A Word for Books 



to speak of any possible plant instead of a 

 comparatively restricted number. But to 

 learn Latin names is only the first step in 

 learning to know the plants they represent — 

 a needful step, but in no sense an end or aim. 



The names of plants are important in the 

 sam^e way as the names of people. We must 

 discover a stranger's name if we are to 

 identify him, to realize his relationships, his 

 place in society, and his role in the world, 

 to remember his individuality, and gain 

 more information by speaking about him 

 with others. To a person who knows noth- 

 ing of botany, the trees and flowers which 

 he calls familiar are like the attractive faces 

 that meet him day after day in the street — 

 unnamed faces representing lives and souls 

 which are hidden from his ken. But to one 

 who has some knowledge of botany, famihar 

 plants are like intimate friends, and unfamil- 

 iar ones like interesting strangers with whom, 

 he can immediately make acquaintance. 



In studying botany we learn first such 

 facts as we already know with regard to 

 human beings. We learn what plants are, 

 how they are born, live, and grov/, and what 



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