466 Miscellaneous. 



and is, therefore, probably a form of the first-named species produced 

 by cultivation in the course of thousands of years. Lastly, Hordeum 

 distichum is found at Wangen and the ile de St. Pierre, a district in 

 which it is still generally cultivated. Rye and oats have not hitherto 

 been found in the more ancient habitations (of the stone age) ; but 

 the Avena sativa has been met with in the recent locality of the ile 

 de St. Pierre, as also frequently beneath Roman ruins. The Secale 

 cereale, Linn., the cultivation of which appears much later in history 

 than that of the other cereals, and did not become general in these 

 regions until towards the middle ages, has recently been found in the 

 above-mentioned locality of Olmiitz (age unknown), which is in sup- 

 port of the opinion of A. DeCandoUe that Eastern Europe is the na- 

 tive country of rye. Lastly, millet (Setaria italica) has lately been 

 found at Robenhausen : this, according to Caesar, was the chief cereal 

 of the ancient Helvetians, and it is still met with abundantly among 

 Roman ruins. 



Along with these ten species of cereals abundant remains of straw 

 are found. The millet cakes found at Robenhausen, and the nume- 

 rous fragments of round, flattened loaves in which grains of wheat 

 are still recognizable, furnish conclusive evidence of the mode of pre- 

 paration of food from these cereals. The grain was evidently tritu- 

 rated very imperfectly between plates of stone, and the dough was 

 baked under hot stones and ashes. 



The leguminous vegetables present much less variety. It is only 

 in the more recent habitations (of the bronze age) that three legu- 

 minous plants are found ; these are field-beans (Ficia Faba, Linn.), 

 the common pea {Pisum sativum, Linn.), a variety with exceedingly 

 small seeds, and the lentil (Ervum Lens, Linn.). This species ap- 

 pears at this time to have been diffused over a great part of Europe ; 

 for it occurs in lacustrine localities at Parma, as well as in the ile de 

 St. Pierre, the Lake of Bienne, &c. 



Of fruits, two sorts of apples are found in abundance, viz., 1, a 

 small kind, evidently wild, and 2. a larger sort, undoubtedly culti- 

 vated, which occurs sometimes entire, sometimes divided into two or 

 three parts. Pears of a very small kind (wild) occur very rarely. At 

 Robenhausen cherries are found, with large stones. Plums (Prunus 

 insititia, Linn.), with small and smooth stones, also occur. The fruits 

 of Prunus spinosus and P. Padus, the stones of which are frequently 

 found, also appear to have been used as food. 



In the lacustrine remains of Switzerland no traces of the vine are 

 found ; but at Parma seeds have occurred precisely similar to those 

 of the wild vine {Fitis sylvestris). Thus, at the time of the lake- 

 dwellings the vine must have been already naturalized in Upper Italy, 

 of which it does not appear to have been a native. 



Only a single textile plant is found, namely flax ; and this occurs 

 in great quantity. The seeds, capsules, and stems have been found ; 

 and flax has also been met with in cords, and a small quantity in the 

 form of platted work and of varied tissues, which leads to the con- 

 clusion that it was an important object of industry. We know that 

 flax also played an important part among the Egyptians. It is very 

 remartnWft that both the seeds and the capsules of the flax of the 



