114 PROSERPINA. 



chagrin. One pretends that Botany is nothing but a 

 science of words, which only exercises the memory, and 

 only teaches how to give plants names. For me, I know 

 no rational study which is only a science of words: and 

 to which of the two, I pray you, shall I grant the name 

 of botanist, to him who knows how to spit out a name 

 or a phrase at the sight of a plant, without knowing any- 

 thing of its structure, or to him who, knowing that struc- 

 ture very well, is ignorant nevertheless of the very arbi- 

 trary name that one gives to the plant in such and such a 

 country ? If we only gave to your children an amusing 

 occupation, we should miss the best half of our purpose, 

 which is, in amusing them, to exercise their intelligence 

 and accustom them to attention. Before teaching them 

 to name what they see, let us begin by teaching them to 

 see it. That science, forgotten in all educations, ought 

 to form the most important part of theirs. I can never 

 repeat it often enough teach them never to be satisfied 

 with words, ( k se payer de mots') and to hold themselves 

 as knowing nothing of what has reached no farther than 

 their memories." 



8. E-ousseau chooses, to represent his 'Personees,' La 

 Mufflaude, la Linaire, 1'Euphraise, la Pediculaire, la 

 Crete-de-coq, 1'Orobanche, la Cimbalaire, la Yelvote, la 

 Digitale, giving plates of snapdragon, foxglove, and 

 Madonna-herb, (the Cimbalaire), and therefore including 

 my entire class of Draconidae, whether open or close 

 throated. But I propose myself to separate from them 



