THE ORIGIN OF WALNUTS. 163 



orange or a plum is brightly tinted with hues 

 which contrast strongly with the surrounding 

 foliage ; its pleasant taste and soft pulp all 

 advertise it for the notice of birds or mon- 

 keys, as a means for assisting in the disper- 

 sion of its seed. But a nut, on the con- 

 trary, is a fruit whose actual seed contains an 

 abundance of oils and other pleasant food- 

 stuffs, which must be carefully guarded against 

 the depredations of possible foes. In the 

 plum or the orange we do not eat the seed 

 itself: we only eat the surrounding pulp. 

 But in the walnut the part which we utilise 

 is the embryo plant itself ; and so the wal- 

 nut's great object in life is to avoid being 

 eaten. Accordingly, that part of the fruit 

 which in the plum is stored with sweet juices 

 is, in the walnut, filled with a bitter and very 

 nauseous essence. We seldom see this bitter 

 covering in our over-civilised life, because it is, 

 of course, removed before the nuts come to 

 table. The walnut has but a thin shell, and 

 is poorly protected in comparison with some of 



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