ps AUTHOR’S PREFACE 
why the result is so. No more excellent opportunities are 
afforded than in nature study. The topics most suitable are 
those which deal with the as or work, or the conditions and 
states of formation. 
To the child or young pupil a story, or the materials from 
which a story can be constructed, is not only the most engag- 
ing theme, but offers the best opportunity for constructive 
_ thought and proper interpretation. 
In the studies on the work of plants some of the topics will 
have to be presented entirely by the teacher, and will serve 
as reference matter for the pupil, as will all of the book on 
occasions. The chapter dealing with the chemical changes 
in the work of starch-making is recognized by the author 
as dealing with too technical a subject for young pupils, and 
is included chiefly to round out.the part on the work of 
plants. Still it involves no difficult reasoning, and if young 
children can appreciate, as many of them do, the ‘Fairyland 
of Chemistry,” the pupils may be able to get at least a gen- 
eral notion of what is involved in the changes outlined in 
this chapter. 
The chapters on Life Stories of Plants the author has 
attempted to present in the form of biographies. They sug- 
gest that biographies are to be read from the plants themselves 
by the pupils. In fact, this feature of reading the stories 
which plants have to tell forms the leading theme which runs 
through the book. The plants talk by a “sign language,” 
which the pupil is encouraged to read and interpret. This 
method lends itself in a happy manner as an appeal to the 
child’s power of interpretation of the things which it sees. 
Many older persons will, perhaps, be interested in some of 
these stories, especially in the Struggles of a Scotch Pine. 
