( Ipomoea tuberosa). 371 
highly developed, green embryo, and have a hollow centre, 
which gives them buoyancy. 
I am not aware of the existence of any record of the self- 
colonisation of Ipomoea tuberosa , nor of its being carried by 
ocean currents to the shores of Europe ; but Lieut.-Col. 
H. W. Feilden sent a seed of it to Kew last year with the 
following extract from his ‘Journal of twenty years ago.’ — 
‘ This seed is probably from the West Indies, and drifted by 
Gulf Stream to the Hebrides, and has, or used to have, a 
peculiar virtue attached to it by the inhabitants of the Long 
Island. The Gaelic name signifies Mary’s Bean, and of course 
refers to the Blessed Mother. The belief was, and I daresay 
still lingers amongst the Celtic Roman Catholic people of the 
Long Island, that this seed clenched in the hand of a woman 
labouring with child would ensure easy delivery. I got this 
seed from a woman in the island of North Uist, and she said 
it had been in the possession of her mother and her grand- 
mother.’ 
It would be interesting to know whether this is one of 
several or many instances of this seed being thrown up on 
the Hebrides. One would not expect it to possess a Gaelic 
name, and have the reputation for the virtue ascribed to it, 
from a solitary example. 
