XIV PREFACE. 



mended, independently of all other considera- 

 tions, as a rich source of innocent pleasure. 

 Some people are ever inquiring " what is the use" 

 of any particular plant, by which they mean 

 " what food or physic, or what materials for 

 the painter or dyer does it afford ?" They look 

 on a beautiful flowery meadow with admiration, 

 only in proportion as it affords nauseous drugs 

 or salves. Others consider a botanist with re- 

 spect only as he may be able to teach them some 

 profitable improvement in tanning, or dyeing, 

 by which they may quickly grow rich, and be 

 then perhaps no longer of any use to mankind 

 or to themselves. They would permit their 

 children to study botany, only because it might 

 possibly lead to professorships, or other lucra- 

 tive preferment. 



These views are not blameable, but they are 

 not the sole end of human existence. Is it not 

 desirable to call the soul from the feverish agi- 

 tation of worldly pursuits, to the contemplation 

 of Divine Wisdom in the beautiful oeconomy of 

 Nature? Is it not a privilege to walk with God 

 in the garden of creation, and hold converse 

 with his providence? If such elevated feelings 

 do not lead to the study of Nature, it cannot 



