BA'RIUM (Ba), a peculiar metal, the basis of the alkaline earth baryta. Davy first gained indications of the decomposition of baryta in the end of October 1807; he obtained an alloy of it with iron in March 1808; and in the beginning of June, in the same year, he obtained the metal. To prepare barium, a quantity of the mineral substance called carbonate of baryta is made into a paste with water, and placed on a plate of platinum; a cavity is made in the paste to receive a globule of mercury; the mercury is rendered negative, the platinum positive, by means of a Voltaic battery containing about one hundred double plates. In a short time, the baryta of the carbonate is decomposed, and an amalgam of mercury and barium formed. This amalgam must be heated in a small bent glass tube, which contains no lead, and filled with hydrogen gas, or the vapour of naphtha; the mercury being volatilised, the barium remains. Barium may also be procured, without the aid of electricity, by passing a current of the vapour of potassium over red-hot baryta in an iron tube. By this a mixture of barium and oxide of potassium is obtained; from this the metal is to be extracted by amalgamation with mercury, and the amalgam is to be decomposed by heat in the mode already described. These methods do not give the metal in a state of purity, but it may be obtained pure by the voltaic decomposition of its fused anhydrous chloride.

Barium is a yellow metal of considerable lustre. It is much heavier than water, for it sinks even in sulphuric acid, though surrounded by bubbles of gas. It decomposes water readily, with the evolution of hydrogen gas; a solution of baryta is thus obtained. By exposure to the air, it is slightly covered with a crust of baryta; it fuses before it becomes red hot, and at this temperature it acts upon glass, without being volatilised. When exposed to the air, and moderately heated, it burns with a deep red light. It may be flattened a little, so that it is to a certain extent a malleable metal. Barium has however as yet been obtained only in small quantities, and consequently its properties are but imperfectly known. The equivalent of barium is 68.64. Barium forms two compounds with oxygen,—a protoxide and a binoxide.

Protoxide of Barium (BaO); Baryta ; Barytes.-This oxide in combination occurs largely in nature, and was discovered in the year 1774 by Scheele; its name is derived from Bapùs (barys), heavy. Baryta is met with combined with sulphuric acid, forming heavy spar or cawk, termed chemically sulphate of baryta, and with carbonic acid, constituting the mineral termed witherite, or carbonate of baryta; it may be procured by decomposing either of these native compounds. The simplest mode, when it is wanted free from water, is to convert the carbonate into nitrate of baryta, and this when strongly heated in an earthen crucible is decomposed, and the nitric acid being expelled, the baryta remaining has the following properties :-It is of a grayish-white colour. When moistened with water it becomes very hot, and in a short time falls into a fine white powder; if more water is added, it becomes a crystalline and very hard mass. The specific gravity of baryta is about 40; it is extremely poisonous, has an acrid, alkaline, caustic taste, and requires a high temperature to fuse it.

Baryta, or the protoxide of barium, is composed of
1 equivalent of oxygen.
barium

1

do.

8

68.64

76.64

Baryta and water combine and form at least two compounds: the first hydrate, is procured when a small quantity of water is poured upon baryta, and during their action, as has been already stated, much heat is evolved, and the baryta becomes a white powder. This hydrate contains one equivalent of water; it is fusible at a red heat, but does not part with its water even when heated to whiteness..

According to Davy, 20 parts of water at 60° dissolve one part of baryta: the solution is called baryta water, and is frequently used as a chemical re-agent. With carbonic acid baryta forms an insoluble carbonate, and both baryta and baryta water speedily acquire carbonic acid by exposure to the air. Baryta water acts strongly as an alkali, converting vegetable yellows to brown, restoring the blue colour to reddened litmus, and saturating acids. Water at 212° dissolves, by Davy's experiments, half its weight of baryta, of which a considerable portion separates in the state of crystals as the solution cools; these crystals contain ten equivalents of water.

