"Let us have another look at the basin." said Fred. "Why," said Norah, "the water is not white likemilk now; it is quite clear. Where is the starch?" "Look at the bottom and you will see it," saidFred. "See, I will pour off the clear water. The thick, wet, solid stuff at the bottom is the starch.""Teacher, you see, showed us how to get starch from flour and potatoes," said Willie, joining in. "But he told us too that it is found in all plants. Some plants contain more starch than others. The plants store up this starch as a supply of food for themselves.""He told us too," said Fred, "that the starch is always in tiny grains, too small to be seen with, the naked eye.
"We saw a picture of these grains as they would look, if our eyes were sharp enough to see them. They are really little bags of starch.
"You remember, sister," he added, "that starch will not dissolve in cold water. It dissolves in boiling water. The boiling water makes the little bags swelland burst. This sets free the real starch inside the bags and it dissolves. Cold water only loosens the little bags one from another, so that they float about. It does not burst them."SUMMARY