others by their agreeable taste and fmell, and falutary

mony

bank;

alfo in the make of the feed itfelf. For, firft, the feeds of many plants, which affect a peculiar foil or feat, as of arum, poppy, &c. are heavy and fmall enough, without further care, to fall directly down into the ground-But if they are fo large and light, as to be expofed to the wind, they are often furnished with one or more hooks, to stay them from ftraying too far from their proper place So the feeds of avens have one fingle hook; thofe of agriand goofe-grafs, many; both the former loving a warm the latter, an hedge for its fupport. On the contrary, < many feeds are furnished with wings or feathers; partly with the help of the wind to carry them, when ripe, from off the plant, as of afh, &c.-and partly to enable them to make their flight more or lefs abroad, that fo they may not, by falling together, come up too thick and that if one should mifs a good foil or bed, another may hit. So the kernels of pine have wings-yet fhort-whereby they fly not into the air, but only flutter upon the ground. But thofe of typha, dandelion and most of the pappous kind-have long numerous feathers, by which they are wafted every way. Again, there are feeds which are fcattered not by flying abroad, but by being either fpirted or flung away. The first of those are • wood-forrel, which having a running root, nature fees fit to fow the feeds at fome diftance. The doing of which is effected by a white sturdy cover; of a tendinous or fpringy nature.-This cover, fo foon as it begins to dry, burfts open on one fide, in an inftant, and is violently turned infide outward-and fo fmartly throws off the feed. The feed of harts-tongue is flung or fhot · away by the curious contrivance of the feed-cafe, as in codded arfmart, only there the fpring moves and curls inward but here outward; viz. every feed cafe-is of a fpheric figure, and 6 girded about with a sturdy fpring The furface of the spring refembles a fine fcrew ;-fo foon as this fpring is become ftark enough, it fuddenly breaks the cafe into two halves, like two little cups, and fo flings the feed.' Grew, ib. p. 199. and in tab. 72. all these admirable artifices are handfomely reprefented.

falutary nature, inviting themfelves to be fwallowed

Quin fi quantitas modica feminum [filicis phyllitidis quoque] a foliis in fubje&tam chartæ munde-schedam decutiatur, detergaturve, et deinde in acervum converratur, veficularum feminalium plurimis una diffilientibus, et fibi invicem allifis, acervulus varie ⚫ moveri per partes videbitur, non fecus ac fi fyrenibus aut iftiufmo⚫ di beftiolis repletus effet-quin fi locus tranquillus fit, aure proxi-. me admota, crepitantium inter rumpendum vafculorum fonitus• percipietur; et fi microscopio chartam oculis oberres, femina per ⚫eam undique sparsa, et ad notabilem ab acervo diftantiam projecta comperies.' Ray ibid. p. 132.

The admirable contrivance of nature in this plant is most plain : ⚫ for the feed-veffels being the best preserver of the feed, it is there kept from the injuries of air and earth, till it be rainy, when it is a proper time for it to grow, and then it is thrown round the earth, as grain by a skilful fower.-When any wet touches the end of the feed veffels, with a smart noise and sudden leap, it opens itself, and with a fpring, fcatters its feed to a pretty distance round it, where it grows.' Dr. Sloane Voy. to Jamaica, p. 150. of the gentianella flore cœruleo, &c. or spirit leaf.

The plants of the cardami ne family, and many others, may be added here, whofe cods fly open, and dart out their feed, upon a fmall touch of the hand. But the moft remarkable inftance is in the cardamine impatiens, Cujus filiquæ, faith Mr. Ray, vel leviter tactæ, actutum ejaculantur [femina] imo quod longe mirabilius 'videtur, etfi filiquas non tetigeris, fi tamen manum velut tacturus proxime admoveas, femina in appropinquantem evibrabunt; quod tum Morifonus fe fæpius expertum fcribit, tum Johnstonus apud • Gerardum verum effe affirmat.' Hift. Plant. I. 16. c. 20.

Neither is this provision made only for land vegetables, but for fuch alfo as grow in the fea. Of which I fhall give an instance from my before-commended friend, Dr. Sloane: As to the fuci,

6

their feed hath been discovered, and fhewed me first, by the induftry

lowed and carried about by the birds, and thereby also fertilized by paffing through their bodies;

and

dustry of the ingenious herbarift, Mr. Sam. Doody, who found on many of this kind, folid tubercules, or rifings, in some seafons, wherein were lodged feveral round feeds, as big as muflardfeed, which, when ripe, the outward membrane of the tubercule breaking, leaveth the feed to float up and down with the waves. The feed coming near ftones, or any folid foundation, by means of a mucilage it carries with it, fticks to them, and fhoots forth ligule with branches, and in time comes to its perfection and magnitude.' Sloan. Voy. Jamaica. p. 5°;

But although Mr. Doody had hinted, and conje&ured at the thing, yet the first that difcovered the feeds in fuci was the before commended Dr. Tancred Robinson; as may be feen by comparing what Mr. Ray faith in his Synopf. Stirp. Brit. p. 6. with his Append. Hift. p. 1849. Befides which fuci, the Dr. tells me, he obferved veffels and feeds in caralloid shrubs, as also in feveral fungi, not only in the fpecies of crepitus lupi, but also between the lamella of other fpecies, and in that fubterraneous kind called trules, whofe feed and veffels open in the cortex, at fome feafons he faith, like that of mallows in fhape.

