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amateurs and technical equipment possessed by few have been 

 invaluable auxiliaries in the quests through field and forest, 

 over "moor and fen"; but these material helps would have pro- 

 duced scant results without the drive of that dominant interest 

 which, again and again, has transformed "trials" into "trails!" 



A short treatise might easily be written in detailed comment 

 on the stories told by these enthusiasts, twice-told, by camera 

 and pen, incomparably told by each partner in this pioneer 

 enterprise. It must suffice to name here a few of the more 

 striking touches: as the detecting of the bluish tinge in the 

 leaves of the Ram's Head ; the vertically-folded overlap in the lip 

 of Cypripedium passerinum ; the unique nipple of Ilabenaria 

 flava; the aspect of the spur in Hahenaria clavellata, "like the 

 slender abdomen of a stinging insect"; the apt characterization 

 of the flowers of Ilabenaria hyperborea, "snuggling right up to 

 the main stem"; the "blending of syringa with cloves" in the 

 fragrance of the fio-wersoi Habenanadilatata;"HookeT's hooks", 

 a delicious pen-picturing; the perianth of Malaxis monophylla 

 "not so much white as colorless or faded like withered tissue." 

 The keen scrutiny and trained judgement shown in such illum- 

 inating phrases is evidenced also in many sane conclusions 

 reached by comparing varied experiences, such as: the "smoth- 

 ering" of Cypripedium acaiile by ericaceous growth that was at 

 first protective (this fate befalls Arethusa, too, and other 

 species) ; the recognition of the power of adaptation of many 

 species under different, even contrasted conditions, (hence the 

 inaccuracy of some book-descriptions) ; the periodicity of 

 many, notably the "rarer" kinds; the necessity, if we would 

 search thoroughly, of standing still and gazing long. 



The reader of these glowing pages is enthralled as much by 

 the fascinating stories and the exquisite pictures as by the mar- 

 velous results obtained. There is a certain aggravation, to one 

 accustomed to finding the less common species in small groups, 

 it at all, in reading of such thrilling experiences as seeing hun- 

 dreds at one time, or of embracing in one sweeping glance three 

 Habenarias, besides //. albida, a rare form of Cypripedium and 

 Listera cordata; though such rich variety can be duplicated in 

 more than one bog in northeastern Vermont. To one whose bota- 

 nizing has been done to the south of "the unguarded boundary," 

 it seems odd to have the White Malaxis reported as more com- 



