INTRODUCTION. X11I 



terms of duration, perennial, biennial, annual. 



These, and a hundred other remarkable pro- 



tf 

 perties, cannot fail to engage our study and 



excite our curiosity : whether we direct our 

 attention to the humble Lily of the Valley, 

 or to the more magnificent blossom of the 

 Magnolia, still we find something to admire, 

 something to astonish and delight us. 



1 Go mark the workings of the power 

 That shuts within the seed the future Flower ; 

 Bids these iu elegance of form excel, 

 In colour these, and those delight the smell ; 

 Sends Nature forth, the daughter of the skies, 

 To dwell on earth, and charm all human eyes.' 



CoVvTER. 



To take a view for a moment of the larger 

 productions of nature and though the fre- 

 quency of beholding those objects, however 

 wonderful, never fails to lessen the interest 

 which we should otherwise feel, if the sight 

 of them were not so familiar yet who can 



