1896] CURRENT LITERATURE 185 
struck. The blows which are needed to open such mature flowers are 
ordinarily given by thebirds which frequent them. Mr. Keeble suggests that 
this is an adaptation which is mutually advantageous : “ The bird knows it is 
worth its while to ‘tap a new barrel’ as it were,” for obviously there will be 
most nectar in such still unopened, and_ ence unvisited, flowers; and the 
pollen is protected from rain. This, since the majority of the species with 
exploding flowers either blossom during the rainy season or else grow where 
there is almost daily rain the year through, is a matter of considerable 
importance. Blossoming during the rains, even when not a matter of neces- 
sity, may be an advantage, since the seeds germinate most successfully, if not 
exclusively, in moist air. 
As to the dissemination of seeds, Mr. Keeble disagrees somewhat with the 
generalizations of some authors on the subject,’ to the effect that the seeds 
pass through the alimentary canal of birds and are dropped in their excre- 
ment unharmed upon the branches of trees. He finds that, of the large seeds 
at least, such few as are swallowed are decomposed, if not profitably digested, 
but that most of them are carefully expelled from the fleshy pulp before it is 
eaten, and if they adhere to the bird’s beak are rubbed off upon any conven- 
rent object, a branch or even a telegraph wire. “On the single telegraph 
wire,” at the Hill-Garden of Hak ala, “there are every year hundreds of 
seedlings of Loranthus loniceroides, all in early stages of germination.” Fur- 
thermore, the large amount of tannin found in the coats of the seeds would 
make them unpalatable, and prove a useful protection against the seeds being 
swallowed, 
Carrying a drop of resin, During its subsequent growth, the hypocotyl curves 
ever and finally, if it has attained sufficient length so to do, applies its head, 
new enlarged somewhat into a disc-shaped “sucker,” vertically upon the 
crime: io the host. After such an attachment has been effected, the 
bain, Straightens, thus detaching the seed from the branch and carrying 
as nto the air. Much of the food has been transferred from the endosperm to 
ee may perhaps be temporarily stored, for the nourishment of 
1366 
The Natural History of Plants,” Kerner, trans. Oliver, 2: 205. 
