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For
sake I chiefly tried small seeds, without the capsule or fruit; and as all of these sank in a few days, they could not
floated across wide spaces of the sea, whether or not they were injured by the salt-water. Afterwards I tried some larger fruits, capsules,
and some of these floated for a long time. It is well known what a difference there is in the buoyancy of green and seasoned timber; and it occurred to me that floods
→might wash down
plants or
→and that these might be dried on the banks, and then by a fresh rise in the stream be washed into the sea. Hence I was led to dry
and branches of 94 plants with ripe fruit, and to place them on
The majority sank quickly, but
whilst
floated for a very short time, when dried floated much longer; for instance, ripe hazel-nuts sank immediately, but when
they floated for 90
and afterwards when planted
germinated; an
with ripe berries floated for 23 days, when dried it floated for 85 days, and the seeds afterwards
the ripe seeds of Helosciadium sank in two days, when dried they floated for above 90 days, and afterwards germinated.
out of the 94 dried plants, 18 floated for above 28
and some of the 18 floated for a very much longer period. So that as
→seeds
germinated after an immersion of 28 days; and as
with ripe fruit (but not all the same species as in the foregoing experiment) floated, after being dried, for above 28 days,
→as far as
we may
→infer anything
from these scanty facts,
→we may conclude
that the seeds of 14/100
of
→any
country might be floated by sea-currents during 28 days, and would retain their power of germination. In
Physical Atlas, the average rate of the several Atlantic currents
33 miles per diem (some currents running at the rate of 60 miles
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