PREFACE 



ill the case of a few of the larger flower-chisters, and have been 

 taken on panchromatic plates to preserve in monochrome the 

 proper color values. A small stop and a long exposure have 

 been employed to secure details. By the aid of the figures the 

 reader will be able to follow the descriptions with nearly as 

 much ease as with the natural flowers. It is hoped that the 

 volume may inspire in those who have been content in merely 

 learning the names of flowers, a desire to know more of their 

 biology, both past and present, and that in the schools, on the 

 farms, and among all students of nature it may awaken a 

 greater interest in the study of plant life. 



Much of the material used in the preparation of the follow- 

 ing chapters has appeared, partly in more technical form, and 

 partly in popular articles in the American Naturalist, the Jour- 

 nal of Animal Behavior, the Scientific Motithly, Entomological 

 Neivs, Psyche, Gleanings in Bee Culture, the A B C of Bee Cul- 

 ture, A Cyclopedia of Everything Pertaining to the Honey-Bee, 

 the America?! Bee Journal, the Lewiston Journal, etc. Without 

 this long preliminary preparation they would probably never 

 have been written. Grateful acknowledgment is also made to 

 my wife for assistance in statistical and entomological work. 



John H. Lovell. 



