SEED-DISPERSAL 63 
terminological accuracy. If one uses such terms at 
all, accuracy is, of course, indispensable, but it is 
sometimes wiser to give them a very wide berth indeed. 
Once more, as when dealing with pollen grains, 
we must realize quite clearly that seeds have no power 
of themselves to help themselves, they cannot get 
about from place to place without assistance ; on the 
other hand, it would never do if they merely fell from 
the parent plant to the ground and remained there, 
for then we might find hundreds or thousands or 
tens of thousands of seedlings all trying to grow 
where there would be room only for one or two adults. 
If a seed is to have a fair chance it must reach a place 
for its germination where it has enough room in the 
soil for its roots and in the air for the rest of its body, 
its stems leaves and flowers; and the question is, 
how do seeds, which have no locomotive powers at 
all, manage to get about and to find a suitable spot ? 
When dealing with Protection I pointed out that 
the object is not to prevent every plant from ever 
being eaten at all, but that a sufficient number should 
be preserved to feed the hungry animals and to provide 
for the next generation of plants as well; and so in 
dispersal, the object is, not that every seed should find 
a suitable spot, but that a sufficient number should 
survive to provide the plants of the next generation, 
and it is important to bear this fact in mind. 
We must remember that in the Scheme of Creation 
seeds are meant not only to replenish the supply of 
green things that keep the atmosphere pure, but also 
to provide sustenance for the animal creation, including 
ourselves. Hence the numerical profusion is not by 
any means wasteful ; it is, on the contrary, utilized for 
maintaining life on a higher level—to wit, insects and 
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