2 TYPES OF BRITISH PLANTS 
was not felt of a vocabulary which is at once brief, 
precise, and accurate, but because, until some acquaint- — 
ance has been made with the classics, to recall the 
meaning of the terms requires a dreary and mechanical 
effort of memory. It would be a cause for serious regret 
if the new and just demand for an extended teaching of 
science were to lead to a neglect of the classical languages 
upon which true education must ultimately be based. 
In the fear of dimming the general outlines I have 
tried to avoid giving exceptions. Until the main charac- 
teristics and rules of a group have been thoroughly 
grasped, it seems useless to insist on the exceptional 
peculiarities of eccentric individuals. 
I want to ask those who may read this book to refuse 
to accept anything in it as certain which they themselves 
can test. I do not mean, “ Refuse to believe that it is 
true,” but go yourselves, when you can, and try the 
question fairly on the actual plants. With an ordinary 
microscope of a low power, or even with a_ pocket 
magnifying-glass, you can test the truth of what I hope 
to tell you, and the information you may thus get for 
yourselves from actual experience is worth much more 
than any number of facts merely taken from a printed 
book. I would have you test all you can by practical 
experiment, not only statements here, but any popular 
beliefs that you may come across from time to time; 
for instance, such a widespread belief as that primroses, 
if planted with their leaves downward and their roots 
upward, will come up with mauve flowers. It is not 
of much use to make experiments with flowers that are 
supposed to bring ill luck, such as blackthorn, for one 
