LIBRARY 



N. C. State College 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 



That this work on Applied and Economic Botany has been appre- 

 ciated is shown by the necessity of a new edition in less than two years. 

 It is now fourteen years since the author first undertook to write a 

 book on Botany, and since then he has endeavored to improve each 

 succeeding work to conform to the suggestions and criticisms which 

 were submitted. The reviews of this new work have been uniformly 

 favorable, and apparently the book has given great satisfaction to teachers, 

 students, and those interested in botany. The only criticism that has 

 been offered is that it is perhaps too comprehensive for the average 

 student. This criticism is really the best recommendation of the value 

 of the book and the service it is rendering those engaged in applied 

 science. The training of the analyst and pharmacist can hardly be too 

 complete, as their work touches the very depths of science, and unless 

 their training has been very broad and thorough, they cannot hope to 

 solve the problems that are presented to them. This book, however, 

 was written not only for use as a text-book, but it was intended to be 

 a hand-book or laboratory manual for the graduate after he has entered 

 practical fields. That this has also been realized to some extent is shown 

 by the attestations of many graduates who have found in it just the 

 information which they needed. 



In the present second edition, the author has carefully revised the text, 

 making such corrections as were necessary and bringing the work up to date. 

 Among the new matter added is a much needed glossary, and a concise 

 statement concerning the nature and properties of the Vitamines, an 

 important group of recently discovered nitrogenous substances. A word 

 might be said in regard to the glossary, which is replete and will be found 

 to supplement the subject matter. It was not until the preparation of this 

 part of the work was fairly under way that it was found that the defini- 

 tions as given in the average glossary and in some of the best dictionaries 

 were frequently inadequate and vague. It is believed that the inclusion 

 of the glossary in this volume enhances its value, and will be appreciated 

 by teachers, students and analysts generally. 



It may not be amiss to state here that since the appearance of the 

 first edition of this work, the author has published a supplementary volume 

 entitled "Scientific and Applied Pharmacognosy." In this latter work, de- 

 voted to the consideration of drug, food and economic products, the class- 

 ification has been according to their natural relationship. The character- 

 istics of the families comprising them are considered from an anatomical 

 view point, so that the information given supplements that in the Applied 

 and Economic Botany, where the treatment is essentially that based 

 upon their organography or outer morphology. In fact the volume on 

 Pharmacognosy, in addition to its value to pharmacists and analysts, will 

 be of very great interest to botanists as it is in a large measure a 

 treatise on the comparative anatom;^ of plants. 



September, 1916, H, K. 



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