iv NOTE 



a stimulus to accurate observation and inquiry, through which 

 Oecology will be advanced from the stage of 'infancy', in which, 

 as Professor Warming says, it now is. 



The character of the book and the method of its production 

 have necessarily placed a restriction upon editorial functions, 

 and have not allowed of modifications that might have brought 

 more directly home some of its teachings to readers in Britain 

 for instance, by the introduction of a greater number of illustra- 

 tive references to vegetation in the British Isles. If, as we 

 believe will be the case, a new edition of the book is called for, 

 attention may be given in it to matters of this kind. 



I. B. B. 



