Adulteration of Seeds. 
17 
round otlun- plants, into whose stoms it inserts its sucker-liko 
roots, destroying: them by appropriating to itself the sap which 
was intended for their own use. In appearance dodder is like a 
number of fleshy threads twisted round a branch, or it may be 
compared to lon^- worms, or even to small animal intestines, 
whence has come one of its vulvar names, Devil's (juts. Here 
and there on such threads will be found minute scales, and 
eventually clusters of small delicate globular white or pink 
flowers, which appear in balls on the stems, speedily form fruit, 
and end in producing each four seeds, within which is coiled up 
an embryo plant, looking like a miniature snake. As the number 
of fl()W(>rs in each ball is about fifteen, it follows that every ball 
will furnish about sixty plants, whence the rapid spread of such 
pests may be easily understood. As' soon as the seed of the 
dodder is ripe it falls to the gnmnd, and usually seems to lie 
dormant till the succeeding year ; sometimes, however, it germi- 
nates immediately. When spring returns the embryo sends one 
end down into the earth to form a root, and with the other it rises 
upwards, like a small white thread or worm. It is not then a 
parasite, but seems to derive its food from the soil, like ordinary 
plants ; it cannot, however, do so long, but withers and perishes 
unless it touches some living branch or stem, which it imme- 
diately seizes by means of a sucker protruded from the point of 
contact, and twining from left to right, and forming more suckers 
as it twines, establishes itself upon its victim, and ceases to 
have any further connection with the soil, being from that time 
forward a true parasite feeding on the juices of the plant it has 
seized upon. After making a few turns round the branch, and 
securing itself firmly in its new position, it again lengthens and 
catches hold of some other branch, when more suckers are pro- 
truded ; and thus it goes on branching and twining and sucking 
and branching again, until it forms that appearance which Pro- 
fessor Henslow so well described as resembling " fine, closely- 
tangled, wet catgut." 
Now, the dodder has a new and independent seat of life 
wherever it has twined itself round a branch, and as it is inces- 
santly twining and separating and twining again, a single plant 
is speedily in the condition of a polypus, so that if it be cut into 
a thousand pieces each piece will continue to grow as if nothing 
had happened to it. Tearing the dodder to pieces, then, so far 
from extirpating it, only multiplies the mischief. As it is only 
an annual it would be killed if we could prevent its flowering ; 
but that is difficult because of its hiding itself among the lower 
branches of plants, Avhere it cannot well be seen, and a very few 
heads of flowers will renew it in a single year. The best plan is 
to dig up the crop where dodder appears, so as to form a circle 
VOL. XXII. C considerably 
