BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTION 



Definition. The branch of science the object of which is 

 the study of the plant, from- as many different points of view 

 as possible, is termed Botany. All its laws can be proved by 

 observation and experiment, and it is consequently known as 

 one of the concrete sciences. If we wish to include all plants 

 it is impossible to clearly define what is meant by a plant, 

 because the higher plants differ in many respects from the 

 lower, and so many exceptions to any rule we may state present 

 themselves. It is true that in olden times our forefathers 

 divided all forms of life into animals and plants, but we find 

 we cannot, with the knowledge of to-day, draw a clear boundary 

 line between them. It is easy to recognise the difference 

 between an oak tree and a horse, but when the lower forms of 

 life are examined no clear division can be drawn between 

 animals and plants. All living things are built up of the same 

 kind of material, vfz. protoplasm. Protoplasm has been 

 called the physical basis of life, because life is never found apart 

 from it. There appears to be no difference between the 

 protoplasm obtained from animals and that obtained from plants. 

 In fact, what we speak of as the tree of life is forked, the 

 animals being found on one side and the plants on the other, 

 .-IB B 



