142 ETON NATURE-STUDY 



necessary for all true scientific work. Unless a spirit of enquiry be 

 first aroused, and powers of observation and deduction to some 

 extent acquired, the study of what is known as elementary biology 

 may produce little more than an exercise of the memory and an 

 unthinking obedience to the directions of a practical manual. 

 Knowledge thus derived, although perhaps useful in passing examin- 

 ations, cannot be held as evidence of a satisfactory scientific 

 education. 



Again it is quite possible to pick out from among the lessons in 

 this book and in Part II, all those which refer to the flowering 

 plant and use them with some elaborations which will suggest 

 themselves as an introduction to the study of plant life. For 

 instance, after a preliminary exercise upon the parts of a plant the 

 germination and structure of seeds may be considered. 



When sufficiently advanced the seedlings can be made use of to 

 prove that plants, to grow healthily, need light as well as air, and 

 those sown in earth can be weighed from time to time. 



The young plants as in the case of the bean, should be carefully 

 drawn to scale. 



So soon as the plants have stem, roots, and leaves, simple experi- 

 ments should be devised to show the function of each of these. 



Simultaneously with physiological experiments, the structure of 

 the different parts can be examined, according to instructions 

 prepared and distributed. The pupils should cut their own sections, 

 and in every case make careful drawings with full explanations of 

 their preparations. It is not desirable, except in special cases, to 

 attempt any kind of microscopical technique, such as the making of 

 permanent slides. 



When the other work is done, the actual classification of flowers may 

 be begun and the reasons for assigning the plant to its special order. 



