Chaps. 12-23.

Chap. 12.—Wheat.

There are numerous kinds of wheat which have received their names from the countries where they were first produced. For my part, however, I can compare no kind of wheat to that of Italy either for whiteness or weight, qualities for which it is more particularly distinguished: indeed it is only with the produce of the more mountainous parts of Italy that the foreign wheats can be put in comparison. Among these the wheat of Bœotia [From Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iv.] occupies the first rank, that of Sicily the second, and that of Africa the third. The wheats of Thrace, Syria, and, more recently, of Egypt, used to hold the third rank for weight, these facts having been ascertained through the medium of the athletes; whose powers of consumption, equal to those of beasts of burden, have established the gradations in weight, as already stated. Greece, too, held the Pontic [That of the Ukraine and its vicinity, which is still held in high esteem.] wheat in high esteem; but this has not reached Italy as yet. Of all the varieties of grain, however, the Greeks gave the preference to the kinds called dracontion, strangia, and Selinusium, the chief characteristic of which is a stem of remarkable thickness: it was this, in the opinion of the Greeks, that marked them as the peculiar growth of a rich soil. On the other hand, they recommended for sowing in humid soils an extremely light and diminutive species of grain, with a remarkably thin stalk, known to them as speudias, and standing in need of an abundance of nutriment. Such, at all events, were the opinions generally entertained in the reign of Alexander the Great, at a time when Greece was at the height of her glory, and the most powerful country in the world. Still, however, nearly one hundred and forty-four years before the death of that prince we find the poet Sophocles, in his Tragedy of “Triptolemus,” praising the corn of Italy before all others. The passage, translated word for word, is to the following effect:—

“And favour’d Italy grows white with hoary wheat.”

And it is this whiteness that is still one of the peculiar merits of the Italian wheat; a circumstance which makes me the more surprised to find that none of the Greek writers of a later period have made any reference to it.

Of the various kinds of wheat which are imported at the present day into Rome, the lightest in weight are those which come from Gaul and Chersonnesus; for, upon weighing them, it will be found that they do not yield more than twenty pounds to the modius. The grain of Sardinia weighs half a pound more, and that of Alexandria one-third of a pound more than that of Sardinia; the Sicilian wheat is the same in weight as the Alexandrian. The Bœotian wheat, again, weighs a whole pound more than these last, and that of Africa a pound and three quarters. In Italy beyond the Padus, the spelt, to my knowledge, weighs twenty-five pounds to the modius, and, in the vicinity of Clusium, six-and-twenty. We find it a rule, universally established by Nature, that in every kind of commissariat bread [Panis militaris.] that is made, the bread exceeds the weight of the grain by one-third; and in the same way it is generally considered that that is the best kind of wheat, which, in kneading, will absorb one congius of water. [To the modius of wheat.] There are some kinds of wheat which give, when used by themselves, an additional weight equal to this: the Balearic wheat, for instance, which to a modius of grain yields thirty-five pounds weight of bread. Others, again, will only give this additional weight by being mixed with other kinds, the Cyprian wheat and the Alexandrian, for example; which, if used by themselves, will yield no more than twenty pounds to the modius. The wheat of Cyprus is swarthy, and produces a dark bread; for which reason it is generally mixed with the white wheat of Alexandria; the mixture yielding twenty-five pounds of bread to the modius of grain. The wheat of Thebais, in Egypt, when made into bread, yields twenty-six pounds to the modius. To knead the meal with sea-water, as is mostly done in the maritime districts, for the purpose of saving the salt, is extremely pernicious; there is nothing, in fact, that will more readily predispose the human body to disease. In Gaul and Spain, where they make a drink [He alludes to beer, or sweet-wort. See B. xiv. c. 29.] by steeping corn in the way that has been already described—they employ the foam [He alludes to yeast. See B. xxii, c..] which thickens upon the surface as a leaven: hence it is that the bread in those countries is lighter than that made elsewhere.

