DANDELION DOWN. 113 



seeds, the king of beasts has been done to death by 

 the torture and irritation they induce. The lion in 

 attempting to free his hair from the seeds, is apt to 

 find them adhering to his mouth, and the effort to get 

 rid of the seeds is as often as not a hopeless task. 



There is no space left wherein to ask you to re- 

 member the sticky seed of the mistletoe a rare pro- 

 vision among our native plants whereby it adheres to 

 the tree which is to form its "host." It is a curious 

 story, too, that of the dispersion of seeds by the aid 

 of birds. You may read how Darwin, by the exercise 

 of his patient industry, seeing possible results where 

 a lesser mind would " pass by on the other side," 

 moistened and tended the clod of earth which a friend 

 had removed from the foot of a migrating bird. Out 

 of this clod, in time, dozens of plants were developed, 

 which, in the natural order of things, would have been 

 carried by the bird over great tracts of land and sea. 

 Think, also, how volcanic islands, rising from the azure 

 main as primitive tracts of land, are peopled by the 

 winged seeds which fall on their coasts and bring 

 forth a covering of vegetation to cover the primitive 

 barrenness of the earth. But more of all these things 

 hereafter. 



I may not discourse at present on the why and 

 wherefore of colour in fruits as an aid to the disper- 

 sion of the seeds contained therein. The dandelion 

 seed is enough for to-day, and opens the gateway of 

 thought wide enough for you and me for many days 

 to come. 



