Preface. nr 



be decided, if at all, by evidence, not by authority. It must 

 be remembered that queries have the most educational 

 value to one who reasons out the answers from facts which 

 he himself has discovered. Once more quoting the highest 

 authority on science-teaching: " The purpose of science - 

 teaching as a part of general education is this to train the 

 judgment through its exercise on first-hand knowledge." 



Since in most schools botany is taken up soon after the 

 winter holidays, the first exercises are devoted to seeds and 

 their germination. If the work is begun in August or 

 September, flowers, fruits, and leaves should be studied 

 first, then seeds and winter buds. In the study of leaves, 

 flowers, winterbuds, and entire plants the number of exer- 

 cises can be extended indefinitely. Indeed, new exercises 

 may be intercalated, or those in the book omitted, at the 

 discretion of the teacher. Good material should be used 

 when it can be easiest obtained. Two days may sometimes 

 be devoted to one exercise. Pupils who complete the exer- 

 cises on leaves, storage stems, flowers, and inflorescence 

 will be able to use the " Key to West Coast Botany," or 

 " Greene's Botany of the Bay Region." But the latter book 

 will require frequent reference to the dictionary. 



Botanists will note that several interesting facts are here 

 published for the first time. 



VOLNEY RATTAN. 



SAN JOSE, August, 1897. 



