248 
Books  in  Running  Brooks. 
5  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(      April,  1921. 
sun.  The  mandrake  in  festive  colonies  marks  the  country-side  and 
under  rustlings  noisy  leaves  of  beech  and  oak  left  dead  from  last 
November,  a  tardy  Arbutis  pushes  its  fragrant  blossoms  also  eager 
to  find  its  place  in  the  spring  sun. 
And  the  pilgrim  to  nature's  shrine  finds  beauty  in  them  all. 
To  the  materialist  it  is  perhaps  a  long,  long  road  from  the 
twisted  ugly  root  of  sanguinaria  which  he  grinds  in  the  mill  and 
packs  in  the  percolator,  to  the  stately  and  pure  flower  that  towers 
over  its  blood-red  reservoir  in  the  spring  woods.  And  the  charm- 
ing May-bloom  that  modestly  hides  its  beauty  beneath  a  canopy  of 
green  leaves  is  likewise  far  removed  from  the  ancient,  ridged  roots 
and  rhizomes  of  podophyllum  peltatum  that  fills  a  can  in  the  store- 
room. 
But  the  heart  of  the  real  apothecary-man  is  surely  gladdened  to 
know  that  he  is  privileged  over  all  other  men  in  his  understanding  of 
these  common  members  of  God's  great  kingdom. 
"Books  in  Running  Brooks,  Sermons  in  Stones" — and  even 
more  than  all  of  these  in  Flowers.  Hearken  to  the  story  of  the 
flower  and  you  hear  a  tale  that  sounds  strangely  alike  to  the  story 
of  your  life  and  mine.  How  naturally  they  adapt  themselves  to  their 
environment,  give  their  offspring  a  healthy  start  in  life's  long  jour- 
ney. How  they  settle  new  colonies  in  far-off  land ;  their  co-operative 
methods ;  their  storage  of  treasure  against  possible  droughts.  These 
have  been  the  ways  of  the  flowers  for  many  centuries,  and  we  can 
humbly  take  a  lesson  from  them. 
Brothers  in  back  of  the  counter,  in  the  warehouse  or  at  the  desk ; 
Sisters  in  the  Hospital  drug  room  or  laboratory — seek  ye  new 
courage  and  inspirations,  new  hopes  and  thoughts?  Then  hie  to 
the  woods  and  meadows  where  all  of  these  attributes  and  all  of  these 
blessings  wait  for  the  mere  calling  of  them. 