There are some differences, also, in the stem of wheat; for the better the kind the thicker it is. In Thrace, the stem of the wheat is covered with several coats, [This assertion, from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. viii. c. 4, is not based on truth. It is possible that he may allude in reality to some other gramineous plant.] which are rendered absolutely necessary by the excessive cold of those regions. It is the cold, also, that led to the discovery there of the three-month [Trimestre.] wheat, the ground being covered with snow most of the year. At the end mostly of three months after it has been sown, this wheat is ready for cutting, both in Thrace and in other parts of the world as well. This variety is well known, too, throughout all the Alpine range, and in the northern provinces there is no kind of wheat that is more prolific; it has a single stem only, is by no means of large size in any part of it, and is never sown but in a thin, light soil. There is a two-month [Bimestre.] wheat also found in the vicinity of Ænos, in Thrace, which ripens the fortieth day after sowing; and yet it is a surprising fact, that there is no kind of wheat that weighs heavier than this, while at the same time it produces no bran. Both Sicily and Achaia grow it, in the mountainous districts of those countries; as also Eubœa, in the vicinity of Carystus. So greatly, then, is Columella in error, [Columella (B. ii. c. 6) does not state to this effect; on the contrary, he speaks of the existence of a three months’ wheat; but he asserts, and with justice, that wheat sown in the autumn is better than that sown in March.] in supposing that there is no distinct variety of three-month wheat even; the fact being that these varieties have been known from the very earliest times. The Greeks give to these wheats the name of “setanion.” It is said that in Bactria the grains of wheat are of such an enormous size, that a single one is as large as our ears of corn. [If he alludes here to what Theophrastus says, his assertion is simply that, in Bactria, the grains are as large as an olive-stone.]

Chap. 13.—Barley: Rice.

Of all the cereals the first that is sown is barley. We shall state the appropriate time for sowing each kind when we come to treat of the nature of each individually. In India, there is both a cultivated and a wild [There is no wild barley in India at the present day.] barley, from which they make excellent bread, as well as alica. [Porridge, or fermenty.] But the most favourite food of all there is rice, [Oryza sativa of Linnæus.] from which they prepare a ptisan [Like our rice-milk, probably. See B. xxii. c..] similar to that made from barley in other parts of the world. The leaves of rice are fleshy, [They are not carnose or fleshy, but thin, and similar to those of the reed.] very like those of the leek, but broader; the stem is a cubit in height, the blossom purple, and the root globular, like a pearl in shape. [On the contrary, it is tough and fibrous.]

Chap. 14.—Polenta.

Barley is one of the most ancient aliments of man, a fact that is proved by a custom of the Athenians, mentioned by Menander, [The barley was, originally, the prize given to the victor in the Eleusinian games.] as also by the name of “hordearii,” [Or “barley-fed.”] that used to be given to gladiators. The Greeks, too, prefer barley to anything else for making polenta. [The ἀλφίτον of the Greeks.] This food is made in various ways: in Greece, the barley is first steeped in water, and then left a night to dry. The next day they parch it, and then grind it in the mill. Some persons parch it more highly, and then sprinkle it again with a little water; after which they dry it for grinding. Others shake the grain from out of the ear while green, and, after cleaning and soaking it in water, pound it in a mortar. They then wash the paste in baskets, and leave it to dry in the sun; after which they pound it again, clean it, and grind it in the mill. But whatever the mode of preparation adopted, the proportions are always twenty pounds of barley to three pounds of linseed, [This, as Fée observes, would tend to give it a very disagreeable flavour.] half a pound of coriander, and fifteen drachmæ [“Acetabulum.”] of salt: the ingredients are first parched, and then ground in the mill.

Those who want it for keeping, store it in new earthen vessels, with fine flour and bran. In Italy, the barley is parched without being steeped in water, and then ground to a fine meal, with the addition of the ingredients already mentioned, and some millet as well. Barley bread, which was extensively used by the ancients, has now fallen into universal disrepute, and is mostly used as a food for cattle only.

Chap. 15.—Ptisan.

With barley, too, the food called ptisan [Similar to our pearl barley, probably.] is made, a most substantial and salutary aliment, and one that is held in very high esteem. Hippocrates, one of the most famous writers on medical science, has devoted a whole volume to the praises of this aliment. The ptisan of the highest quality is that which is made at Utica; that of Egypt is prepared from a kind of barley, the grain of which grows with two points. [“Anguli.” Dalechamps interprets this as two rows of grain; but Fée thinks that it signifies angles, and points. The Polygonum fagopyrum of Linnæus, he says, buck-wheat, or black-wheat, has an angular grain, but he doubts whether that can possibly be the grain here alluded to.] In Bætica and Africa, the kind of barley from which this food is made is that which Turranius calls the “smooth” [There is no barley without a beard; it is clearly a variety of wheat that is alluded to.] barley: the same author expresses an opinion, too, that olyra [Triticum spelta of Linnæus.] and rice are the same. The method of preparing ptisan is universally known.

