X INTRODUCTION. 



duction of oils of various and important kinds, so important in the arts 

 for seasoning food and for the great purpose of perpetuating their spe- 

 cies -flowers that bedeck the earth with beauty, supply the bee with 

 honey, and serve for food and as medicines herbs that supply the ta- 

 ble with sauces, greens, seasonings, &c., of every variety and quality 

 stalks, as food for cattle, for making paper, sugar, etc., for thatching, 

 for beds, &c the various grains or corn, prepared as bread in innu- 

 merable ways and emphatically the staff of life," as food for man and 

 cattle, or distilled into spirits of various kinds the leaves of tea, so 

 universally drank as a beverage coffee so commonly used as a drink 

 and almost as food Chocolate little less used as a beverage in various 

 parts the vegetable acids, so extensively used for domestic purposes 

 and in the arts all the varieties of fruits that serve so many purpo- 

 ses in life and are so valuable as food in all forms, and their juices as 

 used for drinks made into wines of every variety and for culinary pur- 

 poscs,or as berries, so valuable in the arts and so luxurious as food, 

 crude or prepared. But time and space fail in the enumeration of the 

 endless variety of purposes to which fruits and vegetables are ap- 

 propriated in life ; a consideration of them separately therefore, can 

 alone furnish a knowledge of their practical utility, or convey an idea 

 of the range of our subject. 



EXPLANATORY. 



In the brief notice here given of the useful properties, the nature 

 and organism of fruits and plants, little will be expected from us as to 

 the various modes of their cultivation, or in relation to their botanical 

 arrangement. These branches of science are to be found distinctly 

 treated in other works ; besides which they might appear less enter- 

 taining to the mass of readers than the general and popular view we 

 have taken of our subject. Nor should we be expected to pay much 

 regard to style, as the object of the writer has been merely to state 

 remarkable facts as to the organization and functions of plants ; and 

 to condense into short notices and paragraphs whatever is practical in 

 the uses to which each fruit or plant has been applied, for food, for me- 

 dicinal purposes, or in the arts and domestic economy. Upon these 

 subjects, and as objects of interest and curiosity, the writer trusts that 

 sufficient has been said as to the nature and qualities of plants and 

 their productions, to awaken attention, and to induce their examination 

 as a branch of the most useful and entertaining knowledge. All per- 

 sons being individually interested in a knowledge of their characteris- 

 tics and uses, it should be evinced through life. An unknown proper- 

 ty or a new mode of application of but one kind of fruit or vegetable, 

 may prove of more value than the price of fifty such books as this. It 

 cannot, therefore be a matter of indifference with any one as to the 

 nature of objects which enter, in some shape, into every department 

 and purpose of individual and social life. No work which we have 



