612 Sir John Luhhock [Feb. 18, 



In other cases seeds are wafted by water. Of this the Cocoa-nut 

 is one of the most striking examples. The seeds retain their vitality 

 for a considerable time, and the loose texture of the husk protects 

 them and makes them float. Every one knows that the Cocoa-nut is 

 one of the first plants to make its appearance on coral islands, and it 

 is, I believe, the only palm which is common to both hemispheres. 



The seeds of the Common Duckweeds (Lemna) sink to the bottom 

 of the water in autumn, and remain there throughout the winter ; but 

 in the spring they rise up to the surface again and begin to grow. 



In a very large number of cases the diffusion of seeds is effected 

 by animals. To this class belong the fruits and berries. In them an 

 outer fleshy portion becomes pulpy, and generally sweet, enclosing 

 the seeds. It is remarkable that such fruits, in order, doubtless, to 

 attract animals, are, like flowers, brightly colored — as, for instance, 

 the Cherry, Currant, Apple, Peach, Plum, Strawberry, Raspberry, and 

 many others. This color, moreover, is not present in the unripe fruit, 

 but is rapidly developed at maturity. In such cases the actual seed 

 is generally protected by a dense, sometimes almost stony, covering, 

 so that it escapes digestion, while its germination is perhaps hastened 

 by the heat of the animal's body. It may be said that the skin of 

 apple and pear pips is comparatively soft; but then they are em- 

 bedded in a stringy core, which is seldom eaten. 



These colored fruits form a considerable part of the food of 

 monkeys in the tropical regions of the earth, and we can, I think, 

 hardly doubt that these animals are guided by the colors, just as we 

 are, in selecting the ripe fruit. This has a curious bearing on an 

 interesting question as to the power of distinguishing color possessed 

 by our ancestors in bygone times. Geiger, relying on the well- 

 known fact that the ancient languages are poor in words for color, 

 and that in the oldest books — as, for instance, in the Vedas, the 

 Zendavesta, the Old Testament, and the writings of Homer and 

 Hesiod — though, of course, the heavens are referred to over and over 

 again, its blue color is never dwelt on, has argued that the ancients 

 were very deficient in the power of distinguishing colors, and 

 especially blue. In our own country Mr. Gladstone has lent the 

 weight of his great authority to the same conclusion. For my part I 

 cannot accept this view. There are, it seems to me, very strong 

 reasons against it, into which I cannot, of course, now enter ; and 

 though I should rely mainly on other considerations, the colors of 

 fruits are not, I think, without significance. If monkeys and apes 

 could distinguish them, surely we may infer that oven the most 

 savage of men could do so too. Zeuxis would never have deceived 

 the birds if he had not had a fair percej^tion of color. 



In these instances of colored fruits, the fleshy edible part more or 

 less surrounds the true seeds ; in others the actual seeds themselves 

 become edible. In the former the edible part serves as a temptation 

 to animals ; in the latter it is stored up for the use of the plant itself. 

 When, therefore, the seeds themselves arc edible they are generally 



