HIDE AND SEEK. 113 



peller, so that the seeds are thus carried to some 

 distance. In the Lime {Tilia Etn'opced) the fruit is 

 borne on a long stalk, to which a papery bract grows 

 for about half way. The latter gets drier as the fruit 

 ripens, and then bends back in such a way that it is 

 whirled to a distance, just as if the fruit of the Lime 

 had winged expansions or special samaras for the 

 purpose ; and when the time for their dispersion 

 comes we see them flying about in the air like so 

 many butterflies. 



Everywhere, wind -agency has been evoked by 

 plants for the dispersion of their seeds, and in some 

 way or another has been enlisted in their service. 



Not a few plants trust to even more accidental 

 means of transport — to the currents of the sea (as 

 the Cocoa-nuts, etc.), to streams and rivers ; and these 

 fruits can remain in salt or fresh water, as the case 

 may be, for an unusually long time without suffering 

 harm ; whereas fruits and seeds not adapted to dis- 

 persion by such means soon die and rot in the water. 

 Even the varying degrees of vitality possessed by 

 seeds are related to their competition for life. Some 

 have been found in Celtic tumuli, like Dr. Lindley's 

 Raspberry seeds, sown in Chiswick Gardens after an 

 interval of perhaps two thousand years, and then 

 germinating into the plants whose descendants, I 

 believe, are still to be seen there ! Similar successful 

 experiments have been made with seeds found in 

 ancient Roman tombs. And everybody knows, 



I 



