THE MUSEUM. 



87 



Tnal the students of the lUinois State 

 Normal it is perhaps a low estimate to 

 say that 300 students annually study 

 botany. If each of these is to collect 

 fifty specimens the number at once 

 reaches 1,500 plants. It is not imfair 

 to say that each student will pluck, 

 for bouquets or extras ten plants for 

 every one mounted. This brings the 

 list to 150,000 plants annually. Res- 

 idents from the cities will easily double 

 this number while out riding during 

 fine weather, and we are then above 

 the half million line. Let this be kept 

 up for twenty-five years and the fig- 

 ures are appalling. The question of 

 how to preserve the native flowers 

 around large towns or cities is fast be- 

 coming of grave importance The 

 first start on the remedy is to stop col- 

 lecting on so e.xtensive a scale. It is 

 obvious, however, that this argument 

 will not apply to all places. 



But this method of study was not 

 only a useless waste of material, but 

 it was beginning at the wrong end. 

 Classification is the most difficult of 

 scientific work and should be brought 

 in after a study has been pursued for 

 some time rather than at first. There 

 must be a foundation. Plant charac- 

 ters must be studied, their adaptation 

 to surroundings worked out.i^their 

 structure must be known, the food 

 determined, before an}' generalizations 

 can be made or affinities traced, and 

 the average student who begins the 

 study by classifying sees nothing of the 

 meaning to be conveyed by the pro- 

 cess of analysis. 



Again, classification must of neces- 

 sity for the beginner be confined to 

 higher types, or flowering plants In 

 this day of microscopes and labora- 

 tories it is not only a desideratum but a 

 necessity that lower types be studied. 

 No one would think of studying birds 

 alone and claim to even approximate- 

 ly gain a knowledge of the animal 

 kingdom. And no one ran hope by a 

 study of one branch to get even a 

 passing knowledge of the vegetable 

 kingdom. Bacteria, smuts, moulds. 



mushrooms, seaweeds, etc., greet us 

 daily during a large portion of the 

 year. Our practical ej'e demands that 

 they be given attention. 



Every teacher knows that the pri- 

 mary object of a study is to cultivate 

 some of the faculties of the student, 

 to give him proper habits and methods 

 of thinking, observation and study, 

 and that the facts he gains from his 

 labors, while very important are sec- 

 ondary. As Dr. Jordan puts it, "To 

 the child, training in method of ac- 

 quiring knowledge is more valuable 

 than knowledge itself. In general 

 throughout life the sound methods are 

 more important than sound informa- 

 tion. Self-direction is more import- 

 ant than innocence." Botany as it 

 was taught failed in accomplishing the 

 ends sought. The good ones carried 

 the poor ones, who relied on help to 

 get through. It was largely memory 

 work, mechanical, often distasteful, 

 and not infrequently barren of good 

 results. It presented no problems of 

 life for solution. It did not introduce 

 the student to those nice adaptations 

 between insects and plants. It pre- 

 sented nothing of the struggle for ex- 

 istence. The philosophy of life and 

 growth had a small place in it. Plant 

 food, plant movements, respiration 

 and circulation were touched upon 

 briefly; and all these should have been 

 discussed to some extent before an at- 

 tempt was made at drawing fine dis- 

 tinctions among species. 



Yet the study was not without its 

 benefits. The lambles in search of 

 flowers cultivated acquaintance with 

 nature and gave health to the student. 

 There is much of profit in the careful 

 examination of leaves and flowers, if 

 It is not made mechanical and thought- 

 less. Properly pressing and preserv- 

 ing flowers likewise has its valuable 

 qualities to the student. It is not be- 

 cause the study had no value to the 

 student that it changed. It was be- 

 cause it could be made far more val- 

 uable. 



The knowledge that all the animal 



