356 LECTURE XII. 



these stones are called corn- crushers. They are found in 

 large quantities in almost all lake villages. The grains were 

 probably first roasted^ then crushed, and put into pots, after 

 which the mass was moistened, and then eaten. This mode of 

 preparing cereals was found in use among the natives of the 

 Canary Islands at the time of the Spanish conquest. The 

 Spaniards adopted and have preserved it to this day. The 

 grain is first roasted in ovens, then crushed, and kejit in goat- 

 skins. This gofio, as the prepared meal is called, still consti- 

 tutes the bread of the common people of the Canaries, and 

 may be considered as the oldest mode of prepai-ing cereals. 

 Hence, amongst ancient peoples roasted barley is a sacred cereal, 

 which plays an important part in all sacrifices. 



" The rearing of plants pre-supposes the cultivation of the 

 soil ; how this was effected is unknown to us, as no agricul- 

 tural implements have been found in the oldest settlements. 

 Crooked tree-branches were probably used as ploughs ; how 

 the cattle were fed we know not. 



" Horticulture reaches as far back as agriculture. Carbon- 

 ised apples and pears were found; they are cut into two, rarely 

 into four slices, manifestly to serve as a provision in winter. 

 The pears found in Wangen are a kind of forest pears, called 

 ' achras,^ and of small size. Apples are much more common 

 not only in Wangen, but in Robenhausen, on the Pfaffiken 

 Lake, and at Concise, on the Neufchatel Lake. They all agree 

 in size and form, are perfectly round, with large cores and 

 long stalks, which were not found attached to the apples, but 

 near them. Several kinds of apples grow in our forests which 

 agree with the smallest sorts found in the pile-works. Whether 

 these trees were at that period cultivated, or whether the fruit 

 was gathered from the forest trees, cannot easily be determined." 



Professor Heer is inclined to adopt the former view, because 

 among the trunks intended to be cut for blocks there were 

 some of apple trees. We should consider this as a proof to 

 the contrary, inasmuch as a tree cultivated for the fruit it bears 

 is not used for other purposes. Professor Heer is further of 

 opinion that the cereals and the fruit trees have been obtained 

 from an Asiatic people, and that the fruits had degenerated 



