496 THE UNIVERSE. 



the leeward of the males, in order that they might more 

 effectually receive the prolific dust. 



At the i^resent day the negroes know perfectly that the 

 loss of the male stems completely checks the production 

 of the fruit. Hence when, in time of Avars, they wish to 

 starve their enemies out, they content themselves \vith 

 destroying the stamen-bearing palms, which are much the 

 less numerous. 



In Egypt the harvest of dates has for ages been assured 

 by mounting the palms and shaking the male panicles upon 

 the female flowers. At the time of the French invasion 

 the Arabs were not in a position to take this precaution, 

 being moi'e occupied with war than with agricultural 

 labours; and consequently in this year, according to the 

 statement of the botanist Delille, who was a member of 

 the expedition, the date-trees were barren. 



Nevertheless, it must be admitted that if the ancients 

 ol^served the sexual natin^e of plants, they often deceived 

 themselves on the subject. Pliny alone, in his thirteenth 

 book, describes the fecundation of the palm-tree with a per- 

 fection which it is almost impossible to sur^Dass. 



But we must turn to Linna?us in order to see this fact 

 demonstrated experimentally for the first time. 



In a charming production entitled the Marriage of 

 Plants (Sponsalia Plantarum) the great botanist initiates 

 lis into many marvels. In it he relates that having 

 taken two specimens of the annual mercury (Mercui'ialis 

 annua, Linn.), the one male and the other female, growing 

 in separate pots, the fecundity of the latter was more 

 marked in proportion as her spouse was nearer. Even at 

 a considerable distance impregnation still took place; the 

 air becoming the mysterious medium of communication 

 between the plants. But when the stalk charged with 



