Show use vines around homes home to keep reptiles reptile away negroes to ID the southern states have falth faith la in various safe plants they plan calabash vines and gourds geurds of certain kinds so BO that they will grow on their cabins or alona alon the garden fences to keep the reptiles away by their odor the pungent fishy smell of the leaves of the horseshoe geranium Is another among the many plants ignorantly r regarded as safeguards or somehow connected with snakes careful investigation invest atlon shows that thai such superstitious precautions are useless and further botanists assure us u says a writer in the montreal herald that no north american plant Is feared or avoided by any snake venomous or otherwise the placing of the ash tree among these false protectors Is probably a forgotten importation from the outwore ideas of former forme r times la in the 1 old world early colonists brought here many bits of ancient lore la in natural history but binding that most of 0 mena fitted badly in the new circumstances they were gradually abandoned now and then a fragment buns tuns UA on tile the pioneer farmers in blass a tit U set IS relied upon a cathartic cat hartle medicine madi made of the leaves and barti bark of the white ash as a cure for snakebite especially that of the rattler one historian quotes an old statement that new eng land birds lly fly to that tree and brina biln back bach leaves to cover their egsa eggs when the crawling enemy Is seen la in th the neighborhood since the rattler always avoids white ash |