246 THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION, 



large gourd ! And it may be said without exagger- 

 ation that if the seeds of this plant were dispersed by 

 a miracle over the globe, and were to spring up sim- 

 ultaneously, on the morrow the entire surface of 

 the earth would be covered with hideous mushrooms ! 



The atmosphere is, of course, the chief agent in the 

 dissemination of plants. A multitude of seeds have 

 been furnished with feathery plumes, or with mem- 

 braneous wings, for the sole purpose of enabling them 

 the more easily to be carried away upon its current. 



For this purpose the light fruit of many plants is 

 surmounted by a plume of gossamer fibres, forming a 

 real parachute which rises upon the lightest breath of 

 the zephyr. 



Borne away from the mother plant and mounting 

 on the wind by means of this balloon, like a tuft of 

 feathers, the seeds perform enormous voyages. The 

 gentlest breeze bears them from the lowly valley to 

 the highest mountain top ; and if a tempest arises the 

 frail parachute is whirled away by the storm, joins the 

 clouds on high, crosses oceans and effects its descent in 

 distant, unknown countries. 



Other seeds, too heavy to be borne upon the 

 winds, and able to endure soaking, accomplish long 

 sea-voyages, and cross oceans by the aid of currents 

 and waves. Thus cocoas, protected by their woody 

 casing, and carried off by regular currents, pass from 

 the shores of the Seychelles to the coast of Malabar, a 

 distance of 1,200 miles. Astonished by this unex- 

 pected and mysterious phenomena, which is repeated 

 every year, the Indians, as we have seen, can only ex- 



