vi INTRODUCTION. 



axiom that the proper study of mankind is man, and 

 the dogma has been propounded so persistently that 

 to doubt it would seem little short of heresy, but, as a 

 matter of fact, man in his relation to what lies outside 

 humanity is at least as important a study. 



The great world of Nature may be viewed from 

 many standpoints. The utilitarian finds in its study 

 much that ministers to his needs healing balms, 

 food, raiment, the wherewithal to build him a shelter. 

 Hence our old herbalists, men of the stamp of Gerard 

 or Parkinson, are careful to justify their books to their 

 readers by the demonstration of " the vertues " of the 

 plants they deal with. This state of mind, however, 

 by no means covers the whole field : man is not wholly 

 material, and, thanks to the splendid advocacy of 

 Ruskin and others, a wider outlook has been given to 

 us, and one is no longer tied and bound by the necessity 

 for bringing all things to the selfish standard of what 

 material good will accrue to us if the contemplation 

 of the starry host of heaven, the glory of the sunset, 

 the painting of the insect's wing, the delicate pencilling 

 of the petals of the roadside blossom, appeal to us. 



The work to which we have been asked to write these 

 few opening words is yet one more of the numerous 

 works that happily nowadays point out the delight 

 of a study of Nature, and it is evident that the special 

 ground it takes, the means of identifying the plants we 

 encounter in our rambles, is a very valuable one. There 



