THE ALG.E 253 



Pedagogics. Up to the present this course has been con- 

 cerned chiefly with training in botanical principles, using the 

 higher plants as a basis ; information has been subordinate to 

 the cultivation of eye and hand, and to the formation of scien- 

 tific instincts. From this time on, the object is to lead the 

 student to make a close and sympathetic personal acquaintance 

 with the chief kinds of living plants ; information becomes of 

 equal value with training, and the means for acquiring the 

 former is of greater value. It is true that but few kinds can 

 be studied ; hence it is best to select forms as representative 

 as possible of the great leading groups. The aim should be, 

 using a thorough study of these as centres, aided by collections, 

 figures, and reading, to secure, through the medium of their 

 own senses, the impression upon the minds of the students 

 of a clear, sharply lined picture of the place in nature of each 

 group, what kinds of places it lives in, how it obtains its 

 nourishment and reproduces, and the meaning of the most 

 constant characters of form, color, etc., and how each is related 

 to the other groups. 



There are so many excellent books upon the natural history 

 of the different groups that extended directions are here un- 

 necessary. These books are referred to in Chapter VII, but 

 particularly practical and valuable to the teacher are Spalding's, 

 Barnes's, and Atkinson's works. 



It is of first importance that students see the forms they 

 study growing alive in their native places, and that they look 

 upon them not inertly, but with active curiosity, which will be 

 the case if the teacher keeps properly before them problems 

 to be solved. Next to this, and supplementary to it, is the 

 study of herbarium, or museum materials, photographs, and 

 prints. If it is not possible for them to see the plants alive 

 and at home, then the teacher should describe to them as 



