Yes, you can see the seed pods of Catchweed Bedstraw (Galium aparine), but do you see the bacteria? First, a story. I started teaching at a brand-new high school when I moved to Georgia. Of course, we had a football team, but something strange started happening. Before the season started, while in practice, many of the boys got skin infections where the helmet abraded their necks. One even got an infection in his nose! Simultaneously, I was teaching biology and had my students start “hay infusions” by putting grass clippings into empty jars with distilled water to see what microorganisms grew. This is a common lab; I have done it before for fifteen years in other schools. When I checked the jars for organisms, I expected amoebas and paramecium; but I saw endospore bacillus! There are many, but they are typically BAD. Perhaps tetanus, botulism, or some other terrible bacterium….
