558 THE UNIVERSE. 



skiif, the seeds of the sacred Nelumbium, which have 

 remamed intact amid the waifs and strays, sink into the 

 mud and Avater, and thus fertihze the burning banks of 

 the king of rivers. 



Even masses of ice, especially at some j^re-historic 

 epochs of the globe, have played a certain part in the 

 dispersion of plants. Dr. Karl JMliller thinks that the 

 wandering blocks, which tlie glaciers drive before them 

 in their efforts, carry certain seeds from place to place. 

 This grand phenomenon, which poiu'ed immense seas of 

 ice over countries where now a mild temperature reigns, 

 might certainly have precipitated some plants from the 

 mountain tojDS into the depths of the valleys. 



Thus at the present day we see growing in the north 

 of Germany lichens, mosses, and some woody plants, in 

 particular the Swedish cornel-tree, which have eA'idently 

 descended from the mountains of Scandinavia, and have 

 l3een borne away l^y the icebergs which, along with them, 

 transported to the plains of ancient Germany the granite 

 boulders with which they are strewn. 



At other times the aid of another process is rerj^uisite 

 to enaljle icebergs to transport plants from one hemisphere 

 to another. Their floating islands becoming detached 

 from the shore, carry away with them fragments of rock 

 still coA'ered with animals and plants. After having been 

 long worn by the waves and currents, these islands at last 

 light U2:)0n some propitious shore, and, sinking there, 

 deposit their living population. Thus along with the polar 

 bears which so frequently travel on the ice-blocks, some 

 seeds torn from the boreal regions often reach happier 

 climates. 



Animals also contribute freely to the dissemination of 

 vegetable products. Marmots, dormice, hamsters, heap 



