Sketches from Nature. 325 



lands, and the following would seem to show 

 that their belief is well founded. A Mr. Weale, 

 who was in their way of thinking, collected a 

 packet of dried pellets and sent them to England. 

 When closely examined under the microscope 

 they revealed a number of tiny seeds from which 

 plants of seven kinds of grasses were ultimately 

 raised. 



In comparatively few years a small island in 

 mid ocean had quite an important addition to its 

 flora, merely from the fact that the grave of an 

 officer was dug with a spade that had been used 

 in England. The seeds from which these sprang 

 were embedded in the dry earth adhering to the 

 spade. Floating driftwood is quite an important 

 means of dispersal, as can easily be understood ; 

 and the natives of some of the coral islands in 

 the Pacific procure stones for their tools solely 

 from the roots of drifted trees, the stones being 

 a valuable royal tax. In this connection Darwin 

 made the following interesting experiments. He 

 found that when irregularly-shaped stones were 

 embedded in the roots of trees, small parcels of 

 earth were frequently enclosed in their interstices 

 or behind them, so perfectly that not a particle 

 could be washed away during the longest 

 transport. Out of one small portion of earth 

 thus completely enclosed by the roots of an oak 

 about fifty years old three dicotyledonous plants 

 germinated. It is well known that in many 



