196 Botany and the Teaching of Biology. 
present, to regard their botanical work as a tiling distinct from 
other departments of biological knowledge and a trivial thing at 
that ! Others,—and lest the argument should be advanced that 
the fate of these is not a matter of urgent concern to university 
teachers, be it noted that their numbers are rapidly increasing in 
response to the invitation extended them by the universities— 
are students taking university degrees in Agriculture or in 
Horticulture. 
To students in all these categories it is especially urgent 
that an Elementary Course of Botany should serve as a general 
introduction to Biology, and to some of them it may be the only 
opportunity of acquiring scientifically sound biological ideas. 
To quote from a recent volume of essays on “ Science and 
the Nation.” 
“ Let our universities provide courses of scientific instruction 
or the unscientific as well as the purely professional courses. . . . 
For the sick have n'eed of a physician.” 
Let the Elementary Course of Botany be of such a kind that 
to students of—so-called—applied science it may be made abun¬ 
dantly clear that “ what people call applied science is nothing but 
the application of pure science to particular classes of problems.” 
If the university teacher of Botany can do this he will not 
need to rely upon “ the subtle and mysterious speculations ” of 
morphology in order to capture the interest of his students nor 
require to stimulate it, at this stage of their scientific education, 
by invoking a “ semi-religious fascination.” 
I find myself in general agreement with the practical sugges¬ 
tions made in the original memorandum. It seems to me desirable 
that, if possible, the elementary course in Botany corresponding 
with the ordinary Intermediate Science course should be either a 
two years’ course or be of the nature of a double course, one part 
of which should consist of a general elementary course on the 
lines laid down, calculated to serve as a general introduction to 
biology for all classes of students, and the other to be of a more 
academic kind designed to give the necessary training in technique 
as well as a more extended detailed knowledge of the essential facts 
of structure in various plant groups. 
The general course would not only lay a wide foundation upon 
which to build up sound botanical knowledge but it should serve 
to bring home to the elementary student the significance of the 
scientific method in general and the meaning and value of research. 
