Warmington.
_Mummy Wheat._--In January, 1843, a near relative of mine, related by
marriage to Mr. Martin Tupper, gave my father some grains of wheat, which
he had the authority of Sir G. Wilkinson, direct or indirect, to believe to
have been taken out of a mummy case, and to be in fact ancient Egyptian
wheat, perhaps a couple of thousand years old at least. These were planted
in a flower-pot, took root, grew, and had attained the height of many
inches, when a cow got into the place where the pot was and ate the plants
down. From the roots sprouted again a second crop of stems and leaves, and
a similar catastrophe befell the second growth, frustrating the hopes of
several anxious young amateur agriculturists, so that we never saw more
than the leaves of this crop. In making the inquiries necessary to certify
myself that these facts are true, I met with a lady who had seen a small
quantity of wheat plants, the produce alleged of mummy wheat, and who spoke
of it as a beautiful looking plant, with several stems from each root, and
several ears on each stem. I could not ascertain whether this was the fruit
of mummy wheat in the first or in the second generation. There was no
question that it was sprung from grains taken out of a mummy. I believe
that in the case of which I speak as having occurred within the range of my
own acquaintance, the wheat was some of the same that Mr. M. F. Tupper
possessed.