March. 1913. 



KNOWLEDGE. 

 Table 16. Percentage of Seed Germinated each Year. 



89 



Nor can this be taken as the last word on the 

 subject, for the preservation of vitality is, of course, 

 dependent upon a number of factors, the chief of 

 which are : — 



(a) The character of the season and the ripeness 



of the seed when harvested. 



(b) The percentage of moisture in the seed. 



(c) The place of storage. 



The varying results of other experimenters on the 

 duration of vitality among cereals confirm this state- 

 ment, and to quote two instances : — Loudet, who 

 made trials in 1856-7 with wheat of the years 

 1853-1856 inclusive, obtained the followingresults: — 



Wheat of 1853, per cent of seeds germinated 



>> >> lOjT, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, 01 



>> ?? ±C30Z> ? ?? ,, ,, ,, ,, / O 



,, ,, 1856, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, 74 



whilst Haberlandt, on the other hand, obtained 

 results more comparable with Carruthers, thus: — 



Dealing with Mummy Wheat, which should be 

 very much older than those just discussed, there 

 have been many experimenters who are said to have 

 succeeded in bringing about germination. Of these 

 the most notorious is the Count Sternberg,* who (it 

 is said) received the grains of wheat from a trust- 

 worthy traveller, being assured that they were taken 

 from a sarcophagus. Two of these grains are 

 supposed to have germinated, and though the 

 majority of well-informed people must realize that 

 there was some imposture, probably on the part of 

 the Arabs, the belief in the existence of vitality in 

 Mummy Wheat is still strong, owing to the publica- 

 tion of Count Sternberg's paper, and the constant 

 repetition of his statement in non-scientific journals, 

 that, even up to the present time, a very large 

 number of people who do not study the probabilities 

 is prepared to combat any statement to the 

 contrary. 



When the array of experimenters with Mummy 

 Wheat, or wheat of even more recent date, is 

 reviewed, and when it is realised that in almost 

 every case of wheat over ten years old, germination 

 does not result, the probability of Count Sternberg's 

 success can be at once dismissed. 



Vilmorin, Dietrich! and many others besides 

 the present writer have attempted to grow genuine 

 Mummy Wheat and always with the same negative 

 results. Soaking in oil, as recommended by Count 

 Sternberg, and nearly even' means reputed to favour 

 germination have been employed but without success, 

 and the same methods applied to the wheat grains of 

 the years 1852, 1853, and 1854, were equally 

 unsuccessful. After proper exposure to moisture, 

 the space that should be occupied by the germ has 

 been found to be filled with a slimy putrefying liquid 

 which was quickly covered by a crop of mould. 



It is useless to describe the methods applied to 

 the grains in order to induce germination, and it is 

 proposed to enter at once upon the results of the 

 chemical and microscopical examination to which 

 they were subjected, and to draw from them such 

 conclusions as may be of scientific and commercial 

 value. 



Experimental Results. 



The five wheats examined were as follow : — 



Mummy Wheat, circ. 1500 B.C. The grains of 

 this sample were dark rusty red in colour and fairly 

 plump though the end containing the germ was 

 shrivelled and wrinkled. Twenty-seven grains of an 

 average sample of this wheat weighed one gramme 

 (See Figures 78 and 79). 



On crushing for chemical and microscopical 

 examination the grains rapidly disintegrated and 

 formed a very fine powder, so that it was with 

 difficulty that a loss of the very light portions was 

 prevented. The fine powder immediately after 

 crushing was very irritating to the nostrils and 

 smelt strongly of bitumen. 



The grains are believed to be of Emmer wheat 

 from the appearance amongst the sample of what 

 seems to be a complete head of the wheat bearing 

 only two grains. 



Wheats of 1852, 1853, 1854, were all samples 

 of White Wheat, that of the first two years 

 showing medium plump grains (thirty-four to the 



Count Sternberg in the Journal, Flora, 1835, Page 4. 

 f Dietrich, Hoff. Jahr. 1862-3, Page 77, 



