INTRODUCTION. 5 



about maintaining the priority of their claim to this or 

 that particular observation or discovery. We do not go 

 so far as some persons, who seem inclined to believe 

 that these pursuits are of themselves capable of produ- 

 cing a decided improvement in our moral sensibilities ; 

 but we hail that joy which is felt in the pursuit of such 

 occupations, as a sacred gift, which may be compared 

 to the rain from heaven, sent for the benefit of all: 

 for increasing the temporal welfare both of the just, 

 and of the unjust : for procuring blessings equally to 

 the good and to the evil ; but which the former only 

 know how thoroughly to appreciate, and to apply to the 

 highest and best advantage. 



Botany has its peculiar interest, from embracing the 

 study of natural bodies which form the connecting link 

 between the animal and mineral kingdoms. If plants 

 ceased to grow, animals would cease to exist. No 

 animal derives its food immediately from unorganised 

 matter ; and though there are many which prey upon 

 other animals, yet the victims have always been them- 

 selves nourished by some plant. Nothing can exceed 

 the wonderful manner in which provision is made 

 for the constant supply of those myriads of animated 

 beings which people the earth, ocean, and atmosphere. 

 Most of them are not content with every chance vege- 

 table that may be growing in their path ; and many are 

 to be fed, and can only be fed, upon some one or two 

 kinds of vegetable, and would inevitably starve upon 

 every other besides ! When, then, we seek to investi- 

 gate the laws by which the distribution and the very 

 existence of animals is regulated, it is of consequence 

 that we should not overlook even the minutest moss 

 or fungus that we can detect. It is by such plants 

 that the first step must often be made towards rendering 

 the barren and desolate rock a fertile and productive soil, 

 and converting a spot apparently destined to eternal si- 

 lence into a scene of lively bustle and delight. 



(5.) Unorganised Bodies. The most prominent dis- 

 tinction that subsists between the various natural bodies 

 B 3 



