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Show boiui.'? Mode Kur Children dearly lore to imitate; in that respect they should not be offended :it hearing themselves called very nearly the equals of monkeys. Boy Bine lives in a family where botany furnishes one of the occupations and pastimes of tbo boor. Scarcely a day passes without some learned exposition at the table or the display of a leafy wonder. It is not strange that tbo littlo lad has caught the prevailing mania to the extent ex-tent of dabbling in science on his own account One day he was overheard by his elders, as he gave the following learned exposition to a little cousin. Boy Elue held an apple tree branch in his band, and began enlarging upon its peculiarities. "Now, Tommy," said ho, "see how very curious this is. There isn't often so many pistils in the middle, but this is a rare specimen, and it's got, 1 should think, as many as fifty. The petals, you notice, are pinkish. It isn't often yoa find one yellow or blue, but if yon should you'd send it to some professor and he'd name it after you. Perhaps he'd call it the Tommy-ania. I "Then here are the leaves. You'd say, if you didn't know anything about tetany, that they were netted veined; but look a little closer" Hero Boy Bine himself looked a little closer, and found tbat he was not stating stat-ing a fact. "I do blieve tbia Is netted," he exclaimed, ex-claimed, recovering his self possession with the coolness of a true scientist. "I (hall have to press this spec'men and label la-bel it 'rare, very rare indeed.' Now, observe ob-serve how few leaves is on this stem. ! Only six orsoven, you'll find; never more j than eeven. One, two" i As the young lecturer proceeded he i found his prophecy was to be belied. That, however, did not daunt him. Calmly stripping off the superfluous leaves he went on counting and an-! an-! nonnced in triumph: "Seven! I told yon k. Oh, Tommy, it's a great comfort to be a real botanist!" Youth's Companion. |
