PREFACE. 



It is my pleasant duty to introduce to the agricultural 

 public the work of M. P. de Sornay on the tropical 

 Leguminosie. 



M. de Sornay, originally a student at the Agricultural 

 Station, has for the past nine years been attached to the 

 staff as Assistant Director. 



The family of the LeguminoscC contains a large number 

 of species whose practical applications, chiefly in warm 

 climates, are of great interest, and M. de Sornay 's treatise 

 on them is the best proof of the extent of his knowledge and 

 his zeal. 



We cannot but be indebted to the author for having 

 put together such a mass of information in so concise and 

 instructive a form. Besides a description of the characters 

 and practical uses of tropical Leguminosa?, the reader will 

 find a study of the peculiar agricultural properties of this 

 family, which forms a special class of its own in the vege- 

 table kingdom. 



Clear and simple in plan, and unencumbered by useless 

 comments, it contains a scholarly account of the subject 

 tempered bv the sound judgment of the writer. His personal 

 contribution is of the greatest value. 



This contribution consists of numerous analyses of plants, 

 an account of the observations on the cultivation of each, 

 the advantages to be derived from them, and their manifold 

 uses in industrv and agriculture. Once read the work cannot 

 fail to be appreciated. 



There is no doubt as to the future success of this book 

 of M. de Sornay, and I am happy to have this opportunity 

 of offering him mv congratulations and of assuring him of 

 my esteem. 



P. BONAME, 



Director of the Agricultural Station of the 

 Island of Mauritius. 



