Vegetable and Animal 
found that an ant came to one of these fruits for sugar 
and carried off a seed. The oily seedcoat of the wild 
garlic (Allium ursinum) or of the Hepatica also attracts 
the ants.” 
Such characters might very easily be supposed use- 
less or ornamental, yet they are vital to the wide dis- 
tribution of the species. Perhaps the fact (if true) that 
the snowdrop is not really a British plant may be best 
explained by the absence or comparative scarcity of the 
ants which carry its seed. Its distribution in Europe 
follows that of the oak or mixed forests everywhere. 
But ants and mites are far too important to leave to 
the end of a chapter. 
1 Dengler. 2 Moore. ® Handlirsch. 
* Schimper. 5 Holmes. * Massee and Salmon. 
7 Burdon. ® Schneider. * Lindau, 
10 Goeze. 11 Weiss, Sernander. 
204 
