12 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, 



unwholesome in their natural state, with the single 

 exception of Lolium temulentiim (darnel), 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 presence of the corn-plants in any region of 

 the earth attests that man is there, in an advanced 

 stage of civilization. In the sepulchres of the Egyp- 

 tian kings, which were opened by the naturalists and 

 other scientific persons who accompanied the French 

 army to Egypt, was found the common wheat, in 

 vessels which were so perfectly closed, that the 

 grains retained both their form and their colour.| 

 The wheat, buried there for several thousand years, 

 was a proof of the ancient civilization of Egypt, as 

 convincing as the ruins of temples and the inscrip- 

 tions of obelisks. The corn-plants, such as they are 

 found under cultivation, do not grow wild in any 

 part of the earth. Wheat has been traced, indeed, 

 in Persia, springing up in spots very remote from 

 human habitation, and out of the line of the traffic 

 of the native^ ; but this circumstance is far from 

 proving that it is a production natural and indige- 

 nous to Persia. In Sicily there is a wild grass called 

 (Egilops ovata, which is found in particular districts. 

 It has been held that the seeds of this plant may be 

 changed into corn by cultivation ; and that the an- 

 cient worship of Ceres, which considered the fields 

 of Enna and of Trinacria as the cradles of agricul- 

 ture, had its origin in this transformation of the na- 

 tive grass. Professor Latapie, of Bourdeaux, affirms, 



* Lindley's ' Introduction to the Natural System of Bota- 

 ny,' p. 302. 



t See Lyell's Geology, vol. ii, p. 81. 