Chap. 16.—Tragum.

In a similar manner, too, tragum is prepared from seed [“Semen,” the same as zea, or spelt.] wheat, but only in Campania and Egypt.

Chap. 17.—Amylum.

Amylum is prepared from every kind of wheat, and from winter-wheat [Siligo.] as well; but the best of all is that made from three-month wheat. The invention of it we owe to the island of Chios, and still, at the present day, the most esteemed kind comes from there; it derives its name from its being made without the help of the mill. [Ἄμυλον.] Next to the amylum made with three-month wheat, is that which is prepared from the lighter kinds of wheat. In making it, the grain is soaked in fresh water, placed in wooden vessels; care being taken to keep it covered with the liquid, which is changed no less than five times in the course of the day. If it can be changed at night as well, it is all the better for it, the object being to let it imbibe the water gradually and equally. When it is quite soft, but before it turns sour, it is passed through linen cloth, or else wicker-work, after which it is poured out upon a tile covered with leaven, and left to harden in the sun. Next to the amylum of Chios, that of Crete is the most esteemed, and next to that the Ægyptian. The tests of its goodness are its being light and smooth: it should be used, too, while it is fresh. Cato, [De Re Rust. c. 87. This “amylum” seems somewhat to resemble our starch.] among our writers, has made mention of it.

Chap. 18.—The Nature of Barley.

Barley-meal, too, is employed for medicinal purposes; and it is a curious fact, that for beasts of burden they make a paste of it, which is first hardened by the action of fire, and then ground. It is then made up into balls, which are introduced with the hand into the paunch, the result of which is, that the vigour and muscular strength of the animal is considerably increased. In some kinds of barley, the ears have two rows of grains, [The Hordeum distichum of Linnæus.] and in others more; in some cases, as many as six. [Hordeum hexastichum of Linnæus. The Hordeum vulgare, or common barley, has but four rows.] The grain itself, too, presents certain differences, being long and thin, or else short or round, white, black, [These varieties are not known at the present day, and Fée questions if they ever existed. There is a black barley found in Germany, the Hordeum nigrum of Willdenow.] or, in some instances, of a purple colour. This last kind is employed for making polenta: the white is ill adapted for standing the severity of the weather. Barley is the softest of all the grains: it can only be sown in a dry, loose soil, [A calcareous soil is the best adapted for barley.] but fertile withal. The chaff of barley ranks among the very best; indeed, for litter there is none that can be compared with it. Of all grain, barley is the least exposed to accidents, as it is gathered before the time that mildew begins to attack wheat; for which reason it is that the provident agriculturist sows only as much wheat as may be required for food. The saying is, that “barley is sown in a money-bag,” because it so soon returns a profit. The most prolific kind of all is that which is got in at Carthage, [Nova Carthago, or New Carthage.] in Spain, in the month of April. It is in the same month that it is sown in Celtiberia, and yet it yields two harvests in the same year. All kinds of barley are cut sooner than other grain, and immediately after they are ripe; for the straw is extremely brittle, and the grain is enclosed in a husk of remarkable thinness. It is said, too, that a better polenta [This fallacious opinion is shared with Galen, De Facult. Anim. B. vi. c. 11.] is made from it, if it is gathered before it is perfectly ripe.

Chap. 19. (8.)—Arinca, and Other Kinds of Grain That Are Grown in the East.

The several kinds of corn are not everywhere the same; and even where they are the same, they do not always bear a similar name. The kinds most universally grown are spelt, by the ancients known as “adorea,” winter wheat, [Siligo.] and wheat; [Triticum.] all these being common to many countries. Arinca was originally peculiar to Gaul, though now it is widely diffused over Italy as well. Egypt, too, Syria, Cilicia, Asia, and Greece, have their own peculiar kinds, known by the names of zea, [The Triticum dicoccum, or spelt.] olyra, and tiphe. [Probably rye. See the next.] In Egypt, they make a fine flour from wheat of their own growth, but it is by no means equal to that of Italy. Those countries which employ zea, have no spelt. Zea, however, is to be found in Italy, and in Campania more particularly, where it is known by the name of “seed.” [Semen.] The grain that bears this name enjoys a very considerable celebrity, as we shall have occasion to state [In c. 20, also in c. 29. This grain, which was in reality a kind of spelt, received its name probably from having been the first cultivated.] on another occasion; and it is in honour of this that Homer [Il. ii. c. 548: “the land that produces zea.”] uses the expression, ζείδωρος ἄρουρα, and not, as some suppose, from the fact of the earth giving life. [Not ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῆν, from “living.”] Amylum is made, too, from this grain, but of a coarser [Merely, as Fée says, from the faulty method employed in its preparation, as starch has, in all cases, the same physical appearance.] quality than the kind already mentioned; [In c. 17 of this Book.] this, however, is the only difference that is perceptible.

