The Rescue of an Old Place 



overwhelming numbers, find such clear 

 expression in the words of a correspon- 

 dent, that I subjoin an extract from a let- 

 ter of a lady who has had similar suffer- 

 ings with another insect : 



"I am passing through the discourag- 

 ing season of gardening, and am realizing 

 more than ever the nature of Adam's curse. 

 It sounds like a fine thing to be told we 

 shall have dominion over the birds of the 

 air and the beasts of the field, but what 

 gain is there in that if we are to be beaten 

 in the end by the angle-worm, the ant, and 

 the snail ? To fight with a snail, and be 

 beaten, is n't that humilation ? But I stand 

 in the place of the vanquished, and it is 

 the snail that has done it. I was born 

 a sentimentalist, and had scruples about 

 ' taking away the life thou canst not give/ 

 that once hindered my career as a gar- 

 dener. Now I grieve over the imperfect 

 nature of the snail's nervous system that 

 makes even death apparently painless. 



" But he keeps up with the times, does 



the snail ; he reads the seed catalogues, 



and he knows that Asters cost more than 



Marigolds ; he has an eye for beauty, too ; 



188 



