

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



country they inhabit. British authority, to which we are often induced 

 to refer for the character and habitation of plants, is studiously silent 

 or egregiously erroneous in reference to most American plants, and 

 some of our own writers differ much as to their classification and quali- 

 ties. Again, the properties of some plants vary much from their situa- 

 tion, modes of culture, and varieties. The medicinal properties of many 

 plants are likewise very unsettled among medical men. Many of those 

 we have noticed are not now used at all, though formerly in high repute 

 for their great and various medical qualities. For the most of those de- 

 scribed, however, we have referred to London and American Materia Me- 

 dica ; so that errors, in some of these particulars, are not unavoidable. 



The study of our subject is the study of nature ; nature in her most ad- 

 mired form and aspect, rewarding her votaries with enobling and enduring 

 pleasures. And he who passes on coldly, indifferently, stupidly, in the 

 iiudst of her beauties and wonders 



" Who ne'er has felt her hand assausive steal 

 Along his heart that heart can never feel." 



Insensible indeed must be the mind that cannot be awakened to the rich 

 and joyous scenes around us. Here, if any where, ignorance and indiffer- 

 ence are synonvmous ; ignorance without bliss, indifference without freedom 

 from care. But the mind of the attentive and enlightened observer ; he who 

 holds up natural truths in the light of science is thrilled with pleasure, 

 steady and exalting pleasure, as new truths burst forth at every step; 

 where each plant, flower and fruit is a miniature world of thought. The 

 tree that was viewed only as a thing to be cut down and burned, puts on 

 new features, inspires new themes of interest and association within and 

 around. The birth, nature and destiny of these become objects of new and 

 profitable reflection. Flowers but what can be said anew of these nurs- 

 lings of nature, the fresh and laughing innocents of her care and love No 

 where, then, can mind find a wider range or more fruitful field of ennobling 

 thought. As knowledge increases, new pleasures thicken in our path ; and 

 it never should be forgotten that unhappiness is not so much from the want 

 of objects of enjoyment as from the will and ability to enjoy those we 

 possess. Here the highway is every where lined with new objects of 

 pleasure and admiration. There is no monopoly here, no locked up treas- 

 ures we cannot reach, no special interests we cannot share, but all is open 

 as light and as free as thought. 



JSeed we urge the reader further, however, when his own interest and na- 

 ture herself present inducements more numerous and strong. 



