BOTANY 



Botany, or the science of plants, may be divided into a general 

 and a special part. In the general part, the structure and functions 

 of plants as such will be considered ; in the special part, their parti- 

 cular structure and functions in the separate divisions of the 

 vegetable kingdom will be discussed. 



The study of the structure of plants is called MORPHOLOGY ; that 

 of the causes of the vital phenomena of plants Physiology. To 

 these may be added the study of the vital economy of plants, their 

 OecoloGY.(^) Physiology attempts to explain the processes of life 

 causally. The teleological point of view is, on the other hand, adopted 

 by oecology, which is mainly concerned with the relation of organisms 

 to their environment. 



In the general part of this text-book, the morphology and physiology 

 of plants will be considered in relation to examples selected from the 

 vegetable kingdom. In the special part, the various families of plants, 

 with their special morphology, physiology, and oecology, will be 

 described in order. 



