130 FROM SIMPLE LEAVES, 



Morphology which has never yet been traced out to its legiti- 

 mate consequences. It has an important bearing on our 

 knowledge of leaf forms. It connects them with each other, 

 through all their polymorphous varieties, in bonds which are 

 indissoluble. An attempt has been made in this Chapter to 

 take the first steps in these researches. The writer claims no 

 credit beyond the exercise of that more than ordinary patience 

 and care, so necessary to successful explorations in a new 

 field. May the truths enunciated, however imperfectly estab- 

 lished, give a new impulse to botanical inquiries. Between 

 the simple leaf with the entire edge, and the most highly 

 compound leaf, there .is" every intermediate variety of transi- 

 tional forms. The important law of leaf simplification in the 

 neighborhood of the flower, like the clue of Ariadne, will 

 guide us through this Cretan labyrinth, and show the sim- 

 plicity, and, at the same time, the variety of Nature. It is 

 only necessary for the above law to be fully apppreciated in 

 all its bearings, and one of the driest and most technical 

 portions of Botanical science will be rendered deeply inter- 

 esting and instructive. 



In closing this Chapter, it seems to me to be proper to tell 

 the reader, that the opinions which it Contains are conclusions 

 which I have felt to be absolutely unavoidable. They are 

 certainly novelties in the science of Botany, the boundaries 

 of which are very susceptible of enlargement, if a greater 

 amount of self-reliance is exercised, patience is cultivated, 

 and Nature is studied. These new truths are so interesting, 

 that even if there should be only a minimum of scientific and 

 literary merit about this Chapter, I have no doubt that the 

 attention of Botanists will be attracted to the subject. I only 

 hope that this may be so. I have written, I trust, guardedly 

 and earnestly. 



