OBSERVATIONS ON SEED DISTRIBUTION. 39D 
remove it and put a white or red one in its place. The bees 
never for a moment hesitated to enter the hive, and if they had 
had a sense of colour they would have known a white hive from 
a blue one. 
OBSERVATIONS ON SEED DISTRIBUTION OF SOME BULBOUS 
Prants. By Mr S. Arnott, F.R.H.S. 
Among the many interesting studies in connection with 
plant life is that of the means by which the seeds are so distri- 
buted as to avoid to a great extent the struggle for existence 
between plants of the same species—a struggle which would be 
vastly greater were the seeds scattered close to the parent plants. 
One could write a lengthy paper upon the subject, but the follow- 
ing brief observations upon one part of it alone will possibly be 
useful in bringing the whole question before the minds of some 
who may have an opportunity of studying it in a greater or lesser 
degree. I am not going to discuss the plants which generally find 
ready means for the dispersal of their seeds by the agency of the 
wind or through the means of birds, but to refer to one or two 
examples of plants whose seeds are not of a nature to be wind- 
borne, and which are not appreciated by the birds or by any of 
the other creatures which convey seeds from place to place, 
either through their use as food or from their possessing certain 
contrivances which enable them to adhere to the skin, fur, or 
feathers of these creatures. Nor do I intend to speak of those 
which have, by means of the contrivances which cause a sudden 
opening of the seed capsules, a means of scattering these seeds 
to a greater or less distance from the parents. The plants to 
which I refer are some of the bulbous plants which have flowers 
elevated on stems of some length, and which have not any 
power of distribution save that given by the possession of these 
stems. As an example, one may take one of the Alliums of 
Garlics, and one, also, which is of a highly succulent character, 
and yet remarkably free from the tough fibrous matter which 
gives strength to the flower stems of some plants. The plant 
is Allium triquetrum, one full of sap and of a very soft nature. 
Its flowers are arranged in a small raceme at the end of the stem, 
and droop downwards by means of a slight thinning and weaken- 
ing of the latter near its extremity. From the soft character of 
