Chapter vii 



THE SPIDERS' EXODUS 



Seeds, when ripened in the fruit, are dissemin- 

 ated, that is to say, scattered on the surface of 

 the ground, to sprout in spots as yet unoccupied 

 and fill the expanses that realize favourable 

 conditions. 



Amid the wayside rubbish grows one of the 

 gourd family, Ecbalium elaterium, commonly 

 called the squirting cucumber, whose fruit — a 

 rough and extremely bitter little cucumber — 

 is the size of a date. When ripe, the fleshy 

 core resolves into a liquid in which float the 

 seeds. Compressed by the elastic rind of the 

 fruit, this liquid bears upon the base of the 

 footstalk, which is gradually forced out, yields 

 like a stopper, breaks off and leaves an orifice 

 through which a stream of seeds and fluid pulp 

 is suddenly ejected. If, with a novice hand, 

 under a scorching sun, you shake the plant 

 laden with yellow fruit, you are bound to be 



lU 



