Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1879-09-18

sound out Of the reach OF all atmospheric
influences.
About IL years ago, dentist of Dorches-
ter, by the name of Mclean, desiring to
give an account of the alterations produced
in human teeth, by a long space of time,
dug up near Maiden Castle, in presence OF
many lovers Of Archaeology, one OF the an
cient Celtic tumuli. which are found in con-
siderable numbers in the southwest of En-
gland. At about thirty feet deep from the
surface of the ground, they found coffin,
in which were the remains of a skeleton and
several articles of ornament. Upon min
ute search OF the contents OF this coffin,
there were also discovered among the bones
at the point corresponding with the stom-
ach some matter, dry and blacksmith, very
similar to old soil. This was collected by
Mclean. On examination in the light, it
was discovered to contain a great number
of ovoid (egg-shaped) bodies, which were
readily known to be raspberry seeds, their
outside integuments were greatly altered.
The discovery excited deep interest. Some
OF them were presented to the duke of Sus-
Some of the seeds were broken, and found
to have vitality. 1t was therefore resolved
to plant them. Six seeds were given to the
duke, who told his young German gardener,
Mr.. Hartweg, to plant them in the hot
house, not telling him what they were or
whence they came, but that it was an expe-
rment merely. The spot Of each seed was
very carefully marked. At the end of
few weeks, four of the seeds came up, after
wards one of these perished, the other three
attained full growth. and are now growing
in the garden Of the Horticultural society OF
London.
Lindley. places the date of the burial of
these seeds in the time of the ancient Bri-
tons; and at least as far back as the inva-
sion of the Romans, into Great Britain about
l,7ooyears ago. And he supposes the chief
or warrior, whom they had buried, must
have been killed few moments after hav-
ing eaten them, us the digestive power Of
his stomach had not had time to effect them
Besides, it is we'll known that raspberry
seeds are endued with great vitality.
The following fact is still more extraordi-
nary. 1t is an observation made by Mr..
William Kemp. the geologisr and botanist.
He says: "At Il quarter of mile from
Mcrose, on the banks of the Tweed, there
isa quarry Of sand belonging to Mr.. John
Bell. OF Melrose, which has been worked
long time. This quarry is dug on the side
of hill entirely formed of sedimentary de-
posts, fifty or sixty feet above the present
level of the river. At % feet depth work
man dug up quantity of remains of plants,
some of which had their seeds on. Messrs.
Lindley and Kemp planted these seeds and
raised about one-tenth of them. They
proved to be of four kinds, viz: polygon
co'avolvutus. Some Of these are dyes, some
astringent, partaking of the nature of rhu-
barb, etc. !; runacr acetosella, of the same
race papilionacea; the atripler zatulo, one
OF the chenopods, race including, beets. |
mangold wurzel, etc., etc. and the atslpleg
ungustitolia. 1t is believed beyond doubt
that. formerly, there was lake at this place
whose waters were as high as the stratifiel
bed where these seeds are found. but no
history tells US of the time when that lake
existed, or of any considerable sinking of
the waters of the Tweed. When the Ro.
mans arrived in Great Britain, it is certain
that part of Scotland was very nearly
of the same configuration as it now is. |
These reflections naturally lead us to the
conclusion. that the seeds in question be-
longed 10 prodigious antiquity, perhaps TO |
the paleotherian epoch. that they were
growing, therefore, before the creation of
man.
The longevity of seeds of vegetables is. as
yet. but merely sketched out Discoveries
in this line will be GREAT for nractieai no