INTRODUCTION. 



also for the purpose of satisfying the numerous artificial 

 ■wants which he has created, and which may simply be 

 called ornament, that is, for pleasing the eye in the 

 matter of dress and furniture, or in other ways to add to 

 his comfort or pleasure. To obtain these constitutes a 

 great part of the industry and commerce of the world. 

 Perhaps no plants now conduce more to the progress 

 and civilization of mankind than those yielding gutta- 

 percha and hemp, the former furnishing one of the most 

 important materials for submarine telegraphs, and the 

 latter ropes and sails for ships. Man also finds in plants 

 remedies for his numerous ailments, the most important 

 being opium and quinine, the former mitigating the 

 ravages of cholera, and the latter those of fever. 



The foregoing shows the importance of plants for the 

 continuation of animal life on the earth, and it is with 

 no surprise that we find them to have been the study of 

 man in all ages. King Solomon " spake of trees, from 

 the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth 

 out of the wall by which it is reasonable to infer that 

 he had all plants that came under his observation cata- 

 logued and classified, and must therefore be considered 

 the first systematic botanist. Horticulture also appears 

 to have been practised in his day, as we read " I made 

 me great works ; I builded me houses, I planted me 

 vineyards; I made me gardens and orchards, and I 

 planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit ; I made me 

 pools of water, to water therewith the wood [nursery] 

 that bringeth forth trees."* Although these words have 

 only a figurative application, they show that gardening 

 was practised nearly three thousand years ago. 



* Ecc'lesiastes, chap. ii. vers. 4, 5, 6. 



