CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XVI 



ON FLOWERS OF THE WATER 



PAGE 



The first plant — Seaweeds in hot baths — Breaking of the meres — 

 Gory Dew — Plants driven back to the water — Marsh plants — 

 Fleur-de-Lis — Reeds and rushes — Floating islands — Water-lilies 

 — Victoria regia — Plants i8o feet deep — Life in a pond, as seen 

 by an inhabitant — Fish-farming — The useful Diatom — Willows 

 and Alders — Polluted streams — The Horn wort — The Florida 

 Hyacinth — Reeds and grass-reeds — The richest lands in the 

 world — Papyrus of Egypt — Birds and hippopotami — Fever and 

 ague . . . . ... 200 



CHAPTER XVn 



ON GRASSLANDS 



Where is peace? — Troubles of the grass — Roadsides — Glaciers in 

 Switzerland — Strength and gracefulness of grasses — Rainstorms 

 — Dangers of Drought and of swamping — Artificial fields — 

 Farmer's abstruse calculations — Grass mixtures — Tennis lawns 

 — The invasion of forest — Natural grass — Prairie of the United 

 States, Red Indian, Cowboy — Pampas and Gaucho — Thistles 

 and tall stories — South Africa and Boers — Hunting of the 

 Tartars — An unfortunate Chinese princess — Australian shep- 

 herds ....... 213 



CHAPTER XVIII 



POISONS 



Poisoned arrows — Fish poisons — Manchineel — Curare — A wonder- 

 ful story — Antiaris — Ordeals — The Obi poison — Oracles produced 

 by poisons — Plants which make horses crazy and others that 

 remove their hair — Australian sheep and the Caustic Creeper — 

 Swelled head — Madness by the Darling Pea — Wild and tame 

 animals, how they know poisons — How do they tell one another? 

 — The Yew tree, when is it, and when is it not poisonous ? . 226 



CHAPTER XIX 



ON FRUITS 



Bright colours of fruits — Unripe fruits and their effects — An intem- 

 perate Fungus — Oranges — Prickly pear and the monkey — Strong 

 seeds — Bill-of-fare of certain birds — A wood-pigeon and beans — 

 Ants and seeds — Bats, rats, bears, and baboons — The rise in 

 weight of a Big Gooseberry — Mr. Gideon and the Wealthy Apple 

 — Crossing fruits — Breadfruit and banana — Dates — Figs — Olives 

 — Pineapples by the acre — Apples and pears — Home and Cana- 

 dian orchards . . ... 240 



