INTRODUCTION 
The pollen grain of a lily, placed on a dark background, is barely 
visible to the naked eye; but with modern technic, such a pollen 
grain can be cut into fifty sections, the sections can be mounted and 
stained without getting them out of order, a photomicrograph can 
be made from the preparation and a lantern slide from the photo¬ 
micrograph, and finally there appears upon the screen a pollen grain 
10 feet long, with nuclei a foot in diameter, nucleoli like baseballs, 
and starch grains as large as walnuts. With such preparations, 
botanists are now showing clearly the nature of structures which, 
only a few years ago, were good subjects for philosophical speculation. 
To become a good technician, the student should follow carefully 
every detail of the various schedules and, when the routine becomes 
familiar, he should try to understand the reason for every step. In 
some cases, a dozen different schedules might have been given. 
When fundamentals have been grasped, the student will be able to 
make such variations as individual cases may require. 
Those who regard the making of mounts as mere mechanical 
drudgery which can be done by an assistant are likely to become 
armchair investigators, drawing false conclusions or becoming 
scholastic grafters, according as the assistant is mediocre or talented. 
Besides, there is always the danger that a talented but underpaid 
assistant may “hold out” something. Some time-honored theories 
would have been abandoned long ago if certain prominent investi¬ 
gators had not relied upon comparatively untrained assistants for 
their mounts. Benjamin Franklin’s advice, “If you would have 
your business done, go; if not, send,” applies very well to the case 
in hand. 
We strongly advise the student to collect his own material in the 
field, for such collecting is a valuable part of a botanical education. 
There are details of habitat and behavior which are never described 
in books. One learns gradually, by experience, that certain kinds 
of plants grow in certain kinds of places; and further, that not only 
the season, but even the weather may be an important factor. A 
heavy rain may cause some algae to disappear; while the same rain, 
3 
