1905-1906.] The Great Gulf. 263 



some prehistoric cataclysm ? or did they ever exist ? Did 

 nature by some strange freak make a huge bound from the 

 Cellular to the Vascular Cryptogams ? A most unheard-of 

 thing for old Mother Nature to do. She does not generally 

 walk ftr saltum, but^ much more usually takes a very small 

 step at a time. Then where to look for the missing links ? 

 Among fossil plants ? It is quite possible some may be found 

 there, as our knowledge of fossil botany is still very small. 

 There is also another possible explanation, however, and that 

 is, that the missing links may still be in existence, perhaps un- 

 discovered, or perhaps, from insufficient knowledge of the 

 history of the lower forms of plant life, they may be misplaced 

 in the chain of evolution. In this event, it may be that a 

 closer study of biology will some day reveal them. In any 

 case, we have here a most interesting point in evolution. To 

 those who study nature like myself — not as their life work, 

 but as a relaxation for a leisure hour, — it opens up wonderful 

 vistas into the depths of creation, and glimpses under the veil 

 of Isis. You know it is said that the following inscription is 

 engraved over the Temple of Isis : " I am, whatsoever is — 

 whatsoever has been — whatsoever shall be ; and the veil which 

 is over my countenance no mortal hand has ever raised." The 

 smallest peep under that veil fills the thinking mind with wonder. 



.At this meeting Mr W. C. Crawford exhibited specimens 

 of two kinds of grain from tombs in ancient Egypt. He 

 obtained them at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The one 

 was barley from a tomb of the fifth dynasty (about 2400 to 

 2300 B.C.); the other, wheat from the tomb of Thothmes III. 

 of the eighteenth dynasty. It may be remembered that the 

 Pyramids of Gizeh were built in the time of the fourth 

 dynasty ; and Eamses II., who is said to be the Pharaoh of 

 the Exodus, belonged to the nineteenth dynasty (1324-1258). 

 So the barley was as old as the accepted time of Abraham, 

 and the wheat older than that of Moses. The barley had 

 very rough glumes ; the wheat was much more modern in 

 appearance. These grains found in the tombs of ancient 

 Egypt do not germinate : those that are said to have done so 

 have been found to belons to modern varieties. 