Peroxide of Barium (BaO,), Binoxide of Barium, is prepared by heating baryta to low redness in a platinum crucible, gradually adding to it about one-fourth of its weight of chlorate of potash; this yields oxygen to the baryta or protoxide of barium, which thus becomes peroxide, but mixed with chloride of potassium, which may be dissolved by cold water, while the peroxide of barium remains undissolved, combined with water; it may also be prepared by passing oxygen gas over baryta heated to redness. It is composed of two equivalents of oxygen and one equivalent of barium. It is decomposed by acids, and is used only in preparing the binoxide of hydrogen.

Neither nitrogen nor hydrogen unites with barium.

The best mode of preparing chloride of barium is to dissolve carbonate of baryta in hydrochloric acid, and evaporate the solution so as to obtain crystals, which should be then purified by re-crystallisation. Chloride of barium is a colourless salt, soluble in water, but insoluble in alcohol. Five parts of water at 60° dissolve one part of chloride of barium. Chloride of barium is used as a chemical re-agent for the detection and quantitative determination of sulphuric acid. Protosulphide of Barium (BaS).-Sulphur and barium combine in several proportions, but the protosulphide is the only compound of importance. It may be prepared by heating together finely-powdered sulphate of baryta and powdered charcoal in a covered crucible; in this case the charcoal takes oxygen both from the sulphuric acid and the baryta, and protosulphide of barium remains, which dissolves readily in boiling water, and the solution on cooling deposits colourless transparent crystals; these crystals are protosulphide of barium, containing six equivalents of water.

Protosulphide of barium thus prepared is much used for the production of other salts of barium, as it is readily decomposed by all acids, even the carbonic acid. Thus chloride of barium may be formed by adding hydrochloric acid to protosulphide of barium.

The mass fuses, and on cooling has a brown colour and a metallic lustre. When too strongly heated the phosphide of barium is decomposed, phosphorus is volatilised, and baryta remains. Phosphide of barium decomposes water; phosphuretted hydrogen gas is evolved, and hypophosphite of baryta remains in solution.

Iodide of Barium (BaI).-Iodine and barium unite and form the iodide of this metal. It may be prepared by acting upon baryta or its carbonate with hydriodic acid, and evaporating the solution obtained. It is very soluble in water, and crystallises in acicular crystals, which deliquesce slightly by exposure to the air.

Bromide of Barium (BaBr+2HO).—Bromine and barium, when combined, form the bromide. It may be obtained by boiling excess of moist carbonate of baryta in a solution of protobromide of iron; the filtered solution is to be evaporated to dryness and the residue made red hot; by dissolving this in water, and by careful evaporation, colourless rhombic crystals are obtained, which are soluble in alcohol.

Fluoride of Barium (BaF).-Fluorine and barium may be made to combine by digesting fresh precipitated and moist carbonate of baryta in hydrofluoric acid; the carbonate is decomposed, and the fluoride of barium is formed, and separates in the state of a white powder. This may be heated to redness without decomposing, and is slightly soluble in water. The solution, by evaporation, yields crystalline grains, which are readily dissolved by hydrochloric and nitric acids.

Having described the principal binary compounds of barium, we proceed to notice the more useful of the numerous salts formed by combining the protoxide of barium (baryta) with different acids. The following are the only barytic salts which are extensively employed.

Acetate of Baryta (BaO, C ̧H ̧0,+3HO). This salt may be prepared by dissolving either baryta or the carbonate in acetic acid, or decomposing the solution of protosulphide of barium with it. By evaporation, crystals of acetate of baryta are obtained in slender prisms, resembling those of acetate of lead. These crystals effloresce by exposure to the air; they dissolve in 175 part of cold water, and in 103 of boiling water; 100 parts of cold alcohol dissolve one part of these crystals, and when boiling, one part and a half. This salt is composed of

The taste of this salt is saline and bitter. It is decomposed by the fixed alkalies and their carbonates, and by carbonate of ammonia; it is also decomposed by sulphuric acid and the sulphates, which precipitate sulphate of baryta.

