The course I pursued is also that which I shall point out to my readers. I shall first endeavour to explain to them as clearly as I can the botanical characteristics of the orders which contain plants commonly grown in British gardens; and at the end of my work I shall lay before them a slight outline of all the orders scientifically arranged, which they may study or not as they like. Most ladies will, however, probably be satisfied with knowing the orders containing popular plants; and these, I am confident, they will never repent having studied. Indeed, I do not think that I could form a kinder wish for them, than to hope that they may find as much pleasure in the pursuit as I have derived from it myself. Whenever I go into any country I have formerly visited, I feel as though I were endowed with a new sense. Even the very banks by the sides of the roads, which I before thought dull and uninteresting, now appear fraught with beauty. A new charm seems thrown over the face of nature, and a degree of interest is given to even the commonest weeds. I have often heard that knowledge is power, and I am quite sure that it contributes greatly to enjoyment. A man knowing nothing of natural history, and of course not caring for anything relating to it, may travel from one extremity of a country to the other, without finding anything to interest, or even amuse him; but the man of science, and particularly the Botanist, cannot walk a dozen yards along a beaten turnpike-road without finding something to excite his attention. A wild plant in a hedge, a tuft of moss on a wall, and even the Lichens which discolour the stones, all present objects of interest, and of admiration for that Almighty Power whose care has provided the flower to shelter the infant germ, and has laid up a stock of nourishment in the seed to supply the first wants of the tender plant. It has been often said that the study of nature has a tendency to elevate and ameliorate the mind; and there is perhaps no branch of Natural History which more fully illustrates the truth of this remark than Botany. CONTENTS. PART I. PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 MISCELLANEOUS ORDERS—PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS 3 CHAPTER I. THE ORDER RANUNCULACEÆ: illustrated by the Garden Ranunculus; the Butter-cup; the Peony; the Anemone; the Hepatica; the Clematis; the Christmas Rose; the Winter Aconite; Monkshood; the Larkspur; and the Columbine 9 The Genus Ranunculus, 10—The Genus Ficaria, 16—The Genus Pæonia, 18—The Genus Anemone, 19—The Genus Clematis, 23—The Genus Helleborus, &c. 25—The Genus Aconitum, 27—The Genus Delphinium, 29—The Genus Aquilegia, 31. CHAPTER II.