82 EQUISETACEiE. 



the plants of our own day" — observed as follows: — "The most 

 important materials, however, for the comparison of former vege- 

 tation of a known age Avith that of our own day, have been 

 supplied by the specimens which have been obtained from the 

 tombs of the ancient Egyptians. Until recently, these consisted 

 mainly of fruits and seeds. These were all more or less carbon- 

 ised because the former rifling of the tombs had exposed them to 

 the air. . . . Tiie recent exploration of unopened tombs 

 belonging to an early period in the history of the Egyptian people 

 has permitted the examination of the plants in a condition which 

 could not have been anticipated. And happily the examination 

 of these materials has been made by a botanist who is thoroughly 

 acquainted with the existing flora of Egypt, for Dr. Schweinfurth 

 has for a quarter of a century been exploring the plants of the 

 Nile Valley. The plant-remains were included within the 

 mummy-wrappings, and being thus hermetically sealed have been 

 preserved with scarcely any change. By placing the plants in 

 water, Dr. Schweinfurth has succeeded in preparing a series of 

 specimens gathered four thousand years ago, which are as satis- 

 factory for the purposes of science as any collected at the present 

 day. These specimens consequently supply means for the closest 

 examination and comparison with their living representatives." 



Mr. Carruthers states that Dr. Schweinfurth has determined no 

 less than fifty-nine species, some of which are represented by the 

 fruits employed as offerings to the dead ; others by the flowers 

 and leaves made into garlands ; and the remainder by branches on 

 which the body was placed, and which were enclosed within the 

 wrappings. Mr. Carruthers has enumerated the names of the 

 plants, fruits, and weeds found. These include the linseed still 

 grown in the Nile Valley {Liniim humile, Mill) and the berries of 

 Juniperus phccnicia, L. The pests of the Egyptian corn-fields are 

 not unknown to us, for Dr. Schweinfurth discovered Medicago 

 detiticulata, Willd., and Siiiapis arvensis, L., var. Allioni, a nearly- 

 related and equally objectionable weed with the well-known 

 Charlock of our corn-fields. The flax-crops in the days of 

 the Pharoahs seem to have been infested, as they are at the 

 present day, by this most troublesome weed. Mr. Carruthers, 

 after giving a very interesting account of the various plants found 



