OBJECTIONS A GAINS T E VOL UTION. 151 



gardens and plantations of the Pharaohs. The spiny 

 medick and the charlock, for instance, were as much 

 of a pest to the growers of barley and flax during 

 the age of the pyramid-builders, as they are to the 

 fellahin of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. 



" It is difficult," continues Mr. Carruthers, " with- 

 out the actual inspection of the specimens of plants 

 employed as garlands, which have been prepared by 

 Dr. Schweinfurth, to realize the wonderful condition 

 of preservation in which they are. The color of the 

 petals of papaver rheas, and the occasional presence 

 of the dark patch at their bases, present the same 

 peculiarities as are still to be found in this species 

 growing in Egyptian fields. The petals of the lark- 

 spur not only retain their reddish violet color, but 

 present the peculiar markings which are still found 

 in the living plant. A garland composed of wild 

 celery and small flowers of the blue lotus, fastened 

 together by fibers of papyrus, was found on a 

 mummy of the twelfth dynasty, about three thou- 

 sand years old. The leaves, flowers and fruits of the 

 wild celery have been examined with the greatest 

 care by Dr. Schweinfurth, who has demonstrated in 

 the clearest manner their absolute identity with the 

 indigenous form of this species now abundant in 

 most places in Egypt. The same may be said of 

 the other plants used as garlands, including two 

 species of lichens." 



Nor is this all. The evidence afforded by archae- 

 ology and paleobotany is as direct and as unequivocal 

 as that of history. The cereals cultivated in prehis- 

 toric times, during the Roman occupation of Britain, 



