to the latter for dwelling on them, if they agree with me in considering that 
it is very necessary for those who set themselves up as systematists, to give their individual impressions 
upon these important and obscure subjects, the elucidation of which is one great object of their 
studies. Not only may a naturalist’s views be supposed to represent the result of his accumulated 
experience, but his mode of treating his subject must in many cases be influenced by them, however 
much he may try to avoid it. For instance, it is natural to suppose that an observer who believes 
species to be arbitrary divisions of a genus, dependent on the naturalist’s choice of characters, will 
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