THE JUMPING BEAN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3279, 26 July 1911, Page 8

THE JUMPING BEAN.

AN EXTRAORDINARY PRODUCT

The extraordinary product of the vegetable kingdom, the “jumping bean,” is derived from a bush, closely resembling the coffee bush, that grows in the Yaqui river country of western and northern Mexico. The bush attains a height of from three to four feet and the hundreds of blossoms that it puts forth are of an olive gren tint which, after ripening turns to a- buff grey. Within each blossom are two “fertile’ seeds, and a third, which is the home of a small, exceedingly active worm, whose performances are responsible for the queer conduct of the bean. When this worm emerges from its prison it becomes a beautifully colored moth. The seeds of the jumping bean blossom in the month of May. Then the female moth deposits one egg on the pollen of the flower. As the flower develops it forms a triangular-shaped shed on two sides, with a convex shape on the other. Within this the chrysalis devlops into a greyish-brown worm about one-tenth of an inch in diameter and about half an inch in length. This worm lives inside its cell for a period of six months, or until the middle of November. Then, climatic conditions being favorable, it bores a hole through the end of its shell and flies away as a moth, to mate in its turn and perpetuate the species. If, however, it is brought in the bean to a colder climate the worm will die in t<he shell. Cut a small hole i» the end of a jumping bean about an eighth of an inch in diameter, and in less than one hour the worm will cover the break with a white fibred ike exudation from its stomach, working the mouth round the opening until the hole in the shell shall become completely closed. Kept in a moderately warm place, and not packed too tightly, the jumping beans will live for five or six months to mystify and amuse. The jumping is caused by the worm’s curling itself into a ball and then springing out to full length against the side of the shell, thus making the bean jump from the hand into the air.