PREFATORY NOTE TO PRESENT ISSUE. 



The present edition of The Natural History of Plants, though it 

 has been revised in minor points, retains the fundamental features of 

 its predecessors. Scientific knowledge is of course continually advancing, 

 but Kerner's methods were so pre-eminent that his work has attained, in 

 a sense, the permanent value and dignity of a classic. It was therefore 

 deemed inadvisable at the present time to make any changes beyond those 

 referred to above, more particularly since the publishers saw their way 

 to bring the book, by means of a reduction in price, within the reach 

 of a larger public. 



R W. 0. 



August, 1902. 



