PREFACE 
This revised edition of the author’s Elements of Botany, 
first published in 1896, is intended to retain all that was 
found most useful in the original book and to deal with a few 
topics somewhat more fully than was done in the first edition. 
The account of various types of germination and the discus- 
sion of the histology of the root, the stem, and the leaf of 
phanerogams have been somewhat curtailed. Experience has 
shown that those subjects were treated rather more fully than 
is necessary for a botany course of a half year 6r less. The 
time saved by the briefer treatment of the above-mentioned 
topics (and a few others) in the present book may profitably 
be devoted to a somewhat more careful study of typical cryp- 
togamic forms and an outline of the ecological classification 
of plants. Accordingly directions for the study of Bacteria, 
Puccinia, Agaricus, and Hquisetum have been added and the 
forms discussed in the older book receive more attention, A 
brief chapter (Chapter XII) on the ecology of leaves, with 
a statement of the ecological classes of plants in their rela- 
tions to the needed supply of water, has been inserted. A 
statement of the general characteristics of cryptogams and a 
few notes on the evolutionary history of plants constitute the 
closing chapter. 
‘ Within less than a decade the standard of excellence in 
* mechanical execution for botany text-books of every grade 
has been greatly raised. No pains have been spared to make 
. this revision wholly satisfactory as regards typography and 
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