132 SEED. 



mena worthy of our admiration, and these means areas varied 

 as the species of seeds which are spread upon the surface of 

 the earth. 



The air, winds, rivers, seas, and animals, transport seeds 

 and disperse them in every direction. Seeds provided with 

 feathery crowns, (egrets,) as the dandelion and thistle ; with 

 wings, as the maple and ash, are raised into the air and even 

 carried across the seas. Linnaeus asserted that the ERIGERON 

 canadense was introduced into Europe from America, by seeds 

 wafted across the Atlantic Ocean. " The seeds," says Lin- 

 naeus, " embark upon the rivers which descend from the high- 

 est mountains of Lapland, and arrive at the middle of the 

 plains, and the coasts of the seas. The ocean has thrown 

 even upon the coasts of Norway, the nuts of the mahogany, 

 and the fruit of the cocoa nut tree, borne on its waves from 

 the far distant tropical regions ; and this wonderful voyage has 

 been performed without injury to the vital energy of the 

 seeds." 



Some fruits, endowed with elasticity, throw their seeds to a 

 considerable distance. In the oat, and hi the greater number 

 of ferns, this elasticity is in the calyx. In the Impatiens, in 

 the cucumber, (Cucumis^) and many others, it resides in the 

 capsule. The pericarp of the IMPATIENS, (sometimes called 

 touch-me-not, and jewel- weed,) consists of one cell with five 

 divisions ; each of which, when the seeds are ripe, upon being 

 touched, suddenly folds itself in a spiral form, leaps from the 

 stem, and, by means of its elastic property, scatters its seeds 

 to a great distance. 



Animals also perform their part in the diffusion of seeds. 

 Squirrels and oth^r animals carry seeds and nuts into holes in 

 the earth. The Indians believed that the squirrels planted all 

 the timber of the country ; there is no doubt but that they do 

 much towards diffusing different kinds of nuts and seeds ; as 

 chesnut, oak, walnut, &c. Animals contribute to the distribu- 

 tion of seeds by conveying them in their wool, fur, or feathers. . 

 Although distance, chains of mountains, rivers, and even 

 seas, do not present obstacles sufficient to prevent the disper- 

 sion of vegetables, climate fixes an eternal barrier which plants 

 cannot pass. It is not unlikely that in future times the great- 

 er part of vegetable tribes which grow between the same par- 

 allels of latitude, may be common to all countries of that zone ; 

 this may be the result of the industry of man, aided by the ef- 

 ficient means which nature takes to promote the same object 

 in the dissemination of seeds ; but no human power can ever 



Dispersion of seeds, how effected ? Seeds with egrets, and wings Seeds 

 carried by water Elasticity Agency of animals Effect of climate upon the 

 dispersion of seeds. 



