124 With Feet to the Earth 



cheap substitutes were made for all manner 

 of high-priced things, "dandelion coffee" 

 was sold by grocers. The root contains a 

 bitter, crystallizable principle called tarax- 

 acin. Gathered in the autumn, this root 

 is boiled, and the infusion is used medi- 

 cinally as a diuretic, aperient, and tonic. 

 It acts on the liver, and is useful in dropsy 

 and dyspepsia, but is slow in operation. 

 Children have a pretty fancy for telling the 

 time by blowing against the globes of 

 down. As many seed as they find after 

 the third puff are supposed to mark the 

 hour : four seeds, four o'clock. It is also 

 blown upon to "find if mother wants us." 

 If all the seed are dispersed the parent is 

 in no anxiety. If any remain, it is the 

 child's duty to start for home. Seed 

 seldom remain. Children also weave the 

 flowers together in chains, but they do not 

 keep their brightness as daisies will. The 

 flower-stems are hollow, and when broken 

 exude a milky, bitterish sap. 



So much for so much. A few terms, 

 like sepals, petals, pistils, stamens, and 

 pollen, must be kept because they are 



