282 Chances of Life 



of the coffee-berry, for instance, is worthless unless 

 planted without delay directly it is ripe ; and willow- 

 seed is said to live only a fortnight after ripening, or 

 less, if it is allowed to become dry. Seeds of melon 

 and geranium, on the other hand, have been known to 

 germinate after being kept, merely wrapped in paper, 

 for thirty years. It is believed that, if melon-seeds 

 produce plants at all, after being kept for some time, 

 their crop of fruit will be all the larger ; but they are 

 commonly supposed not to live longer than seven 

 years, and even within this period the longer they are 

 kept the smaller is their chance of germinating con- 

 sidered to be. 



Cases, however, have been known in which certain 

 seeds, quite small seeds, too, have kept the life in them 

 not only for years but for centuries, and even millen- 

 niums. We are not alluding to the famous mummy 

 wheat ; for the grain of wheat, being quite unprotected 

 except by a thin husk, loses all power of germinating 

 in a few years at most ; and none of the interesting 

 stories told of wheat raised from grain found in 

 Egyptian tombs have ever yet been satisfactorily 

 proved. 



Grain taken from mummies has germinated sure 

 enough, but it has been grain recently introduced by 

 the Arabs ! In one instance the plant raised bore 

 oats; but this was unlucky, for oats were not known to 

 ancient Egypt ; and in no single case has any success 

 attended the innumerable attempts made to raise 

 plants from genuine mummy wheat. But seeds found 

 in Roman tombs have not only germinated, but pro- 

 duced plants. 



Of all well-authenticated cases, however, the most 



