xvi PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 



material, as well as fixing it below by an interlaced 

 root-system. 



We may be sure that in nature there is a place and 

 a use for everything, if we only knew, and would con- 

 fine it to, its right place and purpose ; and in no 

 tribe of plants is this better exemplified than in the 

 Grasses. 



