182 • NATURK STUDY. 
Maiden-hair Fern, Fringed Gentian and all beautiful Or¬ 
chids. 
It may seem absurd to those who have seen the mayflow- 
er in great abundance in some of our neighboring towns, 
that there can ever be a scarcity of those dainty heralds of 
summer. Yet it is a fact that it is nearly exterminated in 
the vicinity of the cities ; it is a fact that enormous quanti¬ 
ties of plants are wasted or destroyed in the process of gath¬ 
ering ; and it is also a fact that, like most of the heath fam¬ 
ily, the species is of slow growth, practically impossible to 
cultivate, and, in consequence, peculiarly liable to extinc¬ 
tion. Its production of dimorphous and trimorphous flow¬ 
ers is also an evidence that it is having a hard struggle to 
maintain itself against all competitors. 
The case of mountain laurel is similar. It belongs to 
the same family, and is doubly unfortunate in that the 
beauty of its bloom and of its leaves causes two annual at¬ 
tacks to be made upon it, one when it is in flower and an¬ 
other at Christmas tide. 
Anyone who has searched for the maiden-hair fern in 
this vicinity will testify as to its rarity at the present time. 
Yet the memories of persons by no means aged, can recall 
a time when, if not abundant, it was far from rare. The 
same with the lovely fringed gentian. The same with some 
of our most beautiful orchids. There was once in Man¬ 
chester a station of the northern white-fringed orchid (Ha- 
benaria blephariglottis.) Where is that station now? 
Gone with Hans Breitmann’s “barty !” 
Dear friends, the moral of this plain tale is just this : 
Please do all you can, by your information and your advice 
and, above all, by your example, to dissuade collectors of 
plants and flowers, whether scientific or unscientific, from 
abusing the privilege of nature and needlessly marring the 
gifts of God. Our native wild plants are a gift He gave 
us. Their passing away by our fault will be a loss which 
can never be made good, even by repentance. 
