NUTRITION 95 



unusually delectable specimen of a plant which they have been accustomed 

 to use as food; returning to the same plant whenever feasible, to again 

 enjoy its delicious morsels; and then, as they become less nomadic, taking 

 seeds or cuttings from this particular specimen, to plant in a more conven- 

 ient place nearer home; nurturing it most carefully, protecting it from the 

 weather and feeding it as it grows, thus establishing the earliest rudiments 

 of husbandry. Into the sequence of the picture, next comes contact, either 

 peaceful or warlike, with other more or less remote tribes; realization that 

 others have likewise developed better specimens of different foods; and the 

 resulting exchanges by barter or by importation following conquest, this 

 being the first step in the spread of cultivated foods across the earth. 



Much of this occurred in prehistoric time. Carbonized apples have been 

 found in the habitations of the prehistoric Swiss lake dwellers. It is true 

 that these may have been the original wild apples rather than cultivated 

 varieties. Apples were known to the ancient Romans and Phoenicians, who 

 raised them in their gardens. 



Before the dawn of written history man made a great discovery which 

 enabled him to depart from that nomadism which forced him to change 

 his abode with the seasons, so that he might always be where food was 

 available. The discovery enabled him to remain permanently in one place. 

 This was the cultivation of wheat and the making of flour which could be 

 baked into bread for use when fresh vegetables and game were not avail- 

 able. 



The origin of wheat is not definitely known, but it appears to have 

 been developed originally from the wild grasses of Asia Minor or Egypt 

 or around the shores of the Caspian Sea. It was introduced into China about 

 3000 B. c. and was described as being present in Egypt about 2440 b. c. 

 It was used by the Swiss lake dwellers. Fortunately, other groups had also 

 learned to cultivate grasses indigenous to their own territories for use as 

 food. Rye is supposed to have originated in the Orient. It has been culti- 

 vated by man probably as long as has wheat. Both were used in the Bronze 

 Age. However, rye was not cultivated in ancient India, Egypt or Greece. 

 It is today the principal cereal of northern Russia, Scandinavia and north- 

 ern Germany. 



Barley was probably the first crop grain of the human race. It was de- 

 scribed in Egypt as early as wheat, and the Egyptians claimed it to be the 

 first of the cereals used by man, introduced by their goddess, Isis. It was 

 a sacred grain to the early Greeks, used in sacrifices and in the cereal 

 festivals. Pliny called it the most ancient cereal. The Cimbri, early pro- 

 genitors of the Britons, made their bread from barley, which remained 

 the chief food grain of England until as recently as the eighteenth century. 



Rice is the most extensively cultivated of the grains and is the principal 

 cereal food for over one third of the entire population of the earth. It 

 appears to have originated in tropical Asia and was introduced into China 



