PREFACE. 



Tin-: splendid monograph of "British Jungcr- 

 mannict " pubhshcd by Sir W. J. Hooker, in 1816, 

 was the first independent work on the Hepatica^ pub- 

 lished in this country, although many species were 

 figured in Smith and Sovverby's English Botany, 

 1790-1814. After that time no attempt was made 

 at the publication of a separate work until 1865. 

 During the interval the Liverworts were included in 

 general Floras, such as Hooker s English Flora, Vol. 

 V^, in 1833, but notably in Gray's Arrangement of 

 British Plants in 1 821, and in the latter several new 

 genera were proposed, which were wholly ignored 

 down to most recent times. In the year 1865 a 

 small and unpretending little work was issued 

 under the title of " Science Gossip ; easy guide to 

 the study of Jkitish Ilepatica,-," which included 

 brief descriptions of all the species known to date, 



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