viii I'llEFACE. 



wishes to become acquainted with every thing of im- 

 portance that has lately been done for the elucidation 

 of this field of inquiry, is forced to explore his way 

 amidst intricacies and thickets, not less formidable 

 than those which were traversed by the men who first 

 gleaned from the great book of Nature the manifold 

 riches of the vegetable kingdom. 



The work of Willdenow, which has hitherto 

 been the chief introduction to the study of the Phy- 

 siology of Plants, has now lost almost all its value. — 

 It never was remarkable either for the philosophical 

 spirit which it displayed, or for the powers of arrange- 

 ment by which its materials were disposed ; and by 

 the recent progress of the more advanced branches of 

 the science, it has been rendered more capable of mis- 

 leading and perplexing the student, than of serving 

 even as an introductory treatise to more correct spe- 

 culations. 



Several other works upon the same subject have 

 lately been given to the public ; and those which have 

 proceeded from the pen of the distinguished Presi- 

 dent of the Linnean Society, are confessedly re- 

 markable, both for the correctness of the facts and 

 views which they contain, and for the scientific ele- 

 gance which pervades all their descriptions. But 

 these seem to be the only qualities which the author 

 was desirous to secure for his works. To the merit of 

 being complete elucidations of all the higher prin- 

 ciples and discoveries of the science, they make no 



