ON EllGOT. 
370 
The bearded darnel is condemned by Virgil in no 
measured terms. It appears not to be very common in Bri¬ 
tain, but in warmer climates it is a noxious corn-weed, which 
overtops and chokes the wheat; on which account some 
have thought it to be the tares of Scriptures. 
With this opinion Dr. Kitto seems to concur. His obser¬ 
vations are— “Tares (£t£avta). This was probably the 
Lolium tremulentum , or darnel, which w T as long known for its 
intoxicating property. Zi%avia ( zizania ) comes, in all pro¬ 
bability, from the Arabic zuwan j for we find it in the Syriac 
zizana. The Zt^avia corresponded with the alpa of Theos- 
pbrastus, who says in one place that aiva is apt to affect the 
head. He describes it as having a thick, narrow, and smooth 
leaf, which agrees very w r ell with the Lolium tremulentum . It 
w r as, from its dangerous qualities and its frequency among 
wheat, the pest of the farmer, as the sacred text fairly inti¬ 
mates to us. This and the Festuca quadridentata form two 
singular exceptions in the gramineous family, so remarkable 
for its salutary and nutritious members. The poisonous 
nature of the tremulentum has been ascertained by many 
experiments, though the deleterious principle is of so 
volatile a nature that it escapes the cognizance of the che¬ 
mist; for w'hen analysed, six parts of the meal were found to 
contain one of gluten, four of starch, and one of saccharine 
matter, all of w 7 hich we know are nutritious as w r ell as harm¬ 
less. 
“ The darnel, called zuwan by the Arabs and Turks, and 
zizanion by the Spaniards, is described by Dr. Russell and 
Forskal as w r ell known to the people of Aleppo, and as often 
growing abundantly in their corn-fields. If its seeds remain 
mixed with the meal, it is found to occasion dizziness and 
other injurious effects upon those w 7 ho eat of the bread: the 
reapers in that neighbourhood, however, do not separate the 
plant, but after the threshing reject the seeds by means of a 
van or sieve. We are also informed that, in other parts of 
Syria, the plant is drawn up by the hand, in time of harvest, 
along w : ith the wheat, and is then gathered out and bound up 
in separate bundles.” 
The Lolium tremulentum has just been stated to possess in¬ 
toxicating properties; and Haller affirms that it not only 
does so, but if baked into bread, or fermented in ale, its ad¬ 
ministration is attended with very disagreeable and even fatal 
effects. It produces headache, vertigo, vomiting, lethargy, 
and difficulty of speech, the tongue being affected with 
trembling. Seager adds that, general trembling of the body 
is one of the most certain signs of poisoning by this plant. 
