Teaching of Botany. 31,^ 



point which must not be overlooked is the importance of drawings. 

 The student cannot make too many, and the teacher .should make a 

 point of examining them all before they leave the laborator}-. Each 

 hour spent in the lecture-room should be supplemented by at least 

 twice that period in the laboratory, where the student should 

 carefully and exactly record his own observations on the plants or 

 parts of plants which have been the subject of the lecture. This 

 will also afford an opportunity for an exchange of views between the 

 taught and the teacher, the advantages of which are not small and 

 may be considerable. 



The student should first make acquaintance with objects already 

 familiar t(j him whose size, form anrl characteristics, so far as they 

 can be observed with the naked eye, should be noted with the ut- 

 most care and precision. The most suitable for this i)urpose are 

 large seeds. Those of common Lcgitniiiiostc. from their size, .ind 

 comparativelv simple structure .should be first selected. Their ex- 

 ternal characters having become familiar, typical seeds will be dis- 

 sected and their internal structure studied. The next step will be 

 the dissection of an albuminous seeil. i)referal)ly that of the Castor 

 oil. I'or comparison with these two tvpes the anatomv of the Pine 

 seed, and afterwards that of the Date, will be considered. Th's 

 will lead to a consideration of common forms of the seed, and 

 their relation to seed distribution by various agencies. The next 

 step in logical sequence is the observation and com[)arison of succes- 

 sive stages in the development of the seedlings resulting from the 

 germination of seeds ])reviouslv studied. The plants .so obtained 

 will serve as tvpes upon which to found a studv of the various forms 

 assimied by the root, stem and leaf of the higher plants. These 

 general notions of morphology will be acc(mipanied by elementary 

 physiological considerations, the purpose of which will be to lead 

 the student to regard an effect as due to a preceding cause or com- 

 bination of causes. A study of the morphology of the flower and 

 fruit will follow naturally. The processes of pollination and fertilisa- 

 tion will be referred to. the detailed studv of the latter being postpon- 

 ed until the stu<lent has acquired a working knowledge of the use 

 of instruments. 



Thus far no aids lo ob.servation. except occasionalK the simple 

 lens, have been called in. The student n(jw knows something of 

 the macroscopic characters of the higher plants. If he has not already 

 been thrcnigh an elementary cimrse of general Biology, a few" care- 

 fully selected types of the lower plants should at this stage be 

 examined, special attention being given to their life-histories ami 

 simple physiological processes. If this can be combined with a 

 similar study of a few .simple animal types the student will acquire 

 a grasp of the fundamental principles of Biology, without which his 

 further .study of Botany will be seriously hampered. A subsequent 

 examination of the various forms of living and dead cells, the 

 <"ell-wall and its changes, the contents of the cell, movements of the 

 protoplasm, etc., leads up to a consideration of cell-groups or tissues, 

 and their relative positions in the stems, roots and leaves of tvpes of 



X 



