BOTANY AS IT MAY BE TAUGHT. 371 



from tlie college lierbarium, and, when a student liad completed 

 his determination, he was expected to make comparisons with the 

 authentic herbarium specimens. At the end of the first half of 

 the term each student submitted his collection, in portfolio, and 

 about ten days after it was again brought for the examination. 

 This was entirely oral, with the specimens before the student. 

 Questions were rapidly asked upon a wide range of subjects and 

 varying for different students. Ordinal characteristics, botanical 

 names, habitats, striking peculiarities, comparison of species of 

 same genus, contrasts of genera of different orders, are some of 

 the groups into which the questions fell. About five pupils could 

 be thus quizzed per hour. 



If there should be any lack of specimens, owing to stormy 

 weather, or spare moments from any cause, the economic subjects 

 were resorted to for filling the hour. These subjects form the 

 second feature of the work of the term, and were selected in order 

 of importance, and assigned four to each student, who prepared 

 for recitation upon them. Each set of four subjects was made to 

 embrace as wide a range of vegetable products as possible. The 

 following are two fair samples: Camphor, ebony, orange, and 

 tomato ; Brazil-nut, flax, opium, and turnip. These topics were 

 looked up in the college library, using several books the titles of 

 which had previously been placed upon the lecture-room black- 

 board as " books of reference." The value to students of learning 

 how to use encyclopaedias and other reference-books in work of 

 this kind is almost as great as that of the actual information 

 gained upon the subjects in hand. The students took full notes 

 of the recitations upon the topics, and the questions for examina- 

 tion, following this work, were such as to require the grouping 

 and classifying of subjects. A list of general questions was placed 

 upon the blackboard many days before the examination, and 

 from this set a number were finally selected as tests. As samples 

 the following may be given: Treat of the leading commercial 

 gums ; the tropical fruits ; plants grown for their roots ; com- 

 mercial spices ; the leading drugs ; Iowa's most important food- 

 plants, etc. 



Besides these economic subjects each student at the beginning 

 of the term selected a natural order upon which to prepare, for 

 the class, a paper of ten to fifteen minutes in length. The eco- 

 nomic topics easily prepared the way for this more thorough work 

 upon some particular group of plants. For example, the student 

 who selected the pulse family {Leguminosce) had the advantage of 

 all the notes upon the various gums, drugs, dyestuffs, precious 

 woods, food and fodder plants of the order. In like manner, the 

 writer upon the grasses and grains (order Graminece) or the palm 

 family {Palmacece), could use the information previously pre- 



