Reconstruction of Elementary Botanical Teaching. 189 
THE RECONSTRUCTION OF 
ELEMENTARY BOTANICAL TEACHING. 
“THE STUDENT AS A SYNTHESISING ORGANISM.” 
To the Editor of The New Phytologist. 
Dear Sir, 
As a student who is trying to arrive in a particular case at 
some knowledge of the significance of morphological and physiol¬ 
ogical characters, I have been much interested in the previous 
correspondence. In my own problem these two sets of characters 
are so closely interwoven that it is impossible to balance one 
against the other, and the only sound position seems to me to be 
that which regards the plant as a whole, as a living organism, 
living but nevertheless organised. 
Until we know the physiology of the plant as completely as we 
do its morphological organisation there will always be a residual 
quantity of knowledge which must he taught, if at all, as pure 
morphology. The physiology which is known seems to me to 
be inseparably bound up with the organs which carry on such 
physiological functions. The teaching of all physiology is, there¬ 
fore, the explanation of the functions of morphological parts, while 
the teaching of morphology is the explanation of the structures 
which carry on known functions, with or without the description 
of structures of which the function is still unknown. An engineer 
must know what his machinery does and also the parts of the 
machinery which act, why they act and what each part does, 
together with the structure necessary for the accomplishment of 
the function of each part. Botanical students and teachers appear 
to be in the same position. 
The real difficulty in our case seems to me to be the neglect 
of the psychology of the student by the teacher. Two of your cor¬ 
respondents (New Phytologist, Vol. XVII, p. 54 and p. 105) have 
taken proper notice of this factor, and they both plead for freedom. 
I am in close agreement with both. 
A rational solution of the problem can be attained only after 
an exhaustive treatment of all the known factors. The product of 
assimilation is a true and accurate knowledge of plants which is 
capable of application in the various fields of botanical activity; 
the assimilating organism is the student; the material assimilated 
