Adder’s Tongne, 
Ophtoglossum vulgatum. Natura Orver: Filices— Fern Family. 
seeds are produced. 
ey in length. 
in ‘, Some being too minute to be visible to the naked eye. 
STRANGE name has this singular little plant, being derived 
? from two Greek words, offzs, meaning serpent, and g/ossa, a 
= tongue; so called from the lance-like spike on which the 
It belongs to the beautiful family of 
ferns, most of which propagate themselves by seeds or 
‘WX spores, arranged in various ways on the back of their leaves, 
It is found in 
ia low grounds, with solitary fronds measuring from two to three inches 
It has been chosen as an emblem of deceit, because those 
Hereit. 
ND this was he who loved me; he who came 
To whisper vows to my too willing ear 
With lip of melody and heart of flame; 
Vows whose glad truth I deem’d so trebly dear 
To him who breathed them, that had doubt or fear 
Been raised within my heart, they could not grow— 
He whose bright eyes bespoke a soul sincere — 
This; this was he who—Vain remembrance now! — 
He lives to scorn the past —he lives to break his vow. 
O man’s condition is so base as his; 
None more accursed than he; for man esteems 
Him hateful ’cause he seems not what he is; 
God hates him ’cause he is not what he seems; 
What grief is absent, or what mischief can 
Be added to the hate of God and man? 
—Francis Quarles. 
Ae that deceit should steal such gentle shapes, 
And with a virtuous visor hide deep vice! 
—Shakespeare. 
—Mrs, Norton. 
ETTER the truth, 
Though it bring me ruth, 
Than a lie as sweet as the dreams of youth. 
Better to stand 
In a lonely land, 
My feet unshod in its desert sand, 
Than to blindly go 
Where cool streams flow, 
And a serpent coils in the grasses low. 
—Mary E. Bradley, 
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