Excerpt from The English Flora of Sir James Edward Smith, Vol. 5: Class XXIV. Cryptogamia; Part I. Comprising the Mosses, Hepaticae, Lichens, Characeae and Algae The present Part, or half Volume, is confined to the Orders Musci, Hepaticae, Lichenes, Characew, and Algae. Another Part, containing the second portion of the Volume, will embrace the only remaining Order, the Fungi, and will be published with all the speed consistent with careful execution. The Fungi, as is known by every Botanist, ' constitute an order of immense extent, and one, which, notwithstanding all that has been done by Withering, Sowerby, Purton, Carmichael, and Dr. Greville, must yet be acknowledged as the least understood of all our British Flora. The labour attending the study of these is much increased by their perishable nature, and by the difficulty, almost amounting to an impossibility, of preserving specimens; so that, in many instances, if they are not carefully examined, and described or drawn on the spot, it is in vain to attempt to remedy the deficiency from the contents of an H erbarium. Thus much I have a satisfaction in saying, that the Rev. M. J. Berkeley of Margate, (author of Gkanings of tbc British Algaz, ) has kindly undertaken to prepare the descriptions of the Agarics and some allied Genera; and to Mr. Purton, who has so well illustrated the Fungi in his Flora oft/le Midland Counties, I am indebted for copious ms. Notes, on all the species that have come under his observation. Still, in so extensive and intricate a field, I shall greatly need the indulgence of my fellow-students; and I entreat their assistance, in communicating their remarks, as well as specimens and drawings of the rarer kinds, or of new and dubious ones, from every part of the king dom, particularly from the south of England, which, I have rea son to believe, has been but little explored in this department, and which yet, from its climate, bids fair to be very productive. 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.