52 



ANEMONE PATENS. NUTTALL S PASQUE-FLOWER. 



by-standers as if he continually Laughed, whereas it is only a 

 Convulsive Motion, wringing or drawing of the Mouth and Jaws 

 awry ; and so tlie poor Patient, dying in this Condition, the 

 lookers-on think he dies Laughing, and so report it, when at the 

 same time there is no such matter, but he goes out of the World 

 under the Sense of violent Convulsions, vehement Pain, and the 

 most extreme Torment imaginable." 



The ancients, however, also believed the Pasque Flower to 

 have great power against venomous reptiles, and the old writer 

 above quoted reports on this point as follows : " A cataplasm of 

 the Herb or Root is applyed against the Bitings of Mad-Dogges, 

 Vipers, Rattlesnakes, and other Poisonous Creatures ; and to 

 places affected with Gout, Sciatica, &c., with admirable success." 

 In our time, Aconite and other Ranunculaceous plants have 

 deprived the Pasque-flowers of all medicinal reputation, but the 

 story so quaintly told by our old author reminds us of another 

 peculiarity in the life of the prairie dog. 



It is well known that this animal burrows deep holes in the 

 crround, the earth drawn out in working the burrow forming a 

 little mound at the outlet. The popular belief is that the owl 

 and the rattlesnake make their home in these underground 

 chambers, and that the three animals live together in peace and 

 harmony. This is a remarkable fact, if true, since most snakes 

 reo-ard the young of birds and other animals as desirable deli- 

 cacies. The writer has, however, often seen the owl on the 

 mounds of the prairie dogs, and it is possible the rattlesnake 

 part of the story may be as correct as the other ; but if this is 

 so, mi'd-it we not say, with as much reason as the ancients 

 usually had for what they believed, that the prairie dogs use the 

 flowers to protect themselves from the bites of their poisonous 

 fellow-lodgers ? 



Explanation ok tiik Plafe. — i . Full-sized plant. — 2. Stamens and pistils after the sepals 

 have fallen. — 3. Head, with long-tailed achenia. — .|. Single aehene, or seed witli tailed 

 awn. 



