84 EYE SPY 



dred of them during these few rods. In the height 

 of its season this frothy nuisance monopolizes 

 many a meadow. No one, unless most ordinarily 

 clad, would care to wade through its slimy haunt. 

 Certainly no stroller in his "Sunday best," having 

 once experienced its unpleasant familiarity, would 

 willingly give it a second opportunity. 



Its name, I find, varies in different localities, but 

 all, for obvious, reasons, have the same salivary 

 significance. In various parts of New England, 

 for instance, it is known as cow -spit. In the 

 southern States the snake is held responsible for 

 it, as is shown in the popular name of snake-spit. 

 I have frequently heard it called frog-spit, cuckoo- 

 spit, toad-spit, and sheep-spit, and doubtless many 

 other local terms of the same sort may be found. 

 The cow -spittle theor}^ however, seems to have 

 the greatest number of converts. Let me, at 

 least, hasten to expose this miserable slander on 

 " our rural divinity." Have, then, our cows noth- 

 ing better to do than to go expectorating all over 

 the meadows, road - sides, and hay- fields .? And 

 how busy, indeed, they must have been to so 

 thoroughly cover the ground, to say nothing of 

 their surprising aim, every glistening cluster of 

 bubbles being landed not helter-skelter on the 

 leaves and flowers, but only on the main stems 

 of the various plants upon which they are found ! 

 Even in this little field outside my studio window, 



