On the Management of Elementary Classes in Botany. 



comfort at most seasons of the year, but, in this warm and leafy month of June, solid enough under foot 

 to dispel uncomfortable fears of false steps. If, instead of descending, you skii-t along the brow of the hill, 

 to the westward you come upon open meadows, with here and there a low copse or thicket ; while to the 

 eastward are noble woods of maple and beech, succeeded farther on by pines, as the character of the soil 

 changes. To the southward are cultivated fields and market gardens, and in the distance the glinting of 

 the sun on a couple of church spires marks the direction of the neighboring town. 



Ten o'clock is the hour of meeting, and on this occasion an exemplary punctuality is observed by every- 

 body. As it is intended to make a day of it, lunch baskets have not been forgotten. These are left for safe- 

 keeping at a cottage close by, and then, after a brief rest in the shade of a friendly beech, the party is 

 divided, for the day's work, into small groups, and an area roughly marked out for each. The lower 

 groiinds and the lake region, as being somewhat difficult of access, are assigned to the sturdier boys, whilst 

 the hillside and the exploration of the woods and fields above are divided among the remainder. 



It is agreed that the work of collection shall be limited to two hours, and accordingly, as the distant 

 boom of the noon bell comes over the fields, our botanists begin to straggle in again. It is nearly one 

 o'clock, however, before the last detachment arrives. This consists of the boys who have made theii- way 

 to the eastern end of the lake and the beaver-meadow. Their appearance is hailed with a shout of admi- 

 ration, for of all the collections of flowers, theirs is certainly the most imposing. They must, indeed, have 

 hit upon a veritable botanic garden, for each of them carries a huge bouquet, made up of a profusion of 

 Lady's Slippers and other Orchids, together with Lilies, Pitcher Plants, and beautiful pink Pyrolas. These 

 boys are flushed with the excitement of their walk and their success ; and though the condition of their 

 lower extremities would seem to indicate that they are not altogether unacquainted with bogs, they make 

 no reference thereto, but dwell with enthusiasm, and some degree of extravagance perhaps, on the beauties 

 of the scene they have just left. But the others, though their collection will not vie in brilliancy with the 

 products of the beaver-meadow, have, nevertheless, in nearly every case, something of more than ordinary 

 interest to show. The explorers of the lake margin were fortunate enough to find a punt, by means of 

 which a number of aquatic plants, Yellow Pond Lilies, Utricularias, the pretty white Water-Crou'foot, and 

 the Water-Shield, were brought within their reach ; and on the cool northern hill-side, trailing over the 

 base of moss-covered stumps, specimens of the Twin-Flower — a special favorite of the great Linnaeus, and 

 named Linncea borealis in his honor — were obtained, as well as Violets of various species, "Woodbines, 

 Mitchellas, etc. The open fields and fence-rows yielded St. John's-worts, Elder, Gnaphaliums of several 

 species, a handsome liudbeckia — the purple C!one-flower — and of course the ubiquitous Dandelion, and May- 

 weed, and Mullein. 



But just now there are cravings which are not intellectual, cravings too urgent to be disregarded. The 

 interest in botany is, at this moment, decidedly of a secondary nature, and when the lunch baskets are sent 

 for, and their contents exposed to view, the gravest doubts of their sufficiency are entertained and freely 

 expressed. The fullest kind of justice is done them, and in the course of a few minutes no vestige whatso- 

 ever remains — nothing even suggestive of them, save the shrunken wrappers, upon which some eyes are 

 now turned with an expression almost approaching to gloom. It is suggested, and the suggestion meets 

 with no opposition, that whatever may be the merits of botanical pursuits from an intellectual point of 

 view, they have recommendations of a physical nature, not wholly unworthy of consideration ; and it begins 

 to dawn upon these youthful scientists, though as yet they have no clear conception of the ideal Tnena sana 

 in corpore sano, that Botany has this decided advantage over all other school studies, that, to pursue it with 

 efficiency, exercise of body must accompany exercise of mind. They oan also comprehend that the botanical 

 laboratory is as free as air to everyone who wishes to make use of it ; that everywhere around them the 

 lavish productions of nature are only waiting to be asked, to unfold their beauties ; and that anyone who 

 holds converse with the silent yet eloquent creations of the floral world, must become imbued with more or 

 less of the feeling which inspired the tenderest of American poets, when he sang of the flowers as 



"Teaching us by most persuasive reasons 

 How akin they are to human things." 



But the afternoon is advancing, and important work still remains to be done. It is not enou'j;h to 

 admii-e color and form ; we must look a little deeper, and analyze the structure of our flowers with as much 



