nisi'ih'su)\ or ik'iiis axd sei:i>s 245 



antciin.L of an insect, and U) turn nwv aiul (act 

 until it has progressed some inches from the |)(jint 

 where it was tlrst |)lace(l. In .Ivciia rA/AvUhe tall 

 oat grass) and S///^it piiDiiilit the awns are bent 

 sharp!)' just as they emeri^e from the flowers, the 

 part below the bend beiiiL,^ like a corkscrew and 

 highly sensitive to moisture, relaxing and con- 

 tracting according to the am(Huit of moisture in 

 the air, with the result that the seed travels along 

 the ground. By the help of the long awn it can 

 pass over small obstacles, such as stones or clods, 

 the m<nement resembling that of a lever. 



I must here guard my readers against th(jse 

 movements that are caused by some insect lar\a. 

 The so-called jumjjing bean imported from Mexico 

 is now so well known that it may be taken as a 

 type of these curious movements due, not to the 

 seed itself, but to the efforts of an im|)risoned 

 insect, the grub of a small moth which jjasses its 

 larxal stage inside the hard-shelled seed of a kind 

 of euphorbia. 



In conclusion, we may glance at a small group 

 of plants that develop sticky glands for the pur- 

 poses of dispersion. 



