THE EEASON WHY. 295 



And J will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest 

 and be full." DEUTERONOMY xi. 



most general organisation of all) we find them covered by strong, close tunicles, 

 and attached to the stem according to an order appiopriated to each plant, as 

 is seen in the several kinds of grains and of grasses. 



In which enumeration, what we have first to notice is, unity of purpose under 

 variety of expedients. Nothing can be more single than the design; more 

 diversified than the means. Pellicles, shells, pulps, pods, husks, skin, scales 

 armed with thorns, are all employed in prosecuting the same intention. 

 Secondly ; we may observe, that in all these cases, the purpose is fulfilled within 

 a just and limited degree. We can perceive, that if the seeds of plants were 

 more strongly guarded than they are, their greater security would interfere with 

 other uses. Many species of animals would suffer, and many perish, if they could 

 not obtain access to them. The plant would overrun the soil ; or the seed be 

 wasted for want of room to sow itself. It is, sometimes, as necessary to destroy 

 particular species of plants, as it is, at other times, to encourage their growth . 

 Here, as in many cases, a balance is to be maintained between opposite uses. The 

 provisions for the preservation of seeds appear to be directed, chiefly against 

 the inconstancy of the elements, or the sweeping destruction of inclement 

 seasons. The depredation of animals, and the injuries of accidental violence, are 

 allowed for in the abundance of the increase. The result is, that out of the 

 many thousand different plants which cover the earth, not a single species, 

 perhaps, has been lost since the creation. 



When nature has perfected her seeds, her next care is to disperse them. 

 The seed cannot answer its purpose, while it remains confined in the capsule. 

 After the seeds therefore are ripened, the pericarpium opens to let them out, 

 and the opening is not like an accidental bursting, but for the most part, is 

 according to a certain rule in each plant. What I have always thought very 

 extraordinary; nuts and shells, which we can hardly crack with our teeth, 

 divide and make way for the little tender sprout which proceeds from the 

 kernel. Handling the nut, I could hardly conceive how the plantule was ever to 

 get out of it. There are cases, it is said, in which the seed-vessel, by en elastic jerk, 

 at the moment of its explosion, casts the seeds to a distance. We all, however, 

 know, that many seeds (those of most composite flowers, as of the thistle, dande- 

 lion, &c.) are endowed with what are not improperly called wings; that is, 

 downy appendages, by which they are enabled to float in the air, and are 

 carried oftentimes by the wind to great distances from the plant which pro- 

 duces them. It is the swelling also of this downy tuft within the seed-vessel 

 that seems to overcome the resistance of its coats, and to open a passage for the 

 seed to escape. 



But the constitution of seeds is still more admirable than either their 

 preservation or their dispersion. In the body of the seed of every species 

 of plant, or nearly of every one, provision is made for two grand purposes : 

 first, for the safety of the germ ; secondly, for the temporary support of the 

 future plant. The sprout, as folded up in the seed, is delicate and brittle 

 beyond any other substance. It cannot be touched without being broken. 



Yet in beans, peas, grass-seeds, grain, fruits, it is so fenced on all sides, 

 so shut up and protected, that whilst the seed itself is rudely handled, 

 tossed into sacks, shovelled into heaps, the sacred particle, the miniature plant 

 remains unhurt. It is wonderful, also, how long many kinds of seeds, by the 

 ielp of their integuments, and perhaps of their oils, stand out against decay. 

 A grain of mustard-seed has been known to lie in the earth for a hundred 



