THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 11 



It is onlyb)' stuchnng the open book of Nature that an 

 interest can be aroused in the indifferent observer, for I 

 regret to saA', there are still some who, like Wordsworth's 

 Peter Bell, see nothing to admireinallthis world of beauty. 

 Like him it can be said of them, 



"In vain, through every changeful 3^ear, 



Did Nature lead him as before ; 



A primrose by the river's brim 



A yellov^^ primrose was to him 



And it was nothing more." 

 While, on the other hand, we, to whom these wildlings 

 have always more strongly appealed than their more pre- 

 tentious sisters of the hot-house and garden, may bA' a 

 closer intimacy be enabled to say, 



"To me the meanest flower that grows can give 

 Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." 

 Again the study of botan}- opens our eyes to what is 

 about us. There is a possibility of becoming so familiar 

 with an object that it may entirely escape our notice. 

 ''Having eyes, we see not." An experience of m^^ own to 

 illustrate: Several years ago while visiting in a Maine 

 town my attention was called to a large tree of Populus 

 g-randidentatu and I was delighted to secure a specimen at 

 the exjx'nse of a considerable tramp, only to find on re- 

 turning home, a tree growing wnthin a few rods of the 

 house. Nothing that springs from the ground now escapes 

 mv notice; indeed, I am a poor companion on a walk or 

 drive to non-botanists, who are often free to ex]Dress their 

 disgust at my exclamations of pleasure and admiration at 

 some l^edraggled weed. 



An interest in this studj' also serves to act as a balm 

 for many of the ills and woes of life. Emerson sa3^s, 



— "A woodland walk, 



A quest of river-grapes, a mocking thrush, 



A wild-rose or rock-loving columbine, 



Salve my worst wounds." 

 Some years ago, being out of health from overwork in 

 teaching, my physician prescribed an out-door life and 



