GRASSES. 29 
from motives of economy, but also because the rye is 
supposed to render the bread more moist and palatable 
than it would otherwise be. In some part of the coun- 
try, rye is much used by ginger-bread bakers, for the 
dark colour of its flour is not perceptible, when mixed 
with treacle. This species of grain is frequently used 
for the distillation of spirits. 
It has been remarked, in some districts of France, 
that rye, from bad seasons, or from other causes, has 
proved noxious and even poisonous. The grains of the 
corn, thus degenerated, are black on the outside and 
tolerably white within ; and, when dry, are harder 
and closer than good grain. Bread that is made of rye 
which contains even a great quantity of this bad corn, 
is not distinguishable by the ta^te, from other rye bread ; 
and it seldom produces its ill effects till some time after 
it has been eaten. It is then said to occasion gangrenes 
in the legs and other parts of the body, and dangerous 
fevers. The poorer people,, however, are those chiefly 
who are subject to these diseases, as many of them have 
little other substantial food to subsist upon than bread 
made of this species of corn. 
In several parts of England rye is sown either by 
itself, or mixed with tares to be cut whilst green, for the 
feeding of sheep, cows, and horses. Rye straw is used 
by brick-makers, and collar-manufacturers ; and is con- 
sidered an excellent material for the thatching of cot- 
tages and barns. 
32. GRASSES^ By grasses we are to understand suck 
plants as have a round, jointed, and hollow stem, surrounded 
at each joint with a single leaf, long, narrow, and pointed; 
and the flowers of which are a kind of chaffy husk. Accord- 
ing to this definition, wheat, barley, oats, and rye, properly 
belong to the grasses, although they are known by the peculiar 
appellation of corn or grain.* 
* The grasses are so numerous, and the describing of them 
in such manner as to be understood by an inexperienced person 
would be attended with so much difficulty, that it has been 