According to Mitscherlich, when this salt crystallises at the temperature of 55° Fahrenheit, it contains only 6.6 per cent. of water; but when below this temperature it contains, as above stated, about 17.5 per cent. of water of crystallisation.

Carbonate of Baryta (BaO, CO).-This substance occurs to a considerable extent as a mineral product, and is by mineralogists sometimes

equivalent of chlorine barium

35.47 68.64

104.11

4-331; it is sometimes translucent and nearly colourless, but is often opaque. It sometimes occurs crystallised, and the primary form is a right rhombic prism, but it usually has the form of a six-sided prism. Carbonate of baryta is so nearly insoluble in water as to require about 4300 times its weight at 60°, and 2300 at 212° for solution; and

It is used for the purpose of dissolving in various acids to procure barytic salts, and, when heated with charcoal, also for preparing baryta, especially when it is wanted merely in solution in water. Bicarbonate and sesquicarbonate of baryta may be formed, but they are unimportant compounds.

Nitrate of Baryta (BaO, NO,) is readily procured by adding nitric acid

either to baryta, its carbonate, or to the solution of protosulphide of barium. The solution is colourless, and by evaporation yields crystals, the form of which is the regular octahedron.

This salt requires 12 times its weight of water at 60° for solution, and between 3 and 4 times its weight at 212°. It is not altered by exposure to the air, but when strongly heated it is, as already noticed, decomposed, and baryta remains in a pure state. This salt consists of 1 equivalent of acid 54.0 1 do. baryta

The crystals contain no water.

76.6

130.6

Sulphate of Baryta (BaO, SO,); Heavy Spar.-This compound occurs largely in many parts of Great Britain, especially in the lead-mines of the north of England. It occurs both amorphous and crystallised. In the former state it is sometimes colourless and transparent, but frequently opaque. The crystals are often very large, and the primary form, subject to many varieties, is a rhombic prism. It is extremely heavy, its specific gravity being about 47. It is unalterable in the air, insipid, and insoluble in water; indeed, strong sulphuric acid is the only fluid which dissolves it in any notable quantity, and from this it is precipitated by water. It is composed of 1 equivalent of sulphuric acid 1 do. baryta

40.0 76.6

116.6

Sulphate of baryta may also be prepared artificially by adding either dilute sulphuric acid or any soluble sulphate to a solution containing baryta or any of its salts. The sulphate of baryta precipitates as a heavy white powder, insoluble in water, acids, and alkalies.

Heat produces no decomposition in sulphate of baryta; but, as already noticed, when heated with charcoal it is converted into sulphide of barium. When boiled also in a solution of carbonate of potash, a portion of it is converted into carbonate of baryta; but the decomposition takes place only to a limited extent.

On account of the extreme insolubility of sulphate of baryta, its constituents are delicate tests of each other's presence, and both sulphuric acid and baryta are almost invariably converted into this salt when their weight has to be estimated in quantitative analysis.

When sulphate of baryta is moderately heated with carbonaceous matter, a substance is produced called Bolognian phosphorus, which possesses the property of exhibiting luminosity in the dark for some time after it has been exposed to the direct rays of the sun. BARIUM, SALTS OF. [BARIUM.]

BA'RIUM, CHLORIDE OF-Medical Properties of. This compound never occurs native, but is always obtained either by the decomposition of the native carbonate of barytes, or witherite, as directed by the London Pharmacopoeia, or of the sulphate, or heavy-spar, as directed by the Edinburgh College. This last seems the preferable mode, not only from the abundant occurrence of heavy-spar, but because the salt so procured is generally purer (Christison); and as it is more employed as a chemical test than in medicine at the present day, purity is an essential condition for its utility. It crystallises in white, transparent, shining, right rhombic prisms, sometimes in double eight-sided pyramids, or, by rapid evaporation, in thin plates (Geiger). It is permanent at the ordinary temperature of the air, but efflorescent in a very dry atmosphere. Its specific gravity is 2.825. It is of easy solubility in water: 100 parts dissolve 43'5 at 60° Fahr.; at 212°, 78 parts. Pure alcohol does not dissolve any of it; rectified spirit, a minute quantity. The only officinal preparation is the watery solution, Liquor Barii Chloridi.

