  "In every part of the globe fragments of primitive languages are preserved in religious rites." Humboldt, Researches, London, 1814, vol. 1, p. 97. "Et mÊme Jean P. C., Prince de la Mirande, escrit que les mots barbares & non entendus ont plus de puissance en la Magie que ceux qui sont entendus." Picart, vol. 10, p. 45. The medicine-men of Cumana (now the United States of Colombia, South America) cured their patients "con palabras muy revesadas y que aun el mismo mÉdico no las entiende." Gomara, Hist. de las Indias, p. 208. The Tlascaltecs had "oradores" who employed gibberish—"hablaban GerigonÇa." Herrera, dec. 2, lib. 6, p. 163. In Peru, if the fields were afflicted with drought, the priests, among other things, "chantaient un cantique dont le sens Était inconnu du vulgaire." Balboa, Hist. du PÉrou, p. 128, in Ternaux-Compans, vol. 15. Ancient monuments show that the cultivation of wheat had been established in Egypt before the invasion of the shepherds, and there is evidence that more productive varieties of wheat have taken the place of one, at least, of the ancient sorts. Innumerable varieties exist of common wheat. Colonel Le Couteur, of Jersey, cultivated 150 varieties; Mr. Darwin mentions a French gentleman who had collected 322 varieties, and the great firm of French seed merchants, Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie, cultivate about twice as many in their trial ground near Paris. In their recent work on Les meilleurs blÉs M. Henry L. de Vilmorin has described sixty-eight varieties of best wheat, which he has classed into seven groups, though these groups can hardly be called distinct species, since M. Henry L. de Vilmorin has crossbred three of them, Triticum vulgare, Triticum turgidum and Triticum durum, and has found the offspring fertile. Three small-grained varieties of common wheat were cultivated by the first lake dwellers of Switzerland (time of Trojan war), as well as by the less ancient lake dwellers of western Switzerland and of Italy, by the people of Hungary in the stone age, and by the Egyptians, on evidence of a brick of a pyramid in which a grain was embedded and to which the date of 3359 B. C. has been assigned. The existence of names for wheat in the most ancient languages confirms this evidence of the antiquity of its culture in all the more temperate parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but it seems improbable that wheat has ever been found growing persistently in a wild state, although the fact has often been asserted by poets, travelers, and historians. In the Odyssey, for example, we are told that wheat grew in Sicily without the aid of man, but a blind poet could not have seen this himself, and a botanical fact can hardly be accepted from a writer whose own existence has been contested. Diodorus repeats the tradition that Osiris found wheat and barley growing promiscuously in Palestine, but neither this nor other discoveries of persistent wild wheat seem to us to be credible, seeing that wheat does not appear to be endowed with a power of persistency except under culture.—Edinburgh Review. The origin of baking precedes the period of history and is involved in the obscurity of the early ages of the human race. Excavations made in Switzerland gave evidence that the art of making bread was practiced by our prehistoric ancestors as early as the stone period. From the shape of loaves it is thought that no ovens were used at that time, but the dough was rolled into small round cakes and laid on hot stones, being covered with glowing ashes. Bread is mentioned in the book of Genesis, where Abraham, wishing to entertain three angels, offered to "fetch a morsel of bread." Baking is again referred to where Sarah has instructions to "make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it and make cakes upon the hearth." Lot entertained two angels by giving them unleavened bread. The mere mention of unleavened bread shows that there were two kinds of bread made even at that time. The art of baking was carried on to a high perfection among the Egyptians, who are said to have baked cakes in many fantastic shapes, using several kinds of flour. The Romans took up the art of baking, and public bakeries were numerous on the streets of Rome. In England the business of the baker was considered to be one so closely affecting the interests of the public that in 1266 an act of Parliament was passed regulating the price to be charged for bread. This regulation continued in operation until 1822 in London and until 1836 in the rest of the country. The art of making bread has not yet reached some countries in Europe and Asia. In the rural parts of Sweden no bread is made, but rye cakes are baked twice a year and are as hard as flint. It is less than a century ago that bread was used in Scotland, the Scotch people of every class living on barley bannocks and oaten cakes.—Chicago News. "Ador or Athor was the most sacred wheat, without beard, offered at adoration of gods. In Latin Adorea was a present of such after a victory, and Ad-oro is 'I adore,' from oro, 'I pray to.'"—Forlong, Rivers of Life, vol. 1, p. 473, footnote, speaking of both Greeks and Romans. Transcriber's Notes Obvious typographical errors have been repaired. Non-standard spellings, including those in other languages, were retained as in the original. Hyphenation and accent variants that could not be clearly resolved, were retained. The few cases of ellipses shown as asterisks were also retained. p. 579, paragraph beginning "Dr. Joseph Lanzoni": both "chermisinum" and "chermesinum" occurred in the original as shown. p. 585, paragraph beginning "At intervals": "Three several times they" is as in the original. |
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