THE SCOURING-GRASS AND 

 ITS SQUIRMING SPORES 



July ^th 



'COURING-GRASS (Equisetum) was much 

 more intimately known to the early Pil- 

 grim housewives than it is to their de- 

 scendants, for in the olden time its hollow, 

 flinty stems were in great repute for kitch- 

 en-cleaning purposes. A glance at the 

 accompanying sketch will serve to recall 

 the plants to those who are unfamiliar with their name, 

 and to such I can recommend them as genuine curiosi- 

 ties in many ways, and well worthy a little study. Our 

 scouring- grass possesses many peculiarities which its 

 old-time friends little suspected. To the botanist it is 

 especially interesting not only as a modern type of that 

 ancient class of plants which formed the chief vegeta- 

 tion of the carboniferous era, but also on account of its 

 squirming spores, which have long been a favorite study 

 of the microscopist. 



The scouring- rush belongs to the tribe of flowerless 

 and seedless plants Acrogens. In the botany it is 



