PREFACE. 



THESE exercises have been prepared for classes in high 

 schools and other institutions of similar grade, and are 

 intended to indicate, in a general way, the nature of the 

 work that in the judgment of the writer should be under- 

 taken with young people who are just beginning the sys- 

 tematic study of common forms of plant life. They were 

 suggested by frequent inquiries of teachers regarding the 

 preparation in botany now required for admission to the 

 University of Michigan. 



No originality is claimed for the subject-matter or its 

 treatment, although much time has been spent in the 

 effort to develop a natural and practicable method of 

 approaching the study of living things. While the study 

 of relationship holds the first place, the attention of the 

 pupil is directed at every step to the physiological signifi- 

 cance of observed facts ; and although this will hardly be 

 approved by those who attempt to separate sharply the 

 domain of morphology from that of physiology, it has 

 seemed to the writer better to follow Nature than be 

 cramped by such artificial barriers. Some of the exer- 

 cises will perhaps appear too simple -and others too diffi- 

 cult, but a judicious selection on the part of the teacher 

 will do much to correct this. 



As to the ground that ought to be covered in such a 

 course, and the proper sequence of subjects, there is natu- 



