290 PROLONGED VITALITY OF SEEDS. 



A very long period of years must have probably elapsed, whilst 

 the seeds were getting their covering of clay ; and of the time 

 necessary to produce 14 feet of peat-earth above this, it is scarcely 

 possible to form an idea ; but it must have been (in the natural 

 course of things) extremely great. 



449. The following circumstance, which occurred about 30 

 years ago in the State of Maine, in North America, is, perhaps, 

 still more remarkable. Some well-diggers, when sinking a well, 

 at the distance of about 40 miles from the sea, struck, at the 

 depth of about 20 feet, a layer of sand ; this strongly excited 

 curiosity and interest, from the circumstance that no similar sand 

 was to be found anywhere in the neighbourhood, or anywhere 

 nearer than the sea-beach. As it was drawn up from the well, 

 it was placed in a pile by itself ; an unwillingness having been 

 felt to mix it with the stones and gravel, which were also drawn 

 up. But when the work was about to be finished, and the pile 

 of stones and gravel to be removed, it was found necessary to 

 remove also the sand-heap. This, therefore, was scattered about 

 the spot, on which it had been formed ; and was for some time 

 scarcely remembered. In a year or two, however, it was 

 perceived that a great number of small trees had sprung from 

 the ground, over which the sand had been strewn. These trees 

 became, in their turn, objects of strong interest ; and care was 

 taken that no injury should come to them. At length it was 

 ascertained that they were Beach-Plumb trees ; and they actu- 

 ally bore the Beach-Plumb, which had never before been seen, 

 except immediately upon the sea-shore. These trees must, 

 therefore, have sprung up from seeds, which had existed in the 

 stratum of sea-sand pierced by the well-diggers ; and, until this 

 was dispersed, in such a manner as to expose them to the air, 

 they remained inactive. " By what convulsion of the elements," 

 adds the narrator, " they had been thrown there, or how long 

 they and quietly slept beneath the surface of the earth, must be 

 determined by those who know very much more than I do." 



450. The following is an example of the same general fact, 

 which is interesting from its connexion with historical events. 

 In the year 1 71 5, during the rebellion in Scotland, a camp was 



