16 INTRODUCTION. 



observed, " is not the mere extension of a faculty ; it is 

 a new sense." 



There are also peculiar pleasures connected with the 

 study of these objects. There is first the pleasure of 

 novelty and discovery of exploring a realm where every- 

 thing is comparatively new, and every step is delightful ; 

 where the forms are unfamiliar, and the modes of life 

 hitherto unimagined. There is next the more subtle 

 and refined pleasure of observing the strange truths 

 which they unfold, the beautiful laws which they reveal, 

 and the resemblances and relations which they display. 

 The false romanticism of vulgar fancy requires some- 

 thing pretentious and unnatural to gratify its taste ; but 

 to the true poetical mind, the humblest moss on the 

 wall, or the green slime that creams on the wayside 

 pool, will suggest trains of pleasing and profitable re- 

 flection. He who has an observing eye and an appre- 

 ciating mind for these minute wonders of nature, need 

 never be alone. Every nook and corner of the earth, 

 however barren and dreary to superficial minds, has com- 

 panions for him ; and on every path he will find what 

 the Indians call a rustawallah, a delightful road-fellow. 



To the cryptogamic botanist nature reveals herself in 

 her wildest, and also in her fairest aspects. He enters 

 into her guarded retreats retiring spots of luxuriant, 

 refreshing, and enticing beauty, that are hidden from 

 every other eye ; where the great world of strife and 

 toil speaks not, and its cares and sorrows are forgotten, 

 and nature wakes up the dead divinity within, and rouses 

 the soul to purer and nobler purposes. The peculiar 

 haunts of the objects of his search are found on the sides 