The most hardy kind, however, of all the grains is spelt, and the best to stand the severity of the weather; it will grow in the very coldest places, as also in localities that are but half tilled, or soils that are extremely hot, and destitute of water. This was the earliest food of the ancient inhabitants of Latium; a strong proof of which is the distributions of adorea that were made in those times, as already stated. [In c. 3 of this Book.] It is evident, too, that the Romans subsisted for a long time upon pottage, [“Puls,” like our porridge.] and not bread; for we find that from its name of “puls,” certain kinds of food are known, even at the present day, as “pulmentaria.” [Any food that was originally eaten with “puls,” and afterwards with bread, was so called, such as meat, vegetables, &c.] Ennius, too, the most ancient of our poets, in describing the famine in a siege, relates how that the parents snatched away the messes of pottage [“Offam.” This word, which in the later writers signifies a “cake,” originally meant a hardened lump of porridge.] from their weeping children. At the present day, even, the sacrifices in conformity with the ancient rites, as well as those offered upon birthdays, are made with parched pottage. [Pulte fritillâ.] This food appears to have been as much unknown in those days in Greece as polenta was in Italy.

Chap. 20.—Winter Wheat. Similago, or Fine Flour.

There is no grain that displays a greater avidity than wheat, and none that absorbs a greater quantity of nutriment. With all propriety I may justly call winter wheat [“Siligo.” There are numerous contradictions in Pliny with reference to this plant, but it is now pretty generally agreed that it is the Triticum hibernum of Linnæus: the “froment tousselle” of the French. It was formerly the more general opinion that it was identical with spelt; but that cannot be the case, as spelt is red, and siligo is described as white.] the very choicest of all the varieties of wheat. It is white, destitute of all flavour, [“Sine virtute.” It is doubtful what is the meaning of this.] and not oppressive [Sine pondere.] to the stomach. It suits moist localities particularly well, such as we find in Italy and Gallia Comata; but beyond the Alps it is found to maintain its character only in the territory of the Allobroges and that of the Memini; for in the other parts of those countries it degenerates at the end of two years into common wheat. [In other places he says, most unaccountably, that wheat “degenerates into siligo.”] The only method of preventing this is to take care and sow the heaviest grains only.

(9.) Winter wheat furnishes bread of the very finest quality and the most esteemed delicacies of the bakers. The best bread that is known in Italy is made from a mixture of Campanian winter wheat with that of Pisæ. The Campanian kind is of a redder colour, while the latter is white; when mixed with chalk, [As to this practice, see c..] it is increased in weight. The proper proportion for the yield of Campanian wheat to the modius of grain is four sextarii of what is known as bolted flour; [“Quam vocant castratam.”] but when it is used in the rough and has not been bolted, then the yield should be five sextarii of flour. In addition to this, in either case there should be half a modius of white meal, with four sextarii of coarse meal, known as “seconds,” and the same quantity of bran. [From this account, it would appear that there were twenty-four sextarii to the modius; but the account in general is very contradictory.] The Pisan wheat produces five sextarii of fine flour to the modius; in other respects it yields the same as that of Campania. The wheat of Clusium and Arretium gives another sextarius of fine flour, but the yield is similar to that of the kinds already mentioned in all other respects. If, however, as much of it as possible is converted into fine wheat meal, the modius will yield sixteen pounds weight of white bread, and three of seconds, with half a modius of bran. These differences, however, depend very materially upon the grinding; for when the grain is ground quite dry it produces more meal, but when sprinkled with salt water [Salt water is rarely used for this purpose in modern times. See this passage discussed in Beckmann on Inventions, Bohn’s Ed. vol. i. p. 164.] a whiter flour, though at the same time a greater quantity of bran. It is very evident that “farina,” the name we give to meal, is derived from “far.” A modius of meal made from Gallic winter wheat, yields twenty-two pounds of bread; while that of Italy, if made into bread baked in tins, [“Artopticio.” See c. of this Book.] will yield two or three pounds more. When the bread is baked in the oven, [Without tin, probably; or the tin bread may have been baked before the fire, similar to the method adopted at the present day with the American ovens.] two pounds must be added in weight in either case.

