■S' 
THE 
SCIENCE OF botany 
briefly explained. 
T o ufber our young readers into this 
pleafing and indrudlivefcience, wc of- 
fer the following compendium of botanical 
illuftrations, to their attention, before they 
proceed to the (ludy of the flowers we have, 
in the following pages, ftiortly defcribed. 
Every fcience, except botany, poffefles a 
language peculiar to itfelf. Every pcvfon 
who has pretended to teach, or explain, the 
nature of plants, has chofen terms to exprefu 
himfelf, according to his own caprice, or 
his particular flile of obfcrvation. Ihis ar- 
bitrary mode of treating botany, has cou- 
fiderably bewildered the fludent ; and even, 
fometimes, diHuaded him from ])urfuing the 
fcience with that avidity and pleafure he 
would otherwife have done. Although the 
vocabulary of botany has been alw ays fub- 
