300 



tioned vegetables ; while, from 6000 to 9260 feet, the European grains abound ; 

 wheat in the lower regions, and rye and barley in the higher ; along with 

 which Chenopodium Q,uinoa, as a nutritious plant, must also be enumerated 

 Potatoes alone are cultivated frotu 9260 to 12,300 feet. 



" To the south of the tropic of Capricorn, wherever agriculture is practised, 

 considerable resemblance with the northern temperate zone may be observed. 

 In the southern parts of Brazil, in Buenos Ayres, in Chile, at the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and in the temperate zone of New Holland, wheat predominates ; 

 barley, however, and rye, make their appearance in the southernmost parts of 

 these countries, and in Van Diemen's Land. In New Zealand the culture of 

 wheat is said to have been tried with success ; but the inhabitants avail them- 

 selves of the Acrostichum furcatum as the main article of sustenance. 



" Hence it appears, that, in respect of the predominating kinds of grain, the 

 earth may be divided into five grand divisions, or kingdoms. The kingdom of 

 Rice, of Maize, Wheat, and Rye, and lastly of Barley and Oats. The first 

 three are the most extensive ; the Maize has the greatest range of tempera- 

 ture; but Rice may be said to support the greatest number of the human race." 



Properties. The uses of this 1 most important tribe of plants, for fodder, 

 for food, and for clothing, require little illustration. The abundance of whole- 

 some feecula contained in all their seeds renders them peculiarly well adapted 

 for the sustenance of man ; and if the Corn tribe only, such as Wheat, Barley, 

 Oats, Maize, Rice, and Guinea Corn, are the kinds commonly employed, it is 

 because of the large size of their seeds compared with those of other Grasses, 

 for none are unwholesome in their natural state, with the single exception of 

 Lolium temulentum, a common weed in many parts of England, the effects of 

 which are undoubtedly deleterious, although perhaps much exaggerated. In 

 this respect an approach seems to be naturally made to the properties of half- 

 putrid Wheat, which are known to be dangerous. The grain of Eleusine co- 

 racana is cultivated as corn, under the name of Natchenny, upon the Coro- 

 mandel Coast. JLinslie 1. 245. Independently of their nutritive fsecula, 

 Grasses contain a large proportion of two other principles which deserve espe- 

 cial mention, viz. sugar and silex. The abundance of the former in the Sugar- 

 cane is the cause of its extensive cultivation ; but a large quantity exists in 

 many other Grasses, some of which, such as Holcus saccharatus, have actual- 

 ly been grown as substitutes for the Sugar-cane in Italy; its presencein the nas- 

 cent embryo of Barley is the cause of that grain being employed under the 

 name of malt in the preparation of beer and of ardent spirits. Dr. Chisholm 

 says, that the juice of the Sugar-cane is the best antidote to arsenic. Ed. P. 

 J. 4. 221. That the cuticle of Grasses contains a large proportion of silex, is 

 proved by its hardness, and by large masses of vitrified matter being found 

 whenever a hay-stack or heap of corn is accidentally consumed by fire. In 

 the joints of some Grasses a perfect siliceous deposit is found, particularly in a 

 kind of jungle Grass mentioned in a letter from Dr. Moore to Dr. Kennedy of 

 Edinburgh. Ibid. 2. 192. It is also said that Wheat-straw may be melted 

 into a colorless glass with the blow-pipe, without any addition. Barley-straw 

 melts into a glass of a topaz yellow colour. Ibid. 2. 194. The siliceous mat- 

 ter of the Bamboo is often secreted at the joints, where it forms the singular 

 substance called tabasheer, of which see a very interesting account in Dr. 

 Brewster's Journal, 8. 268. It was found by Dr. Turner that the tabasheer 

 of India consisted of silica containing a minute quantity of lime and vegetable 

 matter. A coarse soft paper, of excellent quality, is manufactured in India 

 from the tissue of the Bamboo. A cooling drink is prepared in India from the 

 roots of Cynodon Dactylon. Ainslie, 2. 27. The fragrance of some Grasses, 

 such as Anthoxanthum odoratum and Holcus odoratus, depends, according to 

 Vogel, upon the presence of Benzoic acid. Ed. P. J. 14. 170. Sulphur ex- 



