~ 
THE MANGROVE. 15 
points are gained, and under the influence of them 
the seed commences that wonderful chain of 
living actions, which are only to cease when the 
tree becomes dust again. 
Sometimes, indeed, the seed need not be first 
buried in earth before it can awake to life, and 
become a new and vigorous plant. The most 
curious instance of this exception to the general 
rule is in the case of the mangrove, a tree grow- 
ing exclusively in tropical countries. These 
trees delight to grow in the soft, oozy mud, where 
a river enters the sea, and to have their roots 
continually immersed in the wet and pestiferous 
waters, half fresh and half salt. If they were to 
drop their seeds as other trees do, they would 
fall upon the surface of the waves, and be carried 
away and lost. But it has been otherwise or- 
dered. ‘The seed begins to grow here before it 
leaves its parent’s breast, and puts out a long 
delicate root, which lengthens downward until 
it has reached the mud below; here it strikes 
root, and as soon as it is strong enough to pro- 
vide its own living, its connection with the 
parent-stem is broken off, and it becomes a 
vigorous tree. 
