PREHISTORIC BOTANISTS. 131 
most certainly also inhabit the mulberry. Have we not here a 
prehistoric prophecy fulfilled in an immemorial, emphatic indorse- 
ment of the recent classification of a difficult group of plants, con- 
cerning which the botanical fathers were long at differences? 
There would indeed appear to be little in common between 
the nettle and the elm-tree, or sugar-berry tree with its sweet 
edible drupes, but the modern scientific analyst readily discovers 
their close affinity, though for years, under sanction of learned 
authorities, the elm and Celtis and others of the group were 
classed among totally distinct orders of plants. 
An equally remarkable fidelity to a single group of vegetation 
is seen in the example of our beautiful black Swallow-tail butter- 
fly—the papilio of the umbelworts or Parsley family. 
In the early summer we may find upon the garden fennel or 
parsley the beautifully marked caterpillar of this species—bright 
apple green, with circling bands of sable velvet studded with 
golden yellow buttons. They are conspicuous to the eye in their 
beauty, and when disturbed, conspicuous in a less gratifying sense 
to the nostril, giving forth an obnoxious odor from an extensible 
double glandular horn, usually concealed within the front seg- 
ment of the body. The caterpillar is easily recognized any- 
where, and its habitat is wide. Let us examine its bill of fare. 
The plants commonly attributed to this species are parsley, fen- 
nel, carrot, and celery. Harris found them also on poison-hem- 
lock, czcwta, dill, caraway, and anise, to which list I can append 
the further additions from observation: wild carrot, sanicle, with 
its tenacious burs (in the woods), angelica, archangelica, cow- 
parsnip, and lovage. All of these will be found to follow in their 
natural sequence, in the classification of our botanies, under the 
order Umbellifere. 
This strange fidelity of the Asterias to a single order of 
plants I had noted even in boyhood, and had welcomed my but- 
terfly as an infallible aid in my botanical study. But one day my 
confidence was shattered by the discovery of a number of caterpil- 
lars feeding upon a creeping, round-leaved plant growing by the 
edge of the brook—a prostrate succulent herb, seemingly devoid 
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