LESSON 30.] HOW TO STUDY PLANTS. 181 



tially distinguishes it ; and finally, following the name of each spe- 

 cies, is the specific character, a succinct enumeration of the points 

 in which it mainly differs from other species of the same genus. 

 See, for illustration, Clematis Fremontii, p. 2, where the sentence 

 immediately following the name is intended to characterize that 

 species from all others like it. 



521. Generally, where we have several species of a genus, the 

 species are arranged under sections, and these often under subsec- 

 tions, for the student's convenience in analysis, the character or 

 description of a section applying to all the species under it, and 

 therefore not having to be repeated under each species. But these 

 details are best understood by practice in the actual studying of 

 plants to ascertain their name and place. And to this the student 

 is now ready to proceed. 



LESSON XXX. 



HOW TO STUDY PLANTS. 



,522. HAVING explained, in the two preceding Lessons, the gen- 

 eral principles of Classification, and of Botanical Names, we may 

 now show, by a few examples, how the student is to proceed in 

 applying them, and how the name and the place in the system of 

 an unknown plant are to be ascertained. 



523. We suppose the student to be provided with a hand magni- 

 fying-alass, and, if possible, with a simple microscope, i. e. with a 

 magnifying-glass, of two or more different powers, mounted on a 

 support, over a stage, holding a glass plate, on which small flowers 

 or their parts may be laid, while they are dissected under the mi- 

 croscope with the points of needles (mounted in handles), or divided 

 by a sharp knife. Such a microscope is not necessary, except for 

 very small flowers ; but it is a great convenience at all times, and 

 is indispensable in studying the more difficult orders of plants. 



524. We suppose the student now to have a work in which the 

 plants of the country or district are scientifically arranged and de- 

 scribed : if in the Southern Atlantic States, Dr. Chapman's Flora 

 of the Southern States ; if north of Carolina and Tennessee, Gray's 

 Manual of the Botany of the United States, fifth edition; if on the 

 plains west of the Mississippi, or in the Eocky Mountains, Coulter's 



