VI INTRODUCTION. 



sequently, in more tranquil times, a vast quantity of timber was 

 consumed for the smelting of iron. The remembrance of the 

 wooded state of Ireland will be indelibly preserved in the names 

 of many towns and districts throughout the country, proving 

 that an abundance of trees formed a very characteristic feature of 

 its scenery ; nor is a knowledge of this circumstance calculated 

 merely to gratify the curiosity of the antiquarian, but it is inter- 

 esting to the zoologist and botanist, inasmuch as it renders pro- 

 bable the disappearance of several species of indigenous plants and 

 animals which must have followed the destruction of the forests. 

 Such birds as fed on the seeds of trees, and found protection 

 amid their branches, must have disappeared, or have been greatly 

 diminished in number, from a deficiency of food and shelter, and 

 many species of insects may have been extirpated, or at least 

 had their geographical range much circumscribed ; and doubt- 

 less the same occurrences had a similar effect in limiting the 

 range and number of such plants as flourish in the shade. It is 

 well known that some seeds retain their vitality for many years 

 when buried in the earth, and vegetate when called forth by 

 favourable circumstances ; we may therefore hope that as plant- 

 ations increase, not only will the country reassume its former 

 beauty, but rare plants may become more frequent, or some that 

 have been apparently lost may again appear. 



It is only in the incidental notices of historians that we obtain 

 any knowledge of the extent of the Irish forests, or the trees 

 they contained ; and it was not till a recent period that any at- 

 tempt was made to investigate the vegetable productions of the 

 country. The first attempt towards a natural history of Ireland 

 was by Dr. Boates, who published, in 1652, a work entitled 

 " Ireland's Natural History," which contains interesting matter 

 respecting the forests of Ireland, but no systematic catalogue 

 of its indigenous plants. Dr. Boates is the only writer of any 

 note until Threlkeld's work made its appearance in 1727 ; but, 

 in the intermediate period, the Botany of Ireland was not alto- 

 gether neglected. The Rev. Mr. Heaton, who resided in Dublin, 

 communicated several rare plants to How and Merret. About 

 this time also two eminent English Botanists, Llhwyd and 



