

TO BEGINNERS IN THE STUDY OF BOTANY. 
** Use your eyes.” This curt sentence is attributed to the celebrated 
Agassiz. It is said that a young man presented himself to the naturalist, 
_and asked him how he should begin the study of Zodlogy ; to which ques- 
tion the great man replied, ‘‘ Use your eyes.” ‘‘ How?” said the would- 
be pupil. The Doctor took from a shelf in his museum a jar, which 
held a small animal preserved in alcohol, set it before the young man 
and said, ‘‘ Look at that.” He looked and then asked, ‘‘ What next?” 
The reply was, ‘‘ Continue to look.” The same question was repeated 
and the same answer was given, ‘‘ Look.” The inspection was carried 
on til the observer not only saw the animal as a whole ; but noticed that 
it had parts, took account of their number, observed their connection, 
conjectured their uses, and admired their fitness. Several days having 
' been empioyed in this way, the student began to express his admiration, 
showing that he had been thinking as well as looking. It was now the 
master’s turn to be interested, and he exclaimed, ‘‘ Young man, you have 
finished your first Jesson; you have learned to use your eyes.” 
The beginner in Botany asks the same question, ‘‘ How shall I begin?” 
A suitable and pertinent reply is, ‘‘ Use your eyes.” 
It is not to be wondered at that the beginner in Botany, on glancing 
over a text-book, should be deterred by the vast catalogue of new and 
unusual words to be mastered, the great number of minute parts of 
which the plant is made up, and the apparent interminable number of 
individuals to be distinguished from each other, in the vegetable king- 
dom. The learner must not be dismayed by this formidable array of dif- 
ficulties ; he must not attempt at one view to take in the whole structure 
of the science, with all its dark avenues and intricate passages. He must 
act as one about to visit a large and complicated building, who stops in 
the vestibule and examines the directory, that he may learn how to enter 
the apartments in their order, and not have more than one under inspec- 
tion at the same time. 
Botany, it is true, has a language of its own, yet it is not necessary that 
it should be fully mastered at the outset. A very few of its technical 
terms are sufficient for the beginner, and they may be learned from the 
glossary as they are needed. 
The accurate study of the minute parts of the plant is not necessary in 
