XV 



duced others to subscribe ; and I may add that the paging begins 

 anew with the January number, in order to relieve those subscribers 

 who commence with 1848 from the necessity of purchasing the back 

 numbersj unless they desire to possess them. 



I cannot with propriety lay down my pen without adverting to the 

 omission of an " Index of Subjects." The difficulty of compiling such 

 an index I have found much greater than I anticipated : an index to 

 be of any value should contain a reference to every plant mentioned 

 in the text, yet if rendered thus voluminous it would in a great 

 measure nullify itself; for instance, a name occurred fifty-six times in 

 the year 1846, it would therefore require fifty-six references to the 

 text, a most bewildering number. I tried to obviate this objection by 

 selecting those names of plants which appeared of more than usual 

 interest, but soon found myself lost in the enquiry whether the plant 

 were worth indexing or not. At the close of 1845 I attempted what 

 might be termed an " Index of Articles," but I found this perfectly 

 useless to myself, when desiring to compile a list of additions to our 

 Flora; because these, often occurring in the Reports of Societies, 

 escaped all notice in an " Index of Articles." Hence it has seemed 

 to me that a complete index would be almost useless and an in- 

 complete index quite so, and I have therefore concluded on the present 

 occasion to confine myself to an " Index of Contributors," giving at 

 length the title of every contribution under the name of its author : 

 also a list of the books reviewed and a reference to the reports of So- 

 cieties. I trust that this arrangement will prove satisfactory, at least 

 for the present : and I may state that I shall feel extremely indebted 

 to any subscriber who will suggest anything better for the future. 1 

 will cheerfully and thankfully adopt any suggestion that may tend to 

 facilitate a reference to the enormous mass of facts which the pages of 

 the ' Phytologist' have rescued from oblivion. 



EDWARD NEWMAN. 



Devonshire Street, Bishopsgate, 

 December, 1847. 



