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Title
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Scottsbluff Narratives, 1937_019
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Alternative Title
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1937 Scottsbluff Narratives
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Date
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1937
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Creator
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Frank Shoemaker
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Description
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Frank Shoemaker - Sandhills Narratives
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Identifier
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321301
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Transcription
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Next we examined a dandelion, which of course all of the boys knew by name. I asked if they knew why it was called a dandelion; and naturally, they did not. So I plucked a leaf, showed them the peculiar, jagged edges, each part with a sharp point; then I told them a story -about how an early French botanist had viewed these leaves and was struck with the notion that each of the sharp-pointed jags was shaped like a lion's tooth as viewed from the side. So he named the plant dent-de-leon -which is French for "tooth of the lion." I explained as best I might, the eccentric French habit of not always pronouncing final consonants; so that "dent-de-leon" was pronounced almost as though it were spelled don-de-leoh with the accent on the last syllable (it looks awful as typed but I gave them a fair drilling in the way it should sound). -And I explained how the neighboring English across the Channel adopted the name modifying it in the course of the trip often there was soulful practice of that wonderful word. The stories of a mustard and of the dandelion have been so fully outlined only for the purpose of indicating the direction and character of our "study" of such common things as offered during this short trip. I named a score of flowers for them, as many weeds, several grasses; called their attention to the angularity of the stems of sedges -quite different from grasses; indicated a small area completely covered with
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Rights
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To inquire about usage, please contact Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. These images are for educational use only. Not all images are available for publication.
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Is Version Of
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frank_h_shoemaker_321301-03840.jpg
