AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



10 THE 



ENGLISH TEAKSLATIOK 



Me. Arthur Henfrey having informed me ttat lie 

 intends publishing an English translation of the pre- 

 sent treatise, I take this opportunity of making known 

 to the English reader the purpose I had in yiew in the 

 preparation of the book. The following pages were not 

 originally intended to appear as an independent work, 

 or to give a summary of the wide subject of the 

 Anatomy and Physiology of Plants, but appeared as 

 an article, in the ^^ Cyclopaedia of Physiology" published 

 by Dr. Rudolph "Wagner, of Gottingen, drawn up to 

 furnish students of Animal Physiology, and more 

 particularly the Medical Profession, with a review of 

 the Anatomical and Physiological conditions of Vege- 

 tables (of the Cell), in order to enable them to form 

 a definite judgment upon the analogies which might be 

 drawn between the structure and vital functions of 

 animals and plants. This intention, together with the 

 circumstance, that I was compelled to crowd the whole 

 exposition into the space of a few sheets, rendered it 

 necessary to direct especial attention to the individual 

 cell, as the fundamental organ of the Vegetable Orga- 

 nism. Since, however, the cell only presents itself in 

 anatomical and physiological independence in the lowest 



