INTRODUCTORY LESSONS. 
THESE lessons are designed to be used as a guide in the actual 
study of plants, and the teacher is implored not to require pupils 
to memorize them for recitation. Let it be borne in mind that 
Botany is the study of plants, not the study of beoks. Let the 
book be a guide, and nothing more. 
It is suggested that for his first work the pupil should be re- 
quired to make a complete examination of a plant, following the 
order given, and making a careful record of his observations. 
The descriptive terms commonly used in manuals of botany are 
introduced for the use of the pupil in making his record, and 
with these he should familiarize himself as soon as possible. The 
pupil may now be examined upon the structure of the plant he 
has studied, and may be required to define the descriptive terms 
he has used in his work. However, the teacher is again warned 
not to require a memorizing of these terms before the pupil has 
made their acquaintance by an actual examination. 
A dozen plants carefully examined throughout should make the 
pupil sufficiently familiar with the gross anatomy of flowering 
plants, and the common descriptive terms, so that any of the 
ordinary systematic manuals may be readily used. But it must 
be insisted that the work must be thoroughly done. A hasty and 
careless running through the pages, with plant in hand, will not 
help the pupil. The work must be slow, careful, and conscien- 
tious. And the pupil must bring to his work the determination 
to acquire as quickly as possible the power of close observation 
and accurate description. While he is forbidden to memorize 
descriptive terms while they are meaningless to him, yet he is 
