146. Section of daisy-blossom. 147, 148. Florets of daisy. 149. Decurrent leaf.

150. Sting of nettle.

151. Hop catkin.

152. Autumnal crocus.

153. Section of blossom of autumnal crocus.

154. Strawberry fruit.

155. Section of strawberry-blossom.

156. Seed and pappus of dandelion (magnified). 157. Carpel of ranunculus (magnified).

158. Capsule of lychnis.

159. Follicles of marsh marigold.

160. Section of rosebud.

161. Samara of maple.

162. Cone of juniper.

163. Capsule of lychnis, opening.

164. Siliqua of wallflower, opening.

165. Portion of fern-frond with "round sori."

166. Portion of fern-frond with "kidney-shaped sori." 167. Capsules which contain fern-seed or spores, with their elastic jointed rings.

168. Portion of frond of maiden's-hair fern.

169. Hart's-tongue fern.

170. Adder's-tongue.

171. Moonwort.

Wanderings among the Wild Flowers.

"O Father, Lord!

The All-beneficent! I bless Thy name

That Thou hast mantled the green earth with flowers,
Linking our hearts to nature! By the love

Of their wild blossoms our young footsteps first

Into her deep recesses are beguiled."

"By the breath of flowers

Thou callest us, from city throngs and cares,

Back to the woods, the birds, the mountain streams,
That sing of Thee!"

"Thou bidd'st

The lilies of the field with placid smile

Reprove man's feverish strivings, and infuse

Through his warm soul a more unworldly life,

With their soft holy breath."

"Receive

Thanks, blessings, love, for these Thy lavish boons,
And most of all their heavenward influences;
O Thou that gavest us flowers."

MRS. HEMANS.

How quickly are the feelings and the imagination interested in the associations connected with flowers! How easily, how early in life, do the young wild blossoms "link the heart to nature,"-form, as it

were

"A flowery band to bind us to the earth!"

And yet, strange is it, no sooner do we speak of the intellectual study of this fairest portion of God's creation, than people generally think of something dry and unattractive; they seem frightened at the very name of botany, which conveys to their minds little else than an idea of long catalogues of " dreary" Latin names. True it is that the scientific study of botany does involve a knowledge of a good many apparently learned terms; but it does so for the simple reason, that in such lavish profusion has He who gave us flowers "mantled" with them the green earth, so diverse has He made the forms and vestiture of these "bright children of the sun," that those who study them have had to find names for some eighty or ninety thousand different kinds or "species;" names, too, which shall not merely be understood in a limited locality, but which shall pass current among men of all civilized nations and tongues. Hence plants and flowers, even the most familiar, must all have their botanical names, and for this purpose the Latin language is the most convenient, to distinguish them in their places in the great system of plant arrangement, well named the "Vegetable Kingdom."

These long names, therefore, which appear so terrible, are really no essential part of the botanical lore of our British wild-flower gatherer and student. We could take all our wanderings amid the woods and glades of England, over the hills and by the

mountain burns of Scotland, without troubling one of them, or finding them stand in the way of our study of any wildling we pick up. You need have nothing to do with them unless you like, and yet, we venture to say, that when you have got interested in botanical study, you will find these names so convenient, that you will then think it no trouble to learn and to use them. If you really love wild flowers, even their hard names will gradually fix themselves in your memory; and once in, they do not very readily escape.

Nevertheless, in our little volume, we promise you shall find as few of these learned terms as possible. Its intention is not to speak of botanical science, but of wild flowers; not to lead you into the microscopic intricacies of vegetable anatomy, but simply to deal with the outward forms and distinctive features of our floral favourites, to Show you how to see them, how to appreciate those varied characters which distinguish " classes," "families," and "species" of plants from one another; and which, though apparently separating the vegetable kingdom into diverse parts, actually give rise, by their combined differences, to the beautifully harmonious whole which it presents to us, whether we view it with the eyes of the scientific student, or with those of the admirer of nature's beauty; whether we give our mind to learn how

"The folded leaf is woo'd from out the bud,"

in early Spring, or the down-clothed seeds wafted abroad by the winds of Autumn; or whether, taking a wider view, we seek to appreciate the beauty of the extended landscape, which owes so much to the varied forms and glowing colours of tree, and shrub, and flower.