Catalogue of Works on Gardening, fyc. 635 



to learn it, without recurring to the hard words which had so much alarmed 

 me at the outset. One great obstacle to my advancement was the difficulty 

 I had in understanding botanical works. With the exception of Dr. Lindley's 

 Ladies' Botany, they were all sealed books to me; and even that did not tell 

 half 1 wanted to know, though it contained a great deal I could not under- 

 stand. It is so difficult for men whose knowledge has grown with their growth, 

 and strengthened with their strength, to imagine the state of profound ignorance 

 in which a beginner is, that even the elementary books are like the old Eton 

 grammar when it was written in Latin — they require a master to explain 

 them. It is the want that I have felt that has induced me to write the fol- 

 lowing pages ; in which I have endeavoured to meet the wants of those who 

 may be now in the same difficulties that I was in myself. 



" The course I pursued is also that which I shall point out to my readers. 

 I shall first endeavour to explain to them, as clearly as I can, the botanical 

 characteristics of the orders which contain plants commonly grown in British 

 gardens ; and at the end of my work I shall lay before them a slight outline 

 of all the orders scientifically arranged, which they may study or not as 

 they like. Most ladies will, however, probably be satisfied with knowing the 

 orders containing popular plants ; and these, I am confident, they will never 

 repent having studied. Indeed, I do not think that I could form a kinder wish 

 for them, than to hope that they may find as much pleasure in the pursuit as 

 I have derived from it myself. Whenever I go into any country I have for- 

 merly visited, I feel as though I were endowed with a new sense. Even the 

 very banks by the sides of the roads, which I before thought dull and unin- 

 teresting, now appear fraught with beauty. A new charm seems thrown over 

 the face of nature, and a degree of interest is given to even the commonest 

 weeds. I have often heard that knowledge is power, and I am quite sure that 

 it contributes greatly to enjoyment. A man knowing nothing of natural history, 

 and of course not caring for any thing relating to it, may travel from one ex- 

 tremity of a country to the other, without finding any thing to interest, or even 

 amuse him ; but the man of science, and particularly the botanist, cannot walk 

 a dozen yards along a beaten turnpike-road without finding something to excite 

 his attention. A wild plant in a hedge, a tuft of moss on a wall, and even 

 the lichens which discolour the stones, all present objects of interest, and of 

 admiration for that Almighty Power whose care has provided the flower to 

 shelter the infant germ, and has laid up a stock of nourishment in the seed to 

 supply the first wants of the tender plant. It has been often said that the 

 study of nature has a tendency to elevate and ameliorate the mind ; and 

 there is perhaps no branch of natural history which more fully illustrates the 

 truth of this remark than botany." 



With this quotation we leave the work in the hands of the reader, simply 

 observing that we think it by far the best introduction to the natural system 

 of botany, for grown up persons, amateurs, whether male or female, that has 

 yet appeared. 



The Little English Flora, or a Botanical and Popular Account of all our common 

 Field Flowers, ivith numerous Woodcuts and Engravings on Steel of every 

 Species. By Gr. W. Francis, F.L.S. Second edition, greatly improved and 

 augmented. 12mo, pp.213. London, 1842. 



We noticed the first edition of this work in our Volume for 1839, p. 87., and 

 are glad to find that it has come to a second edition. It is certainly a re- 

 markable example of concentration and exceedingly cheap, and, we can most 

 strongly recommend it to every young lady living in the country. 



An Analysis of the British Ferns and their Allies. By G.W.Francis, F.L.S. 

 Second edition. 8vo, pp. 88. London, 1842. 



We have spoken in favour of this work in a former volume, and at 

 present have little more to say, than that the ferns are now becoming a very 

 fashionable study, and their collection in gardens is so frequent, that we ob- 



