Edward Claypole, The Teacher.—Richardson. 25 
that one-third of the task had been accomplished. I still felt no 
need of a college education. During that year, however, there 
was a great deal of enthusiasm among the older students about 
professor Claypole, who was absent, and one often heard re- 
gret expressed that he was away from the college. Upon la- 
menting the hard position, as an illustration of the perversity 
of fate, that one who did not want to go to school was obliged 
to go, while there were many anxious to go who could not, a 
friend replied: “Wait until professor Claypole returns, and 
then you will want to go to school; he will make you werk and 
you will not know it.” 
The first meeting of the class in botany under professor 
Claypole was a complete surprise. A few simple home-made 
instruments were produced, which we were asked to duplicate 
for ourselves, and each was to come next time with the instru- 
ments which he had made, and a few blossoms of a simple 
flower which could easily be obtained. The study of botany 
began with the study of a plant and not a book. Some of you 
no doubt are thinking “‘all this is natural enough,” and in the 
present day, so it is, but we must not forget that it has taken 
splendid work of a few pioneers like professor Claypole to con- 
vince us of it. 
Soon we became very much interested in this new work. 
Our youthful enthusiasm and surprise at the many things we 
saw were never repressed, but were met with his ever kindly 
smile and carefully directed into useful channels. My first 
realization that a change was coming over me arose from a 
new attitude towards Saturdays. Heretofore this day had 
been looked forward to as a respite from tedious routine, a 
day to be spent in fishing, in nutting, and in other ways that 
the healthy boy has at command. But soon after the study 
of botany began it appeared that Saturday was a splendid day 
to go to the laboratory and have an uninterrupted time with 
plant and microscopes; or it proved the very day needed to 
make a long trip after some particular specimen, or to scttle 
a disputed point that had arisen in the class room during the 
week. There was no more time that needed killing. 
A Saturday that could be spent on an excursion in company 
with professor Claypole himself, was one to be looked forward 
to and long afterward remembered by the whole class. The 
