THE SEED. sa 
and sides, so thatthe seeds donot fall out, butareshaken 
rt blown out bythe wind.. In other cases, as the Broom, the 
Balsam, the Oxalis, there is a mechanical contrivance in the 
i¢arp or seed, which has the effect of a spring, in project- 
ing the seed, when ripe, to a distance from the parent plant. 
The use of these contrivances for dispersing seeds is obvious. 
They would choke each other in germinating close together, 
if they simply fell to the ground, and thus be lost or wasted. 
By being dispersed, the seeds are cast abroad, and get room to 
germinate ; they grow up and fertilize other places, and thus 
perpetuate the species, and increase the useful products 
which the plant may yield.— Animals are the means,of dis- 
persing some sorts of seeds, which are rough, and adhere to ~ 
their shaggy hair, Rivers, and even seas, also aid in the 
dissemination of seeds. 
Ii. THE SEED. 
515. This is the ovule, impregnated and arrived at ma- 
turity. In all cases, excepting Cycadee and Conifer, and 
one or two plants in which the ovule ruptures the ovary, or 
the carpel does not completely close, the seed is covered by 
apericarp. It is found within the pericarp, and consists of 
the integuments or coverings, the albumen and the embryo. 
The terms used to express the different positions of the 
ovule apply also to the seed. See Fig. 55, theseed of the 
Bean (par. 518.) In Fig. 56. (par. 524.) the skin or episperm 
has been removed. In Fig. 57, the two lobes, which were 
united by means of the little conical body between them, 
are removed, and the most essential part of the seed is left— 
the gemmule and radicle, as they appeat, after pei: er te 
a little. See 
516. The seed is attached to the placenta or tropho pern rma 
by the funiculus or podosperm, each of which grows alo 
with the ovule. The hilum or umbilicus, where this. att 
Siege oc ase Leek and 
