viii INTRODUCTION. 



initiation, without entering into such details as to swell 

 our book to an inconvenient size, or to make it tedious 

 by long. and dry descriptions. To these we have added 

 figures drawn by ourselves with the utmost care, and en- 

 graved by an artist* of high talents under our imme- 

 diate inspection,, of every species, when necessary, of the 

 natural size and magnified. In some of the larger tribes, 

 such as the Hypna and a few others., whose characters 

 are founded principally on their foliage, the leaves only 

 have been generally represented magnified, otherwise the 

 price of the book must have been considerably enhanced 

 by the additional number of plates. The English lan- 

 guage has been preferred for this work, because we know 

 many naturalists who pursue the study of this pleasing 

 branch of natural history with the most unwearied in- 

 dustry, who are nevertheless in a situation of life which 

 has precluded them from acquiring the knowledge of 

 any but their native tongue : yet we have not been 

 unmindful of foreign botanists, should we be so fortu- 

 nate as to have our book fall into their hands; and with 

 this chiefly in view we have given a Synoptical Table 

 both of the Genera and Species in Latin. This method 

 is founded upon that of Lamarck and De Candolle, with 

 some alterations, which we trust will be found useful, 

 and such as has been already adopted in the Monograph 

 of the British Jungermannise. 



Should these Tabulse not be clearly understood at 

 first sight, a few remarks will, we hope, render them per- 

 fectly intelligible to our readers. The principle consists 



* Mr. W. H. C. Edwards of Bungay, in Suffolk, whose accuracy 

 in botanical engraving has been displayed in many of the plates of 

 Roxburgh's Plants of the Coast of Coromandel, and in all those of 

 Hooker's British Jungermannice. 



