INTRODUCTION. 5 



minute and most curiously formed cells, filled with most 

 varied matters, a thorough and penetrating examination of 

 its internal Structure must precede all other considera- 

 tions (n). But the little bodies, which I have just named, the 

 cells, are in almost every case so small, that the unassisted 

 eye is not by any means equal to the task of their investi- 

 gation. The microscope is the necessary instrument, 

 without this the Botanist can make no step forward in 

 security. Now there are many persons labouring under 

 the delusion, that for microscopical researches merely an 

 eye and an instrument are necessary, and all may be done. 

 But not only is the use of the microscope an art to be 

 acquired only by considerable pains, but scientific vision 

 with even the naked eye has its difficulties ; so that it is 

 particularly necessary to indicate at least the point of view, 

 from which the use of the Eye and Microscope is to be 

 regarded (i).* 



Advancing a step, the next question that meets us is, 

 to discover what then combines all those little organisms, 

 the cells of the plant, into a single individual ; and our 

 attention is thus directed to the consideration of the forms 

 which are constructed out of these cells. Morphology, or 

 the study of form (iv) makes its own distinct claim to the 

 exertion of our perceptive faculties. Here, however, we 

 rarely find that we have to deal with a simple plant, for 

 most vegetables consist of a multitude of individuals grown 

 together and vitally connected, like the colony of polypes 

 on a coral ; these are the product of the propagative activity 

 of the plant, and, therefore, before we enter upon morpho- 

 logy, it appears more judicious that we should trace out to 

 some extent the Propagation of Vegetables (in). 



* Quekett, " Practical Treatise on the Use of the Microscope." 

 Bailliere. 



