WATER LILY FAMILY 



remarkably large specimens are sometimes found in the 

 shallow ponds nearly dried up by the summer heat." 



When gathering, it pays to take the buds, for floated 

 in water, they will reopen for two or three successive days. 

 The young leaves also keep fresher than the older ones. 

 A very artistic arrangement can be made in a deep and 

 wide plain glass dish, if the stems are so twined that the 

 leaves float and the pure white flowers open above them. 



To discover what makes the leaves float, an interesting 

 experiment is to place under the microscope a shaving of 

 the skin from the underneath side of the leaf, when the 

 air cavities may be seen. 



In short, the "atmosphere" of the flowers could not be 

 better suggested than by Emerson, "If eyes were made 

 for seeing, Beauty is its own excuse for being." But the 

 older Nantucketers found more than mere beauty. They 

 took a homely part, the root, and from it made a demul- 

 cent, to be used as a mouth-wash and gargle. 



Two other members of the Water Lily Family have 

 been reported. 



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