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Dear Sir,
It has long been my intention to dedi-cate to you this humble endeavour to elucidate adifficult and slighted department of Botany, and thetime has at length arrived for the fulfilment of thisintention.
In dedicating to you this History of the BritishFreshwater Alga), and which is, I believe, the secondwork which has as yet appeared, which exclusivelytreats of the Alga) of our fresh waters, and the onlyone devoted to the consideration of the British species,I am actuated, not by private considerations offriendship, but entirely by public motives.
The skill which you have displayed in the micro-scopic investigation of minute tissues, the generous