Outlines of botany : including a description of mosses, lichens, fungi, ferns, and seaweeds / by J. Scoffern.
- John Scoffern
- Date:
- 1860
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Outlines of botany : including a description of mosses, lichens, fungi, ferns, and seaweeds / by J. Scoffern. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![|fl|n Cassdl’s CtrmL FIEST OUTLINES OF BOTANY. INTRODUCTION. the outset we may as well state that by the term Botany we mean the science which teaches all about plants; such as their form, their aspect, the number and structure of their flowers, their seeds, and, in short, all that in any way relates to them. The word botany is derived from the Greek, in which language pordvi] {botane), signifies a plant. Our friends the Germans call the studyp^anzenlehre, plant-teaching; and, in our opinion, they are quite right to And a name for this and many other sciences out of their own lan- guage. We English might with great propriety do the same on many occa- sions, but it is not the custom. Botany is a very interesting, no less than a very useful study, and it possesses over many others the advan- tage of being attended with no expense. ‘ Inasmuch as Botany is the science which teaches all about plants, the learner will agree that it is necessary to set out with precise notions as to what a plant is. Nothing would appear to be more easy than this ; and easy enough it is when we take extreme cases : thus, for instance, no one would ever take an oak tree for an animal, or a horse or an elephant for a vegetable; but there are certain beings whose characteristics are so little marked, that philosophers are to this day not agreed as to the divi- sion of nature to which they ought to be referred; in other cases again,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28116513_0011.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
