FIELD AND STUDY 



another and finer earth possessing nearly all the 

 mineral and gaseous and living organisms, a finer 

 world superimposed upon the world in which we 

 live. It is the watery vapor in the air, as it is the 

 liquid water in the earth that holds in infinite divi- 

 sion the various earth salts upon which the plants 

 feed. An air-plant and an earth-plant, then, do not 

 differ so fundamentally as would at first seem ; the 

 former has its roots in the air and draws about the 

 same elements thence that the latter does through 

 its roots in the earth. 



Is not distilled and evaporated water supposed 

 to be absolutely free from mineral elements? How, 

 then, do all these minerals get into the air, if not 

 through the vapors that rise from the sea and the 

 land? It is curious, if true, as is alleged, that stag- 

 nant water anywhere near air-plants seems to be 

 injurious to them. They need the purest air. 



Wait long enough and Nature will always have a 

 fresh surprise for you. I have seen in my life only 

 one big maple-tree utterly destroyed and reduced to 

 kindling-wood by a thunderbolt. I have never yet 

 known lightning to strike a beech-tree, but prob- 

 ably if I wait long enough I shall see it or hear of it. 

 I have only once in my life found a plant called the 

 whorled pogonia, and only once found a plant called 

 the devil's-bit, but in time I hope to find another of 

 each. I have only once seen a wild bird turning over 

 her eggs in her nest as does a hen. I have never but 

 124 



