WILD BARLEY 



62S3 



WILDE 



town Center, Wisconsin. She was educated at 

 the University of Wisconsin, and while still in 

 school showed much talent in writing, espe- 

 cially in verse forms. After leaving college she 

 became a frequent contributor of verse to 

 magazines and newspapers, and between 1875 

 and 1880 attracted considerable attention and 

 some rather severe criticism because of her 

 frank and unconventional expressions on sub- 

 jects and emotions not generally discussed in 

 American poetry. Her first collection of poems 

 was refused by several publishers because of 

 this frankness, but her books when issued have 

 always sold widely and received much favor- 

 able notice. In 1884 Miss Wheeler married 

 Robert M. Wilcox of Meriden, Conn., and soon 

 afterwards moved to New York, where she be- 

 came one of the most popular newspaper writ- 

 ers. During recent years she has been enthu- 

 siastic in the modern ethical movement known 

 as New Thought, and has written many essays 

 and poems in its behalf. Doubtless her best- 

 known work is the collection entitled Poems of 

 Passion, published in 1883, but there are nu- 

 merous other volumes to her credit, among 

 them Poems of Pleasure, Poems of Sentiment, 

 Poems of Progress and Poems of Power. Be- 

 sides these are the novels Mai Moulee, A 

 Double Life, Sweet Danger and An Erring 

 Woman's Love. Her work is characterized by 

 much sentiment and optimism. 



WILD BAR'LEY, or SQUIR'RELTAIL 

 GRASS, a troublesome member of the grass 

 family, found in various parts of the North 

 American continent. Like most other weeds, 

 it multiplies rapidly, and it is a pest in grain 

 fields, gardens and dooryards. The plant bears 

 a slender, rounded stem which reaches a height 

 of about two feet. The spikes of flowers are 

 surrounded by a bristly beard, somewhat re- 

 sembling a squirrel's tail. The seeds cling to 

 tin- wool of sheep and* irritate the hide, ami tin 

 leaves and flowers sometimes stick in the throat 

 of grazing animals and cause them to choke. 

 This weed is eradicated by thorough <ult 

 ing of fields and destruction of plants before 

 they produce seed. 



WILD CAT, or CAT 'AMOUNT, terms ap- 

 plied generally to MM. ill. \\il.l species of the cat 

 f.miily, and in North America niv-n to three 

 -mall species of lynx. Th. latter are night - 

 prowlmu animal- I, !.fly lonp 



lonL'i-r !> an. I -I) < domes- 



tic cats. n in tufir.l. an.l thnr coats 



in color and thickness, tli< north. -rn spe- 

 liaving the longer, softer fur. The Cana- 



dian lynx has a long, clear-gray coat, and the 

 bobcat of Southwestern United States has short, 

 yellowish-brown fur covered with dark spots 

 and other markings. 



The true wild cat is the European species, an 

 extremely vicious animal, larger and stronger 



WILD CATS 



than the domestic cat, with yellowish fur and 

 black streaks around the body, legs and tail. 

 Of the numerous tropical species, the most in- 

 teresting is the Egyptian cat, said to be the an- 

 cestor of the domestic varieties. Unlike other 

 wild cats, it has a long, slender tail. Its fur is 

 yellowish in color and obscurely striped on 

 body, legs and tail. The feet are black, and 

 for this reason it is often called the gloved cat. 

 WILDCAT BANKS, a name applied to th.- 

 unstable banking institutions established I 

 President Jackson's removal of the deposits of 

 the United States Bank (see page 3098). As 

 the funds of this bank were deposited in state 

 banks, the President's action encouraged the 

 establishment of numerous banks under state 

 control, especially in the South and Southwest. 

 These institutions issued large amounts of pa- 

 per money, regardless of the amount of specie 

 in reserve, and the country passed through a 

 period of wild speculation. In 1836, alarmed 

 by the recklessness with which the banks issued 

 notes, Jackson issued his famous "Specie Cir- 

 cular," which ordered government agents to 

 accept only gold or silver in payment for pub- 

 lic lands. Unable to meet the demands made 

 upon thnii \\lirn thnr notes were presented for 

 redemption, larp- numbers of the wildcat banks 

 failed. In 1837 the country faced one of the 

 > financial panics in its history. 



WILDE, ()sr.\H FIN. .Ml. O'FLAHERTIB WlLLR 



(1856-1901 and essayist, was 



born at Dul.lin. Inland. He showed unusual 

 talent. anl both at Trinity Coi; ... I ' ihlin, 

 and Man. Ial. n Collrnr. Oxford, won prises an.l 

 claw honors f<>; . m lit. rary work. 



At Oxford he attempted to start what ho 



