237 
last summer, it is most likely that these beans came from thence; but then 
the distance is too considerable for them to have been conveyed by mice: 
it is most probable, therefore, that they were brought by birds, and in par¬ 
ticular by Jays and Pies , who seem to have hid them among the grass and 
moss, and then to have forgotten where they had stowed them. Some Peas 
are also growing in the same situation, and probably under the same cir¬ 
cumstances. 
In this way it is well known that the berry of the Mistletoe (Vis cum 
Album) is carried by the Thrush , and its glutinous substance is broken by 
the beak of the bird against the crab, apple, white-thorn, or other tree; .and 
its seeds, adhering to the bark, take loot in the very bosom of the tree, 
whence it derives its nourishment. Hence the proverb, “ that the Thrush* 
sows its own destruction.” 
It cannot be doubted, says Dr. Biberg, but that the greater part of the 
Junipers that fill our woods are sown by Thrushes and other birds in the 
same manner as the Mistletoe ; for the berries, being of themselves heavy, 
cannot be dispersed by the winds. 
The very incorruptible nature of the seeds of plants, is a circumstance 
highly favourable to their migration. We have seen that the seeds of Mis¬ 
tletoe, Loranihus, Poke (Phytolacca), and others, vegetate very well after 
they have been subjected to the digestive power of birds. Nay, it is a fact, 
that some seeds, when carried to a distance from their native countries, have 
generally refused to vegetate until they have been passed through the ali¬ 
mentary canal of birds. In Britain, this was found to be the case with the 
seeds of the Common Magnolia, or Beaver tree (Magnolia Glauca). 
This fact will excite less surprise, when it is recollected how extremely 
tenacious seeds are of the vital principle; or, in other words, how difficult 
it is to prevent seeds from living. Thus, the late illustrious Spallanzani 
discovered, that there are certain kinds of seeds which do not refuse to 
vegetate, even after having undergone the operation of boiling in water; 
and Duhamel mentions an instance of seeds germinating after they had 
experienced, in a stove, a heat of 235 degrees by the scale of Fahrenheit. 
* This more particularly relates to the Missel Thrush, who does not destroy the fruit in the 
gardens, like the other species of thrushes, but feeds on the berries of Mistletoe , and in the spring 
on Ivy berries, when they begin to ripen. 
3 O 
