[Cambridge, Massachusetts]
1912
July 20
(No 2)
[July 20, 1912]

or dying and there is comparatively little Solidago sempervirens
left. Hosts of plants and weeds of various kinds have
evidently established themselves there since the dam was
built and salt water shut out. Among these I noticed
purple fire weed in bloom, cat tail flags, Saggitaria
and gray birches, the last named numerous in places
and five or six feet in height. The numerous, straight,
narrow artificial ditches still persist and contain shallow
water swarming with mosquito larvae although schools of
small fish hovered about their mouths. Dragon flies
of several kinds were flying over them. In the river we
saw Potamogetons of three different species, one introduced
from Europe. The marshes were everywhere so dry
that we walked over them without wetting so
much as the soles of our shoes. The[y] were indeed
for the most part obviously parched by the recent drought.