INTRODUCTION. 



Nothing contributes more to the pleasures and necessities of man 

 than the productions of the vegetable kingdom. Every constituent of 

 the bodies of man and animals is derived from them, not a single element 

 being generated by the vital principle. We must see, consequently, 

 that they constitute the fountain of animal life from which are de- 

 rived, not only the vital energies that animate the world of organic 

 beings, but all the comforts and luxuries of our race, both in a 

 civilized and barbarous state. Whether we regard them, therefore, 

 as essential to the life and growth of animals which furnish us with 

 food, or partake of them as they are presented us immediately from 

 the bountiful hand of nature, they are alike important to mankind. 

 Nor do they, as articles of food, contribute more to the gratification of 

 the animal taste than they do, as beautifully organized beings, to the 

 mental taste and the rational indulgence of the noblest faculties of 

 mind. 



Again, it is not only in the life, the health and the growth of the 

 animal body that we perceive the importance of vegetable productions, 

 but likewise in the unlimited materials they alone afford us for pro- 

 tecting and preserving it from injury and death ; and that, too, in a 

 manner alike necessary for comfort and for the gratification of the 

 caprice and the most diversified tastes of society. Under any circum- 

 stances, therefore, in which the life, the interests and pleasures of man 

 are concerned, they constitute the most important subject which can 

 engage our attention. 



But it is deserving of remark that the majority of people, perhaps, 

 and even those of the most cultivated society, are singularly ignorant 

 of the character and nutritive properties of the most distinguished 

 products of vegetable nature ; except so far, perhaps, as they confer a 

 momentary sensation of animal taste, felt equally by all the lower 

 orders of animals which are necessarily unconscious of their origin, 

 nature and tendency. It is but reasonable to assert, however, that it 

 is the interest as well as the pleasure of every intelligent mind, above 

 that of the mere vegetative animal, to inquire into the causes, effects 

 and qualities of productions thus essential to life and the enjoyment 

 of the physical and social condition of man. 



