42 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



is only fair to say, however, that in such cases of parental 

 arming, the purpose is to insure the life of the plant itself. 



Seeds, as in pines, are often effectually protected In- 

 overlapping, close-fitting scales. Horn-beam, hops and the 

 like, show this arrangement. In our Nelumhium water 

 lih^ of the west, and its fair cousin the lotus of India, the 

 fruits are immersed in hollows of a top-shaped or obconi- 

 cal receptacle. The3^ can only escape by the rotting or 

 loosening of surrounding tissues. On this raft, even 

 though some passengers perish, there is a change for 

 others to escape. As in an ocean steamer, by good luck 

 or furtive fee, the single passenger is lodged by himself. 

 The figure fails in that, if accident occurs, he has not the 

 essential key. 



A species of Mimosa, a very near relative of our own 

 sensitive cassia, as it ripens, has the frame-work of the 

 pod, when some ot the seeds are detached, become prickW 

 on the edges. This defends the remaining seeds, a case 

 perhaps, of partial self-sacrifice. Another acacia is effec- 

 tively protected by bellicose ants that dwell in its hollow 

 thorns. Mr. Belt in his ever charming "Naturalist in Nic- 

 aragua," which every one interested in nature should 

 read, describes how these little creatures make a sortie 

 when the plant is disturbed. 



When the proper time arrives the real "education" or 

 * 'leading forth" of the young, as the word implies, is not 

 infrequently of a violent nature. The seeds are literally 

 expelled \vithout hope or chance of return, but each like 

 the discharged soldiers in old times, has given it a tempor- 

 ary supply of food. Henceforth it must shift for itself 



We hear much in poetry, or poetical prose, of wand- 

 borne seeds or fruits being carried to very long distances, 

 and thistle and dandelion are cited as instances of such 

 dispersal. While it is true that certain seeds or fruits 

 (they are often mistaken the one for the other) are so re- 

 motely wind-borne, yet one will find in most cases that 

 the vital part, the actual seed, is dropped near home. The 

 idea then is not so much to afford an education by travel 



