NATURE STUDY. 



PUBI^ISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE 



Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences. 



Voiv. IV. June, 1903. No. r. 



Jack's Cousin. 



BY WILI.IAM H. HUSE. 



Jack-iii-tlie-piilpit is a queer fellow, perched aloft under 

 his sounding board of striped green, and he has many 

 singular relatives. The wild calla of New England 

 swamps, floating in the cold bog water and sending its 

 roots down to the mud below, is more beautiful than pecu- 

 liar, reminding one of the larger and more show}' callas of 

 pot and conservatory. The long, green arrow arum is less 

 conspicuous and not so easilj' seen except by the experi- 

 enced observer who knows just what to look for. The 

 skunk cabbage is the strangest of Jack's relatives that 

 grow wild in this section. Pushing its way up in earl}- 

 .spring, often through snow and ice. it humbly heralds ap- 

 proaching spring and is welcomed by the pollen gathering 

 bees. Its hood-like spathe and earl}- appearance make it 

 welcome to the botanist ; its odor renders it repulsive to 

 the dainty. 



It it not, however, a native cousin that is the subject of 

 this sketch, but a stranger from tropical lands. Obtaina- 

 ble from florists that keep the odd as well as the beautiful, 



