78 
of the baby plant of the morning-glory, its unripe seed 
being cut in two. As you look at it here, its queer 
shape reminds you of an eel. But if instead of cutting 
through the seed, you roll it carefully between your 
fingers, and manage to slip off its coat, and if then | 
you take a pin and carefully pick away the whitish, 
jelly-like stuff which has been stored as baby food, you 
will find a tiny green object which through a magnify- 
ing glass; looks like the next picture (Fig. 87). The 
narrow piece pointing downward is the stem 
from which grows the root. Above this are 
two leaves. 
This baby plant is a very fascinating thing 
to look at. , I never s€em* to tire “of (pickaae 
apart a young seed for the sake of examining 
through a glass these delicate bright-green leaves. It 
seems so wonderful that the vine which twines far 
above our heads, covered with glorious flowers, should 
come from this green speck. 
As this morning-glory is a vine which lives at many 
of your doorsteps, I hope you will not fail to collect its 
seeds, and look at their baby plants. When these are 
very young, still surrounded by a quantity of baby food, 
you will not be able to make them out unless you carry 
them to your teacher and borrow her glass; but when 
the seed is ripe, and the little plant has eaten away 
most of the surrounding food, it grows so big that you 
can see it quite plainly with your own eyes. 
