fa 



V. 2- 



PROSERPINA. 



CHAPTER I. 



VIOLA. 



1. ALTHOUGH I have not been able in the preceding 

 volume to complete, in any wise as I desired, the account 

 of the several parts and actions of plants in general, I 

 will not delay any longer our entrance on the examina- 

 tion of particular kinds, though here and there I must 

 interrupt such special study by recurring to general 

 principles, or points of wider interest. But the scope of 

 such larger inquiry will be best seen, and the use of it 

 best felt, by entering now on specific study. 



I begin with the Violet, because the arrangement of 

 the group to which it belongs Cytherides is more ar- 

 bitrary than that of the rest, and calls for some immedi- 

 ate explanation. 



2. I fear that my readers may expect me to write 

 something very pretty for them about violets : but my 

 time for writing prettily is long past ; and it requires 

 some watching over myself, I find, to keep me even 



