598 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1356 



to the various conditions tinder whicli botany- 

 is taught that it seemed desirable to publish 

 a few representative outlines and some of 

 those showing the more radical departures 

 from the better known types of courses. A 

 number of outlines of high school courses in 

 botany were also included in the series of 

 twenty which was published during 1919-20 

 in five numbers of School Science and Mathe- 

 matics?- 



An examination of the outlines soon made 

 clear, as was to be expected, that there is 

 great divergence of opinion on what should be 

 the content of an introductory course and the 

 order of presentation of its material. Yet 

 this situation is far from indicating chaos in 

 the methods of teaching. It means that for 

 the most part conditions under which courses 

 are framed are so various in schools and col- 

 leges that there can be no standardization of 

 the introductory course. Also the personality 

 of the instructor as shown in the teclmique of 

 his teaching is a variable factor that can 

 never be brough,t within bounds. There are 

 some teachers exhibiting a spirit for experi- 

 mentation and an originality of treatment 

 that makes their outlines of refreshing 

 interest. 



Very evident is the expressed desire to 

 make a large part of the course a study of the 

 life activities of plants. Morphology is gen- 

 erally presented that laiowledge of structure 

 may make possible a study of function. The 

 work of the plant becomes a subject of im- 

 portance and the plant as a mechanism a 

 matter of particular interest. Tew of the 

 outlines gave special emphasis to the study 

 of types with the end in view of developing a 

 detailed evolutionary history. The few repre- 

 sentatives of the lower plants are obviously 

 selected because they are organisms of im- 

 portance for what they do or because of 

 peculiarities favorable for an understanding 

 of cell structure or reproductive processes. 



There seems to be no disposition to drop 



1 A limited number of reprints of these outlines 

 are available for distribution and will be sent on 

 application to those interested in the problem of 

 the introductory course in botany. 



out of the introductory course drill on the 

 life histories of higher plants to establish the 

 sig-nificance of sporophyte and gametophyte. 

 Except in the shortest of the outlines, alter- 

 nation of generations beginning with the 

 bryophytes has a prominent place in the 

 course. There is significance in this desire 

 to hold students to a critical understanding 

 of the homologies between spermatophytes, 

 pteridophytes and bryophytes for the prob- 

 lems are of the sort that call for close think- 

 ing. Also, the conclusions are perhaps the 

 most important deductions of plant mor- 

 phology. 



While there is an evident desire on the part 

 of instructors to include physiological studies 

 the practical difS.cuIties are admittedly great. 

 In the large introductory courses of some uni- 

 versities, where classes number 200 or more, 

 physiological work must be taught largely by 

 demonstrations unless there is an expensive 

 equipment and a staff of numerous and 

 capable assistants. Outlines number 2, 5 and 

 11 of the published series present courses 

 organized primarily from the physiological 

 standpoint and are of particular interest in 

 this connection. Most instructors open the 

 introductory course by the way of morphology, 

 which has the obvious advantage of present- 

 ing material upon which the student may 

 quickly be put to work, and introduce phys- 

 iology with morphology as a background. 



The problems of field work are an evident 

 source of irritation. The fact seems to be that 

 relatively few students show much interest 

 in names or in the natural histoiy of plants, 

 but they frequently are attracted to a study 

 of structure, to the physics and chemistry of 

 plant life, and to the discussion of funda- 

 mental biological principles. Of course the 

 teacher of a small group in a country en- 

 vironment can do much more with ecology 

 than the city teacher limited to parks and 

 gardens, and burdened with large classes. 

 Much may be said for optional field trips 

 attracting only the students with a keen 

 desire to know plants and plant associations, 

 students in whose company on a walk an in- 

 structor will find pleasure. 



