768 PHYSIOLOGY. 



tannin, speedily lose their vitality, and decay; this is the case, for 

 instance, with Nuts and Acorns, and hence, when seeds of this 

 nature are required for propagation, they must be sown imme- 

 diately or within a short time of their arriving at maturity, or 

 special means must be adopted for their preservation. Other seeds, 

 such as those of a farinaceous nature, as Wheat and Cereal grains 

 generally, or those with hard and bony integuments, as many of 

 the Leguminosce, frequently retain their vitahty for some years, 

 and even in certain cases for many centuries. 



From the experiments of De Candolle, those of a Committee of 

 the British Association, and others, it would appear generally, 

 that the seeds of the Leguminosse and Malvaccje preserve their 

 vitality longest, while those of Compositce, Cruciferaj, Graminacese 

 soon lost their germinating power. Some exceptions, however, 

 to the above statement occur in these orders. 



Under particular circumstances, it seems certain, that seeds 

 may, and have preserved their vitality for centuries. Some of 

 the cases brought forward as illustrations of this capability of 

 seeds are, however, not supported by careful observations, as for 

 instance, that of the vitality of Wheat taken from Egyptian 

 mummies. There are no well-authenticated instances of wheat 

 taken from mummies which has been untampered with, germi- 

 nating. Some instances of seeds germinating after having been 

 preserved for centuries are, however, supported by good evi- 

 dence. Thus Lindley records the remarkable case of some 

 Raspberry plants having been "raised in the garden of the 

 Horticultural Society from seeds taken from the stomach of a 

 man, whose skeleton Avas found thirty feet below the surface of 

 the earth, at the bottom of a barrow Avhich was opened near 

 Dorchester. He had been buried with some coins of the 

 Emperor Hadrian, and it is therefore probable that the seeds were 

 sixteen or seventeen hundred years old." Mr. Kemp in the Annals 

 of Natural History, has narrated a still more remarkable case, in 

 which the retention of the vitality of seeds for many centuries was 

 undoubted. This gentleman received some seeds which were 

 found upwards of twenty-five feet below the surface of the earth 

 at the bottom of a sand-pit in process of excavation. Specimens 

 of these, upon being sown, produced plants of Polygonum Con- 

 volvulus, Rumex Acetosella, and a variety of Atriplex patula. All 

 these seeds were of a mealy or farinaceous nature. Mr, Kemp 

 concluded from various circumstances, that these seeds were 

 deposited at a period when the valley of the Tweed was occu- 

 pied by a lake; and as it is certain that in the time of the 

 Romans, about 2000 years ago, no lake existed there, they must 

 have retained their vitality during many centuries. Many other 

 cases might be cited of a similar character to the above, but 

 these nuist suffice, as our space is limited. It lias been noticed 

 that when a new soil is turned up, it is conmionly found that 



