20 Til- vr AT LARGE. 



enemies into useful allies. Supposing there 

 was by chance, ages ago, oneof these primitive 

 ancestral strawberries, whose receptacle was 

 a little more pulpy than usual, and contained 

 a small quantity of sugary matter, such as is 

 often found in various parts of plants ; then 

 it might happen to attract the attention of 

 some hungry bird, \vhich, by eating the soft 

 pulp, would help in dispersing the indigestible 

 fruitlets. As these fruitlets sprang up into 

 healthy young plants, they would tend to re- 

 produce the peculiarity in the structure of the 

 receptacle which marked the parent stock, and 

 some of them would probably display it in a 

 more marked degree. These would be sure 

 to get eaten in their turn, and so to become 

 the originators of a still more pronounced 

 strawberry type. As time went on, the 

 largest and sweetest berries would constantly 

 be chosen by the birds, till the whole species 

 began to assume its existing character. The 

 receptacle would become softer and sweeter, 

 and the fruits themselves harder and more 



