152 



rare teratological specimen, and it will be preserved in the herbarium 

 of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 



Germantown, Pa. Thomas Meehan, 



Parmelia furfuracea used in Embalming,— In the note on ^ 



"Mummy Garlands," in the November number of the Bulletix, 



mention is made of the identification of Parmelia ( Eveniia) fur- 



furacea among the plants of the royal coffins. But this lichen was 



found in an Egyptian coffin many years ago, and identified by Prof. 



Tuckerman. I quote from an "^article on the Flora of the White 



Mountains by J, W. Dawson in the Canadian Naturalist for April, 

 1862, page 88: 



''Not long ago we unrolled in Montreal an Egyptian mummy pre- 

 served in the oldest style of embalming, and found that, to preserve the 

 odor of the spices, quantities of a lichen {Evernia furfuracea) had 

 been wrapped around the body, and had no doubt been imported 

 into Egypt from Lebanon or the hills of Macedonia for such uses. 

 Yet the specimens from this old mummy were at once recognized by 

 Professor Tuckerman as identical with this species as it occurs in the 

 White Hills and on Katahdin, in Maine." 



New Bedford, Mass. 



H. W 



ti 



La Natuf 



A. Gray. 



The Lignified Snake.— I have seen the original of the famous 

 snake hgnification " from Erazi], and I possess an electrotype from 

 It, given to our Museum by His Excellency the Brazilian Minister. 

 I am convinced there is no snake in the case. I cannot take the time 

 at this moment to give the two credible explanations which suggest 

 themselves. But I shall be much surprised if the Botanical Society 

 of France is found to endorse the account of M. Olivier ii 

 Cambridge, Mass. 



Ilex with Yellow Berries.—Prof. John Robinson sends me from 

 Essex Co., Mass., a sprig of Ilexverticillata with bright jr//^Z£/ berries 

 Providence, R. I. ^y. W. Bailey. 



'< r^?-^ Tuckahoe.— The articles in the Bulletin on tuckahoe, the 

 Indian bread," have induced me to look up a specimen which I 

 obtained at Asbury Park, some seven or eight years ago. It was got 

 when cutting. down some trees and removing the roots The speci- 

 men was found, I should think, about eighteen inches from the sur- 

 tace, in yellow ferrugmous sand, and encircling the root of an oak, 

 the root being five-eighths of an inch thick. The specimen is six 

 inches long, and two inches at its thickest part. It has a brown 

 epidermis, and looks wonderfully like a baked sweet potato. The 

 interior flesh or pectme presents exactly the appearance of white 

 Hour after being mixed with water and thoroughly dried It is very 



thi ;-.! ^u^^^Y^ '^ *^^ ^^'^^^ P^P^"" ^t the time a description under 

 the title: Tuckahoe, or Indian-bread." 



A fact not published is this: In 1862, when taking out the stump 

 1 found among the roots quite a quantity of tuckahoe; several speci- 