As to the crepitus lupi, I have more than once examined their powder, with those excellent microscopes of Mr. Wilfon's make; but the most fatisfactory view Mr. Wilfon hinfelf gave me; by which I found the feeds to be fo many exceeding fmall puff balls, with round heads, and longer than ordinary arp pointed ftalks, as if made on purpose to prick easily into the ground. These feeds are intermixed with much dufty matter, and become hurtful to the eyes, probably by their sharp ftalks pricking and wounding that tender organ.

• The ancient naturalifts do generally agree, that miffeltoe is propagated by its feeds, carried about by, and pafling through the body of birds. Thus Theophraftus, de Cauf. Plant. 1. 2. c. 24. T , di ănó tão óprio, &c. Initium vero a paftu avium::-quippe visco

detract

and others not thus taken care of, do many of them by their usefulness in human life, invite the husbandman and gardener carefully to fow and nurse them up.

To this fo fingular a care about the propaga tion and confervation of the fpecies of vegetables I might

detracto confectoque in alvis, quod frigidiffimum eft, femen cum excremento purum dimittitur, et facta mutatione aliqua in arbore ftercoris caufa pullulat, erumpitque, &c. So alfo Pliny faith, viz. Omnino autem fatum [vifcum] nullo modo nafcitur, nec nifi per alvum avium redditum, maxime palumbis ac turdi. Hæc eft natura, et nifi maturatum in ventre avium, non proveniat.' Plin. Hift. l. 16. c. 24. Whether what Theophraftus and Pliny affirm, be conducive to the better fertilizing the feeds of miffeltoe I know not; but that it is not of abfolute neceffity, I can affirm upon mine own experience, having ften the feeds germinate even in the bark of oak. But although they shot above an inch, and feemed to root in the tree, yet they came to nothing, whether deftroyed by ants, &c. which I fufpected, or whether difagreeing with the oak, I know not. But I fince find the matter put out of doubt by Mr. Doody; which fee in Mr. Ray's Hift. Plant. Appen. p. 1918,

Nutmegs are faid to be fertilized after the fame manner, as Tavernier faith was confirmed to him by perfons that lived many years in thofe parts; whofe relation was; the nutmeg being ripe, feveral birds come from the islands towards the fouth, and devour it whole, but are forced to throw it up again before it be digested: and that the nutmeg then befmeared with a viscous matter, falling to the ground, takes root and produces a tree, which would never thrive was it planted. Tavern. of the Commod, of the Great Mogul. And Monfieur Thevenot, in his travels to the Indies, gives this account : the tree is produced after this manner: there is a kind of birds in the island, that having picked off the green husk, swallow the nuts,

I might add the nice provifion that is made for their fupport and aid, in ftanding and growing, that they may keep their heads above ground, and not be rotted and fpoiled in the earth themfelves, nor thereby annoy us; but, on the contrary minifter to all their ends, and our ufes, to afford us houses, utenfils, food, phyfic, cloth

which having been fome time in their ftomach, they void by the ordinary way; and they fail not to take rooting in the place where they fall, and in time grow up to a tree. This bird is shaped like a cuckow; and the Dutch prohibit their fubje&s under pain of death, to kill any of them. Vide Sir T. Pope-Blunt's Nat. Hift.

But Mr. Ray gives a fomewhat different account: Hanc fractam [nucem Mofchatem] variæ quidem aves depafcuntur, fed maxime ⚫ columbæ genus album et parvum, quæ dehifcente nucamento, illectæ fuavitate macis, hanc cum nuce eripiunt et devorant, nec nifi repleta ingluvie capaciffima faginum deferunt. Noftrates ibi mercatores columbis iftis nut-eaters five nucivoris nomen impofuerunt. Quas autem vorant nuces, poft integras per alvum reddunt. Redditæ citius deinde germinant utpote præmaceratæ fervore ventriculi, Arbores inde natæ ceu præcociores, facile funt corruptioni obnoxia fructumque ferunt cæteris multo viliorem, et hac caufa neglectum incolis contemptumque, præter macin, quam ad adulterandam meliorem adhibent.' Ray, Hift. Plant. I. 27. c. 4.

Arbores blandioribus fruge fuccis hominem mitigavere. Ex is ⚫ recreans membra olei liquor, virefque potus vini; tet denique fa'pores annui fponte venientes: et menfæ, depugnetur licet earum caufa cum feris, et pafti naufragorum corporibus pifces expetantur, ⚫ etiamnum tamen fecundæ. Mille præterea funt ufus earum, fine quibus vita degi non poffit. Arbore fulcamus maria, terrafque admovemus, arbore exædificamus te&ta. Plin. Nat. History 1. 12.