224 THE SEVEN FOLLIES OF SCIENCE 



of asparagus, but it has obtained such a hold upon the 

 speech of the uneducated that the market gardeners actu- 

 ally contract it to "grass" and when speaking of asparagus 

 they call it "grass" for short. It has no affinity to the 

 true grasses, and sparrows do not seem to be particularly 

 fond of it, though they will occasionally eat it as they do 

 peas and many other green things in the spring. 



WHALEBONE is not bone at all but a peculiar horny 

 substance of which the scientific name is baleen. 



WORMWOOD. This is a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon 

 wermod or wermode, which means the keeper or strengthener 

 of the mind. It has nothing to do with worms or wood. 

 The plant (absinthe) furnishes a powerful tonic. The 

 word vermuth seems to be a form of wermod. 



