558 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1303 



notions of the universe by reading what some- 

 body else has said about it. Everything has 

 to be subordinated to getting large masses of 

 pupils " through the grades." The simplest 

 way to do this is to cause large quantities 

 of ready-made, predigested information to be 

 memorized, recited upon and " passed " in ex- 

 amination. Originality, curiosity, spontane- 

 ity, are all effectually stamped out by this 

 process, and the child, who is naturally an 

 investigator to begin with, becomes in the 

 end a mere passive recipient of prescribed 

 orthodox information. 



It is the duty of the biological sciences to 

 step into the school room, reawaken this 

 latent curiosity, and fan the sparks of origi- 

 nality into the flame of investigation. Can 

 this best be done by a course in botany that 

 is " scientific " from the adult standpoint, but 

 that is totally lacking in vivid human in- 

 terest from the point of view of young people. 

 Shall we stimulate observation in eyes al- 

 ready grown accustomed to looking for the 

 world in print, by carrying them still farther 

 away from the domain of sense experience, 

 we must compel young people to realize the 

 vast range of nature about them that their 

 eyes should be open to see. We must lead 

 them first uj) to the plants, and only after- 

 ward inside of them. Does any one who has 

 ever worked with young students, doubt for a 

 moment that one of the surest ways of arous- 

 ing and holding their interest in the plant 

 world, is to open up new vistas of knowledge 

 to them in those many plants which already 

 claim the world's interest because of their 

 usefulness or beauty. 



So far as the teaching of botany as an 

 observational subject is concerned, it is 

 possible to say from personal experience, that 

 the use of the straight observational method 

 in an ordinary laboratory of elementary 

 botany, conducted entirely without the use of 

 any laboratory guides or outlines whatsoever, 

 has proved an entirely successful experiment. 

 The plants were placed before the students, 

 with instructions to find out, first with the 

 eyes, then with the simple microscope, and 

 finally with the compound microscope, all 

 that they could discover about them that 



seemed in any way characteristic, and after- 

 wards to describe what they had observed, 

 both in writing and by sketches, in extent, 

 measure and proportion as they saw fit, being 

 held responsible for getting results, but not 

 for the manner or form of getting them. It 

 is siu-prising what an amount of spontaneous 

 observation, original in form and substance, 

 was evoked by this method. It can be con- 

 fidentally asserted that public-school pupils 

 just entering the high school, or high-school 

 students just entering college, and spoiled for 

 original thinking and observation by the con- 

 tinual taking of notes and following of out- 

 lines, can be taken in hand by this method 

 and trained to observe nature. 



Secondly, with regard to the imparting of 

 such botanical knowledge as will be most use- 

 ful, it would scarcely seem to demand dis- 

 cussion, that for the majority of secondary- 

 school pupils, that botanical training is most 

 desirable which gives them the greatest pos- 

 sible amount of knowledge which can be 

 made practically serviceable. The relation of 

 plant physiology and structure to agriculture 

 and horticulture, plant diseases, medicinal 

 plants, weeds and their eradication, plant 

 breeding, the botanical relationships of the 

 chief families of the seed plants, and espe- 

 cially of the economic plants, are fields in 

 botany that can be drawn upon for teaching 

 purposes with the greatest profit. 



A broader knowledge of the species and 

 varieties of economic and ornamental forest 

 and fruit trees, wild and cultivated, and of 

 the wild and cultivated ornamental flowering 

 plants, will also lead to an interest in intro- 

 ducing and growing many new and attractive 

 forms of plant life in the community, and 

 in the consequent adornment of homes monot- 

 onously devoid of variety and beauty. 



Finally, as a means of enlightenment and 

 of imparting culture, botany is a sadly neg- 

 lected field. Between the teachers with idtra- 

 scientific proclivities and propensities, and 

 those who are frank agronomists, the obvious 

 opportunities of botany in the humanistic 

 field have been extensivel,y overlooked. The 

 history of the origin and migrations of the 

 cultivated plants, and the discovery and use 



