Reconstruction of Elementary Botanical Teaching. 3 
THE RECONSTRUCTION OF 
ELEMENTARY BOTANICAL TEACHING 
THE EXAMINATION OF A WITNESS. 
“ And he looked for judgment, but behold oppression." 
The Five 1 Wise Men. (The Authors of the recently published 
edict. 2 ) It has been brought to our notice that in a syllabus of 
elementary lectures on Botany for which you are responsible you 
have the effrontery to quote Darwin’s statement that Morphology 
may almost be said to be the “very soul ” of Natural History.” 
How do you justify a quotation at once misleading and dangerous 
unless it be that you are primarily concerned with the history of 
the dark ages of the science ? 
Witness. At an early stage of his botanical career a student 
should be Introduced to different samples of the plant kingdom. 
The mere description of the parts of which plants are composed 
is necessarily dull and without any obvious bearing on general 
problems. If, however, it is possible to awaken his interest—an 
aim of fundamental importance—by comparative treatment of 
the types passed under review, and by explaining the meaning and 
evolutionary significance of homologous organs, the subject of 
morphology serves a useful purpose. Whether we reject or accept 
Darwin’s conclusions, it is at least worth while to illustrate by 
comparative treatment of plant organs the nature and meaning of 
morphology. Regarded merely as an academic exercise, the dis¬ 
cussion of morphological problems in relation to evolution stimulates 
the student’s reasoning powers and imagination, an end in itself not 
wholly contemptible. 
T. F. W. M. That is all very well, but is this sort of thing 
likely to lead a student to regard plants as living organisms ? Is 
not the study of morphology sterile and deadening ? 
W. The aim of a teacher should be to present plants as living 
machines performing work, to keep constantly in mind both structural 
features and physiological activities, and—beginning with the lower 
plants—to illustrate the gradual elaboration of more and more com¬ 
plex mechanisms, also a corresponding increase in the division of 
labour among the several parts and tissues. I venture to think 
1 Seven would have been more consistent with tradition. 
* New Phytologist, Vol. XVI, p. 241. 
