22 POPULAR EEROES. 



of England and Professor Agassiz of our own 

 country. The dry air and uniform temperature of 

 the tombs of Egypt, and the protection afforded 

 by the embalming process, which has so wonder- 

 fully preserved the ancient bodies, has been regarded 

 as sufficient to preserve vitality in the grains which 

 it was the custom of the ancient Egyptians to bury 

 with their dead, either upon the body itself or in 

 receptacles placed near them. 



The subject of the vitality of seeds buried by 

 natural agencies in the soil has been fully treated 

 by Professor Alexander Winchell in his admirable 

 work, the "Sketches of Creation." It is known to 

 geologists that at the close of the Tertiary period, 

 just preceding the glacial epoch, the climate of the 

 United States was very similar to what it now is, 

 though somewhat warmer. In rocks of that period, 

 found in Kentucky, have been discovered remains 

 of the Beech, Live Oak, Chincapin, Pecan, Honey 

 Locust, and other trees found in the same region 

 to-day. In the rocks of this age on the upper 

 Missouri River have been found the Walnut, Per- 

 simmon, Tulip tree and other species, in localities 

 which have since become too cold and dry for them. 

 There is abundant reason to believe that in the Ter- 

 tiary period the vegetation of North America was 

 more vigorous than now, but composed of nearly the 

 same species. During the glacial period this vege- 



