EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTES 



TO THE FIEST EDITION. 



VOLUME I. 



PROFESSOR KERNER has stated very succinctly, in the preface which he has been 

 good enough to write for the English edition of Pflanzenleben, the main idea which 

 guided him in the writing of that book. Consequently little remains for me to add 

 save a few observations on the book in its present form. On the appearance of the 

 original, the parts as they were issued were widely scanned, and the work soon 

 enjoyed a large circulation. Here was a book at once attractive to the ordinary 

 reader, and retaining unimpaired its value to trained naturalists. The scale of the 

 undertaking was such that it was possible to give a presentment worthy of the 

 subject. Hitherto, though Astronomy, Geology, and other branches of natural 

 knowledge had been long accessible to the ordinary reader in popular books of 

 the greatest value, this service had not been done for Botany. Long before the 

 issue of Pflanzenleben was complete, the idea of an English edition suggested 

 itself to me and to my friend, Mr. Walter Gardiner, of Cambridge. It was my 

 hope that we should, jointly, undertake its preparation. To my great regret, 

 Mr. Gardiner was prevented from co-operating by other duties; thus the whole 

 responsibility of this edition falls to my lot. To my colleagues in this undertaking^ 

 Mrs. Busk (Lady Busk) and Miss Ewart (Mrs. M. F. Macdonald), the chief credit 

 is due for this translation. Indeed, without their hearty collaboration, the produc- 

 tion of The Natural History of Plants would have been impossible. In the 

 main, the original text has been faithfully adhered to. The translation, though 

 not everywhere precisely literal, never departs from the spirit of the German 

 edition. The Index to the complete work, together with a Glossary, will be 

 appended to the concluding volume. 



F. W. 0. 



KEW, November, 1894. 



VOLUME II. 



With this, the second and concluding volume of The Natural History of Plants, 

 a brief statement and explanation of my position as editor is imperative. As stated 

 in my note to Volume I. the English text there followed that of the original with 

 considerable fidelity. In the second volume I have less consistently followed this 

 course. Throughout I have not hesitated to add or substitute new matter, though 



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