II 



PREFACE 



Apart from this reason, in a few places (as 3.8.2 ; 

 3.10.3.) it seemed necessary to give both the Greek 

 and the English name in order to bring out some 

 particular jwint. On the other hand one Greek 

 name often covers several plants, e.g. Xwro's ; in such 

 cases I hope that a reference to the Index will make 

 all clear. Inverted commas indicate that the render- 

 ing is a literal translation of the Greek word ; the 

 identification of the plant will be found in the Index. 

 Thus (f>e\\68pv<: is rendered ' cork-oak,' though ' holm- 

 oak ' would be the correct rendering, — cork-oak (quer- 

 cus Suber) being what Theophrastus calls <^eXA.o?, 

 which is accordingly rendered cork-oak without 

 commas. As to the spelling of proper names, con- 

 sistency without pedantry seems unattainable. One 

 cannot write names such as Arcadia or Alexander 

 otherwise than as they are commonly written ; but 

 I cannot bring myself to Latinise a Greek name if it 

 can be helped, wherefore I have simply transliterated 

 the less familiar names ; the line drawn must of 

 course be arbitrary. 



The te.xt jjrinted is in the main that of Wimmer's 

 second edition (see Introd. p. xiv). The textual notes 

 are not intended as a complete apparatus criticus ; 

 to provide a satisfactory apparatus it would probably 

 be necessary to collate the manuscripts afresh. I have 

 had to be content with giving Wimmer's statements 

 as to MS. authority ; this I have done wherever any 

 question of interpretation dep^ded on the reading ; 

 but I have not thought it necessary to record mere 



