AND POPLARS 



gunpowder, through which a sufficiency of grief 

 has undoubtedly entered the world ! 



Willow twigs seem the very essence of fra- 

 gility, as they break from the parent tree at a 

 touch ; and yet one of the willows furnishes the 

 tough, pliable and enduring withes from which 

 are woven the baskets of the world. The wil- 

 lows, usually thin in branch, sparse of some- 

 what pale foliage, of so-called mournful mien, 

 are yet bursting with vigor and life ; indeed, 

 the spread and the value of the family is by 

 reason of this tenacity and virility, which makes 

 a broken twig, floating on the surface of a 

 turbid stream, take root and grow on a sandy 

 bank where nothing else can maintain itself, 

 wresting existence and drawing strength and 

 beauty from the very element whose ravages of 

 flood and current it bravely withstands. 



Apparently ephemeral in wood, growing 

 quickly and perishing as quickly, the willows 

 nevertheless supply us with an important pre- 

 servative element, extracted from their bitter 

 juices. Salicylic acid, made from willow bark, 

 prevents change and arrests decay, and it is an 

 important medical agent as well. 



99 



