IMusic of the Wild 



twist sensitive organs. So extremely thrifty is 

 this \\'uter member of the nasturtium family along 

 creeks and eokl running water that I know large 

 streams tiuit are literally choked A\-ith cress, run- 

 ning through miles of unbroken marsh. The mu- 

 sic is tin-eefold. There is water ten inches deep 

 whispering and gurgling around the stems, bees 

 visit the blossoms, and the human voice rings 

 loudly and clearly when a bed is discovered in earh^ 

 spring; for this is just the tonic needed to thin 

 sluggish Avinter blood. The biting tang is craved 

 by the system, and a shout of joy greets the dis- 

 covery; so it, too, has a place in this music-book. 

 There is more human as A\'ell as bird and insect 

 music every time a lover of nature on his way to 

 Silky the marsh finds a bed of Cornus aiiiomuin in 

 Cornel jjioom. It grows froui t\vo to six feet high, and 

 leaves densely before it flowers: there is an especial 

 cluster around the blooms. These heads are made 

 from masses of fine white flowers, each having 

 four wide-open petals, an exaggerated set of sta- 

 mens, and long pistil, so that the pollen, when ripe 

 and dusty, gives a golden tinge to the entire white 

 cluster. 



Quantities of this pollen must be used by tame 

 ])ees, or else there is a worldful, having the same 

 snappy, tart wild tang: for the bees of country 

 hives make honey that has precisely this flavor. 

 In the fall each floAAer cluster is represented by 



340 



