ADDRESS OF THE EDITORS. 3 
such suggestions as may have a tendency to enhance the interest 
and extend the utility of the ‘Phytologist. Our desire is to 
render thé work instructive; to make it not only a record of 
progress, but also a leader to guide the uninitiated into the me- 
thod of observing the aspects of nature for themselves; that from 
the phenomena of vegetation they may deduce the principles of 
its varied economy. 
Having now laid before our readers and the public our pro- 
gramme, we next offer an exposition of our personal principles, 
~and employ the old classical adage, nullius addictus jurare in 
verba magistri. We are unbiassed by the views of particular 
schools, scientific coteries, and the like, and hence we call no 
man our master. Again, as truth is our object, we will not be 
influenced by authority, however eminent, to swerve from verity. 
On the other hand, we will sedulously avoid giving any cause of 
offence to our collaborateurs in the great cause of science. Our 
‘aim will be to disseminate scientific information, to publish facts 
or legitimate inferences from facts, and to avoid all needless dis- 
putes, personal squabbles, sectarian peculiarities, and the like. 
We also profess to ignore all theories and hypotheses what- 
ever. We believe that the sphere of a genuine naturalist is 
limited to facts. History is a record of real occurrences. Na- 
tural history we believe is also a record of real occurrences, a 
series of recorded observations of natural phenomena. We do 
not exclude explanations of these facts, for we wish to compre- 
hend all causes, both primary and secondary, remote and proxi- 
mate. When these are attainable, we think them worth investi- 
gating. 
“ Helix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas, 
Fortunatus et ille qui deos novit agrestes.” 
But the investigation of causes we leave to the more elabo- 
rate contemporaneous publications. We will communicate facts, 
state our own experience, and we invite our correspondents 
to do the same, in the simplest manner, avoiding refinements 
and speculations. In preparing lists ef plants, we beg to sub- 
mit the following plan. First, let a few sheets of paper be 
folded into a size convenient for the pocket, with appropriate 
headings, indicative of the soil, the habitats, and the eleva- 
tion. For example—fields, where the country is cultivated ; 
also bogs, woods, heaths, rocks, river-sides, etc., as the case may 
