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ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS 
my address. Nature might then have been said to be careless of 
types, and careful of life. We might even now adopt this view 
when we consider that the food of many animals consists wholly or 
largely of seed, and that the enormous quantity consumed must 
deprive many species of plants of beneficial varieties. We know 
that the weakest or least fit of all animals are the first to become 
the prey of their enemies, and that oviparous animals, including 
the humblest insects, are careful where they place their eggs, so 
that the careless have less chance of a posterity than the careful. 
In both these cases the species derives some compensation for loss 
of numbers. But the destruction of seeds confers no such advantage 
on vegetation. It is difficult to think that the mere earthy colour 
of seeds can protect them from the quick sight of birds. But 
just as insects flee from danger and find shelter in the irregularities 
of the earth and under fallen leaves, so are light seeds carried by 
the wind to similar places of refuge. Nor are heavy seeds without 
protection. The nuts are green at first and are not easily dis¬ 
tinguishable amongst the foliage. As they ripen they turn brown 
and fall, when their colour again protects them from enemies. The 
brilliant hues of many ripe berries and fruits are exceedingly con¬ 
spicuous. They are invitations to a repast and are not strictly 
protective, though they serve to the dissemination of the species. 
They attract frugivorous animals which eat them, and, while the 
pulpous covering is digested, the hard kernel or pips, i.e. seeds, 
are dropped possibly many miles away from the parent plant with 
unimpaired or possibly with augmented vitality. Wallace* states 
that in the case of attractively-coloured fruits, the seeds are 
always of such a nature as to escape destruction when the fruit 
itself is eaten, and he mentions one curious case of an attractively- 
coloured seed which has no soft eatable covering, viz. the “ rosary 
bean ” (Abrus precatoria). It is a leguminous shrub or tree 
growing in many tropical countries, whose pods curl up and split 
open on the tree, displaying the brilliant red seeds within. It is 
very hard and glossy, and is said to be, as no doubt it is, very 
indigestible. The obvious suggestion is, that birds, attracted by 
the bright colour of the seeds, swallow them, and that they pass 
through their bodies undigested yet advanced a stage by the pro¬ 
cess, and so become dispersed. The same hardness protects the 
nutmeg, which is taken by pigeons for the sake of the mace which 
covers it. The seeds of the hips of roses are hairy and are there¬ 
fore inconvenient food. Seeds “with wings,” such as those of the 
maple, must be protected, at least from small birds, until they have 
* ‘Tropical Nature,’ p. 226. 
