INTRODUCTION TO PART II 157 



Since it is of the utmost importance to a proper 

 conception of the meaning of the modern science 

 that the student's introduction to it should be through 

 the study of plants alive and at work, and since, in 

 our climate and especially in city schools, much ac- 

 curate field work is impracticable, the tracing of some 

 living plant through its life cycle forms the best be- 

 ginning known to me. Since plants develop from 

 the seed with relative rapidity, and the phenomena 

 of their growth, movements, etc., can be readily seen 

 and experimented upon, the germination of the seed 

 affords the best starting-point. After a single plant 

 is thus followed through its cycle from seed to seed, 

 the modifications of this typical form in response to 

 different habits are taken up, and then the different 

 members leaf, stem, root, flower, fruit are studied 

 in detail as to functions, structure, and ecological 

 modifications. Practically, most general botanical 

 principles may be worked out best in the higher 

 plants, because these are larger, more familiar, and 

 easier to obtain. 



In Division II, living plants which may be studied 

 alive, and even seen in their native haunts, with 

 attention called to their habits, are used in almost 

 every instance. With the knowledge and training ac- 

 quired in Division I, the students work through this 

 second division with great profit, and it is by no 

 means inferior in value to the former. Here the 



