PKEFACE. 



THIS little book has a twofold claim upon those 

 concerned in the work of education. 



In the first place, it introduces the beginner to 

 the study of Botany in the only way it can be prop- 

 erly done by the direct observation of vegetable 

 forms. The pupil is told very little, and from the 

 beginning, throughout, he is sent to the plant to get 

 his knowledge of the plant. The book is designed 

 to help him in this work, never to supersede it. In- 

 stead of memorizing the statements of others, he 

 brings report of the living reality as he sees it ; 

 it is the things themselves that are to be exam- 

 ined, questioned, and understood. The true basis 

 of a knowledge of Botany is that familiarity with 

 the actual characters of plants, which can only be 

 obtained by direct and habitual inspection of them. 

 The beginner should therefore commence with the 

 actual specimens, and le,arn to distinguish those ex- 

 ternal characters which Le open to observation ; the 

 knowledge of which leads aaturally to that arrange- 

 ment by related attributes which constitutes classifi- 

 cation. ' 



