28 KIVERBY 



Most young people find botany a dull study. So 

 it is, as taught from the text-books in the schools; 

 but study it yourself in the fields and woods, and 

 you will find it a source of perennial delight. Find 

 your flower, and then name it by the aid of the bot- 

 any. There is so much in a name. To find out 

 what a thing is called is a great help. It is the 

 beginning of knowledge ; it is the first step. When 

 we see a new person who interests us, we wish 

 to know his or her name. A bird, a flower, a place, 

 the first thing we wish to know about it is its 

 name. Its name helps us to classify it; it gives 

 us a handle to grasp it by ; it sheds a ray of light 

 where all before was darkness. As soon as we know 

 the name of a thing, we seem to have established 

 some sort of relation with it. 



The other day, while the train was delayed by an 

 accident, I wandered a few yards away from it along 

 the river margin seeking wild flowers. Should I 

 find any whose name I did not know 1 While thus 

 loitering, a young English girl also left the train 

 and came in my direction, plucking the flowers right 

 and left as she came. But they were all unknown 

 to her; she did not know the name of one of them, 

 and she wished to send them home to her father, 

 too. With what satisfaction she heard the names! 

 The words seemed to be full of meaning to her, 

 though she had never heard them before in her life. 

 It was what she wanted: it was an introduction to 

 the flowers, and her interest in them increased at 

 once. 



