THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 141 



as the remains of crinoids or "stone-lilies," representatives of 

 an order of animals belonging to the class Echinodermata ; of 

 which order the present-day species are very few, while the 

 fossil kinds are legion. 



This subject of folk-lore as a scientific study is fascinat- 

 ing, though much we may deplore the fact that the legends 

 and superstitions thereof are apt to retard human progress, in 

 that there exist persons that will rely on the time-honored ex 

 planations of ignorance rather that ascertain what science 

 has to say. Here, for illustration, we have a class that from 

 time immemorial have heard dragon-flies called "snake- 

 feeders," and of so great a faith are such persons that on see- 

 ing one or more of these beautiful insects circling about over 

 a pool, that they invariably exclaim, "There is a snake about 

 here somewhere," and put themselves on their guard. But 

 the dragon-flies are engaged in their legitimate business of 

 hawking for rnosquitoes and other small insects, an occupa- 

 tion little guessed at by ignorant observers, and the jointed 

 Equisetum, these people say, will turn into a snake; to touch 

 a toad will give warts; the "smoke" from a puff-ball, blown 

 into the eyes, will cause bhndness; and if a small bird flies 

 against your window-pane and beats its wings, or an owl 

 hoots in the trees above your house, especially for several 

 consecutive evenings, death will shortly visit that dwelling — 

 and so on, without end. It would appear that the field of 

 natural history is a species of inferno, infested by all that is 

 uncanny and uncouth. But it little becomes me to criticize 

 others, for time was when I hesitated to approach a certain 

 bank that the dragon-flies were passing over, to and fro, for 

 fear of being stung! 



During several years I made frequent observations upon 

 the growth and succession of various species of plants on a 

 forty-acre tract that had been cleared of its second-growth 

 timber-covering of oaks, hickories, maples, poplars, hackber- 



