SEEDS  TRANSPORTED  BY  MARINE  CURRENTS.  147 
the  sea.  A  wrought-iron  box,  measuring  0.30  m.  square  by 
0.03  m.  in  depth,  divided  into  100  equal  compartments,  received 
species  of  seeds  ;  each  compartment  contained  20  seeds  of  the 
same  species.  Of  some  large  seeds  there  were  only  6,  12,  or  18, 
and  of  the  small  ones  a  large  pinch  was  put  in.  The  lid  was 
then  soldered  on,  and  the  walls  of  the  box  pierced  with  small 
holes,  through  which  the  water  would  pass  easily. 
The  apparatus  was  fixed  upon  a  buoy  at  the  entrance  to  the 
harbor  of  Cette.  By  the  rising  and  falling  of  the  buoy,  the  box 
was  alternately  raised  out  and  immersed  in  the  water,  so  that  the 
seeds  were  exposed  to  the  action  of  air  and  water,  as  if  they  were 
floating  on  the  surface  of  the  sea.  The  box  remained  attached 
to  the  buoy  from  the  14th  February  to  the  1st  April,  1856,  or 
for  six  weeks  ;  41  of  the  98  species  of  seeds  were  completely 
rotten.  The  other  57  were  immediately  sowed  in  pots  of  turf- 
mould,  and  placed  under  frames.  Only  35  germinated,  and  from 
these  17  must  be  deducted,  which  being  heavier  than  salt  water, 
could  not  have  floated  at  the  surface  ;  this  reduces  to  18  the 
number  of  seeds  which,  after  six  weeks  of  floating,  would  be 
capable  of  germinating  when  placed  in  the  most  favorable  cir- 
cumstances. These  are — Cahile  maritima,  Nelumbium  specio- 
sum,  Linum  maritimum,  Paliurus  aeuleatus,  Cucurbita  pepo, 
Eryngium  maritimum,  Scahiosa  maritima,  Xanthium  macrocar- 
pum,  Aselepias  cornuti,  Rwmex  aquations,  Salsola  kali,  Beta 
vulgaris,  Euphorbia  paralias,  Ricinus  communis,  R.  africanus, 
G-ingJco  biloba,  Ephedra  distachya,  Pancratium  maritimum,  and 
Asphodelus  cerasiferus.  These  are  the  species  which,  after  a 
navigation  of  six  weeks,  would  have  had  some  chance  of  estab- 
lishing themselves  upon  the  shore. 
Six  weeks  being  a  very  short  time  compared  with  that  which 
some  seeds  must  occupy  in  their  voyage  from  one  continent  to 
another,  the  author  resolved  to  replace  in  the  sea  the  35  seeds 
which  had  germinated  after  six  weeks'  exposure  ;  of  each  of 
these,  20  were  placed  in  the  same  box,  which  was  fastened  to  the 
buoy  on  the  17th  June,  1856,  and  remained  attached  to  it  until 
the  18th  September,  that  is  to  say,  93  days,  or  three  months. 
At  the  end  of  this  period,  11  seeds  were  rotten.  The  remaining 
23  were  sowed  under  frames,  when  9  germinated  ;  but  from  these 
two  must  be  deducted,  viz.,  Acacia  Julibrissin  and  Can  a  gigan- 
