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Vol. Ull. GUELPH, OCTOBER, 1921. No. 10 



POPULAR AND PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGY. 

 The Life History of a Hobby Horse. 



BY Francis j. a. morris, 

 Peterborough, Out. 



Part HI. Second Childhood — The Tree's Incline. 

 (iContinued from Page 199.) 



In spite of considerable study in the Science of Botany, I remained an 

 incorrig[ible amateur, loving the wild flowers for their beauty, and to a. great 

 extent ignoring unsightly or inconspicuous weeds. But wherever a genus or a 

 family of plants had any attractive species among them, it kindled one's 

 eagerness to run to earth as many members of the family as possible. 



The very first flower of the season opened up half a hundred avenues 

 rich with surprising discoveries. This was the charming little Hepatica, pride 

 and prime of Ontario's spring — the true Canadian primrose. The flower in 

 itself is beautiful, of a delicate mauve, sometimes almost pure white, sometimes 

 as pure pink or blue, and ranging through all the shades of purpl'e or lilac 

 between these extremes; it is true that during its short blossoming season, the 

 plant can show only last year's leaves, darkened in the weather; but the little 

 communities of blossom are so closely clustered, and their stems so dainty with 

 soft silk, that the absence of foliage is hardly noticed, and before the bloom falls 

 the new young leaves have already pushed up their 3-lobed fans all clothed 

 with silver down ; sometimes the blossoms are fragrant ; they are always beau- 

 tiful ; like the Mav Flower or Trailing Arbutus of the Atlantic Provinces, well 

 worthy to be a national emblem ; it is common everywhere in the Dominion 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and — surest test of all — a prime favorite with 

 the children. With me it was a clear case of love at first sight ; but then I was 

 always just as eager as any child to race to the woods after school and make 

 friends with the Spring flowers. 



About half a mile from the town, just east of the Brockville road, was 



a steep wooded ridge with a southern slope, and beyond it a spacious hardwood 



bush. It was on my first trip to this place that I received my initiation at the 



hands of the Science teacher ; and evidently the news of this spread, for the 



pupils greeted me next day with grins broad or shy according to their nature. 



It was only a small piece of Indian turnip that I was given to chew, and at 



first — such is the diabolical cunning of the fiend that dwells in the corm — the 



flavor was soft and cool like a parsnip ; I had, in fact, already spat the gobbet 



out before the burning began; but once the poisoning (for it is nothing less) 



first showed its symptoms, it grew at deadly pace to an intolerable burning; 



even next day there were still countless little crimson specks on my tongue. T 



cannot describe the sensations better than by saying that it brought back vividly 



to my mind the red horror of a far-off day in the nursery when I purloined 



from a cupboard half a small salt-spoonful of Cayenne pepper and ate it in 



