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delicious green, the blaze of flowers, or the teeming Avealth ;>f 

 fruits ; even decay itself brings forth its special charms. The 

 loftiest trees and the lowliest plants — witness the cushions of 

 brilliant green moss or the splash of lichen upon the rock — each 

 have their place, and combine to make up the perfect whole. 



Most people profess an admiration of the floral aspect of 

 Nature ; with many the admiration is most genuine, and yet 

 with all these attractions there are comparatively few Botanists 

 — few who care to study the history, the life, the relationships 

 of plants, which constitute the science of Botany. 



Why should this be ? In this room we are most of us 

 Naturalists — how did we become so ? The schoolboy, if he be 

 at school in the country, and has a taste for Natural History, is 

 very apt, if he be of the ordinary type, to prefer any branch 

 which involves killing something, or, at all events, stealing, as 

 collecting eggs — hereditary instinct you will say ; but if he 

 have a real liking for Natural History, he will probably keep 

 pet toads or snakes in his desk or pockets, and will acquire a 

 most particular knowledge of the habits and natm'e of his little 

 friends, and thus begin a practical acquaintance with Zoology ; 

 or he may be an Entomologist, and besides collecting, keep a 

 farm for his caterpillars and larvae. The Botanist is more rare ; 

 the attractions that draw him have not power over the many, 

 but those who do take up the study are often apt learners, and 

 do honom" to schoolboy science, acquired in schoolboy age. 



Botany as Natural Histoiy, and Botany as a science have 

 rather a different look. Of course we know that now-a-days 

 science of ail kinds is taught in schools, and doubtless very well 

 taught, but it is not schoolboy science ; and whether those who 

 commence their studies under the blue heavens, or under teachers 

 and the voice of professors lay the best foundation, I have not 

 to judge. I have only to say that those who begin the study of 

 natm'C in the class-room miss a very pleasant experience. Nor 

 must I omit the ladies. From what we have heard of ladies' 

 schools formerly, nothing would seem more foreign to their 

 teachiiig than Physiology, animal or vegetable, but ladies seem 



