INTRODUCTION. 



When man was exiled from that blissful garden 

 where every tree was " pleasant to the sight or 

 good for food," and doomed " to eat the herb of 

 the field" where it grew amidst " thorns and 

 thistles," necessity made him a Botanist. He 

 learned to separate the nutritious from the noxious ; 

 and when pain and sickness assailed him, he 

 sought the balsam and the balm. 



The science of Economical Botany, teaching 

 us to supply our wants from the stores of vegetable 

 nature, has been known in all ages, and is diffused 

 over every quarter of the world. 



But Nature is beautiful no less than benign. 

 The lowliest herb that fringes her green mantle is 

 a work of wonder ; and it is to contemplate such 

 works as these that Botany, apart from its econo- 

 mical purposes, invites us. 



If it be objected that no practical benefit arises 

 from the science thus considered ; if it be said that 

 this sort of Botany is of no use ; the reply should 



B 



