Article January 5, 1998 Issue

Bah, humbugs!

Is what you see really what you get?

By Guy Malcolm Hooper

There is a story told about Charles Darwin. Two boys, friends of Darwin, decided to play a joke on him. They caught a butterfly, a grasshopper, a centipede, and a beetle, took parts from each bug, and glued them carefully together into a rather incredible insect. They then put it into a box, presented it to Darwin, and asked him to tell them what kind of bug it was. Darwin looked at it and then at the boys, and with a smile he inquired, "Did it hum when you caught it?"

"Yes it did," they agreed, nudging each other."

"Well," he said, "it is a humbug."

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