Birds and all Nature, Vol. IV, No. 6, December 1898

A tuft of clover had lately sprung —
It had not bloomed for it yet was young —
The spot of green caught the traveler's eye,
And he plucked a sprig, as he passed by;
And then, as he held it, there came a thought
In his musing mind, with a meaning fraught
With other meanings.

"Ah, look!" said he,
"The spray is one – and its leaves are three,
A symbol of man, it seems to me,
As he was, as he is, and as he will be!
One of the leaves points back, the way
That I have wearily walked to-day;
One points forward as if to show
The long, hard journey I've yet to go;
And the third one points to the ground below.
Time is one, and Time is three:
And the sign of Time, in its Trinity —
Past, Present, Future, together bound
In the simplest grass of the field is found!
The lane of life is a dreary lane
Whose course is over a flowery plain.
Who leaps the walls to enjoy the flowers
Forever loses the wasted hours.
The lane is long, and the lane is bare,
'Tis tiresome ever to journey there;
But on forever the soul must wend —
And who can tell where the lane will end?"

The thought was given. Its mission done,
The grass was cast to the dust and sun;
And the sun shone on it, and saw it die
With all three leaves turned toward the sky.

THE CACTUS

PROF. W. K. HIGLEY

BECAUSE the Greeks in olden times applied the word Cactus to a prickly plant, Linnæus, often called the Father of Botany, gave the same name to our wonderful American growth and since his time these strange and varied plants have borne this nomenclature.

We can hardly imagine any group of plants more interesting. There are over eight hundred varieties of curious and unexpected forms, bearing tubular or rotate flowers most varied in size and color – white, pink, purple, yellow, crimson, deep red – all beautiful and fascinating, and in our Northern country, protected in the conservatories. The Night-blooming Cereus is most renowned, most admired of all.

The Cacti are commonly found in the United States, in Mexico, and in South America, and some species are cultivated on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, where the fruit is eaten.

They vary in size from an inch or two in height to enormous growths of fifty or sixty feet (Cereus giganteus) which stand like telegraph poles, sometimes nearly bare, sometimes with many vertical branches, reminding one of a huge candelabrum. Then again some forms are nearly spherical, while others are long, jointed, and square, one species (Echinocactus visnaga) grows about nine feet in height with a diameter of three feet or more and a single plant of this species will sometimes weigh a ton. One of our most common forms is flat and broad. This, the Prickly Pear or Indian Fig (Opentia Vulgario), is the only species found as far north as Wisconsin and New York.

As many of the Cacti require but little care, they are quite extensively cultivated, not only for the rare beauty of their flowers, but for economic purposes. However, nearly all are worthy of culture because of their peculiar forms.

In structure they are fitted for growth in the most arid regions; they abound in the deserts of New Mexico and southward, in many cases obtaining their food from a soil in which no other plant will grow, their thick coats enabling them to retain moisture and vitality for many weeks. Specimens of the Prickly Pear have been known to grow after lying on a dry floor, in a closed room, for six months and they have blossomed when left in this condition for some time.

These plants, which are more or less succulent, are usually protected from the ravages of animal life by a formidable array of spines and prickles. Those who have carelessly handled our common Prickly Pear can attest to the intensely irritating character of its defensive armor. Thus does nature provide for the care of its otherwise defenseless forms.

A form of the Prickly Pear (Opuntia coccinellifera) is cultivated in Mexico for the purpose of raising the Cochineal insect (Coccus cacti) which feeds upon it. Some of these plantations contain as many as 50,000 plants. The females are placed on the Cactus in August and in about four or five months the first gathering of the Cochineal takes place, being then ready for the market.

There are many other interesting uses to which these plants are put. When suffering from thirst animals will tear off the hard outer fibers and eagerly devour the moist, juicy interior of the stems. The Moki Indian basket makers use the fiber in their work. This they dye different colors and wind around the foundations, giving strength and beauty. The spines of one species (Echinocactus visnaga) are used by the Mexicans as toothpicks. It has been estimated that a single plant may bear upward of 50,000 spines.

A unique and beautiful sight was a group of Cacti blooming in a Colorado garden, where the owner had spent much time and expense in gathering together many varieties, and one was made to realize how remarkable a thing Nature had lavished upon us: for, as Mr. Grant Allen has said: "The Cactuses are all true American citizens by birth and training, and none of them are found truly indigenous in any part of the Old World."

MYTHS AND THE MISTLETOE

On Christmas Eve the bells were rung;
On Christmas Eve the chant was sung;
That only night in all the year
Saw the stoled priest the chalice near;
The damsel donned her kirtle sheen;
The hall was dressed with Holly green;
Forth to the woods did merry men go
To gather in the Mistletoe.

THE Mistletoe, particularly that which grows on the Oak, was held in great veneration by the Britons. At the beginning of their year the Druids went in solemn procession into the forests, and raised a grass altar at the foot of the finest Oak, on which they inscribed the names of those gods which were considered the most powerful. After this the chief Druid, clad in a white garment, ascended the tree and cropped the Mistletoe with a consecrated golden pruning-hook, the other Druids receiving it in a pure, white cloth, which they held beneath the tree. The Mistletoe was then dipped in the water by the principal Druid and distributed among the people as a preservative against witchcraft and disease. If any part touched the ground it was considered an omen of some dreadful misfortune.

