PREFACE, 



TT may cause surprise to some who are not 

 amongst my most * intimate friends, that my 

 name should be attached to a volume on any 

 other branch of Natural History than one which 

 is in some way associated with the Vegetable 

 Kingdom. To these it may be necessary to 

 explain that I have only returned on this oc- 

 casion to an " old love," long deserted for the 

 fascinating charms o% " moulds and mildews." 

 In more youthful days I bird's -nested, caught 

 butterflies, and worried reptiles, with all the 

 pertinacity of youth, and amongst all these 

 pursuits acquired a taste for the study of our 

 native birds, reptiles, and insects, which led to 

 my first lessons in the classificatory sciences. 

 From these, it is true, I diverged in later years, 

 and almost confined myself to plants; but in a 



