Excerpt from Small Books on Great Subjects, Vol. 3: Containing Vegetable Physiology, Criminal Law, Christian Sects in the XIX Century, Principles of Grammar Ir a person whose life, from infancy to manhood, had been passed in some volcanic island, where scarcely a lichen covered the rock, should be sud denly removed into a region of luxuriant vegetation, his wonder and admiration could not fail to be ex cited by the scene around him. The return of spring would indeed appear to him as an annual miracle, and he would probably inquire earnestly into the causes by which the vernal leaves and flowers were produced. Habit has so familiarized us with these beautiful objects, that many of us forget to bestow a thought upon them; and we eat our bread, wear our linen, orfsail the ocean in our majestic vessels, with out a recollection of the growth of the corn, the flax, or the oak. In this, as in many other matters, King Solomon has set us a wiser example. Monarch, statesman, and philosopher as he was, he neverthe less found leisure to make himself acquainted with every plant, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop on the wall; and a'greater than Solomon vindicated the claim of this exquisite part of the creation to be studied and admired, when he de elated that the Monarch of Israel, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of the lilies of the field while at the same time be instructed us how to draw from the study its most consoling and important in ference, that if God so clothe the grass, his foster ing love will assuredly be bestowed in full measure. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.