I<tf OCTOBER. 263 



{ays at least ten thouaand eggs in the sea near the 

 British coasts. 



OCTOBER. 



" Now stormy Winter, with her dusky train, 

 Frowns o'er the hill, and murmurs in the plain ; 

 The little birds the trembling forests fly, 

 And, led by nature, seek the southern sky." 



PLANTS having gone through the progressive 

 stages of springing, flowering, and seeding, have at 

 this season brought to maturity the rudiments of a 

 future progeny, which are now to be committed to 

 the fostering bosom of the earth. This being done, 

 rhe parent vegetable, if of the herbaceous kind, either 

 totally dies, or perishes as far as it rose above 

 ground ; if a tree or shrub, it loses all its tender 

 parts which the spring and summer had put forth. 

 Seeds are scattered by the hand of nature in various 

 manners. The winds, which at this time arise, dis- 

 perse far and wide many seeds which are curio- sly 

 furnished with feathers or wings for this purpose. 

 Other seeds, by the means of hooks lay hold on 

 passing animals, and are thus carried to distant pla- 

 ces. Many are contained in berries, which being 

 eaten by birds, the seeds are discharged again unin- 

 jured, and grow where they happen to alight- - 

 Thus carefully has nature provided for the distribu- 

 tion and propagation of plants. 



