38 General Remarks 



as can be found within the pages of any book. She Invites us to 

 fill up our leisure hours in studying these beauties, ^and in drawing 

 thoughts of pleasure and delight from her pure and reLeshing 

 fountain. In preparing our minds, then, to commence the study 

 of Botany, we do not bind ourselves to a laborious task in order 

 to the acquirement of a complete and perfect knowledge of it. 

 While we are following'out our own special avocations m order 

 to our advancement and welfare in life, we merely take up this 

 study as a recreation for the mind in times of leisure and idleness. 

 It is universally acknowledged that no branch of Natural History 

 furnishes better opportunities of improvement and contributes 

 more to the health of the body, while it is supplying wholesome 

 food to the mind. It may be affirmed that it is the science pre- 

 eminently popular — we say, pre-eminently popular ; for where 

 will we find another special science with so many votaries in every 

 rank and station of life — not merely confined to the physician, 

 but finding its way into the precincts of the noble palace and the 

 sacred studio of the clergyman and the man of literature. Nor 

 does it rest here ; its influence ranges further, and glides stealthily 

 but happily within the walls of that Institution, where are edu- 

 cated the fair and amiable of our society ; nor will it ever cease 

 here to be considered an accomplishment of the highest order. 



In prosecuting the study of botanical science, we should not 

 fall into the false idea that the naming of plants is all that is re- 

 quired. Although it is undoubtedly one of our leading objects 

 as practical botanists, it should ever be borne in mind, that such 

 knowledge is merely superficial and tends to no intellectual or 

 practical good. Our great aim should be a thorough acquaintance 

 with the science. We should study it in all its bearings. We 

 should possess a knowledge of the anatomy and structure of 

 plants, in order to prepare our minds for understanding the func- 

 tions of their difterent parts, such as the roots, stem, leaves, and 

 flowers, and for judging of their importance in the economy of 

 nature. We should study also the relations they bear to each 

 other, their specific diff'erences and general alliances ; and lastly, 

 we should investigate their properties, in order to ascertain the 

 special uses to which they may be applied in the economy of man. 

 Having done this, it remains within our choice in what way we 

 are to follow up our knowledge practically, — whether, as agricul- 

 turists, to contribute to the improvement of land in districts or 

 countries ; or as horticulturists, to beautify our private residences 



