March, 1 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



233 



is needful to study, suggest some idea of 

 their relative iuiportance, give needed bits 

 of information now and then, and in general 

 supply just enough data to allow the student 

 to work by liunself to correet conclusions. 

 But an ordinary lal)oratorj' manual is not 

 sufficient, for a great value of these weekly 

 guides is that they fit the exact material to 

 be used, the state of advancement of the 

 class, and the logical course laid out by the 

 instructor, which cannot be the same as that 

 of anybody else's manual. These guides 

 may also be madi? to supply botanical 

 terms, always upon the good pedagogic 

 principle of making the student feel the 

 need of a term before supplj-ing it, and then 

 offering it not as a term with a delinition, 

 but as a definition or description which can 

 be expressed in a single word. The efl'ect 

 of these guides upon the order and rapidity 

 of work is remarkably great, and they en- 

 able one assistant to teach a much lai'ger 

 section than is possible without them. 



It is also of very great value to the labor- 

 atorj' work to have the lectures accompany, 

 and actually, as they do theoretically, sup- 

 plement it. This is practically possible, 

 though perhaps not always convenient. The 

 most logical coui-se (to be briefly described 

 immediately) that I have been able to de- 

 velop in my few years' teaching does allow 

 the lectures to keep with and supplement the 

 laboratory work throughout the term. 

 Laboratory study must always be the study 

 of a few type forms ; the correlation of the 

 data thus gained, their bearing upon general 

 principles and theii- relation to the science 

 as a whole must be the function of the 

 lecture, and this is the better performed 

 when the latter follows as closely as possi- 

 ble upon the former and while it is stiU 

 fresh in mind. A few minutes at the begin- 

 ning of each lecture devoted specially to the 

 topics of the laboratory work just past, and 

 its relation to what is to come, has been 

 found to be very profitable. 



We come finally to our fourth and last 

 problem, how can good materials be pro- 

 vided in the winter to .such large classes? 

 A college which has abundant greenhouses 

 hardly needs to ask this question. What 

 remarkable results may be obtained in pro- 

 viding large quantities of material from 

 small space is shown by Mr. B. JI. Watson's 

 work at the Bussey Institution in supplying 

 material to the classes at Harvard. For 

 those less fortunately situated, its solution 

 is to be found in so arranging the course 

 that materials available in the markets or 

 easily grown, come first, and are gradually 

 replaced by out-door materials as the season 

 advances. Happily the most logical plan 

 of treatment for a general course in Botany 

 lends itself exactly to this procedure. Ex- 

 perience has shown that with elementary 

 classes it is desirable to consider plant life 

 as a cycle, which may best be broken for 

 studj^ at the seed. If now the structure and 

 morphology of the seed be the first topic in 

 Ijoth Laboratory and Lectures, and its de- 

 velopment into the young plant the second, 

 and if then the plant-organs leaf, root, 

 stem, flower and fruit be treated in succes- 

 sion, we are in both bi'ought back to the 

 starting point, the seed. If, moreover, in the 

 lectures, the full biologj' and physiology of 

 each organ be considered along with its 

 anatomy and morphology and as determin- 

 ing these, then are the topics not only 

 treated in the most logical and in.structive 

 fashion, but the lectures and laboratory 

 work may be kept together, the one truly 

 suiJplementing the other; and the topics are 

 taken up in the order which allows material 

 best obtainable in winter to come first, 

 gi-adually giving place to that which the 

 spring oflers. The seed, always obtainable, 

 comes first, then follow germinating embryos 

 and young plants easj' to grow in wardiaii 

 cases in class rooms or at very small cost in 

 the nearest greenhouse. Leaves may be ob- 

 tained from the same greenhouse, from 



