“Saxifraga irrigua, European. I do not want to see plants of Europe. Let me see an American plant.”
I took another cover and showed Saxifraga peltata of California.
“Have you Sage-brush?” Yes.
“Let me see Sage-brush.”
I took him across the room to the Artemisias, and showed him, first, the one he saw so much of en route to California; second, the northern one to which Lewis and Clark gave the name at first.
“How do you prevent insects from destroying them?” They are all poisoned.
“What do you poison with?” Corrosive sublimate dissolved in alcohol.
“How do you use it?”
Here I ran off and brought back the poison-bottle, and applied the liquid to a specimen under the imperial nose.
I then ran off to set down the bottle in a safe place on the middle table, when he followed me up and asked: