86 EYE SPY 
perfectly white, surrounding a small speckled bee- 
tle (I suppose). I found several on my chrysan- 
themums about two weeks ago, but they seem to 
have disappeared now." 
This supposed " small speckled beetle " lets out 
the secret of our " cow-spittle." The old cow is 
acquitted, and also the snake, who has enough 
mischief to answer for. 
Each of these masses of bubbles is seen to sur- 
round the stem, upon which it clings, out of con- 
sideration to the popular tradition, spitted through 
the centre, as it were, with its culm of grass or 
branch of bramble or weed. But the true expec- 
torat6r is within, laved in his own froth, his beak 
embedded in the juicy stem, and his suds factory 
continually at work. We have only to blow or 
scrape off the white bubbles, and we shall disclose 
him, even though he makes considerable effort to 
dodge out of sight, either in the remnant froth or 
around the stem. But it is not a beetle that we 
at last bring to view. It would be hard, indeed, 
for any one but a naturalist to decide on so short 
an acquaintance precisely what to call him. He 
is green and speckled in color, anywhere from a 
quarter to half an inch in length, depending upon 
his age, and somewhat to be anticipated in the 
extent of his show of suds. He is wide of brow, 
has rather prominent eyes, and tapers off some- 
what wedge-shaped behind. 
