PREFACE. 



The marked favor with -which the first issue of this book 

 Wiis received, and its continuance for the subsequent edi- 

 tions, long ago warranted such a revision of the text as 

 would make it conform- to the later views and usage of 

 botanical science. Certain portions of the original text 

 have now been entirely rewritten, as, for example, that per- 

 taining to protoplasm and the plant-cell, and the chapter 

 on plant physiology. 



The student will find many changes, also, in the treat- 

 ment of the systematic part of the subject. I no longer 

 regard the " Slime- moulds " as members of the Vegetable 

 Kingdom, but, in deference to those botanists who still 

 cling to them, they are discussed in an appendix to the 

 Protophyta. In the flowering plants the arrangement 

 given is one which has commended itself to me as a teacher 

 of preparatory school and college students. It is certainly 

 easily comprehended by the beginner, and is at the same 

 time, as I think, a more nearly natural arrangement than 

 any hitherto proposed. 



Throughout this edition an attempt has been made to 

 treat the subject in as simple and direct a manner as possi- 

 ble, and in so doing English or anglicized terms have been 

 given the preference. However, when the use of a techni- 

 cal term makes the text plainer, it has been used without 

 hesitation. The student will thus find a considerable 



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