(10.) Wheat yields a fine flour [“Similago.” Founders still use meal occasionally for making moulds; it is also employed in making paper.] of the very highest quality. In African wheat the modius ought to yield half a modius of fine flour and five sextarii of pollen, that being the name given to fine wheat meal, in the same way that that of winter wheat is generally known as “flos,” or the “flower.” This fine meal is extensively used in copper works and paper manufactories. In addition to the above, the modius should yield four sextarii of coarse meal, and the same quantity of bran. The finest wheaten flour will yield one hundred [The mention of “hundreds” here is evidently faulty, unless the other part of the passage is corrupt. Fée suggests twenty-two and twenty-seven.] and twenty-two pounds of bread, and the fine meal of winter wheat one hundred [The mention of “hundreds” here is evidently faulty, unless the other part of the passage is corrupt. Fée suggests twenty-two and twenty-seven.] and seventeen, to the modius of grain. When the prices of grain are moderate, meal sells at forty asses the modius, bolted wheaten flour at eight asses more, and bolted flour of winter wheat, at sixteen asses more. There is another distinction again in fine wheaten flour, which originated formerly in the days of L. Paulus. There were three classes of wheat; the first of which would appear to have yielded seventeen pounds of bread, the second eighteen, and the third nineteen pounds and a third: to these were added two pounds and a half of seconds, [But above we find him stating that “secundarius,” “seconds” flour, and “cibarius,” or “coarse,” meal, are the same thing. His contradictions cannot apparently be reconciled.] and the same quantity of brown [But above we find him stating that “secundarius,” “seconds” flour, and “cibarius,” or “coarse,” meal, are the same thing. His contradictions cannot apparently be reconciled.] bread, with six sextarii of bran. [The whole of this passage, as Brotier remarks, is evidently corrupt.]

Winter wheat never ripens all at once, and yet there is none of the cereals that can so ill brook any delay; it being of so delicate a nature, that the ears directly they are ripe will begin to shed their grain. So long, however, as it is in stalk, it is exposed to fewer risks than other kinds of wheat, from the fact of its always having the ear upright, and not retaining the dew, which is a prolific cause of mildew.

From arinca [Fée has no doubt that this was siligo, or winter-wheat, in a very high state of cultivation.] a bread of remarkable sweetness is made. The grains in this variety lie closer than they do in spelt; the ear, too, is larger and more weighty. It is rarely the case that a modius of this grain does not weigh full sixteen pounds. In Greece they find great difficulty in threshing it; and hence it is that we find Homer [Il. v. l. 195.] saying that it is given to beasts of burden, this being the same as the grain that he calls “olyra.” In Egypt it is threshed without any difficulty, and is remarkably prolific. Spelt has no beard, and the same is the case with winter wheat, except [There are still some varieties both of winter-wheat and spelt that have the beard.] that known as the Laconian variety. To the kinds already mentioned we have to add bromos, [It is generally thought that this is the oat, the Avena sativa of Linnæus, while some have suggested rice. Fée thinks that by the name, some exotic gramineous plant is meant.] the winter wheat just excepted, and tragos, [Probably a variety of spelt, as Sprengel conjectures, from Galen and other writers. See c. of this Book.] all of them exotics introduced from the East, and very similar to rice. Tiphe [Fée thinks that it is the grain of the Festuca fluitans of Linnæus that is here alluded to, and identifies it with the “ulva palustris” of Virgil, Geor. iii. 174.] also belongs to the same class, from which in our part of the world a cleaned grain resembling rice is prepared. Among the Greeks, too, there is the grain known as zea; and it is said that this, as well as tiphe, when cleaned from the husk and sown, will degenerate [The Latin word “degener” cannot here mean “degenerate,” in our sense of the word, but must merely imply a change of nature in the plant.] and assume the form of wheat; not immediately, but in the course of three years.

Chap. 21.—The Fruitfulness of Africa in Wheat.

