( 
PREFACE, 
In preparing this Briefer Edition the attempt has been 
made to present the essentials of modern. botany in con- 
siderably less difficult language than has hitherto been 
usual in books of this grade. Many of the terms now in 
general use in the larger works are here anglicized, while 
English names have very generally been given for plants 
and plant-groups. 
The sequence of topics and the general mode of treat- 
ment pursued in my larger work published in 1880 are 
here followed, with such changes and modifications as are 
demanded by the progress of the science since the original 
manuscript left my hands. In many cases the paragraphs 
have been carefully revised, while in others they have been 
entirely re-written. 
T have thought it advisable to use the terms Zygophyta, 
Odéphyta, and Carpophyta, first proposed in the AMERICAN 
Narturauist in 1882 (Vol. XVI. p. 46), for the second, 
third, and fourth Branches of the Vegetable Kingdom. 
This has been done for the sake of securing uniformity in 
nomenclature, as well as on account of the readiness with 
which the new terms take the English form: thus we may 
now speak of zygophytes, odphytes, and carpophytes, as 
well as of protophytes, bryophytes, etc. 
In its use I would beg the teacher to bear in mind that 