Chloride of barium possesses acrid-narcotic properties, its taste being irritating and burning. It resembles medicinally chloride of calcium, but is more potent; in poisonous doses its action is similar to arsenic, with this difference, that it requires a larger dose to destroy life, and while its local action is less marked, producing less disintegration of the stomach, it is more rapidly absorbed and produces death more speedily. It is rarely employed as a means of self-destruction, or of intentional injury to others. Fortunately an efficient antidote exists in agents readily procured, and invariably efficacious if speedily administered. Any alkaline sulphate, such as Epsom or Glauber

salts, or sulphuric acid greatly diluted, will instantly form an insoluble and harmless sulphate of barytes. Medicinally this compound is employed in very minute doses in various forms of scrofula. It possesses slight tonic powers, improves the appetite, and promotes absorption, reducing the glandular enlargements. It once enjoyed, chiefly from the testimony of Hufeland, a high celebrity. But like many other muriates once confided in for the removal of scrofula, it has almost fallen into disuse, particularly since iodine has become known. Some practitioners, thinking that two agents which are thought singly to be of use, must do good when combined, have formed an iodide of barium. This salt has a disagreeable nauseating taste. It is given in the dose of the eighth of a grain, in some aromatic water, three times a day. An ointment is also formed of it.

Pure air, exercise, regular, and above all early hours, appropriate

diet, and other points of regimen, such as warm clothing, will do more

to eradicate scrofula than any medicines.

(Lugol, On Scrofula, translated by Ranking, 1844.)

BARK. There are several kinds of bark which enter largely into commerce, and are used for processes in the arts, or for medicines. The principal kinds in the first of these classes are the barks of the oak, the cork, the mimosa, and the quercitron. Among the descriptions of bark used for medicines we shall notice only that known under the name of Jesuits' or Peruvian Bark: the others are not of much commercial importance. Some other kinds of bark, as Cinnamon and Cassia, will be noticed in other parts of this work.

Oak Bark.-(German, Eichenrinde Lohe; Dutch, Run, Runne; Danish, Bark, Garverbark; Swedish, Bark, Ekbark; French, Tan Brut, Ecorce de Chêne; Italian, Scorza di Quercia-Corteccia della Quercia; Spanish, Corteza de Encina; Portuguese, Casca do Carvalho; Russian, Dubowui Kora; Polish, Dab Garbarski; Latin, Quercus Cortex.) For a long time, oak-bark was the only substance used in England for the process of tanning; and it was thus employed for ages, without the tanners knowing what were the properties of the substance which produced the chemical change whereby hides are converted into leather. The increasing demand for oak-bark beyond the means of supply so raised its marketable value, that an inves tigation became necessary, in order to ascertain whether, when the nature of those properties was discovered, some cheaper substances might be found to answer as substitutes. Other substances besides oak-bark had before that time been used for tanning in certain foreign countries; such as heath, gall-nuts, birch-tree bark, myrtle-leaves, leaves of wild laurel, and willow-bark. In 1765 oak saw-dust was applied with some success in England to the purpose of tanning; and this plan has been since pursued in Germany.

The result of investigations showed that the tanning power of oakbark resided in a peculiar astringent substance, to which, from the use to which it is applied, the name of tannin has been given. In more recent times, Sir Humphry Davy determined, by a series of experiments, the relative value to the tanner of different substances in which tannin is found; and he has shown that 84 lbs. of oak-bark are, in this respect, equal to 24 lbs. of galls, to 3 lbs. of sumach, to 7 lbs. of bark of the Leicester willow, to 11 lbs. of bark of the Spanish chestnut, to 18 lbs. of elm-bark, and to 21 lbs. of common willow-bark.

