32 SEED-FOOD. 



ing the seed-food against the depredations of seed- 

 eating animals ; but strange to say, some of the 

 most effective of these means of defence constitute 

 the very attractions which lead to our using the 

 seeds. For example, it is probable that no wild 

 animal would think of eating mustard seeds at 

 least a second time. Nutmegs are quite as well 

 protected by the aromatic oil which many of us 

 prize so highly, but which is probably distasteful 

 to animals, and if taken in quantity is poisonous. 

 To a certain extent the same is true of coffee and 

 cacao seeds, both of which are decidedly unpalata- 

 ble in the raw state. 



Certain seeds containing the most virulent poi- 

 sons afford drugs which are often of great value 

 in medicine. Nux vomica, for example, yields the 

 important drug strychnine. The seeds of larkspur, 

 foxglove, lobelia, henbane, sabadilla, colchicum, 

 stramonium, croton and bitter-almond are each 

 rich in some powerful medicinal principle. 



Perhaps the most curious expedient resorted to 

 for protection is hardening the seed-food to an 

 extent which will defy the best of teeth. A good 

 example of this is the ivory-nut, which is largely 

 imported from South America, and its albumen 

 used as a substitute for animal ivory in the manu- 



