xxvi Introduction. 



specimen seems to belong ; then go through the genera in the 

 same way, and when the genus is fixed on which seems to 

 agree, go through its species. Only the beginner must not 

 expect the description of either tribe or genus (and very often 

 not of the order either) to be so plainly what is wanted as to 

 enable him to reach his species without a good many mistakes 

 and disappointments. But I believe that anyone who takes 

 the trouble carefully to examine all the commonest species about 

 him, and also all those he can get of orders which he knows, 

 and to learn all he can about the families they belong to, will 

 soon get a foundation which will enable him within a reason- 

 able time to identify nearly everything he meets with. I say 

 nearly everything, because, even after years of study and 

 practice, plants occasionally come before one which, after a great 

 deal of trouble, have still to be left unidentified. 



But in this, as in most other studies, the advantage of two or 

 three students working together, or, if they cannot work to- 

 gether, comparing notes as often as possible, can scarcely be 

 exaggerated. And there is the further resource of preserving 

 specimens and submitting them to well-known authorities. 

 For this purpose proper botanical paper is generally necessary, 

 and boards for pressing, at all events in the case of the larger 

 plants. But I confess to an unscientific preference for paintings 

 or drawings of plants to dried specimens. It matters not how 

 rough the drawings may be, but they must be strictly accurate 

 or they will be useless; any parts of the flowers that may be 

 remarkable should be separately portrayed, and careful notes 

 taken of place of growth, season of flowering, size of plant, etc. 



With regard to carrying flowers home after they have been 

 picked, a tin box of some sort is even more necessary in India 

 than in England, as in the heat they wither so much more 

 quickly. I have always thought a tin cylinder (a small map- 

 case, in fact) more convenient than the oblong case generally 

 used by botanists. The movable top excludes the air better 

 than any sort of lid, and the cylindrical case is handier to carry 

 when walking, or even when taking casual rides. Xo one, 

 without trying it, would believe how much a case of this sort, 

 of a size to go comfortably in the hand, will hold, or how fresh 

 the flowers come out of it even after many hours. 



I conclude with a list of the books available for botanical 

 study in "W. India, to all of which I have referred very freely. 



