PEEFAOE. 



In drawing up this Manual of Botany, tlie object has been to 

 give a comprehensive, and, at the same time, a condensed view 

 of all departments of the science, including the microscopical 

 structure of plants and their morphology, the functions of 

 their various organs, their classification and distribution over 

 the globe, and their condition at various geological epochs. 

 Care has been taken to notice the plants used for commercial 

 and economical purposes, and particularly those having 

 medicinal properties. The principles of adaptation and order 

 which prevail in the vegetable kingdom have been promi- 

 nently brought into view, with their bearings on symmetry 

 and arrangement. 



The physiology of plants has been considered in connec- 

 tion with the anatomical structure of their different organs, 

 and the recent views in regard to the embryogenic process 

 in flowering and flowerless plants have been brought under 

 notice. In the department of classification, the system of 

 De CandoUe has been more or less completely followed, and 

 the characters of the Natural Orders have been briefly given. 

 It has been shown that the great object of classification is to 

 arrange plants according to their affinities in aU important 

 particulars, and thus to trace, what may be considered to be, 



