PEEFACE. 



Possibly there are some of us who may not think 

 that a leaf is a thing of beauty. We are prone to use 

 the expression " Nothing but leaves," as though leaves 

 were the worthless, homely, and uninteresting things 

 of an otherwise beautiful creation. They certainly are 

 common, but they are far from commonplace. If we 

 doubt this, let us try to draw or paint a single leaf. 

 Only a great artist can depict all of some one of its 

 manifold truths ; one may draw ever so carefully and 

 well, yet he can not tell with the pencil or the brush 

 all the truth and beauty of one leaf. Its color is too 

 waxen and pure to be imitated by earthy pigments ; 

 its outline is too subtile, its teeth are too finely and 

 vigorously formed, and its veins are too infinitely 

 complex for one to copy with absolute, lifelike ac- 

 curacy. No, it is not possible to portray all the 

 beauty of a leaf with the pencil. Yet this work of 

 Nature's wonderful art is common : the world is 



