BEAK 



(Pulse. Common broad bean.} 



LEGUMlNOSvE. Vicia Faba 



E bean is a native of the Holy Land and of Asia Minor. 



Though abhorred among the Egyptians, it was cultivated 

 to in Greece and carried thence into Italy ; and, as the 



Romans fed their horses on beans, it was introduced 

 through their armies into Europe. Anciently, bread was made 

 of beans, especially among the Italians, but was considered in 

 digestible, probably from the manner of either preparing or 

 baking it, as the poorer classes only used it, or those who were 

 so situated as to be unable to bake it with care amid the haste 

 and dirt of the camp. They were used on funeral occasions as 

 food and offering, and also offered to the deities of agriculture, 

 though the priest never partook of the bean, nor did the 

 higher class of Egyptians. It is supposed that Pythagoras 

 partook of the prejudices of the Egyptian priests against beans, 

 as he had been instructed in their ceremonies. His countrymen 

 used them largely, while he abstained from them entirely. 



Though the word &quot;beans&quot; occurs only in 2 Sam. xvii. 28 

 and in Ezek. iv. 9, yet, under the name of &quot;pulse,&quot; the same food 

 is referred to several times. It is first mentioned in the de 

 scription of the supplies which the true friends of David brought 

 him when, flying from Absalom, he spent a short time on the 



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