INTRODUCTORY INSTRUCTIONS, 



ADAPTED FOB PERSONS 

 COMMENCING 



THE STUDY OF BOTANY. 



BOTANY is the science which enables us to become acquainted 

 with the numerous and diversified vegetable productions with 

 which the Author of Nature has adorned the surface of our globe. 

 These objects, although possessed of life, have a constitution very 

 different from that of animals, and their investigation in this 

 point of view is extremely interesting ; but the sole object of the 

 present work being to facilitate the acquisition of a knowledge of 

 the plants indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland, the reader is 

 referred for an account of the anatomy and physiology of vege- 

 tables to the various works which treat entirely or in part of thost 

 subjects, and in particular to the " Manual of Botany" reccntlv 

 published by the Editor. Here he will find that kind of ele 

 mentary knowledge only which will enable him to discover the 

 name of a plant, and by directing his attention to its external 

 form, excite in him a desire to extend his investigation to its in- 

 ternal structure, its relations, and its uses in the economy of 

 nature. When he has rendered himself familiar with the outward 

 appearance of species and their arrangement into genera, he may 

 proceed to a more intimate examination of them, and thus acquire 

 a knowledge of the principles by which they are grouped into 

 natural families. Let no one imagine that, when he has become 

 familiar with the aspect of a plant, learned its name, and observed 

 its place of growth and time of flowering, he knows all that is 

 interesting in its history. But before the student has submitted 

 to the most superficial examination half of the plants described 

 in the following catalogue, he will become aware of the ultimate 

 objects of botanical study ; and as it is impossible for him to form 

 an adequate conception of them at the very commencement of his 

 career, he must consent to acquire his knowledge by degrees. 



