REPORT 
ON THE 
PKOGKESS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL BOTANY, &c. 
Annual Reports on the progress made in science, as first 
instituted by Berzelius for Clieinistry and Physics, rank among 
the most useful of our scientific arrangements, provided three 
conditions are borne in mind. First of all, they must not be 
published too late, when the information is already known to 
the public, and, therefore, superfluous ; and if such should be 
the case with the present Annual Report, let it be considered, 
that the unexpected death of the former reporter. Professor 
Meyen, occasioned an unavoidable delay. It is always better 
to make up, in individual matters, than to publish all too late. 
The second condition is, to give, as far as possible, a faithful 
report of the statements of the author, without mingling them 
with the opinions of others. It appears also preferable to me, 
to pass over a work entirely, rather than to pronounce it at 
once as insignificant. It is at times necessary to introduce the 
author verbally, in order to exhibit the manner in which he 
has instituted his observations. But this is not always prac- 
ticable, and it is frequently very difficult to represent the 
views of another faithfully, because many authors have not 
the ability to express themselves in definite, and therefore in 
distinct terms, a deficiency which particularly betrays itself 
by the use of too many words, used in order to avoid the 
necessity of stating, that they are not yet acquainted with a 
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