APRIL. 97 



than in 1887; but in one sheltered nook wherein the 

 drifts of the great March storm lingered until the second 

 week there was found, almost on time, the delicate Dicen- 

 tra, with its luxuriance of beautiful leaves and exquisite 

 pendent bloom of ivory and gold. To think that such a 

 plant should be called " Dutchman's breeches " ! If this 

 abomination were dropped from Gray's manual, perhaps 

 in time a decent substitute would come in use. But why 

 not call the plant Dicentra ? 



Fortunately, botany is not, like ornithology, cursed 

 with often worse than meaningless names ; execrable Latin 

 and worse Greek that has been foisted upon the science 

 by a recent nomenclatorial congress. A name that is 

 meaningless, misleading, or inappropriate has no right to 

 be ; yet such are now claimed to be established for all 

 time. But the world at large has no need of such insuffer- 

 able rot. 



During the same cold April days, where the terrace 

 blends with the level meadows at the feet of stately trees 

 the sod was thickly starred with heart's-ease. Confidence 

 was stamped in each brave little face, and however often 

 the breeze pressed them to the ground, straightway it 

 passed they smiled as sweetly as before. 



With these, blue violets, pale bluets, and brilliant 

 buttercups, there was surely enough to tempt the birds, 

 and field sparrows on the terrace and hair birds everwhere 

 sang as merrily as they knew. 



So far, this icy April held her own, but at times she 

 struggled against fearful odds. 



At all times there was life in the waters, if not in the 

 air, and a long procession of restless fishes passed by 

 whenever I sat on the creek bank or stood still a moment 

 as I came to the meadow brooks. Every one except the 

 eels and cat-fish were dressed in holiday suits; and few 

 people would suspect that many a silvery minnow of later 



