64 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



by undergraduate students is always limited. To best util- 

 ize that which is available is a problem that is now engaging 

 the best thought of the most experienced men. At best, 

 the student leaves the class-room with little knowledge ; but 

 if his time has been wisely occupied he carries with him a 

 disciplined mind and trained hand with which it can be in- 

 creased if opportunity offers. 



Even the younger botanists recollect the time when sys- 

 tematic botany, and, indeed, that branch of systematic bot- 

 any which deals with the flowering plants and ferns, was 

 nearly all that was taught in our schools and colleges. 

 What attention was given to the structure and mode of life 

 of these plants was incidental, and mainly taught as a neces- 

 sary preparation for systematic work. The older persons 

 who followed Eaton or Mrs. Lincoln over this ground, or 

 the younger generation to whom the path has been made 

 easier by Gray and Wood, will agree with mo that to 

 a bright student this is fascinating and profitable work. 

 To know the flowers found on a spring or autumn walk as 

 old friends, to call them familiarly by name, and to make 

 each stroll the means of adding to one's acquaintanceship, 

 adds not a little to the pleasure of living. Yet that this 

 knowledge appeals to the emotions in the pleasure it gives, 

 repels some of our unemotional American youth, to whom 

 the study of botany has become somewhat of an accom- 

 plishment — a girls' study. I am reluctant to believe that 

 these are, or ever will be, in the majority. 



The fact is, nevertheless, patent that the student who is 

 limited to the contemplation of this side of botany, has but 

 a limited knowledge of the subject. Too often, it must be 

 confessed, the name of a plant is all that he cares for. To 

 have the branches of a dichotomous key well in hand, like 

 the leash of a brace of beagles, wherewith to run the un- 

 lucky plant he comes across, through numerous turns and 

 windings, to its place in the system, like a timid hare to his 

 burrow, affords a safe and harmless excitement, and forms 

 a necessary part of a botanical equipment; but it is not 



