PREFACE. 
When an author offers to the public a work, the greater part of the information 
contained in which is already available in detached fragments or other forms, his 
first duty is to exhibit the propriety of its publication ; and prove, beyond question, 
that he has been instigated to his task by no unworthy desire of fame, but by a 
distinct and certified persuasion of its demand and utility. 
Happily, in the present case, we* are enabled to court scrutiny into our motives, 
being fully prepared to explain and justify them. During the numerous interviews 
enjoyed by us with the leading patrons of floriculture, the want of a pocket com- 
panion, such as that now furnished, has ever been especially and forcibly urged. 
There are, it is true. Catalogues, Encyclopaedias, Lexicons, and Cultural Directories, 
all highly valuable in their respective spheres, and essential adjuncts to a gardener’s 
or amateur’s library : but they are too elaborate, verbose, technical, or uninteresting, 
to be readily and thoroughly appropriated ; the expense, also, of several is neces- 
sarily enormous, and beyond the means of the great majority of those who thirst 
after botanical and floricultural literature; and no single one, much less a set, 
embracing all the subjects of this Dictionary, is conveniently portable, or can ever 
be carried, without discomfort, beyond the porch of the proprietor’s domicile. 
Comprehensive compendiums, in which scientific and popular details are abridged, 
combined, and thus brought within the pecuniary reach as well as easy examination 
of those whose income and time are subjected to many other more pressing 
exactions, are highly commendable if attentively and clearly arranged ; but their 
usefulness is in proportion to the precision and accuracy of the manner in which 
they are compiled. 
The Pocket Botanical Dictionary, then, has been prepared solely as an instant 
resource and standar d of consultation ; and for this purpose will be found invaluable 
