14 BOTANY 



light as well as some direct sunlight. A corner room is best if it can be ob- 

 tained. If tables are used, they should be arranged so that each student 

 may get as much light as possible without shading his neighbor. 



Instruments used. — Every pupil ought to provide himself, in addition 

 to the laboratory notebook and a hard pencil, with the following articles : a 

 hand lens (a small brass-mounted tripod lens, one mounted in vulcanite, or 

 the small lens known as a linen tester), two or three darning needles mounted 

 in elder pith or in wooden handles, a good eraser, and a ruler marked with 

 the metric system. A small pair of forceps, scissors, and a light, thin- 

 bladed knife or scalpel are useful, but not essential for most laboratory 

 work. 



Interest in Laboratory Work Essential. — It is not, however, the 

 laboratory or the equipment that makes the laboratory work a success. 

 It is rather the spirit of the pupils. Interest in the work is the first essential. 

 When at work on what may seem to be only dry details, look ahead and 

 think about what you are doing. Try to find a purpose in everything that 

 you do. It is possible to make any piece of biological work interesting by 

 keeping in mind that everything in nature is part of a great plan and has 

 a purpose. It is your place to find out just how the given part that you 

 may be studying is fitted or adapted to its work in the general plan. 



At the end of each of the following chapters is a list of books which have proved 

 their use either as reference reading for students or as aids to the teacher. Most 

 of the books mentioned are within the means of the small school. Two sets are 

 expensive : one, The Natural History of Plants, by Kerner, translated by Oliver, 

 published by Henry Holt and Company, in two volumes, at Sll ; the other. Plant 

 Geography upon a Physiological Basis, by Schimper, published by the Clarendon 

 Press, $12 ; but both works are invaluable for reference. 



Two books stand out from the pedagogical standpoint as by far the most helpful 

 of their kind on the market. No teacher of botany or zodlogy can afford to be 

 without them. They are : Lloyd and Bigelow, The Teaching of Biology, Long- 

 mans, Green, and Company, and C. F. Hodge, Nature Study and Life, Ginn and 

 Company. Other books of great value from the teacher's standpoint are : Ganong, 

 The Teaching Botanist, The Macmillan Company; L. H. Bailey, The Nature Study 

 Idea, Doubleday, Page, and Company; and C. B. Scott, Nature Study and the 

 Child, D. C. Heath and Company. 



