NATURE STUDY’S BIRTHDAY. 
213 
silken sheen. The king and nobles looked on in terrified 
amazement; and when at last the mantle was fully out¬ 
spread they fell on their knees, exclaiming, ‘ A miracle! 
a miracle ! Truly, the maiden’s god is greater than our 
gods, and henceforth we will worship none but him.” So 
all the people from that day forsook their idols and served 
the One God and His Christ, and the holy maid Viola be¬ 
came the first abbess of the monastery and lived to rule it 
many years. 
It is in token of this miracle that my leaves keep on 
growing and growing until they cover all the ground about 
me.” 
Perhaps not a very scientific explanation of the habit of 
Viola rotundifolia , the early yellow violet; but it may an¬ 
swer until we find a better one ! And the pilgrims, re¬ 
solving themselves into their original combination, wend 
their way homeward, better and happier, if not wiser, for 
the whispered legend of Saint Viola. 
Nature Study’s Birthday. 
With this number Nature Study completes two years 
of healthy existence and active work in its chosen field. 
At the time of its inception there was no periodical in 
America that devoted itself exclusively to the work which 
Nature Study undertook, and it still stands unique 
among the growing number of publications which attempt 
some recognition of the increasing interest in the countless 
objects to be found in every garden, field, forest, pond and 
stream. 
There are excellent publications which are purposely 
devoted to special lines of investigation. One may select 
from these such as treat exclusively of birds, of flowers, of 
insects, of minerals, of ferns, and even of the mosses and 
