ON THE DISPERSAL OF SEEDS BY MAMMALS. 13 



the latter may not interfere with the growth of the young 

 plant, but not too widely to be absolutely isolated, nor on 

 ground unsuited to the requirements of the species. It must 

 be pointed out also that in the thick jungle where the foliage 

 is very dense there is always a risk of the fruit when fallen 

 resting in the branches, or in the tangled mass of creepers 

 that mats together the branches of the big trees. It is, there- 

 fore, important that the fruits or seeds should be in many 

 cases modified so as to avoid this accident. Besides in the 

 case of such palms as Pholidocarpus and Elaeis where the 

 stem is roughened by the projecting bases of the fallen leaves, 

 there is always danger of the seeds resting in the spaces be- 

 tween these leaf bases and the trunk. This is usually obviated 

 by the fruits being made edible and sought by birds, or mam- 

 mals, as in the date-palms (Phoe?iix) or by the inflorescence being 

 elongate so that the fruit is held out from the tree on long 

 branches as in Pholidocarpus. The oil-palm (Elaeis giiineen- 

 sis) is not a native of Malaya, though often cultivated, and the 

 spadix of fruit is short-stalked and hidden among the leaves, 

 so that, unless some animal or bird devours the fruit, there 

 is a great risk of the seed lodging among the leaf stalks, 

 and as no bird here seems to care for the fruit, this is what 

 often happens in trees in the Malay Peninsula. I have seen 

 trees in the Botanic Gardens in which the spaces between the 

 old leaf bases and the stem at the top of the trees were full 

 of seedling oil-palms which, of course, would soon perish from 

 want of nourishment. 



In the Malay Peninsula, as elsewhere, the birds play the 

 most imiportant part in the dispersal of seed, but the mammals 

 are agents also of considerable importance, and in thi^feper 

 I intend to speak of their action in this work, and to compare 

 it with that of the birds. 



In the dense jungles that cover the hills of the Malay Penin- 

 sula one very soon notices that bird life gets scantier and 

 scantier the fuither one penetrates them. Pigeons, hornbills 

 and finches become scarcer, and almost entirely disappear, 

 and even monkeys are not so abundant as one would expect. 



lo the woods of the Tahan valley in Pahang I have seen the 



