i 



for tea ; the agreeable odor of new hay is said to 

 be owing chiefly to this grass, which has likewise 

 an aromatic root. We may mention also the Sweet 

 Flag (-'Jcorzts aromatic us) which has an aromatic 

 root and leaf, and two or three other foreign spe- 

 cies. 



There is probably no other tribe of plants so nu- 

 merous which has not some medicinal or poisonous 

 species. Hence it would seem that the grasses are 

 designed especially by Providence to supply food 

 to man and animals, who are not deterred from 

 them by any disagreeable or injurious properties. 



"The herbs of this order of vegetable," says Dr. 

 Darwin, "support the countless tribe of graminiv- 

 orous animals. The seeds of the smaller kinds of 

 grasses, as of aira, poa, briza, stipn, &c., are the 

 sustenance of many sorts of birds. The seeds of 

 the larger grasses, as of wheat, barley, rye, oats, 

 supply food to the human species." 



"It seems," he adds, "to have required more in- 

 genuity to think of feeding nations of mankind with 

 so small a seed, than with the potato of Mexico, 

 or the bread fruit of the Southern islands. Hence, 

 Ceres in Egypt, which was the birth-place of our 

 European oats, was deservedly celebrated amongst 

 their divinities, as well as Osiris, who invented the 

 plow. The stem of the oat seems to have been 

 the first musical instrument invented during the 

 pastoral ages of the world, before the discovery of 

 metals." 



The most of the grasses are perennial, and are 

 furnished with sorts that will bear almost any 

 amount of cutting without injury. Were it not for 

 their tenacity of Hfe, they must long ere this have 

 been exterminated by the animals which are con- 

 stantly grazing them close to the ground. The 

 perennial grasses do not furnish any of the seeds 

 which are used for the food of man. The seeds of 

 this species, though exceedingly abundant, are too 

 minute to be used for grinding into flour. It is 

 from the annual grasses alone that man derives 

 his subsistence ; and the most of these have been 

 so long under cultivation, that Nuttall says, "as far 

 as we yet know, wheat, oats and maize are extinct 

 as wild plants, and we owe their being entirely to 

 that stage of human society which they so eminent- 

 ly assist to support." It is probable, however, that 

 these grasses have been so greatly modified by 

 cultivation, as to bear little resemblance to the 

 plants from which they were derived, although 

 these plants may still exist in a wild state. The 

 fact which has been lately proved by experiment, 

 that rye and oats are identical, and that one may, 

 by a certain mode of culture, be transferred into the 

 other, proves that cultivation may alter the charac- 

 ter of any species of plants, so that the original 

 stock cannot be recognized. 



Among the cereal grains, two only are known to 

 be of Americ-!n origin; these are the Canada Oats 



{ziznnia aquatica,) and the Indian Corn(zca mays,) 

 which is by far the most useful of all except wheat. 

 The Canada rice grows in the water and is very 

 abundant on the margin of the Great Northern 

 Lakes. It bears the cold better than any other 

 species of grain, and being very productive, would 

 probably become the bread corn of the North, be- 

 yond the latitudes in which oats will thrive, but 

 that its seeds do not all ripen at onetime. Besides 

 the maize there is another kind of grain which bears 

 the name of Indian Corn. This is the cynos- 

 uriis cora/a/jws, sometimes called sesame and ses- 

 amum. The seeds are of the size of a mustard seed, 

 dark colored, fine flavored, and are made into milk 

 gruel or ground into flour. 



Although, as we have remarked, no single spe- 

 cies of grass is poisonous, and only one or two me- 

 dicinal, yet several kinds of intoxicating liquors are 

 prepared from the grains. From the malt of bar- 

 ley, all kinds of ale or malt liquors are manufac- 

 tured. The spirit which is obtained by malting rye 

 is called whisky ; that which is obtained from rice 

 is call arrack. There is no end to the various modes 

 of preparing food from the diff"erent species of grain, 

 and it is a fact worthy of notice that the same grain, 

 produces very different effects upon the system, ac- 

 cording as it is prepared. All the grains, for in- 

 stance, when newly broken into grists, like hominy, 

 are opening and stimulating when used in our diet. 

 When, on the other hand, they are pealed and 

 boiled in this state, they are cooling, pectoral and 

 antefibral, especially barley. When grain is malt- 

 ed, it becomes medicinal in its properties, and an 

 infusion of it is alterative and analeptic, or strength- 

 ening. Hence, the medical properties of ale do not 

 proceed entirely from the hops which it contains. 

 When grains are parched they are stimulating, and 

 if used for any length of time, are exceedingly hurt- 

 ful. The imitation coffee which is made by roast- 

 ing grains is said to produce inj urious effects which 

 are not known to arise from the use of genuine 

 coffee. It is probable that the phosphates which 

 are contained in the hulls or husks of the grain are 

 dissolved in the liquor, and from this source pro- 

 ceeds the mischief. 



For want of space, and lest we should wrong our 

 readers, we shall not pursue this interesting sub- 

 ject any farther. From considerations already pre- 

 sented, it must be apparent that no other tribe of 

 plants is so indispensable for the sustenance of an- 

 imals and of the human species. Yet we are not 

 prepared to say that they are on every account more 

 useful than many other tribes. Indeed, nothing is 

 created without a purpose, and if any extensive 

 order of vegetation were annihilated, some evil 

 would follow, which perhaps we httle dream of. 

 We admit the value even of the poisonous herbs as 

 medicines and antidotes ; but who can say that they 

 may not also be instruments in the hands of nature, 



