INTRODUCTION. 11 



passed its prime, and show that it has its appointed limits in 

 consequence of the same physiological law which governs 

 the development of its organism, equally with that of the 

 lowly plant which grows beneath its shade. We shall show 

 that the tree may be regarded as a vast community of phy- 

 tons, or plants, which co-operate in its construction and are 

 mutually dependent on and subservient to each other. We 

 shall prove the individuality of these phytons which devel- 

 ope about the axophyte or stem of the tree and its ramifica- 

 tions or branches, by their difference of form and function, 

 and also by those separate periods of time at which they ar- 

 rive at a state of maturity and decay. We shall show that 

 the amount of work done by these phytons, in their indi- 

 vidual and collective capacity, constitutes the growth of 

 each year, and has been recorded in the wood of its stem 

 and on the outer surface of its bark. But all the parts of 

 organic nature are so intimately connected with each other, 

 that the careful study of any one part necessarily leads as a 

 reward to correct ideas respecting the whole. This is par- 

 ticularly the case with the tree, which is a microcosm, or 

 little world, beautifully illustrative of those unchanging 

 laws of individual and social development which lie at the 

 foundation of the present social system. 



My own reading, and the hard necessities of my lot in 

 life, have taught me that a work of this nature is likely to 

 be very useful. It is emphatically written for the people 

 for those who feel life to be one continued struggle for ex- 

 istence. Many of the truths which will be illustrated are 

 stern and incontrovertible realities, confirmed by the dayly 

 and hourly experience of life. Of all the Author's botani- 

 cal works, this is perhaps the only one that will survive 

 him. One thing is certain, that it will be more generally 

 understood. The reader of only ordinary education and 



