CORN. 171 
CORN. 
Corn is a term applied to all sorts of grain fit for 
food, particularly wheat, barley, oats, and rye. All 
of them belong to the grand division of grasses, 
which are distinguished from other plants by their 
simple, straight, unbranched stalk, hollow, and 
jointed, commonly called straw ; with loug, narrow, 
tapering leaves, placed at each joint of the stalk, and 
sheathing and enclosing it, as if by way of support. 
Ceres, the goddess of corn and harvest, was 
represented with a garland of ears of corn on her 
head, the commemoration of the loss of her daugh- 
ter Proserpine was celebrated about the beginning 
of harvest; that of her search after her at the time 
of sowing corn. 
Botanists assure us that corn is not found any 
