Oct. 1, 1901,] Snppleme^it to the " Tropiml AgricuUurisiJ' 
289 
and it will drop. Disentangle the fibres of tlie 
root at or near bottom, and set the plant 
firmly into a pot one or two sizes larger with a 
little charcoal and rich earth at the bottom of 
it, water well and shade for a few dnys. Give 
also a top dressing of fre=h soil if needed, and 
your plants will repay the care. As a general 
rule pots from 4 in. to 7 in. are large enough. 
Plants will often flower better if the root is bound 
a little. This is especially the case with double 
geraniums. Give careful culture, keep them 
clean, well-watered, properly ventilated and well- 
fed, and you will never regret the care expended 
upon them. 
^ ^. 
PLANT LIFE. 
[a series of simple lectures intended 
fob a class of junior students.] 
Lecture 1. 
Not long ago you listened to a lecture od Nature 
Study and School Gardens delivered here by the Di- 
rector of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Do you think 
you fully realize the significance and importance 
of svhat is called " Nature Study " and the con- 
nection between it and School Gardens ? Let 
me see if 1 can make this matter clear to you. 
You must not imagine that Nature Study implies 
anything very new or extraordinary. It is 
simply the study of nature ■ or natural 
objects. It consists of closely observing these 
natural objects so as to clearly understand all 
about them, and to draw correct conclusions 
regarding them as the result of such observations. 
There are many people who may be said to 
see and yet not see. That is to say. their eyes 
are open, but they do not observe or notice what 
they see. Objects are pictured in their eyes as 
in a looking-glass, but no impressions or ideas 
of these pictures are conveyed to the mind. If 
you have read a description of the structure of 
the human eye ycu will know that there is a 
part of it (the retina) upon which a picture 
of every object which one sees is cast (look into 
your neighbour's eyes and you will see your 
own image), and that there is also a nerve (the optie 
nerve) which conveys the impression of that picture 
to the mind. H^ve you heard of t.he expri-s-ion 
"the mind's eje " Well, it is witli this eye 
that we mast see ihiiius in order that we 
may grasp and retain impressions of them. If 
we only see things with what we may teim 
" the reflecting or minor eye," then we see to 
little effect. It is really the want of a little effort 
— the want of a little exercise — on the 
part of the mind that makes people fail to 
notice and observe what tliey see. Listless 
people, who cannot rouse themselves to take an 
intere>t in what is arnmid tliem, are parlicuhuly 
lacking in this respect. They cannot C'>iichu- 
trate their minds on any object they are looking 
at; they ksep wandering in tiieir minds, aud allow 
objects to pass before their eyes unnoticed, 
Oiher people again are observant in a degree, 
but their observation is only Miperficial and 
does not take in details. There are others still, but 
unfortunately not a very large numbar, who not 
only take in the details of a picture before 
their eyes, but tbey make a point of closely 
scrutinizing and studying every natural object 
they come across ; and further, they enquire into 
its structure and funciions; in fact, they learn 
all they can about it, reason about it, and draw 
conclusions from their study which will probably 
prove useful to them in a practical way. These 
are true nature-students, and their method of 
study is the b sis of all science. It is by observing, 
compaiing, and classifying natural objects and 
phenomena that we are able to lay down certain 
principles which go to constitute sciences. 
But what have School Gardens to do with 
Nature Study, you will ask? School gardens 
furnish a field for nature itudy, and chiidreu cul- 
tivate a taste for nature study by spending their 
leisure hours working amid the pleasant surround* 
ings of these gardens. The method of nature 
8"udy learnt in school gardens can afterwards 
be applied to natural objects outside them. All 
natural objects are full of interest, and whether 
it is a plant, a rock, or a scream, there is a 
fascination in the study of them, and the 
minds of the children who study them are 
enlarged ; they find a new interest in lite, and a 
pleasant and profitable way of spending their 
leisure hours. But 1 think you will find that the 
study of plants is particularly intere-tiug and 
profitable, p '.rricularly to children who live in the 
country. I will mention one reason why plants 
have a peculiar interest for us, viz., they are like 
us, that is like animals, living things, and hence 
different from other natural objects. Of the many 
sciences, which fall within the scope of that vast 
subject called Natural Science, the study of animals 
und the study of plants are together known as 
Biology or the science of life, because the 
Objects they treat about are animate objects or 
living things, while other sciences deal with in- 
animate objects such as rocks, stones, soil, rivers, 
rain, gases, &c, Tou see, therefore, that animals 
(like ourselves) and plants, are very closely re- 
lated in this natural way. You may say that you 
are not inclined to admit that plants are living 
things in the sense ihat human beings are. Well, 
of life we know vety little beyoud the fact that 
it is someih'ng distinct from the organism itself, 
whf'ther plant or animal, Tn^s-i O'-g.misms ^ ly 
be S:iito " rhp d, tilings W:ii(.-h thj mysterio is 
po>vercdieJ ,i e mU i.iitr. VVh.e i life is prcsenc in 
t.;e orga.as'Q we .>ay that it is alive or living, 
when it i;- not present we s-.y it is without life 
or dead. The presence of life is characterised 
by certain vital plienomena which are never 
known to exist in inanimate objects or organisms 
from which life has departed. We all know the 
characteristics of the living being — the various 
functions which are carried n by tht! orgar\s of the 
living body. Everyone is f.imiliar with the five 
SoiiSes, foi' instance, taste, touch, hearing, feeling, 
seeing. Bat these are not the mo:~t important, in 
that they are not the most characieristic of life, nor 
are they common to all living things or even 
to all animals. You must not fancy that all 
• animals are as highly organised as ourselves, for 
man is the highest of animals. In the study of 
ammals if we begin with man we must descend 
