INTRODUCTION 38 
better than to examine at the outset the structure of a few 
familiar seeds, then sprout them and watch the growth of 
the seedlings which spring from them. Afterwards he 
may study in a few typical examples the organs, structure, 
and functions of seed-plants, trace their life history, and 
so, step by step, follow the process by which a new crop 
of seeds at last results from the growth and develop. 
ment of such a seed as that with which he began. 
After he has come to know in a general way about the 
structure and functions of seed-plants, the student may 
become acquainted with some typical cryptogams or spore- 
plants. There are so many groups of these that only a 
few representative ones can be chosen for study. 
