birds—Moorlands—Cotton-grass—Scotch whisky—Growth of peat-moss—A vegetable pump—Low-lying and moorland mosses—Eruptions and floods of peat—Colonizing by heather and Scotch fir—Peat-mosses as museums—Remains of children and troopers—Irish elk—Story of the plants in Denmark—Rhododendrons and peat—Uses of peat—Reclaiming the mosses near Glasgow

353   CHAPTER XXIX
NAMES AND SUPERSTITIONS Giving names the first amusement—Curious and odd names—A spiteful naturalist—The melancholy Bartzia—Common names—British orchids—Dancing girls and columbines—Susans—Biblical names—Almond, apple, locust—Spikenard—Tares—Effects of darnel—Daffodil—Acanthus leaf—Ghost-disturbing branches—Elder or bour tree—Its powers and medicinal advantage—Danewort—Mandrake—How to pull it up—The insane root—Its properties—Plants which make bones pink—The betel nut—Henna—Egyptian and Persian uses—Castor oil—Leeks, onions, and garlic—Ancient use of them 363   Index 375

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

	FACE PAGE
I.	A Sentinel Palm in the Andreas Cañon, California	24
II.	The Garden of Eden	32
III.	A Giant Douglas Fir	40
IV.	A Dragon Tree in the Canary Islands	48
V.	Shooting the Hozu Rapids in Japan	52
VI.	A Forest Fire	66
VII.	Thrashing Corn in Chile	83
VIII.	Wistaria in Kamaido Park, Japan	98
IX.	Gathering Olives in the South of France	108
X.	The Egyptian Queen Hataru's Expedition	113
XI.	Weighing the Day's Work	120
XII.	A Tobacco Plantation in Cuba	127
XIII.	Giant Cactus near Aconcagua Valley, Chile	134
XIV.	Then	146
XV.	and Now	147
XVI.	A Ricefield in China	160
XVII.	Cultivated Bamboo in a Chinese Plantation	178
XVIII.	Calthrops	185
XIX.	A Leaf Raft	205
XX.	Felling of Giant Trees in California	215
XXI.	A Bushman digging up Elephant's Foot	220
XXII.	Pineapples as a Field Crop