BOTANY AS IT MAY BE TAUGHT. 375 



"black mustard, 16,416; and burdock, 36,456. The plants chosen 

 were all average ones. A " Flora of a Stubbie-Field " was that of a 

 few acres where oats had grown. The Compositce and Graminece 

 orders were represented by the largest number of species, and fur- 

 nished by far the greatest percentage of specimens. Two species 

 of rag-weed and the foxtail grass covered four fifths of the field. 

 However, thirty-five species in sixteen orders were represented. 

 Many of these matured their seeds before September 17th, and 

 nearly all before October 10th. Leaves of young, rapidly growing 

 shoots were compared with those of slow-growing branches of old 

 trees, and gave a good idea of the variability of foliage within the 

 same species, or even the same shrub or tree. " Unequal-lobed 

 Leaves " furnished a topic for the study of seeming irregularity, 

 which is, however, a comparatively constant peculiarity in some 

 species. The time of " Opening and Closing of Flowers " ; " Dis- 

 persion of Seeds, a Comparative Study of Two Labiate Flowers " ; 

 " Five Largest Wild Flowers," " Are our Weeds mostly Annuals? " 

 " Anatomy of the Milkweed {Asdepias) Flower," and " Sensitive 

 Stamens of Purslane," are other topics studied by the class, the 

 results of which were none the less interesting because the length 

 of this paper forbids particular mention of each. 



To hold each student to an examination upon the work of all 

 these topics of research was not feasible, therefore the notes taken 

 by each member of the class upon the reports of all others were 

 inspected. This secured a record for each student of all the im- 

 portant features brought out under the topics of research, and 

 also furnished a basis for a class-mark as required by college law. 



The closing exercise of the term was upon anatomy. A brief 

 outline of the work done in the laboratory is given below. In way 

 of preface it should be said that the students were entirely un- 

 acquainted with the compound microscope at the beginning of the 

 term. The first day was spent in learning how to manipulate the 

 instrument, cut thin sections, etc. The brittle stems of the com- 

 mon purslane are excellent for beginners to practice upon with the 

 razor or scaljDel. For the second day pollen of several kinds was 

 studied, and ovaries in transverse and longitudinal sections. 

 Accurate drawings are required of all prescribed work. The 

 flower of the large thistle {Cnicus aUissimus) filled the third 

 afternoon. On the fourth day the stem of richweed {Pilea pumila) 

 was studied. This subject is highly recommended to all instruct- 

 ors in vegetable anatomy who have not tried it. The course of 

 each bundle is clearly seen from the outside of the comparatively 

 transparent succulent stem. The duckweed (Lemna) is excellent 

 for small roots and prominent root-caps, and the hairs of the 

 squash illustrate living cells, with nucleus, nucleolus, and circula- 

 tion of protoplasm. Following these, a comparative study was 



