PREFACE. 
5 
ary facts of Botany are so simple that their study 
can be commenced in early childhood, and so numer¬ 
ous as to sustain a prolonged course of observation. 
From the most rudimentary facts the pupil may pro¬ 
ceed gradually to the more complex; from the con¬ 
crete to the abstract; from observation to the truths 
resting upon observation, in a natural order of ascent, 
as required by the laws of mental growth. The 
means are thus furnished for organizing object-teach¬ 
ing into a systematic method, so that it may be pur¬ 
sued continuously through a course of successively 
higher and more comprehensive exercises. Carried 
out in this way, Botany is capable of doing for the 
observing powers of the mind what mathematics does 
for its reasoning powers. 
Moreover, accuracy of observation requires accu- 
racy of description; precision of thought implies pre¬ 
cision in the use of language. Here, again, Botany 
has superior advantages. Its vocabulary is more copi¬ 
ous, precise, and well settled than that of any other 
of the natural sciences; it is thus unrivaled in the 
scope it offers for the cultivation of the descriptive 
powers. 
On purely mental grounds, therefore, and as a 
means of attaining the most needed of educational 
reforms, Botany has a claim to be admitted as a 
fourth fundamental branch of common-school studies ; 
and the hope of contributing something to this end 
