THE AYONDEBS OF VEGETATION. 



INTRODUCTION. 



aim of this little work is to illustrate by charac- 

 teristic and striking examples one of the aspects 

 of the marvellous power of Nature. For Nature is 

 neither as familiar nor as dear to us as she ought to 

 be; and, as the tastes of society are daily becoming 

 more artificial, we are likely to remove farther and 

 farther from our great mother. It seems in fact as if 

 that science which seeks to discover her secrets knows 

 nowadays no higher aim than to apply these to the in- 

 dustries of man and perhaps to gratify curiosity. And 

 yet it is only by intimate intercourse with nature that 

 we can hope to extend our knowledge and to devel- 

 ope the affections of our heart. The more we aliena 4 e 

 ourselves from her, the more we isolate ourselves and 

 the lower we sink in intellectual greatness ; while the 

 closer we draw to her, the higher we rise in knowl- 

 edge and in moral worth. 



The magnificence and the glory of Nature may be 

 studied in all her works and are manifested in even 

 the smallest and apparently the most insignificant of 

 all her productions. Without doubt the imposing 



