PREFACE. Xiii 



explained ; they should make themselves familiar with 

 technical terms, which, although avoided in the fol- 

 lowing Letters, cannot he dispensed with in works of 

 a more exact and scientific character ; they may at 

 the same time perfect themselves in a knowledge of 

 common Natural Orders, by gathering the wild plants 

 within their reach, comparing them with each other, 

 and with the characters assigned to them in systematic 

 works. Being thus provided with a considerable 

 amount of precise fundamental knowledge, they may 

 apply themselves to the study of the Natural System 

 in its great features. They will then, and not till 

 then, be able to appreciate the value of the modifi- 

 cations of organization connecting one tribe of plants 

 ¥iith another, and to understand the infinite wisdom 

 and beautiful simplicity of design which is so visible 

 in the vegetable world ; the just appreciation of 

 which, through countless gradations of form, structure, 

 and modes of existence, it should be the constant aim 

 of the Botanist to demonstrate. 



