I] OF GRAIN 99 



having no beard is called '' hornless,"* for the beard 

 forms, as it were, the horns of the ear. When the 

 latter are in process of formation, and are not yet 

 quite visible, they lie hid, covered by a green en- 

 velope which is called the sheath, like that in which 

 a sword lies hidden.^ The upper extremity of the ear 

 now ripe, which is less in size than the grain, is 

 called frit\ that which lies at the lower extremity 

 of the ear, at its junction with the highest part of 

 the straw (likewise less than the grain) is called 



* Mutila. Caesar describing elks calls them mutiJae comi- 

 bus, and Columella (vii, 3, 3) speaks of a mutilus aries. In 

 vil, 6, 4, he distinguishes between a capella mutila and one 

 muia. 



^ Gladium. Neuter, of course. Cf. Varro, 11. ix, 49 : quod 



dicUur a multis duobus modis hie dupondius et hoc dupondium, 



ut hoc gladium et hie gladius. 



' Frit and Urru. About these two words no one appears 



know anything, oppoq^ or oi'pa = the tail or rump. The 



iding of the MSS. is, however, urrucum and then conticu- 



rt, which may well have been urrucum cum conticuisset, 



rrucum might be for urrucum { = urruncum), and urruncum 



md for oppoyKov which means a "mountain top," urruncum 



ing thus the top of the straw. Frit is connected by Pont- 



iera with tppirruv, to shiver, to bristle. All (mine included) 



profitless guess-work, I am afraid. 



