28 EIVEKBY 



Most young people find botany a dull study. So 

 it is, as taught from the text-books in the schools; 

 but study it yourself in the fields and woods, and 

 you will find it a source of perennial delight. Find 

 your flower, and then name it by the aid of the bot- 

 any. There is so much in a name. To find out 

 what a thing is called is a great help. It is the 

 beginning of knowledge; it is the first step. When 

 we see a new person who interests us, we wish 

 to know his or her name. A bird, a flower, a place, 

 — the first thing we wish to know about it is its 

 name. Its name helps us to classify it; it gives 

 us a handle to grasp it by ; it sheds a ray of light 

 where all before was darkness. As soon as we know 

 the name of a thiog, we seem to have established 

 some sort of relation with it. 



The other day, while the train was delayed by an 

 accident, I wandered a few yards away from it along 

 the river margin seeking wild flowers. Should I 

 find any whose name I did not know 1 While thus 

 loitering, a young English girl also left the train 

 and came in my direction, plucking the flowers right 

 and left as she came. But they were all unknown 

 to her; she did not know the name of one of them, 

 and she wished to send them home to her father, 

 too. With what satisfaction she heard the names ! 

 The words seemed to be full of meaning to her, 

 though she had never heard them before in her life. 

 It was what she wanted : it was an introduction to 

 the flowers, and her interest in them increased at 