There is no grain more prolific than wheat, Nature having bestowed upon it this quality, as being the substance which she destined for the principal nutriment of man. A modius of wheat, if the soil is favourable, as at Byzacium, [See B. xvii. c. 3.] a champaign district of Africa, will yield as much as one hundred and fifty [We know of no such fruitfulness as this in the wheat of Europe. Fifteen-fold, as Fée remarks, is the utmost amount of produce that can be anticipated.] modii of grain. The procurator of the late Emperor Augustus sent him from that place—a fact almost beyond belief—little short of four hundred shoots all springing from a single grain; and we have still in existence his letters on the subject. In a similar manner, too, the procurator of Nero sent him three hundred and sixty stalks all issuing from a single grain. [Fée mentions instances of 150, 92, and 63 stalks arising from a single grain; but all these fall far short of the marvels here mentioned by Pliny.] The plains of Leontium in Sicily, and other places in that island, as well as the whole of Bætica, and Egypt more particularly, yield produce a hundred-fold. The most prolific kinds of wheat are the ramose wheat, [The Triticum compositum of Linnæus; supposed to have originally come from Egypt or Barbary.] and that known as the “hundred-grain” [“Centigranium.” Probably the same as the last.] wheat. Before now, as many as one hundred beans, too, have been found on a single stalk.

Chap. 22.—Sesame. Erysimum, or Irio. Horminum.

We have spoken [In c. 10 of this Book.] of sesame, millet, and panic as belonging to the summer grains. Sesame [See c..] comes from India, where they extract an oil from it; the colour of its grain is white. Similar in appearance to this is the erysimum of Asia and Greece, and indeed it would be identical with it were it not that the grain is better filled. [Pinguius.] It is the same grain that is known among us as “irio;” and strictly speaking, ought rather to be classed among the medicaments than the cereals. Of the same nature, too, is the plant called “horminum” [Already mentioned in c. 10.] by the Greeks, though resembling cummin [See B. xix. c.; and B. xx. c..] in appearance; it is sown at the same time as sesame: no animal will eat either this or irio while green.

Chap. 23.—The Mode of Grinding Corn.

All the grains are not easily broken. In Etruria they first parch the spelt in the ear, and then pound it with a pestle shod with iron at the end. In this instrument the iron is notched [This would rather grate the grain than pound it, as Beckmann observes. See his Hist. Inv., vol. i. pp. 147 and 164, Bohn’s Ed., where the meaning of this passage has been commented upon. Gesner, also, in his Lexicon Rusticum, has endeavoured to explain it.] at the bottom, sharp ridges running out like the edge of a knife, and concentrating in the form of a star; so that if care is not taken to hold the pestle perpendicularly while pounding, the grains will only be splintered and the iron teeth broken. Throughout the greater part of Italy, however, they employ a pestle that is only rough [Ruido.] at the end, and wheels turned by water, by means of which the corn is gradually ground. I shall here set forth the opinions given by Mago as to the best method of pounding corn. He says that the wheat should be steeped first of all in water, and then cleaned from the husk; after which it should be dried in the sun, and then pounded with the pestle; the same plan, he says, should be adopted in the preparation of barley. In the latter case, however, twenty sextarii of grain require only two sextarii of water. When lentils are used, they should be first parched, and then lightly pounded with the bran; or else, adopting another method, a piece of unbaked brick and half a modius of sand [It is surprising to find the Romans, not only kneading their bread with sea-water, but putting in it pounded bricks, chalk, and sand!] should be added to every twenty sextarii of lentils.

Ervilia should be treated in the same way as lentils. Sesame should be first steeped in warm water, and then laid out to dry, after which it should be rubbed out briskly, and then thrown into cold water, so that the chaff may be disengaged by floating to the surface. After this is done, the grain should again be spread out in the sun, upon linen cloths, to dry. Care, however, should be taken to lose no time in doing this, as it is apt to turn musty, and assume a dull, livid colour. The grains, too, which are just cleaned from the husk, require various methods of pounding. When the beard is ground by itself, without the grain, the result is known as “acus,” [Beard chaff; so called, probably, from the sharpness of the points, like needles (acus).] but it is only used by goldsmiths. [See B. xxxiii. c. 3; where he says, that a fire lighted with this chaff, fuses gold more speedily than one made with maple wood.] If, on the other hand, it is beaten out on the threshing-floor, together with the straw, the chaff has the name of “palea,” * * * * and in most parts of the world is employed as fodder for beasts of burden. The residue of millet, panic, and sesame, is known to us as “apluda;” but in other countries it is called by various other names.