10 BOTANY 



In studying plants and animals we ruay consider them from dif- 

 ferent standpoints. Thus we may emphasize the study of structure ; 

 or the working of the organism its functions may be the phase 

 dwelt upon; or its position in the scale of development its rela- 

 tionship to other organisms may be made the principal subject of 

 study. As one or the other of these is emphasized, Biology falls 

 into the three great divisions of Morphology, Physiology, and 

 Taxonomy. 



Morphology. Morphology is that branch of Biology which deals 

 primarily with structure. The structure of the cell, the combina- 

 tions and changes of cell-structures to form tissues, and the 

 combinations of tissues into organs are the principal subjects of 

 morphology, which may be divided into several sections; General 

 Morphology, Gross Anatomy, Organography, are terms often em- 

 ployed to express such general study of the structure of an organ- 

 ism as can be made without much optical assistance. Thus the 

 form and position of the parts of the higher plants leaf, stem, root, 

 flowers, etc., or dissections of an animal, come under the head of 

 General Morphology. Should we call in the aid of the compound 

 microscope to see the character of the tissues composing the organs, 

 we then enter the domain of Histology, which deals with the origin 

 and structure of tissues. Finally, Cytology is the department of 

 morphology which concerns itself with the structure of the cell. 

 Cytology has made very great advances of late years, owing to the 

 improvements in microscopical lenses, and the labors of biologists 

 in perfecting methods of fixing and staining the various constituents 

 of the living cell. The study of the development of the organism 

 from the egg-cell, or Embryology, may also be considered as a special 

 department of morphology, and might be extended to include the 

 early stages in the development of the young organs as well. 



Physiology. Physiology, in its proper sense, is concerned purely 

 with function, although, of course, any study of function must neces- 

 sarily take into account the structure of the organs concerned. The 

 problems of nutrition, movement, respiration, and reproduction are 

 the principal subjects of physiological study, but there are some 

 others which may properly be considered physiological. Thus the 

 various ways by which an organism becomes fitted to its special 

 environment are physiological problems, which are now treated as a 

 special department of physiology, under the name (Ecology. 



Taxonomy. All living things are assumed to be more or less inti- 

 mately related. It is therefore important that some system of classi- 

 fication should be adopted which will indicate, as nearly as may be, 

 the degree of relationship. The earlier systematists, especially Linne, 

 who was the most influential, accepted the dogma of the immutabil- 

 ity of species, i.e. that all species were created in their present form. 



