Fore Talk 15 



the decaying wood and bring to view many grub- 

 worms ; then he discovered some mmnmy-like creat- 

 ures which were not grub-worms and not beetles, 

 and he also found some perfect and evidently brand- 

 new beetles. That set him to thinking and at last 

 it occurred to him that the grub-worms were the 

 baby beetles and the mummies were grub-worms 

 changing their forms. 



The writer's mother had once shown him where 

 to hunt for the chrysalides of butterflies on the 

 under side of the top rail of the white paling fence, 

 and he had often found the pretty jewelled sleep- 

 ing bag or chrj'salis which covers the baby butterfly 

 while it is hanging head downward under the pro- 

 tecting rail, and he knew that this shell concealed 

 the caterpillar while it was changing form; hence, 

 a glance was suflicient for him to know that these 

 things he foimd in the rotten stump which were 

 neither grubs nor beetles, but helpless things half- 

 way between, corresponded with the chrysalis state 

 of the butterfly. 



It was a grand discovery for him ; he now knew 

 that the grub-worms were young beetles I He 

 shouted and danced with delight, for it was his 

 first real scientific discovery; no one had helped 



