LECTURE XII. 357 



in our forests. It appears to me that tlie experiments made 

 by Faber to transform a species of grass {JSyilops) into wheat 

 sufficiently indicate that cereals may easily have originated in 

 our country, instead of having been imported from Asia. All 

 deductions as to the importation of cereals and fruit from Asia 

 are made from vphat happened at later periods, when, no doubt, 

 the better species, but not the originals of these cultivated 

 plants were introduced. If indeed cereals, and apples and 

 pears, had been imported from Asia, we cannot understand why 

 hemp and the vine, which certainly are natives of Asia Minor, 

 were not introduced at the same time. A stimulating and intoxi- 

 cating fruit like the grape would certainly have been preferred 

 to crab-apples. " Stones of the wild plum and Prumis 

 padus," continues Heer, "seeds of raspberries and blackberries, 

 shells of hazel and beech nuts, are met with in abundance in 

 the mud, showing that these forest fruits served as food. The 

 aliment of these peoples thus consisted of cereals, fruit, fish, 

 game, and domestic animals; and, no doubt, the milk of the 

 latter was also made use of. The cheese obtained from the 

 milk was probably put into pots, and placed in a chimney-flue. 

 Pots are found perforated at the bottom : these could not have 

 been used for containing fluids, but were adapted for the pre- 

 servation of cheese, allowing the whey to escape. In the Swiss 

 cottages the cheese is frequently wrapped up in linen rags, and 

 hung up in the flue to dry ; there the pots were used instead 

 of linen. However great the resemblance of the bread of the 

 pile-works to carbonised bread, there would still be some 

 doubts were they not removed by remnants of the bran and 

 the well-preserved wheat grains in the pieces. The bran was 

 not removed, and the grains but imperfectly crushed. The 

 whole mass was probably kneaded, and baked between heated 

 stones. Judging from the crust, the bread had probably a 

 disc-shape ; it had small pores much smaller than in our 

 wheaten bread, reminding us of rye bread ; but no rye has as 

 yet been found in the pile-works, nor did the people understand 

 how to make the dough rise." 



Finally, the pile-builders cultivated to a great extent the 

 short flax still grown in North-western Switzerland, and 



