294 SIGNIFICANT VESTIGES IN 



are sent into the world better nourished, better provided for, 

 better equipped for the battle of life than they would have been, 

 had the parent tree undertaken the maintainance of a larger 

 number of descendants, and thus they profit by the fate of their 

 little brothers which perished untimely. 



The Horse-Chestnut blossom has a three-celled ovary, with two 

 ovules in each cell ; but the ripe Horse-Chestnut bur never holds 

 more than three nuts, and sometimes only two, or even a solitary 

 one. "Yet the vestiges of the seeds which have not matured," 

 says Prof. Gray, " and of the wanting cells of the pod may always 

 be detected in the ripe pod." The very young acorn is divided 

 into three compartments, and each compartment has two ovules 

 hanging from its summit. One might, therefore, expect the mature 

 acorn to be a husk enclosing six small nuts or seeds. But, in fact, 

 five of the cells and five of the ovules are completely obliterated 

 in the forming fruit, which thus becomes one-celled and one- 

 seeded, " and rarely," says Prof. Gray, " can any vestige be found 

 of the missing parts." 



The pistil of the Maple blossom has two styles, two stigmas, 

 two ovaries, and two ovules in each ovary, but it developes into 

 two-winged seeds. It is not unusual for atrophy to go still further, 

 and for one of the winged seeds to stop growing very early in the 

 season, so that the fruit turns out to be an unsymmetrical affair, 

 with one side swelled into firmer and plumper proportions, because 

 nourishment has been withheld from the other. 



In the Acorns and Horse-Chestnuts which come to maturity, 

 the baby-plant is supplied with a particularly rich and plentiful 

 stock of starches on which to feed while it does its first growing, 

 and it is protected from damp and from insect enemies by a tough, 

 horny shell. The maple germ is also provided with sustenance 

 for its first days of life, is wrapped in a strong covering, and is pro- 

 vided with a wing, so that it can fly before the autumn gales, and 

 find fresh woods and pastures new. When the descendants of 

 these trees are so well started in life, a large proportion of them 

 will survive, and thus the oak, horse-chestnut, and maple families 

 are quite as well kept up as are the families of other trees, which 

 cast to the winds a large number of seeds less fully equipped for 

 the battle of life. 



