SEEDS OF GRASSES. CORN. 35 



these fall to the ground, where they take root, and 

 then continue to grow like the parent plant from 

 which they sprung. In these cases the grass is 

 called Vivip'arous. There is a native species, called 

 Festu'ca vivip'ara (viviparous Fescue-grass), which 

 grows in this way, whether on the tops of moun- 

 tains or in plains. It is found in perfection in 

 Scotland, on dry walls, and in the moist crevices 

 of rocks. 



EDWARD. 



But what sorts of grass seeds do men eat ? 



MOTHER. 



Wheat, barley, oats, rye, and corn of all kinds, 

 are the seeds of different grasses. Wheat, Trit'i- 

 cum hyber'num, is the grain of which bread is 

 chiefly made; but it must first be ground into flour, 

 or meal. Starch, and hair powder, which is only 

 ground starch, are also prepared from wheaten 

 flour. Barley, Hor'deum vulga're, is with us used 

 principally for making beer ; but in Spain, where 

 malt liquor is little known, horses are fed with 

 it, as ours are with oats. The poorer people of 

 England, Scotland, and Ireland make use of Oats, 

 Ave'na sati'va, ground into meal, for porridge; and 

 in Scotland oaten bread is a common article of 

 food. The inhabitants of Norway make bread of 

 barley and oatmeal, which keeps thirty or forty 

 years, and is even considered as the better for being 

 D 2 



