CHAPTER VII 



THE SPIDERS' EXODUS 



QEEDS, when ripened in the fruit, are dis- 

 ^ seminated, that is to say, scattered on 

 the surface of the ground, to sprout in spots 

 as yet unoccupied, and fill the expanses that 

 realize favourable conditions. 



Amid the wayside rubbish grows one of the 

 gourd family, Ecbalium elaterium, commonly 

 called the squirting cucumber, whose fruit — a 

 rough and extremely bitter little cucumber — 

 is the size of a date. When ripe, the fleshy 

 core resolves into a liquid in which float the 

 seeds. Compressed by the elastic rind of the 

 fruit, this liquid bears upon the base of the 

 footstalk, which is gradually forced out, yields 

 like a stopper, breaks off and leaves an orifice 

 through which a stream of seeds and fluid 

 pulp is suddenly ejected. If, with a novice 

 hand, under a scorching sun, you shake 

 the plant, laden with yellow fruit, you 

 are bound to be somewhat startled when 

 you hear a noise among the leaves and 



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