PEEFACE. IX 



culture, and a tendency to include it as a subject of study in 

 the curriculum of Arts, as well as in that of Medicine. It is 

 now also taking a place in our school-books, and thus becom- 

 ing part of the education of the young. It is a science fitted 

 for all ages, for all ranks, and for aU seasons. " In youth, 

 when the affections are warm and the imagination vivid ; in 

 more advanced life, when sober judgment assumes the reins ; 

 in the sunshine of fortune and the obscurity of poverty, it 

 can be equally enjoyed. The opening buds of spring ; the 

 warm luxuriant blossoms of summer ; the yeUow bower of 

 autumn ; and the leafless desolate groves of winter, equally 

 afford a supply of mental amusement and gratification to the 

 Botanist." It is hoped that the present Manual may aid in 

 the promotion of a science the study of which is so well cal- 

 culated to contribute to the enjoyment and wellbeing of 

 mankind. The examination of the plants which clothe the 

 surface of the globe, of the lilies of the field, and of the 

 meanest moss or lichen in our path, is well fitted to call forth 

 exalted views of the eternal power and Godhead of Him who 

 hath made aU these for His own glory, and whose providential 

 care extends to the clothing of the grass of the field, which 

 to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven. 



27 Inveeleith Row, Edinbubgh, 

 April 1875. 



