84 EYE SPY 



dred of them during these few rods. In the height 

 of its season this frothy nuisance monopolizes 

 many a meadow. No one, unless most ordinarily 

 clad, would care to wade through its slimy haunt. 

 Certainly no stroller in his "Sunday best," having 

 once experienced its unpleasant familiarity, would 

 willingly give it a second opportunity. 



Its name, I find, varies in different localities, but 

 all, for obvious reasons, have the same salivary 

 significance. In various parts of New England, 

 for instance, it is known as cow - spit. In the 

 southern States the snake is held responsible for 

 it, as is shown in the popular name of snake-spit. 

 I have frequently heard it called frog-spit, cuckoo- 

 spit, toad-spit, and sheep-spit, and doubtless many 

 other local terms of the same sort may be found. 

 The cow - spittle theory, however, seems to have 

 the greatest number of converts. Let me, at 

 least, hasten to expose this miserable slander on 

 " our rural divinity." Have, then, our cows noth- 

 ing better to do than to go expectorating all over 

 the meadows, road - sides, and hay- fields? And 

 how busy, indeed, they must have been to so 

 thoroughly cover the ground, to say nothing of 

 their surprising aim, every glistening cluster of 

 bubbles being landed not helter-skelter on the 

 leaves and flowers, but only on the main stems 

 of the various plants upon which they are found ! 

 Even in this little field outside my studio window, 



