"We had a lesson about seeds yesterday, and I"ll try now and tell you what teacher said about them. He had some scarlet beans and broad beans for us to examine in class, so I"ve got a few now to show you. I have been soaking some of them in water, just as teacher did. Let us begin with them. The first thing to notice is the loose wrinkled skin that covers the seed. If we peel it off we see that it is thick and tough. The skin of thesedry seeds is smooth and shiny. It is wrinkled because it has been soaked. We call this tough outer skin thetesta. Of course you can see that it is meant to protect the inner kernel. I want you next to notice this long black scar along theedge of the seed. It marks the spot where the seed was attached to the ovary or seed-vessel. It is called the hilum.
"Now please watch me. I don"t think I can do this as well as teacher did it, but I"ll try."Fred then slit the testa of one of the soaked seeds very carefully with a knife, and peeled it off, so as to show the inner parts.
"Now look, Norah," he said. "The seed really consists of two pieces placed side by side. Both pieces are thick and solid. They are called the seed-leaves.
"See, they are not separate,"