BARLEY BARLOW. 



423 



The bark is of three kinds the rod, the yellow, and 

 the pale. The first has now become scarce, but has 

 also lost the exclusive reputation which it once had, 

 the yellow and pale barks having been found to be 

 stronger in their febrifuge properties. The crown- 

 bark, as the highest-priced is termed, is of a pale, 

 yellowish-red. 



The uses of the bark, in medicine, are too well 

 known to need description ; but the chemical dis- 

 coveries in relation to it are deserving of more par- 

 ticular mention. Its medicinal properties were 

 found, a few years since, to depend upon the pre- 

 sence of a substance called quinine. This exists, 

 more or less, in all kinds of Peruvian bark, but in 

 quantities very unequal in the various kinds. It was 

 discovered by Messrs Pelletier and Caventou, who 

 also ascertained that the most useful and permanent 

 form of the substance was that of a neutral salt, in 

 which it was combined with sulphuric acid, constitut- 

 ing the celebrated sulphate of quinine. This extract 

 is so powerful, that one grain of it is a dose ; and 

 thus does this little powder, which is almost imper- 

 ceptible, supply the place of the nauseous mouthfuls 

 of bark, which were absolutely eaten by the unfor- 

 tunate beings who were afflicted with ague, before 

 this invaluable article was discovered. Next to the 

 bleaching liquor and the gas lights, this may be 

 regarded as the most interesting and valuable of the 

 gifts of chemistry to her sister arts. So extensive 

 has the manufacture of this most important article 

 become, that, in 1826, no less than 1593 cwt. of 

 bark were used by four chemists concerned in the 

 production of it in Paris ; and 90,000 ounces of sul- 

 phate of quinine were produced in France during the 

 same year, being enough for the curing, at a fair 

 calculation, of near 2,000,000 of sick, who have, by 

 this most happy discovery, been spared the swallow- 

 ing of at least 10,000,000 ounces of crude bark. 

 This one fact should entitle the name of Pelletier to 

 the gratitude of all posterity. 



BARLEY (in Latin, fiordeum) ; a grain which has 

 been known, like most other kinds of grain, from 

 time immemorial. It has a thick spike ; the calyx, 

 husk, awn, and flower, are like those of wheat or 

 rye, but the awns are rough ; the seed is swelling in 

 the middle, and, for the most part, ends in a sharp 

 point, to which the husks are closely united. The 

 species are, I. common long eared barley ; 2. winter 

 or square barley, by some called big ; 3. sprat barley, 

 or batile-door barley. All these sorts of barley are 

 sown in the spring of the year, in a dry time. The 

 square barley, or big, is chiefly cultivated in the north 

 of England and in Scotland, and is hardier than the 

 other sorts. Barley is emollient, moistening, and 

 productive of expectoration : this grain was chosen 

 by Hippocrates as a proper food in inflammatory 

 distempers. The principal use of barley, in England 

 and America, is for making beer ; in some parts of 

 the European continent, horses are fed with it, and 

 in other parts, poor people make bread of it. In 

 Scotland, barley is a common ingredient for broths. 

 Pearl barley and French barley are barley freed from 

 the husk by means of a mill ; the distinction between 

 the two being, that pearl barley is reduced to the 

 size of small shot, all but the heart of the grain being 

 ground away. 



BARLOW, Joel, an American poet and diplomatist, 

 was the youngest of ten children of a respectable 

 farmer in moderate circumstances. He was born at 

 Reading, a village in Connecticut, about 1755. His 

 father died while he was yet a lad at school, leaving 

 him little more than sufficient to defray, economically, 

 the expenses of a liberal education. In 1774, he was 

 placed at Dartmouth college, New Hampshire, then 

 iu its infancy, and, after a very short residence there, 



entered Yale college, New Haven, where he dis- 

 played a talent for versification, which gained him 

 reputation among his fellow students, and introduced 

 him to the particular notice and friendship of Dr 

 Dwight, then a tutor in that college. These circum- 

 stances contributed to excite his poetical ambition 

 still more strongly, and thus fixed the character ot 

 his future life. The militia of Connecticut, in the 

 beginning of the war of the revolution, formed a 

 considerable part of general Washington's army; 

 and young Barlow, more than once, during the va- 

 cations or the college, served as a volunteer in the 

 camp, where four of his brothers were on duty, and 

 is said to have been present at the battle of W lute 

 plains. Having passed through the usual course of 

 study with reputation, he received, in 1778, the 

 degree of bachelor of arts, on which occasion he 

 appeared, for the first time, before the public in his 

 poetical character, by reciting an original poem. It 

 was printed at Litchfield, with some other of his 

 minor pieces, in a collection entitled American Poems. 

 Upon leaving college, he applied himself assiduously 

 to the study of the law. But he continued this pur- 

 suit only a few mouths. The Massachusetts line of 

 the American army was, at this time, deficient in 

 chaplains, and Barlow was strongly urged, by some 

 influential friends, to qualify himself for that station. 

 It was, at the same time, intimated to him, that every 

 indulgence should be shown him in his theological 

 examination. Under this assurance, being well 

 grounded in general literature, and having passed 

 his whole life among a people, with whom almost 

 every man has some knowledge of speculative divi- 

 nity and religious controversy, he applied himself 

 strenuously to theological studies, and, at the end of 

 six weeks, was licensed to preach as a congrega- 

 tional minister, and repaired immediately to the 

 army. Here he is said to have been regular in the 

 discharge of his clerical duties, and much respected 

 as a preacher. In the camp, he preserved his fond- 

 ness for the muses. The spirit of the American 

 soldiery is supposed to have been not a little sup- 

 ported, through their many hardships, by numerous 

 patriotic songs and occasional addresses, written 

 by Mr Barlow, Dr Dwight, and colonel Humph- 

 reys. B. remained in the army until the close of 

 the war, and during the whole of this period was en- 

 gaged in planning, and, in part, composing the poem 

 which lie first published under the title of the Fision 

 of Columbus, and afterwards expanded into his great 

 work, the Columbiad. When the independence of 

 the United States was acknowledged, and the Ameri- 

 can forces disbanded, in 1783, Barlow was again 

 thrown upon the world. He had never manifested 

 much fondness for the clerical profession, and the 

 habits of a military life contributed to unfit him still 

 more for the regular labours and the humble duties 

 of a parish minister. In New England, if the cleri- 

 cal character has been worn without disgrace, it may 

 easily be thrown off without dishonour. Mr Barlow, 

 therefore, without hesitation, reverted to his original 

 plan of pursuing the profession of the law. With 

 this view, he removed to Hartford, where he settled 

 himself, as he imagined for the rest of his life. 

 Here, as a means of temporary support, he establish- 

 ed a weekly newspaper. He was, also, at this time, 

 engaged in preparing for the press his Vision of Co- 

 lumbus. The extensive acquaintance which he had 

 formed in the army, and the zeal of his personal 

 friends, enabled him to obtain a very large subscrip- 

 tion for this work, which was published in 1787. Its 

 success was very flattering. Within a few months 

 after its publication in America, it was reprinted in 

 London, and has since gone through a second edition 

 in America, and one in Paris. The first edition was 



