Letters: Dec. 29, 1930

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Is there anything to substantiate the truth of the statement that the wheat planted by Cunningham actually was found in King Tut's tomb and was wheat originally deposited therein when the tomb was first sealed? You know that this legend is similar to older legends of wheat grains being found in the old tombs which thereafter reproduced new grain upon being planted. . . .

These legends or facts, as the case may be, have been employed in many cases as proofs of immortality and have been used in some beautiful ritualistic ceremonials upon the same subject. If the statements are facts TIME would confer a favor by reciting the evidence in support of its statements above quoted. . . .

HENRY PIRTLE

Cleveland, Ohio

Expert opinion at the New York Botanical Gardens is that the maximum life-span of a grain of wheat is about seven years. The Tut and other tomb stories, though widely current, have no scientific sponsorship.—ED. Strong Habit Sirs:

I was very much interested in the letter from Mr. W. A. Winterbotton in the Dec. 8 issue calling attention to the fact that you had referred to a radiogram as a cablegram.

You state that your habit has now been broken, but I have some bad news for you.

On p. 46 of the same issue, I read that Mrs. Jessie Maud Keith-Miller "cabled her mother from Nassau, Bahama Islands."

This indicates that you have had a sudden relapse, as there has been no cable communication with Nassau for many years past, the regular route for telegraphic communication being by radio between Nassau and Miami.

I learned this from a bootlegger who said that he has had occasion to make a very careful study of communication with that important port.

T. P. GUTHRIE

Washington, D. C.

TIME will fight the habit harder.—ED.