MAY-APPLES AND MOCK MAY-APPLES 



59 



of it ! And what a pink whiff of the swamp May-blooms 

 its memory brings ! 



The May-apple of New Jersey and southward is a 



true fruit, which fol- 

 lows a large white 

 flower, and Dr. Gray, 

 the botanist, says " it is 

 eaten by pigs and boys!" 

 Think of it, boys! And think 

 of what else he says of it: "Ova- 

 ry ovoid, stigma sessile, undu- 

 late, seeds covering the lateral 

 placenta each enclosed in an aril." 

 Now, it may be safe for pigs and billy- 

 goats to tackle such a compound as that, but 

 we boys all like to know what we are eating, 

 and I cannot but feel that the public health offi- 

 cials- of every township should require this formula of 

 Dr. Gray's to be printed on every one of these big 

 loaded pills, if that is what they are really made of. 

 There is no such formidable indictment to be made 

 against the New England May-apple; the worst that 

 they can say of it is that it is an " abnormal excrescence 

 of cellular tissue and chlorophyll," and of course we 

 all know what that means, and how appetizing it is too. 

 Nor is the small boy obliged to share his mess with 

 the pigs, for the choice New England morsel is held 

 far out of their reach. 



