THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 529 



pulp ; and as they wander about the}' deposit the seeds in- 

 tact along with their excremei.ts. In this way a species of 

 civet in Java and Manilla take? an active part in disseminat- 

 ing the coffee-tree. It greedily eats the fruit, and the pulp, 

 being like that of the cherry, is easily acted upon by the 

 intestines, which afterwards expel the seeds still in a fit 

 state for germination. 1 



Man himself ought to be considered as one of the most 

 active agents in the dissemination of plants. His vessels 

 and caravans, traversing the ocean and the desert, trans- 

 port, unknown to him, seeds and plants which invade new 

 countries. 



In this way, through the importation of American sheep 

 into France, certain seeds attached to them have become 

 localized in France. In one locality in the neighborhood of 

 Montpellier, where a large quantity of wool is received from 

 Buenos Ayres and Mexico, several species of plants derived 

 from the flora of these two countries are now seen growing 

 on every side. The botanists of the celebrated school of 

 Montpellier the De Candolles, the Delilles, and the Du- 

 nalds were perfectly aware of the fact, and from time to 



1 In Java it is the civet called Viverra Musanga which effects the dissemination 

 of the coffee by scattering it here and there with its excrement. Karl Miiller, 

 following the authority of Junghuhn, relates that this coffee which has passed 

 through the digestive organs of this mammal is even considered by the Javanese 

 as of superior quality, and that they do not disdain to collect it for their use fiom 

 the excrement of the animal. The American grape (Phytolacca deca,<dra, L.) 

 was introduced into the neighborhood of Bordeaux in order that it mhdit be used 

 for coloring wine, and it is from thence the birds have spread it so widely. The 

 so-called sparrow which in Ceylon sows the camellias in every direction is the 

 Turclus Zeilamcus, a kind of thrush. K. Miiller, b. i., s. 91, 92. 



