Editor's Preface 



'The particular line is this — Forbes Watson 

 had been from his early years a lover of flowers 

 and a student of botany, and he knew a great 

 deal of the scientific structure of plants. He 

 knew that there was nothing wasted in plant 

 life, and that each stem and leaf and flower 

 had its separate functions in building up the 

 life of the plant. But to his artistic mind 

 there was something in stem and leaf and 

 flower over and above their functions in the 

 growth of the plant; there was beauty, a 

 thing which some of his books noticed, but of 

 which they gave no account. He could not 

 stop there, he was a deeply religious man, 

 and he felt that nothing was made in vain, 

 and that the beauty of leaf and flower had 

 its functions, and was as necessary to the life 

 of the plant as any other part of it. So he 

 set himself to learn what the flowers could 

 tell him of this beauty which gladdened his 

 eyes, but which he felt sure could be made 

 to teach him more. Then he did as Job 

 advised his friends to do if they wanted to 

 know " how the hand of the Lord hath 

 wrought all this." Job said, " Ask the beasts 

 and they shall teach thee ; and the fowls of 

 the air and they shall tell thee ; speak to 



