The ways in which fruits and seeds are scattered abroad over the face of the earth form one of the most fascinating chapters in the story of Plant Life. There is an infinite number of ingenious contrivances, so many indeed that it is not at all easy to explain them. However, suppose yourself seated on a grassy cliff near Eastbourne or Brighton. Looking lazily out over the blue waters, you see Norwegian timber ships and steamers of all kinds, from the little coasting "Puffing Billy" to the huge liner departing for Australia or South Africa. Plants are probably using every steamer; in the straw of the packing cases, in the cargoes of corn or grain, in the ore, and in the ballast, there are sure to be seeds. Such stowaways are mostly weeds, but of course many valuable garden, farm, orchard, and forest seeds are being intentionally exported. Looking down on the seashore, you will notice the high-water mark, a yellowish brown line of floated rubbish which is quite distinct even at a distance. If you now go down and examine it closely (not a particularly pleasant operation, seeing that so much is in a decomposing condition) you will find many seeds amongst the corks and bits of straw, seaweed, and objectionable, if lively, animalcula, and very likely also pieces of plants, such as willow branches, which might quite easily take root. On the coast of Norway, and on our own western seaboard, the fruits of a West Indian bean (_Entada scandens_) are occasionally to be found, and its seeds are probably able to germinate. We know that in long-past geological ages they were floating round the estuary of the Thames, where they occur as fossils. It has been found by experiment that fruits and seeds are not killed although they have floated for a year or more in salt water. Thus ocean currents are utilized to carry fruits and seeds. But from our comfortable seat on the South Downs, still more can be learnt of wandering seeds. The wind which blows across the downs carries with it hundreds of winged or hairy fruits, all of them exquisitely fashioned as miniature airships, aeroplanes, or other winged contrivances. The wind is an important distributer of seeds.