E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Keren Vergon, Leonard D. Johnson,
and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders
In this study, as in all scientific teaching, the teacher's aim shouldbe to foster in his pupils the power of careful observation and clearexpression. The actual amount of knowledge gained at school must needs besmall, and often quickly forgotten, but the habit of right study is aninvaluable possession.
The former method of teaching Botany was confined almost wholly to dry,technical classification. The pupil learned to find the name and order ofa plant, but its structure, its habits, its life in short, were untouchedby him. We know now that Nature is the best text-book. The pupil shouldfirst ask his questions of her and try to interpret her answers; then hemay learn with profit what those who better understand her speech have totell him.
This method of teaching, however, requires much, very much, of theteacher. He must be himself intelligent, well trained, and able to givetime to the preparation of his lessons. It seems to us, who are butamateurs, as if it were impossible to teach thus without a thoroughcomprehension of the whole field. Our own ignorance oppresses us so muchthat we feel tempted to say that we cannot attempt it. But if the work ofleading children to observe the wonders about them is to be done at all,it must be done by us, who are not masters of our subject, and we mustfind out for ourselves how we can best accomplish this result, since wehave so little to guide us.
It is with the hope that the experience of one who has tried to dothis with some fair amount of success may be of use to other puzzledexperimenters, that I venture to write out some outlines of lessons inBotany for beginners.
The method of beginning with the sim