ADVANTAGES OFFEKED BY BOTANY. 



301 



period of education, which shall give the observing and induc- 

 tive faculties a corresponding continuous and systematic un- 

 folding. What subject is best fitted for this purpose ? 



\ 



VII. ADVANTAGES OFFERED BY BOTANY. 



The largest number of advantages for the purpose we have 

 in view will be found combined in that branch of natural his^ 

 tory which treats of the vegetable kingdom. "While each of 

 the sciences has its special claim as a subject of study, it is 

 thought that none of them can compare with Botany in ful- 

 filling the various conditions now indicated, and which entitle 

 it to take a regular and fundamental place in our scheme of 

 common-school instruction. Its prominent claims are : 



I. The materials furnished by the vegetable kingdom for 

 direct observation and practical study are abundant, and easily 

 accessible, overhead, underfoot, and all around grass, weeds, 

 flowers, trees open and common to everybody. There is 

 no expense, as in experimental science. And, in meeting this 

 fundamental condition of a universal objective study, it may 

 be claimed that Botany is without a rival. 



II. The collection of specimens may be carried on as regu- 

 larly as any other school-exercise, while they are just as suit- 

 able objects upon the scholar's desk as the books themselves. 

 They cannot interfere with the order and propriety of the 

 class-room. 



III. The elementary facts of Botany are so simple, that their 

 study can be commenced in early childhood, and so numerous 

 as to sustain a prolonged course of observation. The characters 

 of plants which engage attention at this period of acquisition 

 are external, requiring neither magnifying-glass nor dissecting- 

 knife to find them. 



IV. From these rudimentary facts the pupil may proceed 

 gradually to the more complex, from the concrete to the ab- 

 stract from observations to the truths that rest upon observa- 

 tion, in a natural order of ascent, as required by the laws of 

 mental growth. If properly commenced, the study may be 

 stopped at any stage, and the advantages gained are substan- 



