40 Notes on some of the 



has not hitherto been pursued here so generally as hi 

 Europe, and elsewhere. From the establishment af this^ 

 and our sister society in Montreal, I doubt not will date a 

 new era in knowledge in these provinces. To these 

 societies, as centres, will naturally converge, from various 

 quarters, facts in science, and discoveries in • the arts^ 

 which might otherwise never be made known to the worlds 

 Encreased facilities in the acquirement of useful knowledge, 

 will necessarily grow out of these establishments. 



In these notices I do not pi'ofess to follow the regulai* 

 order of succession of the vegetable families, but will select 

 them so as to creaite, if possible, some interest, by contrast- 

 ing trees with grasses — the useful with the ornamental. 1 

 do not presume to write for yotu* instruction, much less do 

 I expect that the notices which 1 am about to offer will 

 excite any interest beyond what I may liope from your 

 indulgence. If I sr.cceed in creating in the younger part 

 of my friends, a taste for this pleasant branch of Natural 

 History, I will be quite satisfied — it is my only aim. An 

 opportunity will soon be given them, I fully trust, to 

 follow up the pursuit, by attending the lectures about to 

 be instituted under the auspices of this society. Summer 

 is, beyond doubt, the most suitable season for pursuing 

 these enquiries, and will in all probability be chosen for 

 the lectures. The trees and shrubs are, for the most part, 

 now divested of their ornamental clothing, and the humble 

 herbaceous plant is retired out of sight, for a long an^ 

 necessary repose after the summer's excitement and exercise 

 of functions. Few living plants can therefore be produced 

 in illustration of these notes. I am induced by this 

 circmnstance, to make choice of a natural family to begin 

 "with, composed principally of evergreens. 



