PREFACE 



In the present volume an attempt has been made to present 

 the more important aspects of botanical science, not only as 

 they are related to pure biological science, but also as they are 

 connected and associated with our daily life and interests. The 

 general reader will find here a discussion of the laws and prin- 

 ciples that control and direct plant life and of the importance 

 of this life. The author also has had in mind the difificulties 

 that the student experiences in entering a new field. To make 

 the subject more approachable, many of the technical terms have 

 been eliminated and an easily comprehended terminology has 

 been maintained throughout the book. The text is designed 

 especially for the benefit of the student who is beginning the 

 subject. We trust that a study of it will bring him to the class, 

 room prepared for a discussion of the topics and we also trust 

 that this work of preparation will tax him to the full measure 

 of his intellectual capacity. The author is old fashioned in his 

 ideas of education. Work that simply entertains or imparts 

 information and that does not create the sufferings associated 

 with mental effort can be of little permanent value or make for 

 any considerable development. Finally the book will fall short 

 of its real purpose unless used in the laboratory in connection 

 with the plants themselves. Detailed directions are not given 

 for the laboratory work — these of necessity must vary with the 

 instructor and with the locality — but the text gives the student 

 sufficient guidance and understanding to enable him to find out 

 for himself the principles and facts in the material to which he 

 has been directed. 



Acknowledgments are due to Professors C. B. Atwell, J. H. 

 Schaffner, F. D. Kern, Ira D. Cardiff, Jean Broadhurst, C. A. 

 Dariing, A. H. Chivers, B. O. Dodge, R. C. Benedict, G. W. 

 Martin and several others for valuable suggestions, in the prepa- 



