rye. 159 



caries was owing to the seeds being contami- 

 nated by situation, (cariem oriri ex seminibug 

 situ fadatis ) i. e. contaminated by moisture. 

 From our own remarks, strengthened by 

 these observations, we consider this secret 

 vegetable poison to arise from putrid mat- 

 ter caused by great moisture, and which the 

 rapid growth of rye in hot seasons draws 

 with its natural nourishment; and which is 

 forced into the grain, without being cor- 

 rected by those operations which slower 

 vegetation would, in all probability, have ac- 

 complished. 



We are told by Koestlin, a German phy- 

 sician, that the vines which grow on the 

 hills, over the iron mines in Elba, contain par- 

 ticles of iron in their leaves and stems, as 

 may be discovered, says this author, by cal- 

 cination. 



If this be true, it would give a greater 

 degree of credibility to the stories told in 

 Hungary, where bits of gold are shewn ad- 

 hering to the stalks and grapes of the Tokay 

 vines, supposed to have been drawn out of 

 the ground by the plant in the course of 

 vegetation. Without arguing on the possi- 

 bility or probability of these statements, we 

 are decidedly of opinion, that poisonous qua- 



