BARLEY. 53 



the Agricultural Society, and so ably dilated 

 on by various writers; but we must not omit 

 an important observation that was made by 

 Pliny, and which seems worthy of being 

 attended to : That barley yields the better 

 groats if it be taken whilst it is somewhat 

 green, rather than when it has arrived at its 

 full ripeness. 



" Lo, how the arable with bailey grain 



Stands thick, o'er-shadow'd, to the thirsty hind 

 Transporting prospect ! Philips's Cider. 



The invention of malt-liquor appears to 

 have originated from the attention which an 

 eastern monarch paid to the health of his 

 army, as both Hippocrates and Xenophon 

 inform us, that Cyrus, having called his sol- 

 diers together, exhorted them to drink water 

 wherein parched barley had been steeped, 

 which they called Maza. In all probability 

 this was to counteract the bad effects of im- 

 pure water in warm climates, as Pliny* states, 

 that if water be nitrous, brackish, and bitter, 

 by putting fried barley-meal into it, it will in 

 less than two hours be purified and sweet, 

 and that it may then be drunk with safety ; 

 and this, says he, is the reason that barley- 

 meal is generally put in bags and strainers 



i 



* Book xx iv. c. 1. 



