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reasons led me to deviate from the moi'e restricted, to follow the 

 wider plan, though by so doing I should nullify the title prefixed to 

 these contributions, and possibly be charged with carelessness, in- 

 consistency or prolixity in not adhering to my original purpose of 

 conciseness. Yet, since to pass over such change of plan without a 

 word in explanation might justly create surprise, 1 shall briefly state 

 my reasons for the alteration. First, the difficulty in deciding where 

 the line should be drawn betwixt common and uncommon plants had 

 to be grappled with and disposed of, a difficulty the magnitude of 

 which becomes greater the nearer it is approached, till at length it as- 

 sumes the form of a problem, for which a satisfactory solution is 

 hardly to be hoped. 2ndly. A principal object in preparing the 

 Notes was to present a view of the geographical distribution of plants 

 in Hampshire that might be compared with the distribution of the 

 same or different plants over other counties or areas in any given part 

 of the kingdom possessing the means of comparison. But to give 

 such views their full value, it is requisite that the number as well as 

 the nature of the species should be recorded ; this cannot be done so 

 long as we exclude all mention of plants reputed common, since the 

 amount of these must always remain indefinite ; besides that the 

 omission of them leaves their very existence a matter of doubt and 

 conjecture in some cases. It may at first sight appear trifling and 

 superfluous to even name such species as Bellis perennis, Urtica di- 

 oica, Poa annua and pratensis, Stellaria media, Taraxacum officinale, 

 and other weeds reputed common everywhere ; but are we warranted 

 in a confident assumption that there is no exception to the ubiquity 

 of one or all of these, that there is no spot, perhaps an entire district, 

 in which they may not approach the limit of rarity, or even fail alto- 

 gether ? Were such local catalogues as the present intended merely 

 to subserve the acquisitive habits of the plant-collector, it would be 

 highly advisable to discard from them all species which could but 

 swell their bulk without profit to the inquirer ; but regarded in their 

 true light of statistical documents, every species, however common 

 and universal, becomes an important unit when the floral census of a 

 county or a kingdom has to be ascertained. A last and very impor- 

 tant reason for publishing this catalogue in full, has been to enable 

 my botanical friends and correspondents to see exactly, not only 

 what plants are present or absent from the county and its island dis- 

 trict, but in what proportion the species are rare or common, and 

 from the stations quoted to judge which parts of the county have 

 been best explored, and which most neglected by botanists. They 

 Vol. hi. 2 x 





