INTRODUCTION. XI. 



verj' couunon plant, witii prickly stems and leaves, and white or blue flow- 

 ers. This we shaJl find, like the last example, to belong to Exogens; but 

 when we come to the suImIuss, wc find the corolla to consist of a sin^^lc 

 piece, having Uie npj)oarance ot' being formed of five jxMals united. This, 

 then, belongs to MonopctaUi-, the second sulvclass. The orders of this sub- 

 class, we find by tlic numerals at\er the word Monopctalse, commence on 

 j»a^e ix. of the Analysis. We turn to page ix., aiid find that the orders 

 of this subn-lass are divided into groups, according as they agree in 

 certain obvious [i-.irticulars. The first group is marked a., the orders of 

 which agree in having the ovary inferior; that is, below the calyx; and 

 the corolla regular; tliat is, the border of the corolla is equally divided and 

 equally expanded in all directions. The ovary of our plant is not inferior. 

 ^Ve therefore proceed to i.,, the orders of which agree in having the ovary 

 superior, corolla regular, and stamens 5. Our plant agrees with these par- 

 ticulars . It must therefore be found in this group of orders. We proceed 

 then to apply the description of each order to our plant. With Boraginc- 

 cc it does not agree in not having '■ 4 distinct nuts," or " Flowers in sucund 

 spikes or racemes." With Apoci/necc, in not having foUiculce fruit; with 

 PlumbaginecE in not having 5 stigmas or or a 10 toothed calyx. We thus 

 proceed, and shall easily exclude it from all the orders, till we come to Sol- 

 anecc, with whic-h we shall find it to atrree. From the number following 

 the first genus under this order, wc find that the genera and species are 

 described, commencing on page *230. We turn to that page, and find it to 

 agree with the Solanum ; and by applying the specific description, we shall 

 determine that it is tlie Solatium Carol hiense. 



In the same manner may the majority of plants be analyzed ; but the 

 student must expect ditVicuItics. These difficulties may arise from various 

 causes ; the variations of structure to which plants are liable ; the difficulty 

 in many cases of determining what the real structure is, without exj)eri- 

 ence; and sometimes misUiking one organ for another. But by patient 

 application these may be surmounted, and the gratification attendant on 

 such conquests, will richly repay all the toil. 



The student should not pass a term in the descriptions, that he does not 

 understand, without looking for it in the Vocabulary, page 337, where he 

 will find it defined, or the page referred to, in the text where it is described. 



A ver)' serious objection to the study of Botany, in the minds of many, 

 is the hard names, as they are termed, with which the science abounds. — 

 The same objection lies against every dey)artment of natural science, and 

 this objection ha.s its origin in the ignorance of the circumstances of the 

 caac. No one, certainly, will object to each object's having a name; this, a// 

 must admit La necessary. And all must allow, that in most cases the name 

 is entirely arbitrary, and it matters but little what the name is by which a 

 child, at least, is made to know an object. It will remember Ulmus, as 

 well as Whahoo; duercus Nigra, as well as Blackjack; Coruus Floridus, 

 as well as Dogwood ; Hepatica, as well as Liverwort ; Datura Stramonium, 



