OTHER WATER BORDERS 



corners and died from eating it, and so 

 learned to produce death swiftly and at 

 will. But how did they learn, repenting 

 in the last agony, that animal fat is the best 

 antidote for its virulence ; and who taught 

 them that the essence of joint pine {Ephe- 

 dra nevadensis), which looks to have no 

 juice in it of any sort, is efficacious in 

 stomachic disorders. But they so under- 

 stand and so use. One believes it to be a 

 sort of instinct atrophied by disuse in a 

 complexer civilization. I remember very 

 well when I came first upon a wet meadow 

 of yerba mansa, not knowing its name or 

 use. It looked potent ; the cool, shiny 

 leaves, the succulent, pink stems and fruity 

 bloom. A little touch, a hint, a word, and 

 I should have known what use to put them 

 to. So I felt, unwilling to leave it until we 

 had come to an understanding. So a mu- 

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