16 



GRASSES. 



of this single grain might at length feed a family, 

 the dwellers in a village, the inhabitants of a city, 

 and even of a nation, or of the world. 



Barley, although not 

 so much grown in this 

 country as some other 

 corn plants, is neverthe- 

 less the principal crop in 

 some parts of the world. 

 In Egypt and Syria it 

 forms the staple grain for 

 making bread. It is not 

 capable of producing the 

 beautiful white and fine- 

 grained loaves that are 

 made from wheat, as it 

 lacks the glutinous pro- 

 perties which are neces- 

 sary to facilitate the ac- 

 tion of the leaven. It is therefore made into thin 

 cakes without the use of yeast, and hence it has been 

 called unleavened bread. 



We read of such cakes in very early times. Some, 

 most probably of Barley, are mentioned when the 

 Lord appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, 

 and the patriarch said to Sarah, " Make ready quickly 

 three measures of fine meal; knead it, and make 

 cakes on the hearth." Gen. xviii. 6. The Arabs of 

 the desert act precisely in this way now, when they 

 entertain strangers, using Barley meal to prepare their 

 hearth-cakes. And the bread used by our Lord when 



Wheat, Barley, and Ilice. 



