MILLET. 335 



one seed would give an increase of three sex- 

 tans or quarts, if sown in a moist soil. 



Millet was used by the Romans in all cases 

 where hot fomentations were applied ; as it 

 retains the heat longer than any other grain. 

 The meal of this seed, mixed with tar, was 

 esteemed a good plaster for those who had 

 been stung by serpents, or pricked by the 

 multipede. 



That Italy was not free from the most ab- 

 surd superstition, even in the most enlight- 

 ened days of the Roman empire, we have an 

 instance in the manner of their cultivating 

 millet. Sparrows and other small birds are 

 apt to make great havock in fields of millet ; 

 to prevent which the Roman farmers carried 

 a toad round the field after it was sown and 

 before it was harrowed. The reptile was 

 then put in an earthen pot, and buried in the 

 middle of the field. This, they were as- 

 sured, would protect the roots from the 

 worm, and the seed from birds. The toad 

 was always dug up before the millet was cut, 

 the neglect of which, they believed, would 

 cause the seed to be bitter.* 



Botanists name five species of this grain. 



* Pliny, book xviii. chap. 17. 



