| ↑ 1 blocks not present in 1859 1860 1861 1866; present in 1869 1872 |
| Here is a better case: the leg of a woodcock was sent to me by a friend, with a little cake of dry earth attached to the shank, weighing only nine grains; and this contained a seed of the toad-rush (Juncus bufonius) which germinated and flowered.
|
|
| → have 1859 1860 1861 |
| as suggested by Lyell, have 1866 1869 1872 |
|
| → as suggested by Lyell; 1859 1860 1861 |
| OMIT 1866 1869 1872 |
|
| → the species of 1859 1860 1861 |
| OMIT 1866 1869 1872 |
|
| → plants of other oceanic islands 1859 1860 1861 |
| species in the other Atlantic islands which stand 1866 |
| species in the other islands of the Atlantic, which stand 1869 |
| species on the other islands of the Atlantic, which stand 1872 |
|
| → of the flora 1859 1860 1861 |
| OMIT 1866 1869 1872 |
|
|
the seed of a vetch. ↑
Thus seeds might occasionally be transported to great distances; for many facts could be given showing that soil almost
is charged with seeds. Reflect for a moment on the millions of quails which annually cross the Mediterranean; and can we doubt that the earth adhering to their feet would sometimes include a few minute seeds?
But I shall
have to recur to this subject. |
|
| As icebergs are known to be sometimes loaded with earth and stones, and have even carried brushwood, bones, and the nest of a land-bird,
can hardly
that they must
→have
transported seeds from one part to another of the arctic and
→as suggested by Lyell;
and during the Glacial period from one part of the now temperate regions to another. In the Azores, from the large number of
→the species of
plants common to Europe, in comparison with the
→plants of other oceanic islands
nearer to the mainland, and (as remarked by Mr. H. C. Watson) from
somewhat northern character
→of the flora
in comparison with the latitude, I suspected that these islands had been partly stocked by ice-borne seeds, during the Glacial epoch. At my request Sir C. Lyell wrote to
Hartung to inquire whether he had observed erratic boulders on these islands, and he answered that he had found large fragments of granite and other rocks, which do not occur in the archipelago. Hence we may safely infer that icebergs formerly landed their rocky burthens on the shores of these mid-ocean islands, and it is at least possible that they may have brought thither
seeds of northern plants. |
|
| Considering that
several
means of transport, and that
other means, which without doubt remain to be discovered, have been in action year after
for
tens of thousands of
|
