HOW TO BEGIN. 351 



The great difficulty lies in beginning. Few 

 people have their attention called to natural ap- 

 pearances and productions, in that early period 

 of life, when the only object is the acquiring of 

 knowledge purely for its own sake. The natural 

 desire, which parents and others, who have the 

 care of young people, have that the preliminary 

 instruction which is to prepare them for business, 

 should be uninterrupted and occupy their whole 

 attention, naturally renders those parties rather 

 averse to the observation of nature, as falling 

 more within the category of play than of that of 

 business. Also, when the young do take a turn for 

 that species of occupation, they are apt to become 

 inquisitive, and to put questions which are not 

 very easily answered, even by those who know a 

 little of the quality of natural history which is 

 current in the printed books. Indeed, as the 

 science of plants consists very much in the tech- 

 nicalities of a system, of which beginners cannot 

 easily see the use, either in acquiring a know- 

 ledge of nature, or in applying that knowledge, 

 the assistance which is given, although given 

 with the very best intentions, is often as much a 

 hindrance as a help. The greatest hindrance of 

 all is the want of a popular language. The spe- 

 cies of plants, that have been discovered as native 

 in Britain, and on the shores of the British seas, 

 amount to nearly four thousand. The half of 

 these have not English names; and of those 

 that have, the names are mostly local, and do 

 not find a place in the mother language of the 

 country. The vast number of foreign plants 

 which have been introduced, have of course no 

 English names, as it has not been the fashion 



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