552 . NATURE STUDY. 



green where covered (Why ?) ; the innermost green and 

 thin. The projecting green tip is covered with wool, and 

 shows lines or ribs, like cords, meeting below. As this 

 lengthens, slowly, very slowly, 



" The grey hoss-chestnut's leetle hands unfold, 

 Softer'n a baby's be at three days old." 



These hands are the centre of interest. Do not take 

 away the joy of discovery by telling the little folks what 

 they are or will become. 



Continue observations a week or more, giving, from day 

 to day, such questions as these : What grows out of the 

 woolly ball ? W T hat do the hands turn into ? What do the 

 fingers make ? What is between the hands ? What hap- 

 pens to the scales ? The woolly ball lengthens, the two 

 hands push up and separate, the fingers spread apart and 

 unfold, each showing that it is a leaflet (or " leaf " as the 

 children will call it), doubled along the midrib, with the 

 midrib turned outward, and the thin edges toward the centre 

 of the bud. Why ? Within these are two smaller hands, 

 placed between the edges of the other two, and sometimes 

 enclosing a third pair of hands. Jn the thick, " fat " buds 

 there is, in the very centre, a green mass like a very small 

 bunch of grapes. Let the children discover later what it 

 is. As the hands push up, the inner green scales also 

 lengthen almost as fast, keeping around them. Why ? 



Another week of observation will show that the hands 

 have changed into leaves, each of the five or seven fingers 

 forming a division or part. Probably the successive pairs 

 of hands or leaves have been separated by the lengthening 

 of the green stem. The outer scales have dropped off, and 

 the inner scales can be easily removed. Each scale leaves 

 a scar, and all together leave a ring around the lower end of 

 the stem formed from the bud. Pull off a few of the leaves, 



