The Spiders Exodus 155 



somewhat startled when you hear a noise 

 among the leaves and receive the cucumber's 

 grapeshot in your face. 



The fruit of the garden balsam, when ripe, 

 splits, at the least touch, into five fleshy valves, 

 which curl up and shoot their seeds to a distance. 

 The botanical name of Impatiens given to the 

 balsam alludes to this sudden dehiscence of the 

 capsules, which cannot endure contact without 

 bursting. 



In the damp and shady places of the woods 

 there exists a plant of the same family which, 

 for similar reasons, bears the even more expres- 

 sive name of Impatiens noli-me-tangere, or touch- 

 me-not. 



The capsule of the pansy expands into three 

 valves, each scooped out like a boat and laden 

 in the middle with two rows of seeds. When 

 these valves dry, the edges shrivel, press upon 

 the grains and eject them. 



Light seeds, especially those of the order of 

 Compositse, have aeronautic apparatus — tufts, 

 plumes, fly-wheels — which keep them up in the 

 air and enable them to take distant voyages. 

 In this way, at the least breath, the seeds of the 



