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most prominent symptoms. This, the only poisonous grass known, is 
easily distinguished by its two-sided spike and one-valved glumes, it 
rarely appearing but among autumn-sown crops, such as wheat and rye, 
but seldom among oats or barley. The darnel is often found accom¬ 
panied by Bromus secalinus, or rye-grass, and they are often mistaken 
for each other even by farmers. But, while the last is as sweet and 
pleasant as oats, and eagerly devoured by cattle and poultry, the darnel 
is nauseously bitter, and refused by all. 
The genus Pcniicum, another of the grasses, is thought to have been 
one of the earliest grasses, the seeds of which were used for making 
bread, and that the names panicum and pcinis have, therefore, more 
than a mere etymological affinity. P. miliaceum (the common millet) 
is still sown in this country, and occasionally used for making puddings, 
as a substitute for rice, but much more frequently for feeding poultry. 
P. arborescens is an extraordinary grass, for, although the culm is not 
thicker than a goose-quill, it is said to exceed in height the loftiest trees 
in Hindostan, shooting through their branches, and overspreading their 
summits, as it were, with an aerial meadow. 
“ Sorghum vulgcire, the Indian millet, is commonly cultivated as 
corn in Arabia and most parts of Asia Minor; it has been introduced 
into the West Indies as a hearty food for the slaves, and is there called 
Negro Guinea-corn. In the southern parts of Europe, as in Spain and 
Italy, it is likewise grown. The flour is white, and is made into loaves 
or cakes; but it is chiefly used for feeding poultry and cattle. It grows 
five or six feet high, is a handsome plant, and its long awns protect 
the grains from the rapacity of birds. 
“ Reflections on the Study of the Cryptogamia. —The Jungermanniss 
are small obscure plants, growing in damp situations, creeping over the 
trunks of trees, the surface of rocks, or the moist earth, and seldom 
attract much notice. The monograph of Hooker upon the British 
Jungermannise has, however, elevated them from their obscurity, and 
shown these neglected plants to be among the most exquisite examples 
of Nature’s works. 
“ None of them are poisonous or in the slightest degree hurtful; 
their taste is mild; some few, as the G. pusillci , are fragrant, but not 
possessed of any very sensible properties. Not one of the species has 
hitherto been applied by man to any useful purpose. 
“ The study of these plants has sometimes forcibly struck us as being 
a more decided proof of a disinterested love of science than the investi¬ 
gation of other richer and more directly rewarding tribes. The Junger- 
manniae afford neither clothing nor fuel; they yield neither food for 
the hungry nor medicine for the sick. Hence they have been contemned 
