121 



sowed himself, and two he brought to these gardens, 

 seeds germinated, his producing flowers 



was opened in the presence of credible w^itnesses, and among the 

 dust at the bottom was found four oat seeds. Two of these he 



All four 



and fruits; our grew, 

 but died without flowering. The story of their discovery and 

 growth was put in the papers, and made a great stir at the time, 

 while the fact that the Society had grown the seeds was held 

 as proof of its authenticity. 



the two halves to break, and through the interstices the oats fil- 

 tered in. It had previously been noted as odd that only four 

 seeds were found, and that these were of similar character to 

 varieties then in cultivation/' 



Not for a long time afterwards was any doubt cast upon the 



in Egypt, 



a 



truth of it. 



told us that he very well remembered seeing the very coflins lying 

 heaped up in the palace stables of the Khedive along with the 

 fodder for the horses. It appeared that Ismail kept, as specimens 

 of the most interesting product of his covmtry, a store of mummies 

 in their cases ready to present to distinguished visitors who came 

 to see him. 



" What doubtless happened was that the dry air of the stables, 

 or the rough usage to which the mummy was subjected, caused 

 the w^ood of the case to warp and split, or the clay luting joining 



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