148 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



parcel of the mud and manure became, through 

 the middlemen Bacteria, part and parcel of the 

 Infusorians. These were incorporated in water- 

 fleas, which, in turn, found a new incarnation in 

 fishes. What was part and parcel of the fish 

 became part and parcel of man. And so the 

 world goes round. If we believe that fish-food 

 is good for the brain, as some doctors tell us, we 

 may trace the links of a chain between mud and 

 clear thinking. 



The sturdy fern, called Bracken, is doing much 

 harm in Britain and other countries by destroy- 

 ing pasture land. It kills out the grass and 

 other useful plants, and it is so vigorous that it 

 can conquer even the heather. One wishes, 

 therefore, that there might be a wholesale 

 repetition of the experiment of tumbling cart- 

 loads of bracken into fresh-water lochs. The 

 result, where it was tried, was the great improve- 

 ment of the fishing. For the bracken tumbled 

 into the water was acted on by Bacteria, 

 and rotted, providing food for Infusorians, which 

 in turn gave sustenance to water-fleas, as these 

 to fishes. If we cast bracken on the waters, we 

 may get, after many days not bread exactly, 

 but trout ! 



