34 



of work are divided among the members of the Body ; IV. The Roots ; 

 y. The Leaves ; YI. Stems ; VII. The Way in which new Phmts 

 arise ; Vlll. Seeds and Fruits ; IX. The Power or Energy of the 

 Plant ; X. Relations of Plants to each other, and the place in which 

 tbey live. 



As an example of the style of the book, the following paragraphs 

 are quoted : — 



Wilting. If the leaf of any rapidly growing plant is taken off 

 and laid in the sun for an hoar, it may be seen that it become^ limp 

 and is said to be wilted. Compare with a fresh leaf. It is quite flexi- 

 ble, and the soft tissues ^tween the rib^ appear to be shrunken. Hold 

 an end of the leaf in eicher hand and pull until it breaks in two parts. 

 Repeat with a fresh leaf. The wilted leaf is as strong in this way as the 

 fresh one. It has uoi lost any of its mechanical tissues, and its limp- 

 ness must be due to the loss of water. The cells of fresh leaves of the 

 plant are filled with water to such extent that they are stretched and the 

 walls ar-' very firm, in the same manner that the string of a bow is as 

 rigid as a bar of iron when the bow is prepared for use, but quite limp 

 and flexible when separate. 



*' At noonday in midsummer and at other times the leaves do not 

 receive as much water as they evaporate, and as a consequence they 

 wilt more or less. The wilting is itself a protection against serious in- 

 jury, for in this condition the openings on the lower surface of the leaf 

 are closed, and the drooping position assumed by the blade operates to 

 diminish the amount of water thrown ofi into the air. 



*' Transplanting trees and herbs is attended by wilting: — A. plant 

 usually develops a system of roots with hairs capable of supplying the 

 necessary amount of moisture to the leaves, and when it is lifted from 

 the ground the process is attended wirh more or less damage to the 

 roots or hairs. When the plant is set in a new position its absorbing 

 powers are not so great as before, and if it is allowed to retain all of its 

 leaves, it will throw off more water than it receives, an 1 wilting will 

 result. To avoid this the branches are trimmed in such manner as to 

 reduce the evaporating surface to the proper proportion to the roots. 

 One may see nurserymen putting out trees, the tops of which have been 

 trimmed to bare ])oles." 



At the English Education Exhibition last January at the Imperial 

 Institute, a series of Conferences of Teachers was held, and at one of 

 these Prof. Miall, F.R.S., of the Yorkshire College, read a paper on the 

 teaching of botany, lie gave it as his opinion that there is hardly any 

 scientific inquiry which was at once so practical and inviting as tliat of 

 botanv. A special reason for encouraging the studv of botanv was that 

 a knowledge of the great tacts of plant !i:e wus essential to scientific 

 agriculture. Those who lived by agriculture which was still our great- 

 est industry, were already beginning to demand that, in the rural schools 

 at le:^5t, the scientific basis of agriculture should somehow ent'^r into 

 the course of instruction. But botany as at present taught was a kind 

 of book-learning, and teachers were convinced this could not continue 

 without very serious loss to the pupils. They were all agreed that the 

 teaching of botany must be thoroughly practical, and as far as possible. 



