HOPS. 



PART I. 



HISTORY OF THE HOP. 



Nothing is known concerning the date at which the hop 

 plant was first brought under cultivation, and even in recent 

 times its historical record is not continuous. Nevertheless, 

 our thanks are largely due to those writers who have under- 

 taken the troublesome task of arranging existing data in 

 chronological order, since it is a matter of undoubted interest, 

 to possess a knowledge of the historical career of a plant- 

 which in course of time has attained the position of import- 

 ance now occupied by the one under consideration. 



The hop (Humulus Iwpulus) was certainly known to the- 

 ancient Greeks, even if only in its uncultivated state andl 

 under another name ; and it was described by Pliny in his 

 Natural History, lib. xxi., cap. 50, as lupulus, lupus salic- 

 tarius, an appetiser and salad. It can scarcely be doubted 

 that, in days before the true economic purpose of the hop — 

 as an adjunct to beer — was known, there were other causes 

 which rendered it valuable to man ; and from time imme- 

 morial the plant has been regarded as a source of effective 

 medicinal remedies. Thus, for example, Mathioli, body 

 physician to the Emperor Ferdinand I, proclaimed the heal- 

 ing value of the roots, leaves, flowers and cones of the hop, 

 and recommended a syrup, extracted by sugar from the buds 



and sap of the plant, as a remedy against many complaints, ' 



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