244 curious phenomena in natural history. Oct. 16. 
growth, and some foreign plants, as the German cen+ 
tury, and the veronica maritima, brought and planted 
by the sea on the fhores of Sweden. Linnzus brings 
likewise some facts in proof of his general doctrine of 
the dispersion of seeds by the winds ; vzz that the Ca 
nadian erigiron or flea bane, was dispersed from the 
botanic garden of Paris over all Europe, the antir- 
ghinum minus, or lefser toad flax of Bauhin, from 
that of Upsal over the whole province, as were the 
datura or thorn apple, the cotula or may weed, and 
the American gnaphalium or cudweed. 
But nature has made as curious, wise, and effectu» 
al arrangements, for the preservatzon, as for the 
dispersion of seeds. A few of these we fhall likewise 
just hint at as a subject of admiration and wone 
der. 
Eighty-six genera of plants, whose situation, on the 
bare sea-fhore, exposes their seeds to become the prey 
of fifhes and birds, the almighty has hid from them in 
seed vefsels so exactly resembling /bel/s, that they 
escape notice and destruction, being confounded with 
the millions of real fhells scattered upon the fhore. 
As an example of this curious fact, the seed vefsels of 
the medicago or medick, the salicornia or marth 
sampire, and the salsola or glofs wort, resemble the 
cockle so exactly, that they pafs unnoticed with that 
fhell. 
Other means of preservation comes. from the facul- 
ty given to some plants of hiding their seeds in the 
ground, such as the subterraneous trefoil and lathy- 
rus, with the arachis or ground nut &c. whilst the 
seeds of others are preserved 2 most astonifhing 
