PROSPECTUS. 
The Plates, which form the principal part of this Work, will be entirely 
prepared from sketches communicated to the Author by Mr. Francis 
Bauer of Kewfrom among the numerous materials illustrative of Vegetable 
Anatomy and Physiology, to the preparation of which his long and active 
life has been devoted. This invaluable Collection has, unfortunately for 
science, been hitherto known to those only who have been so fortunate 
as to enjoy Mr. Bauer’s personal acquaintance ; but to all such it has 
always been opened with a freedom which demands the warmest 
acknowledgements. 
To make the whole of these splendid specimens of art public by 
means of engravings capable of expressing the beauty of the originals, 
would be an object worthy of a liberal Monarch and an enlightened 
Government ; to a private individual the large expense must necessarily 
prove an insuperable impediment. But it has occurred to the Author, 
that a selection of such as throw the greatest light upon structure could 
not be otherwise than important, even if the manner in which the engrav- 
ings should be executed were much inferior to what the high finish of the 
drawings demands. Mr. Bauer having, with a liberality eminently charac- 
teristic of a mind which pursues science for its own sake only, consented 
to waive the latter point, upon the representation that much benefit must 
accrue to science by the publication : the commencement of a selection 
of subjects illustrative of the structure of Orchideous plants is now laid 
before the public, with the earnest entreaty on the part of the Author that 
all imperfections in the execution of the plates may be ascribed to him- 
self, and not to Mr. Bauer. It has been found indispensible to make use 
of lithography instead of engraving on copper ; and unfortunately the 
