298 



SCIENCE FROM AN EASY CHAIR 



them (Fig. 52) they are segments of a globular fruit which 

 has divided into three, comparable to the familiar seg- 

 ments of an orange, but less numerous. They are about 

 one-third of an inch long, light, quite dry, and apparently 

 hollow, without any visible opening. Two sides of the 

 little capsule are flat, and the third side is bulged and 



rounded, so that the 

 capsule easily rocks 

 when resting on that 

 side. When these dry 

 fruits or segments of 



FIG. 52. On the right two jumping beans ; a fruit are brought 



on the left the caterpillar removed from a into a warm room Of 



jumping bean. The figures are a little placed near a fire SO 

 larger th>n life-size, as is shown by the line , i . , 



drawn near the caterpillar giving its actual ES l 



length. The shape of the " beans," as seg- warm as the hand, 



ments of a tripartite sphere, is seen. One they commence to 



shows a round hole, with a lid-like piece rock and moye w j th 

 marked a, removed from the hole. This . 1*1 



hole did not exist when the bean first came CUriOUS little jerks, 



into my possession in November 1908. At They jump as much 



that time the caterpillar within was active, as one-eighth of an 



and the bean or fruit-segment often jumped. inch frQm fa n j 



In April the caterpillar cut this round hole ' 



from within, leaving the circular lid in and advance as much 



place, and became a chrysalis. The lid as a quarter of an inch 



was pushed out, as shown in the drawing, a *. a time thoufh hv 

 by the moth when it escaped from the .. 57 



chrysalis in July. (Drawn from nature for r llin the y m& Y P r ' 



thiswork.) gress a good deal 



more. They will often 



move seven or eight times in the same direction so as to 

 make a progress of a couple of inches on a flat surface, 

 and I have found that if a cool surface or protection from 

 warmth is within reach they will in the course of time 

 arrive at that cool area and come to rest. When the plate 

 on which they are placed becomes cool or the temperature 

 of the room falls to what we should call " chilly," they 



