As the writer was standing one May morning near a clump of bushes in the
suburbs of a city in Maine he witnessed, for the first time in a long
experience of bird study, the courting antics of a male hummingbird. Two
of the tiny creatures appeared, apparently evolved from mid-air, and one
alighted in the bush. She was the female. The male immediately began to
disport himself in the air in the following remarkable manner:
He dashed back and forth over the head of the female in long, curving
swoops such as one describes in a swing, all the time giving utterance
to a low, pleasing twitter. He thus swept back and forth ten times,
rising at the ends of the curve to a height of perhaps fifteen feet,
sustaining himself there a moment, with his ruby throat flashing in the
sun, and then darting down the double toboggan slide and up to the other
end. Though he flew very swiftly, yet his speed was not the usual flash
and his movements could be plainly seen. I had never before seen a
hummingbird fly so slowly nor heard from one of them such a prolonged
vocal sound. Indeed, it is very rare that one hears the hummingbird’s
voice, even if one is on the alert for it. After the tenth swoop there
was a buzz of wings and both birds had vanished. A minute after I found
the male in a cherry tree sipping honey from the blossoms.
There is evidently a rivalry between the bees and the hummingbirds in
their quest for honey. This bird, with an angry dash, expressed its
disapproval of the presence of a big bumblebee in the same tree. The
usually pugnacious bee incontinently fled, but he did not leave the
tree. He dashed back and forth among the branches and white blossoms,
the hummingbird in close pursuit. Where will you find another pair that
could dodge and turn and dart equal to these? They were like flashes of
light, yet the pursuer followed in the track of the pursued, turning
when the bee turned. There was no cutting across, for there was no time
for that. In short, the bird and the bee controlled the movement of
their bodies more quickly and more accurately than the writer could
control the movement of his eyes. The chase was all over in half the
time that it has taken to tell it, but the excitement of a pack of
hounds after a fox is as nothing, in comparison. The bee escaped, the
bird giving up the chase and alighting on a twig. It couldn’t have been
chasing the bee for food, and there is no possible explanation of its
unprovoked attack except that it wished to have all the honey itself. So
even as little a body as a hummingbird can show selfishness in a marked
degree. However, Mr. Bee continued to take his share of Nature’s bounty,
though doubtless he had his weather eye open against another attack.
Both scenes afforded me a delightful study and were a rare privilege.
George Bancroft Griffith.
[Illustration: SWEET FLAG.
(Acorus calamus.)
FROM KŒHLER’S MEDICINAL-PFLANZEN.]
Description of plate: _A_, rhizome and basal portion of leaves; _B_,
upper end of leaf with inflorescence (spike); 1, 2, 3, 5, flowers; 4,
stigma; 6, section of fruit; 7, stamens; 8, pollen grains.
CALAMUS.
(_Acorus calamus_ L.)
Another goblet! quick! and stir
Pomegranate juice and drops of myrrh
And calamus therein.
—Longfellow: Golden Legend, III.
Acorus calamus, commonly known as Calamus, sweet flag and cinnamon
sedge, is a reed-like plant common in Europe and Northern United States.
It grows in swamps, marshes and very moist places. It is a herbaceous
perennial growing from spreading fleshy rhizomes. The long, sword-like,
deep green, pointed leaves grow up from the rhizomes.
The history of this plant dates back to remote antiquity, yet there is
considerable uncertainty as regards the identity of the various plants
which have at various periods been supposed to be sweet flag. There is
no doubt that some reedlike plant in many respects similar if not
identical with calamus was used by the ancient Egyptians in the
preparation of incense as recorded in the papyri of Ebers. These
Egyptian records date back to the eighteenth dynasty, or from 1800 to
2000 years B. C. Vague references to a similar plant are to be found in
the ancient sacred writings of the Hindoos. It is likely that the plant
referred to and that which is mentioned in the Bible is a species of
Andropogon, and not Acorus. In Exodus, 30:23, we find: “Take thou also
unto thee principal spices of pure myrrh, of sweet cinnamon, and of
sweet Calamus.”
Our first reliable information of Calamus is from Plinius, who received
specimens from the country about the Black Sea and who described it
under the name of Acorus calamus. Acorus, derived from the Greek a for,
and corus, the eye, because the plant was highly recommended in the
treatment of diseases of the eye. Calamus, also derived from the Greek,
means a reed or reed-like plant. Dioscorides and Theophrastus also
describe the plant with special reference to the rhizome and its uses.
The rhizomes should be collected late in the autumn, carefully cleaned
of dirt, leaf remnants, leaf scales and roots and dried in the sun or in
an oven at a moderate temperature. The aromatic odor increases greatly
on drying.
Calamus has ever been a favorite popular remedy. Its principal use seems
to have been that of a tonic and blood purifier, for which purpose bits
of the dried rhizomes are masticated and the saliva swallowed. It
undoubtedly is a tonic and it also has a beneficial, stimulating and
antiseptic effect upon gums and teeth. Chewing the rhizomes is also said
to clear the voice. Calamus is, or has been, used in flavoring beer and
gin. Country, people add it to whisky, wine and brandy to make a tonic
bitters for the weak and dyspeptic. It is said that the Turks employ it
as a preventive against contagious diseases. In India it is used to
destroy vermin, especially fleas. In England it is employed in the
treatment of malaria.
At the present time Calamus is no longer extensively employed in
medicine. It is considered as a stimulating, aromatic and bitter tonic.
It is perhaps true that its value as a tonic is at present somewhat
underestimated by the medical profession. It is also serviceable in
flatulent colic, and in what is designated as atonic dyspepsia. It is
added to other medicines, either as a corrective, or adjuvant.
Albert Schneider.