^gilops of the South of France. 
167 
unobjectionable form. But the manure so produced cannot be 
sold at a profit — unless, indeed, the fanner, by giving move than 
its value, is made to pay for the sanitary imj)rovement of the 
towns. It is useless to urge that a manure made in this way can 
be sold, and has been sold, largely at an amply remunerative 
rate. No one who is acquainted with the nature of farming 
operations, and witli the difficulty of estimating and tracing to 
their true source the effects of manure, will doubt that for a time 
even the very poorest manures may have a sale, particularly if 
the price is temptingly low. But this state of things does not 
last : and the price at which the solid sewage manure will ulti- 
mately find buyers will be below the cost of its production. 
The true policy of towns is to take this matter, in some shape 
or other, into their own hands. Their primary concern should 
be to effect the sanitary objects thoroughly, looking to the manure 
as a set off", greater or less, against the expenses incurred in 
securing the increased health and cleanliness of their populations. 
VII. — On the Species of j^gilops of the Sotith of France, and their 
Transformation into Cultivated Wlieat. By M, Esprit Fabke, 
of Agde. (Translated from the French.) 
Three kinds of iEgilops are frequently met with in the south of 
France and in other parts of the Mediterranean district, viz. 
yFji/ilops triuncialis, L. ; ovata, L. ; and jE. triaristata, Willd. 
M. Requien has stated that there is a fourth, which he calls JE.tri- 
ticoidcs, but this, as will be shown hereafter, is only a peculiar 
form of yE. ovata and triaristata, both of which produce it. 
1. triuncialis is distinguished from the others by its more 
slender and elongated cylindrical ears. The glume consists of 
2 equal valves, one with 3, the other with 2, awns. The nerves 
of the valves are 7 to 10 in number, and are, like the awns 
themselves, covered with asperities. The valves of the florets 
{palecB), also 2 in number, are membranous and ciliated at their 
edge ; one of them is terminated by 3 abortive awns. 
The flowering stems are from 35 to 40 centim.* high ; the 
leaves are never so long as the spike. 
The ear itself is from 10 to 12 centim. in length, and is 
composed of from 5 to 7 spikelets, of which the 3 lowest are 
fertile, and the rest sterile. The glumes of the spikelets present 
projecting whitish ribs, varying in number with that of the awns 
which terminate them. When the number of these awns is 2, 
* 1 millimetre = 0*039 inch, or less than half aline. 
1 centimetre == 0'393 inch, or nearly 4-10th8 of an inch. 
