AN HERBORIZING COMPANION FOR THE YOUNG BOTANISTS OF CHESTER COUNTY, STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. BY WILLIAM DARLINGTON, M. D. LL. D. &c. ORE trahit quodcunque potest, atque addit acervo.—HORATIUS. From giant Oaks, that wave their branches dark, To the dwarf Moss that clings upon their bark.-DARWIN. THE previous omissions, as far as known, supplied; the descriptive PHILADELPHIA: LINDSAY & BLAKISTON. 1853. Q D [ ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, by EDWARD C. DARLINGTON, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.] it E. C. DARLINGTON, PRINTter, TO THE CULTIVATORS OF BOTANICAL SCIENCE IN THE COUNTY OF CHESTER, THIS ATTEMPT TO ENUMERATE AND DESCRIBE THE PLANTS OF THE COUNTY IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. ADVERTISEMENT. WHEN this revised Edition was commenced, it was contemplatedwith the aid of kind Friends-to insert a brief description of all the indigenous species of the Vegetable Kingdom which had been detected in our County,-together with such introduced plants as had become naturalized, or were CULTIVATED for useful purposes. It soon became apparent, however, that the lower Orders (especially the Fungi) were so multitudinous, as well as obscure, that it would require more time to accomplish the undertaking, than I, at least, had any right to reckon upon. It was found, also, that to include the whole, would render the work inconveniently voluminous. A descriptive enumeration of the Fungi, alone, would make a respectable volume. It was therefore concluded to omit all below the Lichens, and leave that portion of our Botany to the future enterprise of our Chester County Naturalists. For the account of our Mosses and Hepaticae, I am indebted to the researches, and kind attention, of THOMAS P. JAMES, Esq. an enthusiastic Bryologist of Philadelphia. The Lichens have been collected and determined by Dr. EZRA MICHENER, of this County,a Naturalist from whose acumen, diligence, and indomitable perseverance, we may fairly expect as thorough an exploration of every department of our Cryptogamy, as the active duties of his Profession, and the life-time of an Individual, will permit. I am gratified, moreover, in knowing that a few zealous and faithful Lovers of Nature are engaged with him, as Collaborators, in the laudable attempt to prepare a comprehensive Natural History of the County of Chester.-w. D. A* |
