Xll INTRODUCTION. 



as in all ages of the world, engaged more or 

 less the care and attention of a great part of 

 mankind; for the same Being that created 

 them, created in man also a wish and an 

 inclination to cultivate and take charge of 

 them. To spend too much of our time upon 

 them may be justly deemed folly; yet not to 

 notice them at all shows a corrupted taste, 

 and a total want of grateful sensibility. 



While they contribute to charm the eye by 

 their gay external appearance, they furnish at 

 the same time, to the intelligent mind of man, 

 matter for study and reflection. The opera- 

 tions of nature in the vegetable world are 

 most wonderful, both in the production and 

 preservation of her numerous progeny, whe- 

 ther we contemplate their endless diversity, 

 their curious construction, their varied fo- 

 liage, their beautiful blossoms, their fra- 

 grance, their different stages of existence, and 