In the Eddas of mythological Norse lore, Loke, the evil spirit, is said to have made the arrow with which he wounded Balder (Apollo), the son of Friga (Venus), of a branch of Mistletoe. Balder was charmed against everything which sprang from fire, earth, air, and water, but the Mistletoe, springing from neither of these, was fatal, and Balder was not restored to the world till by a general effort of the other gods. In some parts of Germany and Switzerland it is believed that by holding in the hand a branch of Mistletoe one will be enabled not only to see, but to converse with departed spirits.

The Druids, partly because the Mistletoe was supposed to grow only on the Apple tree and the Oak, and also on account of the usefulness of the fruit, paid great attention to its cultivation. Many old rites and ceremonies, in connection with the Apple, are practiced to this day in some parts of England. On Christmas Eve the farmers and their men take a huge bowl of cider, with a smoking piece of toasted bread in it and, carrying it to the orchard, salute the Apple trees with great ceremony, in order to make them bear well next season.

The wassail bowl drank on Christmas Eve, and on other church festivals, was compounded of old ale, sugar, nutmegs, and roasted apples, of which each person partook, taking out an apple with a spoon and then a deep draught out of the bowl.

Under the Mistletoe of Christmas, the custom of kissing has been handed down to us by our Saxon ancestors, who, on the restoration of Apollo, dedicated the plant to Venus, the Goddess of Love and Beauty. It was placed entirely under her control, thus preventing its ever again being used against her in future ages. —E. K. M.

THE FLYING-SQUIRREL

WITH the exception of Australia, Squirrels are found in all parts of the globe; they extend tolerably far north and are found in the hottest parts of the South. As a family they are lively, quick, and nimble in their movements, both in trees and upon the ground, Flying Squirrels alone being ill at ease when upon the surface of the earth. In compensation for this, however, they are possessed of a faculty which enables them to make exceedingly long leaps, which they take in an obliquely descending direction.

The nocturnal Flying Squirrels, says Brehm, differ from the diurnal Tree Squirrels mainly in having their fore and hind legs connected by a wide flying-membrane. This membrane acts as a parachute, and enables them to execute considerable leaps with ease, in an inclined plane from above downward. This membrane consists of a stout skin, extending along both sides of the body, thickly grown with hair on the upper side, while the lower one shows but a scanty covering. A bony spur at the first joint of the fore-legs gives especial strength to the membrane. The tail serves as an effective rudder and is always vigorous, though it is not of the same conformation in the different species, one group having it simply bushy, while the other has the hair on it arranged in two lateral rows. There are also slight differences in the structure of the teeth.

The Flying Squirrel of North America, Assapan, is next to the smallest variety of the whole species, the Jaguan, or East Indian, being the largest, nearly equaling a cat in size.

The fur of the North American Flying Squirrels is exceedingly soft and delicate. In captivity they suffer themselves, by day, to be gently handled, making no effort to bite with their little sharp teeth as other Squirrels do. Overcome with sleep they lie curled up in their cage, as much hidden from view as possible, rarely bestirring themselves before nine o'clock at night. Then, "on the upper edge of the sleeping-box, which one must give them as a substitute for their nest, a round little head becomes visible; the body follows and soon one of the little creatures sits on the narrow edge of the box in a graceful Squirrel-like attitude, the flying membrane half folded against its body, half hanging down in a soft curve. The small, expanded ears move back and forth as does the bewhiskered muzzle, and the large, dark eyes inquisitively scan the cage and surroundings. If nothing suspicious is visible, the Assapan glides down like a shadow, always head first, whether the plane be inclined or vertical, without any noise, without a perceptible movement of the limbs, the greater part of which is covered with the membrane. It proceeds on the woven ceiling of the cage, back downward, as if it walked on level ground; it rope-dances over thin twigs with unsurpassed precision and agility at a uniform speed; spreading its membrane to the full, it darts through the whole space of the cage like an arrow, and the next instant seems glued to the perch, without having made an effort to regain its balance.

During all this moving about it picks up a crumb, a nut, a grain of meat from its dish; drinks, sipping more than it laps, washes its head with saliva, combs its hair with the nails of its fore-feet, smooths it with the soles of its small paws, turning, stretching, stooping all the while, as if its skin were a bag in which its body sits quite loosely.

After hunger and thirst are somewhat appeased, and the toilet over, a playful humor succeeds. Up and down, head upward or inverted, along the ceiling, or the floor, running, jumping, gliding, soaring, hanging, sitting, rushing ahead as if it could move a thousand joints at once, as if there were no such thing as gravity to be overcome."

HUMMING-BIRDS

IF these exquisite little creatures are called Humming-birds, you little folk may ask, why wasn't the Bee called a Buzzard because it buzzes?

Well, really, that is a question which I will not attempt to answer, but the fact remains that no other name would have been so appropriate for these jewel-like birds but the one above, on account of the humming sound which they produce when hovering in their curious fashion over a tempting blossom, and feeding on its contents while suspended in air.