Preface 



his turn indebted to the lily for the length of his tongue and his 

 keen nerves: neither could have advanced without the other. 

 What long vistas through the ages of creation does not this inter- 

 dependence of flowers and insects open ! 



Over five hundred flowers in this book have been classified 

 according to color, because it is believed that the novice, with 

 no knowledge of botany whatever, can most readily identify the 

 specimen found afield by this method, which has the added ad- 

 vantage of being the simple one adopted by the higher insects 

 ages before books were written. Technicalities have been avoided 

 in the text wherever possible, not to discourage the beginner from 

 entering upon one of the most enjoyable and elevating branches of 

 Nature study. The scientific names and classification follow that 

 method adopted by the International Botanical Congress which 

 has now superseded all others ; nevertheless the titles employed 

 by Gray, with which older botanists in this country are familiar, 

 are also indicated where they differ from the new nomenclature. 



Mr. Dugmore's very beautiful photographs in color from the 

 living flowers, and the no less exquisite portraits from life in 

 black and white by Mr. Troth, cannot but prove the most attrac- 

 tive, as they are the most useful, feature of this book. 



NELTJE BLANCHAN 



New York, March, 1900 



