What was my surprise, then, to discover my little friend one day in a gloomy and morose mood.  It refused the peanut-butter which I had brought it and I observed through the microscope that it was shaking with sobs.  Lifting it up with a pair of pincers I took it over to the window to let it watch the automobiles go by, a diversion which had, in the past, never failed to amuse.  But I could see that it was not interested.  A tune from the victrola fell equally flat, even though I set my little charge on the center of the disc and allowed it to revolve at a dizzy pace, which frolic usually sent it into spasms of excited giggling.  Something was wrong.  It was under emotional stress of the most racking kind.

I consulted Klunzinger’s “Die Korallenthiere des Rothen Meeres” and there found that at an early age the polyp is quite likely to become the victim of a sentimental passion which is directed at its own self.

In other words, my tiny companion was in love with itself, bitterly, desperately, head-over-heels in love.

In an attempt to divert it from this madness, I took it on an extended tour of the Continent, visiting all the old cathedrals and stopping at none but the best hotels.  The malady grew worse, instead of better.  I thought that perhaps the warm sun of Granada would bring the color back into those pale tentacles, but there the inevitable romance in the soft air was only fuel to the flame, and, in the shadow of the Alhambra, my little polyp gave up the fight and died of a broken heart without ever having declared its love to itself.

I returned to America shortly after not a little chastened by what I had witnessed of Nature’s wonders in the realm of passion.

XIX

HOLT!  WHO GOES THERE?

The reliance of young mothers on Dr. Emmett Holt’s “The Care and Feeding of Children,” has become a national custom.  Especially during the early infancy of the first baby does the son rise and set by what “Holt says.”  But there are several questions which come to mind which are not included in the handy questionnaire arranged by the noted child-specialist, and as he is probably too busy to answer them himself, we have compiled an appendix which he may incorporate in the next edition of his book, if he cares to.  Of course, if he doesn’t care to it isn’t compulsory.

BATHING

What should the parent wear while bathing the child?

A rubber loin-cloth will usually be sufficient, with perhaps a pair of elbow-guards and anti-skid gloves.  A bath should never be given a child until at least one hour after eating (that is, after the parent has eaten).

What are the objections to face-cloths as a means of bathing children?

They are too easily swallowed, and after six or seven wet face-cloths have been swallowed, the child is likely to become heavy and lethargic.