CONVERSATIONS 



CONVERSATION I. 



Emily. As I wander over these beautiful mountains, 

 and observe the variety of flowers they produce, how much 

 I regret my ignorance of botany !* 



Mrs. B. It is, certainly, a science particularly adapted 

 to Switzerland ; but why should you suffer your regret to 

 be vain ? To wish to learn is the first, and often the most 

 difficult step towards the acquisition of knowledge. 



Emily. I should certainly like to understand botany, 

 but I have no wish to learn it : there is such a drudgery 

 of classification to encounter, before one can attain any 

 proficiency to recompense one's labours, that I confess I 

 do not feel courage to make the attempt. 



Caroline. And, after all, what is it one acquires ? A 

 knowledge of the class in which a flower is to be placed, 

 according to the number of its stamens or its pistils ; and, 

 perhaps, after hard study, one may go so far as to ascer- 

 tain its Latin name, though you may still be ignorant how 

 it is called in your own vulgar tongue. Botany appears 

 to me a science of rules and names, not of ideas ; and is, 



* The term Botany derives its name from the Greek word botane, 

 which signifies an herb, or grass. This word may be easily traced to 600 

 or bosko, to feed ; and, since plants have ever been regarded as the food 

 of a large portion of animals, the aptness of its derivation is apparent. 



! To what place does Mrs. B. consider the science of Botany par- 

 ticularly suited * 2. What does she say is the first and often the most 

 difficult step towards the acquisition of knowledge 1 3. Why has 

 Emily no wish to learn Botany 1 4. How does Botany appear to 

 Caroline'? 



