THE "OBSERVING EYE" SERIES. PLANTS OF THE LAND AND WATER: Short and Entertaining Chapters on the Vegetable World. BY MARY AND ELIZABETH KIRBY. LONDON: JARROLD AND SONS, 47, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. 1857. PREFACE. "Is it true?" is always the first question an intelligent child will ask, when a new book is put into his hands; and to this question we can reply that our little volume is true. But it is, perhaps, needful for us to say a word about the authorities from which the materials for the following pages have been drawn; although persons familiar with the subject will recognize at once the sources to which we have had recourse. The works of Hooker, Lindley, &c., have been constantly in request, not to mention Loudon, Burnett, and many others of equal value. Books of modern travel have also been consulted, and several periodicals of more or less recent date. We have to regret that an error has occurred in one of the plates. In the chapter of the Fungi, Clathrus Cancellatus has unfortunately been figured instead of Phallus Fœtidus. NORWICH, 1857. |