THE GREAT NATIONAL WORK ON OTJR BRITISH PLANTS. 



Publishing in Monthly Parts at 5.?. 



SOWERBY'S ENGLISH BOTANY: 



Containing a Description and Life-Size Drawing of every British Plant. 

 Edited and brought up to the present standard of scientific knowledge, 

 by T. Boswell Syme, F.L.S., &c. With Popular Descriptions of the 

 Uses, History, and Traditions of each Plant, by Mrs. Lankester, Author 

 of * Wild Flowers worth Notice,' 'The Britisli Ferns.' &c. The Figures 

 by J. E. Sowerby, James Sowerby, F.L.S., J. deC. Sowerby, F.L.S., 

 and J. W. Salter, A.L.S. 



The Distinctive Characteristics of this edition are,— 



1. A life-size drawing of every British plant, arranged according to the 

 Natural System of De Candolle. 



2. Where necessary, the plates are accompanied by illustrations of the 

 structure of the various organs of the plant, especially of those structures 

 discovered within the last few years by the use of the microscope. 



3. All the illustrations are full coloured, instead of half-coloured, and the 

 utmost care is taken to adhere as closely as possible to nature. 



' Under the editorship of T. Boswell Syme, F.L.S., assisted by Mrs. Lankester, vrhose 

 work on ' Wild Flowers worth Notice ' is so well appreciated by the public, we have the 

 best guarantee that ' Sowerby's English Botany,' when finished, will be exhaustive of 



the subject, and worthy of the branch of science it illustrates In turning over the 



charmingly executed hand-coloured plates of British plants which encumber these 

 volumes with riches, the reader cannot help being struck with the beauty of many of 

 the humblest flowering weeds we tread on with careless step. Our fields, woods, and 

 hillsides, are paved with riches we. all too v much neglect ..We cannot dwell upon 

 many of the individuals grouped in the splendid bouquet of flowers presented in these 

 pages, and it will be sufficient to state that the work is pledged to contain a figure of 

 every wild flower indigenous to these isles.'— The Times, Nov. 3, 1865. 



1 Will be the most complete Flora of Great Britain ever brought out. This great 

 work will find a place wherever botanical science is cultivated, and the study of our 

 native plants, with all their fascinating associations, held dear.'— Athenaeum. 



' Nothing can exceed the beauty and accuracy of the coloured figures. They are drawn 

 life-size— an advantage which every young amateur will recognise who has vainly 

 puzzled over drawings in which a celandine is as big as a poppy— they are enriched with 

 delicate delineations of print, petal, anther, and any organ whichhappens to be remark- 

 able in its form— and not a few plates are altogether new A clear, bold, distinctive 



type enables the reader to take in at a glance the arrangement and divisions of every 

 page. And Mrs. Lankester has added to the technical description by the editor an ex- 

 tremely interesting popular sketch, which Allows in smaller type. The English, French, 

 and German popular names are given, and, wherever thatdelicate and difficult step is at 

 all practicable, their derivationalso. Medical properties, superstitions, and fancies, and 

 poetic tributes and illusions follow. In short, there is nothing more left to be desired.' 



Guardian. 



' Should the succeeding parts be as good, the work, when complete, will be without 

 a rival in excellence.'— Observer. 



' Without question, this is the standard work on Botany, and indispensable to every 

 botanist.. . The plates are most accurate and beautiful, and the entire work cannot 

 be too strongly recommended to all who are interested in Botany.'— Illustrated 

 London News. 



As all the Parts are kept in print, Subscribers may commence 

 at any time without buying the back numbers all at once. Pro- 

 spectuses and Specimens may be bad gratis upon application to 

 the Publisher. 



London: ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192 Piccadilly, W. 



