No. 11. 



Study of Botany by Ladies. 



331 



sands of young men, blest with education 

 and fortunes adequate to supply all reason- 

 able wants in the country, rushing into 

 cities, exhausting their small means in the 

 extravagances and dissipations of fashion- 

 able life; crowding all the professions to 

 repletion ; pressing on, with vexation and 

 disappointment heaped upon vexation and 

 disappointment, into all the avenues of po- 

 litical office and distinction, and into all the 

 bitter strifes of political controversy; forcing 

 their way into the pursuits of trade without 

 talents tor their prosecution, and almost sure 

 to involve themselves in bankruptcy and 

 ruin; and, in one form and another, drag- 

 ging on tlirough life without satisfaction to 

 themselves and without usefulness to others, 

 and too often a ruinous burden upon those 

 whom it is tiow their turn to succor and re- 

 lieve. I cannot, therefore, help wishing that 

 the pursuits of agriculture might be made 

 attractive to such persons; and that, with 

 education, and that moderate fortune which 

 would give them the command of the best 

 advantages of rural life, they might find in 

 it, as far as rational happiness and humble 

 usefulness are concerned, that philosopher's 

 stone which in other places they are almost 

 sure to search for in vain. — Colmaji's Agri- 

 cultural Tour No. 3. 



Study of Botany by Ladies. 



Extract from a Lecture read before the 

 Ladies^ Botanical Society, at Wilming- 

 tov, Delaioare, March 2nd, 1845; by Dr. 

 William Darlington, of West Chester, 

 Pennsylvania. 



Of all the intellectual exercises, kindly 

 provided for us in this stage of being, few 

 are more instructive, or more agreeable to 

 contemplative minds, than the study of na- 

 ture, — or, the investigation of the history, 

 character, relations and purposes, of the ma- 

 terial objects which a wise and beneficent 

 Creator has placed around us: and, of the 

 several departments of what are called the 

 Natural Sciences, perhaps one of the most 

 useful — certainly one of the most elegant 

 and attractive — is that which embraces the 

 varied products of the vegetable creation. 



The science of Botany has for its objects 

 the most lovely of all the inanimate works 

 of God. It treats of those beautiful forms 

 which annually unfold themselves to our 

 admiring gaze — which everywhere clothe 

 and decorate the teeming surface of the 

 earth; affording, directly or indirectly, the 

 sustenance of all animals, and regaling 

 every sense, of every creature, that has a 

 capacity to be gratified. It is a science pe 



culiarly appropriated to gentle minds. Its 

 cultivation imposes no tax upon the feelings 

 — involves no cruelty — shocks no sensibili- 

 ty; all its incidents and attributes are pro- 

 motive of corporeal health, and pure intel- 

 lectual pleasure. Why, then, should not a 

 rational acquaintance with those interesting 

 products, which surround us on every hand, 

 and are literally strewed along our paths, 

 why should not such a science be made an 

 indispensable branch of female education? 

 As a mere accomplishment, it is entitled to 

 rank with any of those ornamental acquire- 

 ments to w'hich so much time is devoted. 

 As a means of enlarging and disciplining 

 the mind, training it to habits of correct ob- 

 servation and profitable reflection, 'the study 

 of plants is far superior to many of the 

 fashionable and fugitive attainments which 

 now so generally engross the attention of 

 young ladies. It is a pursuit, too, which 

 carries with it its own reward. The know- 

 ledge which it affords, is at once pleasing in 

 the acquisition, and of enduring value. It 

 is continually called for, and always at com- 

 mand, ready to minister to the instruction 

 and gratification of the possessor — whether 

 in the garden, the field, or the forest. 



" These studies," said the Roman orator, 

 on another occasion, — and it is even more 

 emphatically true on this — "These studies 

 are the intellectual nourishment of youth, 

 and the cheering recreation of age; they 

 adorn prosperity, and are the solace and 

 refuge of adversity; they are pleasant at 

 home, and are no incumbrance abroad ; they 

 abide witii us by night — go with us in all 

 our travels — and lend additional charms to 

 the attractions of our rural retreats." 



Those who make only occasional visits or 

 excursions in the country, will find their 

 pleasure greatly enhanced by an acquaint- 

 ance with the plants which mainly contri- 

 bute to the beauty of the scenery. But, by 

 those whose constant residence is in the 

 midst of the vegetable tribes, a reasonable 

 knowledge of Botany should be regarded, 

 not merely as an accomplishment, but, as 

 one of the indispensable qualifications for 

 the duties of rural life. I have often insisted 

 tliat an American farmer should blush to be 

 ignorant of the objects of his peculiar care; 

 and I know not why a farmer's wife or 

 daughter should be entirely excused for a 

 like deficiency in her attainments. On the 

 contrary, I believe it is to wives and daugh- 

 ters that we must look for the commence- 

 ment of a thorough reformation. A com- 

 petent knowledge of the ch'aracter and 

 properties of those plants which interest the 

 gardener and the agriculturist, is unques- 

 tionably desirable for both sexes : and 1 sin- 



