98 BOTANY TOR BEGINNERS. [Ch. XV 



plant of the compound family was introduced into Europe from 

 America, by seeds wafted across the Atlantic Ocean. cc Seeds, ^ 

 says Linnaeus, "embark upon the rivers which descend jroin 

 the highest mountains of Lapland, and arrive at the middle ot 

 the plains, and the coasts of the seas. The ocean nas 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. 5 ' yt? 



398. Animals also perform their part in the diffusion of seeds. 

 Squirrels and other animals carry seeds and nuts into holes in 

 the earth. The Indians believed that the squirrels planted all 

 the timber in the country : there is no doubt but that they do 

 much towards diffusing different kinds of nuts and seeds; as 

 Chestnut, Oak, Walnut, &c. Animals contribute also to the 

 distribution of seeds by conveying them in their wool, fui, or 

 feathers. 



399. The diffusion of seeds completes the circle of vegeta- 

 tion, and closes the scene of vegetable life. The shrubs and 

 trees lose their foliage the withered herbs decompose, and re* 

 store to the earth the element which they have drawn from its 

 bosom. The earth, stripped of its beauty, seems sinking into old 

 age ; but although unseen by us, and unmarked the processes of 

 nature by too many among men, innumerable germs have been 

 formed, which wait but the favourable warmth, to decorate with 

 new brilliancy this terrestrial scene. 



400. So fruitful is nature, that a surface a thousand times 

 more extended than that of our globe, would not be sufficient for 

 the vegetables which the seeds of one single year would pro- 

 duce, if all should be developed; but the destruction of seeda 

 is very great, great quantities being eaten by man and beast; 01 

 left to perish in unfavourable situations. Those which are pre- 

 served, constitute but a small proportion of the whole ; they are 

 either carried into the clefts of rocks, or buried beneath the 

 ruins of vegetables; protected from the cold, they remain inac- 

 tive during winter, and germinate as soon as the early warmth 

 of spring is felt. 



40.1. At this season the botanist who considers with a cun 



398. Do animals assist in dispersing seeds 1 



399. What is remarked of the appearance of vegetation at the time 

 of the diffusion of seeds'? 



400. Would the earth afford sufficient space for all the seeds which 

 one year produces to vegetate 1 



401. What are the reflections of the Iwtanist on beholding the plants 

 appear on ;he return of Spring 1 



