THE HOP. 79 



seven oxen, and six wethers and forty cheeses/' and 

 other contributions. But the oldest record of ale 

 (or beer) is that of the zythus of ancient Egypt. 

 Herodotus calls it barley -wine, and says it was in 

 common use there. Diodorus considers that it was 

 not inferior to wine, which from one who lived in 

 a vine country was a high compliment, and shews 

 that its qualities were equal to what we now make 

 with hops. It was made from barley, and its flavour 

 was obtained from the lupin, the skirret (Sium 

 sisarum), and the root of an Assyrian plant. It 

 was considered sufficiently good to be offered to the 

 gods, and the residue of the malt has been found in 

 Egyptian tombs. Xenophon, "Anabasis," 4, 5, men- 

 tions the beer of the Armenians, which they drank 

 through hollow reeds. Zythus was, according to 

 Plutarch, used to soften ivory for carving. 



Reginald Scott, who lived in the year 1500, ap- 

 pears to have been the first English writer who dis- 

 tinctly treated of the culture of the hop, for which 

 this country is now so celebrated. His work is en- 

 titled "Perfect platforme of a Hoppe garden, Neces- 

 sarie instructions for the makinge and maintenance 

 thereof. London, 4, 1578." It is now, I believe, 

 a very scarce work. 



Haller affirms that the Italians first used hops 

 in their beer, but Beckmann doubts this assertion. 

 During the existence of the Carlovingian dynasty 

 they were cultivated in France, and undoubtedly 

 for other than mere medicinal purposes, as, accord- 

 ing to Beckmann, a letter of donation from King 

 Pepin, mentions humolaria, which, of course, sig- 



