and the awns stiff
and firmly adhering to the flowering glume. The var. _pallidum_ is the
barley most frequently cultivated in northern Europe and northern Asia.
This race was formerly used for malt and beer, but owing to its larger
amount of gluten as compared with starch it is less adapted for brewing
than the two-rowed sorts. To this belong the varieties naked barley (_H.
coeleste_ and _H. nudum_) and Himalayan barley (_H. trifurcatum_ and _H.
aegiceras_). In both the fruits fall out freely from the glume, and in the
latter the awns are three-pronged and shorter than the grain.

Barley is the most hardy of all cereal grains, its limit of cultivation
extending farther north than any other; and, at the same time, it can be
profitably cultivated in sub-tropical countries. The opinion of Pliny, that
it is the most ancient aliment of mankind, appears to be well-founded, for
no less than three varieties have been found in the lake dwellings of
Switzerland, in deposits belonging to the Stone Period. According to
Professor Heer these varieties are the common two-rowed (_H. distichum_),
the large six-rowed (_H. hexastichum_, var. _densum_), and the small
six-rowed (_H. hexastichum_, var. _sanctum_). The last variety is both the
most ancient and the most commonly found, and is the sacred barley of
antiquity, ears of which are frequently represented plaited in the hair of
the goddess Ceres, besides being figured on ancient coins. The cultivation
of barley in ancient Egypt is indicated in Exod. ix. 31. Till within recent
times barley formed an important source of food in northern countries, and
barley cakes are still to some extent eaten. Owing, however, to its poverty
in that form of nitrogenous compound called gluten, so abundant in wheat,
barley-flour cannot be baked into vesiculated bread; still it is a
highly-nutritious substance, the salts it contains having a high proportion
of phosphoric acid. The following is the composition of barley-meal
according to Von Bibra, omitting the salts:--

Water . . . . 15 per cent.
Nitrogenous compounds . 12.981 "
Gum . . . . 6.744 "
Sugar . . . . 3.200 "
Starch . . . . 59.950 "
Fat . . . . 2.170 "

Barley is now chiefly cultivated for malting (see MALT) to prepare spirits
and beer (see BREWING), but it is also largely employed in domestic
cookery. For the lat