6 PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 



contribute such directions and suggestions as I have been able 

 to develop in my own experience for the teaching of an elementary 

 course. 



We consider finally the place which a course in Plant Physi- 

 ology, treated by itself as a unified subject, should hold in the 

 college curriculum. Theoretically it would seem best to intro- 

 duce it as early as possible, even before the study of structure 

 upon which it throws a flood of light. But here, as so often 

 in teaching, that which is fair in theory plays false in practice. 

 Many of the facts and phenomena with which Physiology deals 

 are of so abstract and unfamiliar a sort that the student must 

 have a considerable foundation in concrete fact, scientific train- 

 ing, and mental maturity, before he is prepared to profit fully 

 by the subject. Moreover a later position for this study allows 

 the student more time to obtain that training in Chemistry and 

 Physics, in Zoology and Meteorology, and in German, which 

 form such desirable, if not essential, preliminaries to Physiology. 

 From all points of view it seems best that the biogenetic law 

 should be followed, and that the subject should come latest 

 in the student's training, as it has come latest in the develop- 

 ment of the science. The undergraduate course in Botany 

 which seems to me to offer the optimum of advantage to the stu- 

 dent would follow somewhat the following plan: 



The First Year (whether in high school or college). General Course, ar- 

 ranged to give a synopsis of the subject to those who follow it no farther, 

 and a foundation for higher work to those who do. My experience with 

 such a course is embodied in my book, "The Teaching Botanist" (New 

 York, The Macmillan Co.). 



The Second Year. Course in Morphology, tracing the structures, rela- 

 tionships, and adaptations of the Groups from the lowest Alga? to the 

 highest Phanerogams. 



The Third Year. Course in Cellular Anatomy, with Cytology and Em- 

 bryology. 



The Fourth Year. A Course (or Practicum) in Experimental Plant Physi- 

 ology, upon some such plan as is developed in this book. 



After such a course the student should be prepared to under- 

 take university or other research work. This arrangement seems to 

 me best for colleges in Arts. For those in Agriculture it might be 



