326 Poachers and Poaching. 



cases a few days' immersion in sea-water is 

 sufficient to kill seeds, but a number taken out 

 of the crop of a pigeon which had floated on the 

 water for thirty days nearly all germinated. 

 Other aids to dispersal already referred to are 

 wading birds, which frequent the muddy edges 

 of ponds, and, if suddenly flushed, would be the 

 most likely to have muddy feet. " Birds of this 

 order wander more than those of any other, and 

 they are occasionally found on the most remote 

 and barren islands of the open ocean ; they would 

 not be likely to alight on the surface of the sea, 

 so that any dirt on their feet would not be washed 

 off ; and when gaining the land they would be sure 

 to fly to their natural fresh-water haunts. I 

 do not believe," says Darwin, " that botanists 

 are aware how charged the mud of ponds is with 

 seeds ; I have tried several little experiments, 

 but will here only give the most striking case. 

 I took in February three tablespoonfuls of mud 

 from three different points, beneath water, on 

 the edge of a little pond ; this mud when dried 

 weighed only six and three-quarter ounces. I 

 kept it covered up in my studio for six months, 

 pulling up and counting each plant as it grew. 

 The plants were of many kinds, and were alto- 

 gether five hundred and thirty -seven in number; 

 and yet the viscid mud was all contained in a 

 breakfast cup. Considering these facts, I think 



