I 



[ 32 ] 



it was given them principally for their own pre- 

 ftrvation, by hiding provifion in time of plenty, 

 in order to fupply them in a time of fcarcity j 

 for it is obferved, in tame pyes and daws kept 

 about houfes, that they will hide their meat 

 when they have plenty, and fetch it from their 

 hiding-places when they want it : fo that fuch 

 an inftind in thefe birds may anfwer a double 

 purpofe, both their own fupport in times of 

 need, and the propagation of the trees they 

 plant ; for, wherever they hide a great number 

 of nuts or grain in the earth, we cannot fuppofe 

 they find thern all again, but that as many will 

 remain in the plat of ground they make ufe of^ 

 as can well grow by one another. Nature hath 

 been amazingly bountiful in the wonderful in- 

 creafe of feeds in many vegetables ; infomuch 

 that, with proper culture, the face of the whole 

 earth might be covered, from the feeds of a 

 fmgle plant, in a very few years. The feminat- 

 in^ power in animals alfo equals, if not ex- 

 ceeds, that of plants : if we ej^amine fome of 

 the fifhcs and infeds, we find what great num- 

 bers of their fpecies they are able to produce. 



But 



