plant. For instance, there are two species of Scorpiurus (Fig. 23), the pods of which lie on the ground, and so curiously resemble the one (S. subvillosa, Fig. 23, a) a centiped, the other (S. vermiculata, Fig. 23, b) a worm or caterpillar, that it is almost impossible not to suppose that the likeness must be of some use to the plant.
Fig. 23,— a, Pod of Scorpiurus subvillosa; b, Pod of Scorpiurus vermiculata.
The pod of Biserrula pelecinus (Fig. 24, a) also has a striking resemblance to a flattened centiped; while the seeds of Abrus precatorius, both in size and in their very striking color, mimic a small beetle, Artemis circumusta.
Mr. Moore has recently called attention to other cases of this kind. Thus the seed of Martynia diandra much resembles a beetle with long antenna: several species of Lupins have seeds much like spiders, and those of Dimorphochlamys, a gourd-like plant, mimic a piece of dry twig. In the common castor-oil plants (Fig. 24, b), though the resemblance is not so close, still at first glance the seeds might readily