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to a favourable spot 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869
OMIT 1872

they 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869
to a favourable spot, 1872

floated 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869
of different kinds floated 1872

could hardly be transported by any other means; and 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869
which, as 1872

that such plants 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869
OMIT 1872

ranges. 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869
ranges, could hardly be transported by any other means. 1872

rate of the several Atlantic currents
in
is
33 miles per diem (some currents running at the rate of 60 miles per diem); on this average, the seeds of 14/100 plants belonging to one country might be floated across 924 miles of sea to another
country,
country;
and when stranded, if blown to a favourable spot by an inland
gale
gale,
they would germinate.
Subsequently to my experiments, M. Martens tried similar ones, but in a much better manner, for
be
he
placed the seeds in a box in the actual sea, so that they were alternately wet and exposed to the air like really floating plants. He tried 98 seeds, mostly different from mine; but he chose many large fruits and likewise seeds from plants which live near the sea; and this would have favoured
both the
the
average length of their flotation and
of
of
their resistance to the injurious action of the salt-water. On the other
hand,
hand
he did not previously dry the plants or branches with the fruit; and this, as we have seen, would have caused some of them to have floated much longer. The result was that
1/9 8/8
18/98
of his seeds floated for 42 days, and were then capable of germination. But I do not doubt that plants exposed to the waves would float for a less time than those protected from violent movement as in our experiments. Therefore it would perhaps be safer to assume that the seeds of about 10/100 plants of a flora, after having been dried, could be floated across a space of sea 900 miles in width, and would then germinate. The fact of the larger fruits often floating longer than the small, is
in- teresting;
interesting;
as plants with large seeds or fruit could hardly be transported by any other means; and Alph. de Candolle has
shown,
shown
that such plants generally have restricted ranges.
But
But
Seeds
seeds
may be occasionally transported in another manner. Drift timber is thrown up on most islands,