A BOTANICAL FISHERMAN. 357 



filled me with astonishment. And Professor Fenzig, who 

 published in ISMJ a "Flora popolare Ligure". and who 

 has collected the popular Ligurian names of plants, had 

 only to mention an^' shrub or flower of the district when 

 the A'oung man pointed it out. But occasionalh' he would 

 mereh' refer to a given plant as "mala herba", accom- 

 panying the remark ■with a gesture indicating aversion. 

 These primitive men are much nearer to Xatnre than 

 we are : the^• ha^'e li\'ed from -^'outh up in the open air, 

 and their minds are stored with practical intormation. 

 They have a much more livel}' interest in the natural 

 objects which surround them than our educated people, 

 whose knowledge is ma.inh' deriveck from text books. 

 Professor Penzig has in^■ariabh• found among these nati\es 

 a similar acquaintance with plants. Thus it had not escaped 

 the notice of our companion that the E\-ergreen Buckthorn 

 (lihaumus alatcrnits) does not in all situations bear similar 

 leaves. He explained to us that this shrub, uhcn growing 

 higher up on the mountain, has small leaves with serrate 

 edge, but deeper down in the valle\- the lea\'es are broader 

 \\\\.\\ entire margin : the former variety- the^' call "Sconno 

 selvatico", the latter "Sconno domestico". 



Suddenh', at the turning in the path, there appeared 

 in front of us the unpretentious church of San Fruttuoso. 

 We now followed a sunk path on whose banks were 

 stretched out the green ropes twisted from grass. Many 

 of these ropes lav coiled up read^- lor use. Then we 

 passed through an arched passage between high stone 

 houses, left the old Abbe\' behind, and turned into the 

 primitive Osteria, the onh' one in the place. 



15 



