38 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



one, to which Kornicke had already given the varietal name dicoccoides. 

 No intermediate form between this wild plant and those cultivated in 

 Palestine has been found. Thus everything tends to show that wheat 

 is indigenous to Mt. Hermon. Somewhat later, Mr. Aaronsohn dis- 

 covered Secale montanum, the wild rye, in Antiliban. For philological 

 reasons it had formerly been thought that this was indigenous to 

 Europe. From now on we must bear in mind that this cereal also has 

 its center of distribution somewhere in Asia Minor. 



That wheat was indigenous to Palestine was to be confirmed some- 

 what later by the same explorer. In 1908, while on a mission for the 

 Turkish government, Mr. Aaronsohn discovered wild barley, already 

 known at other stations, in the Moab country on the left bank of the 

 Dead Sea, above El Mazra-a; towards Wady "Wahleh monoliths occur 

 in large numbers and round about are many chipped flint implements. 

 The Jewish savant could not keep his fancy from roaming. He went 

 back in spirit to that far-away epoch, more ancient than all written 

 history, when urged by hunger while crossing these steppes, primitive 

 man first tried these savory grains and discovered cereals. 



A little later in this same region of the Dead Sea, while on a second 

 expedition, Mr. Aaronsohn found emmer in great abundance, towards 

 Tel Nimrim, in the valley of the Jordan, at Ain-Hummar, on the 

 plateau of Es-Salt. 



When one considers the fact that the grains of wild wheat are not 

 inferior either in weight or size to those of the best cultivated species 

 it would be impossible not to arrive at the conclusion that primitive 

 man did not create cereals, he found them. 



One can imagine the nomads of the hills and mountains of Pales- 

 tine, giving these precious seeds to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, 

 who were better situated than themselves for the testing of crops and 

 who succeeded with them in their rich alluvial plains. Glancing at the 

 Assyrian bas-relief, we are struck by the great importance given by this 

 people in their ceremonies to the mystery of the seed which contains 

 within itself the essence of life and, in consequence, the intense interest 

 which they manifested in all agriculture. 



One of the most striking things in economic history is the rapidity 

 with which a new food or useful plant spreads even to little-civilized 

 countries. Schweinfurth, in his famous voyages to the heart of Africa, 

 found tobacco grown by the most primitive peoples. Hooker, exploring 

 the high valleys of the Himalayas, found the potato cultivated by the 

 Lepchas and the people of Nepaul, scarcely half a century after its 

 introduction into Europe as an important cultivated plant. 



I have told in detail of the important discovery of Aaronsohn. 

 Let us see now what practical and scientific results can come from it. 



