12 INTRODUCTION. 



least, from that of the grape : but the individuality of each is widely different Thia 

 principle in the one wiU make it a rose ; in the other, a grape. Individuality can 

 not be predicated of a stone. 



26. Life and death are equally predicated op the plant. The latter fol- 

 lows close upon the former, with unequal, inevitable step, and soon disputes posses- 

 sion in the same living fabric. The plant both lives and dies at once. Life passes 

 on from cell to ceU, and in the parts which it has abandoned dissolution and decay 

 are soon manifest. Thus the whole existence of the individual is a contest. Life 

 advances, death pursues, and ultimately triumphs. But not so in the species. Se- 

 curely transferred to the seed, the living imm.aterial plant moclcs the destroyer, aad 

 begins its career anew, multiplied a hundred fold. 



27. The seed op the plant is its redemption. Through this appointment, 

 the conquest of death is apparent, while the triumph of life is real. In the " grain 

 of mustard" there is literally a faith — an energy which will raise it from the dust, " a 

 tree." Yet, as in the wheat and all other seed, " it shallnot bo quickened except it 

 die." Hence, 



28. Plants may teach us lessons in sacred things. "While we study tlic 

 facts and the forms of the vegetable world, we should also aim to learn the purposes 

 accomplished, and the great principles adopted in its creation. "We should also learn 

 to recognize here the tokens (too long overlooked) which declare that nature sym- 

 pathizes with humanity in the circumstances of the Fall, the Redemption, and the 

 Life. Such study alone is adapted to acquaint us with the thoughts of the intelli- 

 gent Creator, and to discipline aright the mind which was created in His image. 



29. Botany combines pleasure with improvement. It conducts the student 

 into the fields and forests amidst the verdure of spring and the bloom of summer ; 

 to the charming retreats of Nature in her wild luxuriance, or where she patiently 

 smiles under the improving hand of cultivation. It furnishes him with vigorous 

 exercise, both of body and mind, which is no less salutary than agreeable, and its 

 subjects of investigation are all such as are adapted to please the eye, refine the 

 taste, and improve the heart 



CHAPTEK II. 



THE DEPARTMENTS OF THE STUDY. 



30. Three great departments in nature are universally re- 

 cognized, commonly called the mineral, vegetable, and animal king- 

 doms. The first constitutes the Inorganic, the other two the Organic 

 World. 



31. A mineral is an inorganic mass of matter, that is, without di.^- 

 tinction of parts or organs. A stone, for example, may be broken into 

 any number of fragments, each of which will retain all the essential 

 characteristics of the original body, so that each fragment will still be a 

 stone. 



32. A plant is an organized body, endowed with vitality but net 

 with sensation, composed of distinct parts, each of which is essential to 



