TO THE STUDENT. XI 



things themselves rather than book descriptions of them, 

 but habitually use the books you are referred to, compar- 

 ing point by point your own observations with what the 

 authors have to say. The writers cited may or may not 

 be right ; they are more likely to be than you are ; but 

 both of you may be wrong. The best way is to observe for 

 yourself, then consult the books ; then observe again, and 

 continue your observations and comparisons until the exact 

 truth is ascertained. This is the way investigations are 

 conducted, and you are learning how to investigate. 



5. This leads to a word on the use of books. Make it 

 a regular practice to look up the references that are given 

 with the exercises. By doing this you will not only 

 become acquainted with some of the most valuable botan- 

 ical literature, but, what is more important, you will come, 

 in some measure, to understand the habits and methods of 

 the great workers in science, and will, perhaps insensibly to 

 yourself, catch something of their spirit, and learn to 

 work as they did, honestly, accurately, and " with infinite 

 patience." 



One of the greatest investigators who has ever lived 

 wrote a few years ago : " Whenever I have found out that 

 I have blundered, or that my work has been imperfect, 

 and when I have been contemptuously criticised, and even 

 when I have been over-praised, so that I have felt morti- 

 fied, it has been my greatest comfort to say hundreds of 

 times to myself that ' I have worked as hard and as well 

 as I could, and no man can do more than this.' " 1 



1 Charles Darwin, Life and Letters, p. 72. 



