1

Oh, Nature ! all-sufficient! over all !
Enrich me with the knowledge of thy works !
Snatch me to Heaven; thy rolling wonders there,
World beyond world, in infinite extent,
Profusely scatter'd o'er the blue immense,
Show me; their motions, periods, and their laws,
Give me to scan ; through the disclosing deep
Light my blind way; the mineral strata there ;
Thrust, blooming, thence the vegetable world ;
O'er that the rising system, more complex,
Of animals; and higher still, the mind,
The varied scene of quick-compounded thought,
And where the mixing passions endless shift ;
These ever open to my ravish'd eye;
A search, the flight of time can ne'er exhaust !
But if to that unequal ; if the blood,
In sluggish streams about my heart, forbid
That best ambition ; under closing shades,
Inglorious, lay me by the lowly brook,
And whisper to my

dreams. From thee begin, Dwell all on thee, with thee conclude my song: And let me never, never stray from thee!

FIRST STEPS TO BOTANY,

INTENDED AS

Popular Illustrations

OF THE SCIENCE,

LEADING TO ITS STUDY AS A BRANCH OF

GENERAL EDUCATION.

BY JAMES L. DRUMMOND, M.D.

PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY IN THE

BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION.

LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN,

PATERNOSTER-ROW.

4616G.

BLIOTHEQUE CANTONA

LAUSEJE BiuliVERSITAIRE

LONDON
Printed by A. & R, Spottiswoode,

New-Street Square.

TO

THE PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENTS,

THE JOINT BOARDS OF MANAGERS AND VISITORS,

THE BOARD OF FACULTY,

AND THE BOARD OF MASTERS,

OF THE

BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION,

THIS LITTLE WORK

IS INSCRIBED,

BY

THE AUTHOR.