viii AUSTRALIAN BOTANY. 



nomenclature. Very much has been done from 

 time to time by Sir William and Sir Joseph Hooker, 

 Dr. Lindley, Mr. Bentham, and other eminent 

 botanists in bestowing common names. These 

 celebrated scientists, by their labours in this 

 direction, have greatly simplified the study of 

 Botany ; and it has been the author's aim to follow 

 in the same track with reference to Australia. At 

 present the beginner is discouraged at finding him- 

 self confronted on the threshold of Botany by a 

 bewildering array of long words. He is met by 

 crabbed terms at every point ; and discovers that 

 he must combine with his lessons the acquirement 

 of a host of foreign and — as Dr. Lindley calls 

 them — 'sesquipedalian' words. Hence one of the 

 most valuable and naturally interesting sciences is 

 greatly neglected. To those who have mastered 

 the Elements of Botany, the scientific phraseology 

 may be comparatively easy of acquisition ; but it 

 must be admitted that it is nauseous and over- 

 whelming to a neophyte. It was w r ith the object 

 of divesting the approaches to this science of some 

 of these learned terrors that the subjoined lessons 

 were undertaken. It has been the special study 

 of the author to explain as fully as possible every 

 technical term. He has preferred to err in the 

 direction of profuse description rather than by 



