EDITORIAL PREFACE 



As the first edition of this " Flora" stood, it 

 was almost valueless from many points of 

 view. The general arrangement was obsolete, 

 the nomenclature was in many cases different 

 from modern terms owing to change of 

 opinion concerning species and variety. 

 There were several inaccuracies of detail, 

 natural to the age of the young author, and 

 attributable also to the state of botanical 

 knowledge in his day. 



The chief value of the work lay in the 

 fact that it was the first attempt to syste- 

 matically study the Flora of the islands ; and, 

 while one cannot deny the fact that errors 

 of identification and judgment crept into 

 the pages, we cannot but admire the energy 

 and enthusiasm which prompted a mere lad 

 to undertake such a tremendous task. 



Strange to say, although botanists galore 

 have within recent years made annual visits 

 to Shetland, and much valuable information 



