i84 Chances of Life 



Isle of Anglesey, and the great-grandchildren of the 

 one original plant would more than clothe the entire 

 land-surface of the globe ! 



This calculation was made by Mr. Darwin ; and yet, 

 as he goes on to observe, the plant is actually not in- 

 creasing at all in most places, although it is a perennial, 

 and although its seeds are so minute as to be easily 

 wafted to a great distance by the wind. So, then, only 

 one seed out of the thousands borne by a single plant 

 can come to anything, and even that not every year, 

 but only once in several years ; for, as each plant lives 

 some years, there must be an increase in its numbers 

 if but one new plant grew up every year. 



That the seeds are scattered, and widely scattered, is 

 unquestionable, for seedlings have been found eight or 

 ten miles away from where any plants grew ; but it is 

 equally certain that there is some effectual check to 

 the plant's increase, though what that check is remains 

 unknown. 



It is plain, therefore, that the mere scattering of the 

 seed, however necessary as a first step, is far from 

 being enough to secure that the plant shall be able to 

 establish itself in a fresh locality ; and the farther the 

 seed is carried the greater the risk it often runs. Some 

 plants are much better able than others to adapt them- 

 selves to altered circumstances, and these, of course, 

 make the better colonists ; but even they may be quite 

 unable to effect a settlement simply for lack of space. 

 Others find that soil, or climate, or situation do not 

 suit them, and soon die out for that reason. Others, 

 again, though they may find ample room, and all 

 things else to their liking, are quite unable to become 

 permanent colonists because they cannot fertilize them- 



