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BOYS AND GIRLS IN BIOLOGY. 



have told Johnny about them, and thus have comforted 

 him for the loss of his strange playmate. 



Most people, especially children, are afraid of cater- 

 pillars ; but there is only one kind that is really dan- 

 gerous to handle — the scarlet and black caterpillar, 

 known as the " palmer-worm," which stings worse than 

 a nettle. Thus, though caterpillars are not the most 

 agreeable-looking, they are, generally speaking, the 

 most harmless of pets, and there is nothing in Nature 

 more interesting. If you had not been told, you could 

 hardly imagine that these clumsy, crawling things 

 would turn into graceful, gorgeous butterflies. Tou 

 cannot see any likeness between them; but, as we 

 study, we may find a likeness not only between the 

 butterfly and caterpillar, but between the butterfly 

 and another animal which looks still more unlike it. 

 The caterpillar, as you know, is the butterfly's baby. 

 Is it not odd that such a beautiful mother should 

 have such an ugly child? But they say ugly babies 

 make pretty grown-up people ; and we know this is 

 true of the butterfly's children, so they can afford to 

 be ill-looking while they are young. The eggs, from 

 which the little caterpillars are hatched, are very 

 curious. They are so small, you might pass them by 

 unseen, and no one would ever have known how pretty 

 they are, had it not been for the microscope. Some of 



