Is the old game familiar to all from babyhood—that of blowing the soft
down of the ripened dandelion to learn, “How old am I?” Blow once, one
year old; blow twice, two years, and so on, until all the downy stuff
has gone. The number of times the blows have been given before the down
has altogether disappeared indicates the age.
Or, “What time is it?”
This is indicated in the same way. Blow once, and if all the down is
gone, it is one o’clock, twice, two o’clock, and so on.