DISPEKSION OF SEEDS. 85 



tion, and where the mean temperature is nearly at the freezing 

 point. This elevated position must contribute greatly to facili- 

 tate the dispersion of those buoyant particles of which their 

 fructification consists. 



' The sporules of fungi/ says Fries, 6 are so infinite that in 

 a single individual of Reticularia maxima I have counted 

 above ten millions, and so subtile as to be scarcely visible, often 

 resembling thin smoke ; so light that they may be raised per- 

 haps by evaporation into the atmosphere, and dispersed in so 

 many ways by the attraction of the sun, by insects, wind, elas- 

 ticity, adhesion, &c., that it is difficult to conceive a place from 

 which they may be excluded.' 



Among the higher plants we find a great number of seeds 

 furnished with downy and feathery appendages, enabling them, 

 when ripe, to float in the air, and to be wafted easily to great 

 distances by the most gentle breeze. Thousands and thousands 

 may perish on the way, or fall upon a barren soil, but many, 

 favoured by fortune, find a new home far away from the spot 

 where their parents grew, and found new starting points for 

 further emigrations. Thus many a plant may have been extir- 

 pated in its original seat and yet flourish in another country, 

 reminding one of those ancient cities whose colonies still pros- 

 per, while they themselves have long since vanished from the 

 earth. > 



It would be a difficult task to describe the various and elegant 

 forms of the feathery appendages which serve to waft the seeds 

 through the air. Nothing can exceed in lightness and beauty 

 the downy tufts which surmount the grains of the dandelion, 

 the thistle, the chickory, and so many others of our compound 

 flowers; and though not one of them resembles the other, 

 each fully answers its purpose. Here, as in every other case, 

 the Creator has not only provided for the utility but also for 

 the decoration of his works. 



The seeds of many of our forest-trees are fitted for dispersion 

 by means of an attached wing, as in the case of the fir-tree, the 

 elm, the birch, the ash, the maple, so that they are caught up by 

 the wind as they fall, and are carried to a distance. As winds 

 often prevail for days, weeks, or even months together, in the 

 same direction, this means of transportation may sometimes 

 be without limits, and even the heavier grains may be borne 



