THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
71 
thus became intermixed with the deep-water forms 
that migrated from the eastern basin, and when 
the elevation became permanent the deep water 
forms finally left the Maltese area for the Adriatic 
and left the shallow water ones in undisputed pos- 
session. 
The memoir has two plates appended containing 
illustrations of 10 of the new species that Mr. 
Gregory has added to the Maltese Echinoidea. 
Mummy Wheat. 
The land of the Pharohs is still a wonderland to 
western civilization, and the many archeological 
discoveries that have been made of late have still 
further served to increase the veneration with which 
it is regarded. Any relic, from a fragment of one of 
the pyramids tothe skull of a mummy cat, or indeed 
one of the fossil Pharohs themselves is eagerly 
sought after and carefully cherished by the fortu 
nate finder. Considering, therefore, the great 
demand that there is for relics of this description it 
is no wonder that when the legitimate supply fails 
to meet the demands of the market, that illegiti- 
mate means should be employed to supply the 
deficiency. Of these frauds the so called Egyptian 
mummy wheat is perhaps one of the most bare 
faced of the many impostures that are practised on 
the unwary Nilian traveller. 
Prof. Henslow gave an interesting article on the 
subject in Nature Notes 1890 and now Mr. Car- 
ruthes f.r.s, has delivered a lecture on the same 
subject in the course of which he tells us that the 
extreme life of a grain of wheat was twelve years 
He had tested this by experiments, and many 
others had done the same, so it was quite certain 
that they could not grow a seed of wheat after 
this period had elapsed Of course, this 
cut at the root of all stories about mummy wheat. 
It was quite certain, as had been clearly establish- 
ed again, that no seed which was buried with the 
mummy at the time it was put in the coffin had 
ever germinated. It was not only the examination 
of the seed that would establish that; experiments 
had been made to show that this was not the case. 
He himself had examined a large number of seeds 
in the British Museum, taken from mummies, 
and they were all in the same condition that the 
mummy itself was in. It would be impossible to 
stretch out the arm of a mummy, because the 
whole of the muscle was entirely burnt up by the 
oxygen, and it was completely rigid. It was so 
with the whole of those grains of wheat, and flax, 
and various other seeds that were preserved — they 
were in the same condition. They had been sub- 
ject to the slow burning action of the oxygen, and 
the whole of their vitality had disappeared. With 
regard to what was known as mummy wheat, it 
was only a form of corn that was still extensively 
cultivated on the southern shores of the Mediter- 
ranean, and was easily obtained from Arabs and 
others, who were always ready to impose upon 
travellers, who brought it home, as true mummy 
wheat. 
NOTES AND NEWS. 
A method of purifying water invented by Dr. 
Wm. Anderson, and successfully used at Antwerp, 
consists in passing the water through a revolving 
cylinder containing metallic iron in the form of 
scraps or filings. 
We have much pleasure in acknowledging the 
receipt of a copy of the address which was deliver- 
ed by Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe, ll.d., f.l.s. before 
the second international Ornithological Congress. 
Tunis is being rapidly developed. The exploita- 
tions that have lately been made have resulted in 
the discovery of metalliferous deposits of consider- 
able extent. Lead, zinc, and iron are the most abun- 
dant and already four lead mines, and one iron 
mine are at work. Silver, quicksilver, and copper 
have also been found in veins, and gold is found, 
in the sands of several of the rivers. 
Sawdust is one of the last things that we should 
have anticipated being utilized in the construction 
of our dwellings. Engineer however informs us 
that a German firm has perfected a plan whereby 
sawdust may be made into bricks of extreme hard- 
ness and durability. The sawdust is mixed with 
acid, and afterwards moulded and compressed. The 
material thus prepared is practicably non-com- 
bustible. 
La mpedusa . — Err a turn G orrige . 
In the article on Pantelleria inserted in the 
December number of the Mediterranean Natura- 
list , I must apologize for having made an erro- 
neous statement in saying that Lampedusa is a 
volcanic island , whereas it consists exclusively of 
Upper tertiary sedimentary rocks. The error wili 
be found in Gatto’s book: E Italia: suoi Vulcan i 
e Terremoti. I did not discover the mistake in 
time, but seeing the Scientific importance of this 
journal, in order not to propagate error, I 
