INTRODUCTION. 
The perfection of an art, consists in the employment of a comprehensive 
system of laws, commensurate to every purpose within its scope, but concealed 
from the eye of the spectator ; and in the production of effects that seem to 
flow forth spontaneously, as though uncontrolled by their influence, and 
which are equaUy excellent, whether regarded individually, or in reference to 
the proposed result. Such is the great art of nature ; and he who would 
study with success, must, as far as he is able, trace out its various laws, and 
reduce them to general principles. Applying these principles to the study 
of Botany, we shall find the most perfect art. It is a theme which can em- 
ploy the mind of many a person, and one that wiU afford him much agreeable 
pleasure. By the study of Botany we shall be benefitted ; for all our walks, 
in every mountain, in every glen, and meadow, on the bank of every little 
brook, and the way-side, wiU afford us an opportunity to find employment 
for the mind, and lead our thoughts from nature up to nature's God. We 
shaU be much more attentive to all the peculiar properties and relations of 
plants to the rest of created matter. We shall feel a desire to discover the 
use of the plant, however small and insignificant to man, remembering that 
nothing was made in vain. We shall often be led to exclaim, — " How won- 
derful, sublime, and yet how beautiful are the works of nature \" Plants, 
shrubs, and even the majestic forest trees, all take their turn in life, and 
like the human famUy, wither when old, and become nourishment for a new 
generation. It is believed that plants enjoy pleasure and experience pain, 
and are as sensitive at the disturbances of the laws of nature as the animal 
creation. We cut or wound any part of a plant, and it bleeds. How mys- 
teriously nature has devised to restore the injury or heal the wound ! Plants 
do not walk or move, in order to procure their sustenance, like animals ; yet 
there are many peculiarities connected with their mode of living, the history 
