78 PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 



no well authenticated instances of any such growths. 

 Whenever any of these supposed-to-be very ancient seeds 

 germinate, we may conclude that there has been some 

 trickery about the matter. Travelers in search of curi- 

 osities are usually accommodatad by servants and guides, 

 for even Indian Corn or Maize, unknown in Europe be- 

 fore the discovery of America, has been furnished travel- 

 ers, among other seeds claimed to have been found in the 

 ancient Egyptian tombs. We may also distrust all ac- 

 counts of the germination of seeds that have been buried 

 in the earth for hundreds and thousands of years, and 

 brought to the surface in digging wells, canals and other 

 similar deep excavations, for in no instance that has been 

 traced to any trustworthy source have the plants raised 

 from such seeds been specifically different from those 

 recently introduced or indigenous to the same locality. 

 No new genera or species from such seeds have ever been 

 brought to light, as might be expected if they were the 

 product of some very ancient plants or locally extinct 

 species, as usually claimed. It is certainly true that no 

 one knows how long some kinds of seeds may remain 

 sound when buried deeply in the earth, or for how many 

 years some kinds may retain their vitality under the most 

 favorable conditions, but when we come to test seeds by 

 actual and carefully conducted experiments, we find little 

 to support the theories advanced in regard to long dura- 

 tion of vitality. 



Many hundreds of experiments have been, and are still 

 being made, for the purpose of determining the limits of 

 life in seeds, the results differing but slightly, or no 

 more than might be expected from the unavoidable vari- 

 ableness of conditions, while all do show that vitality 

 decreases more or less rapidly with age. 



Size has no influence on the vitality or keeping pro- 

 perties of seeds, for the Cocoanut, under the most favor- 

 able conditions, will not remain alive half as long as the 