To prepare oak-bark for use, it is ground to a coarse powder between cast-iron cylinders, or in bark-mills which implement makers have lately invented. In the ground state it is put into the tan-pit, in alternate layers, with the skins to be prepared. A better method sometimes employed is to make an infusion of the bark in water, which dissolves and holds the tannin. The action of this substance upon skins may be explained in a few words. Before the skin is subjected to the tanning process, the hair, epidermis, and any fleshy or fatty parts adhering to them, must be removed; the remainder consists wholly of gelatine, a substance capable of being dissolved in water, and which then forms the substance well known as glue. Tannin, as we have seen, is likewise readily soluble in water; but the two substances, when brought together, form the insoluble and imputrescent compound called leather. See further on this subject

under TANNING.

It has been found that the proportion of tannin which oak-bark contains varies materially according to the season in which it is cut. If taken in the spring, it has four and a half times the quantity, in a given weight, compared with what it would have if cut in winter. Sir Humphry Davy likewise discovered that the proportion is influenced by the age of the tree, tannin being more abundant in the bark of young than of old trees.

There are no means of knowing what quantity of oak-bark is used annually by the tanners of this country. Of that which is imported, about half comes from Holland and Belgium.

Cork Bark. This substance is described in a separate article. [CORK AND CORK-CUTTING.]

Mimosa, or Wattle Bark.-This bark is collected from two species of the mimosa, which are plentifully found in New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand, where, at least in the British settlements, it is used for the manufacture of leather. This bark contains about 150 lbs. of pure tannin in every ton weight, which is only about three-fifths of the proportion yielded by the best white oak bark. It is also said that it gives a reddish colour to the leather,

which, although it does not actually lower its value in use, creates a prejudice against it in the market. As long ago as 1823 a small quantity of fluid extract of this bark was brought to London from Australia, and, after having been subjected to trial by some tanners, was purchased by them. Since that time, importations of the bark in its crude state, as well as in the form of an extract, have continually been made. Quercitron Bark.-This name has been given to the bark of a description of oak, the Quercus nigra, or tinctoria, which is a native of North America. It is used as a dye stuff for imparting a yellow colour, the different shades of which depend upon the choice of the substance employed as a mordant. This bark was first brought into use in England by Dr. Bancroft, who obtained an exclusive patent for its application to this purpose. The colouring matter resides wholly in the inner bark of the tree; the outer bark is therefore removed previous to its being packed in casks for shipment. Quercitron bark which has been previously ground in a mill, gives out its colouring matter to water when heated to the temperature of 100° Fahr. If a higher degree of heat be used, the tannin which the bark contains will also be dissolved, and this will impart a brown tinge to the dye which it is desirable to avoid. For this reason the dye must always be separated from the bark before it is used. The colouring matter obtained from the quercitron-bark of commerce is equal to that yielded by eight or ten times its weight of weld.

Peruvian Bark.-German, Chinarinde, Fieberrinde; Dutch, Kina, Quinquina; Danish, Kina, Chinabark; Swedish, Feberbark; French, Quinquina, Italian, China; Spanish, Quina; Portuguese, Quinquina; Russian, Chinchina; Polish, Kwinkwinna; Latin, Cinchona, Cortex Peruvianus. Three principal species of this bark are known in commerce, namely, the pale, the red, and the yellow. The first of these, the original cinchona of Peru, is now become scarce. It is the produce of the Cinchona lancifolia, and is imported in chests, each containing 200 lbs. weight, and carefully covered with skins. It comes in quilled pieces from 8 to 10 inches long, and of various thicknesses. Internally the colour is of a pale fawn or cinnamon hue, but when moistened the bark assumes a pale orange colour. It is nearly odourless when dry, but is very sensibly aromatic while under the process of decoction. The red bark is taken from the Cinchona oblongifolia, which is found growing on the Andes. It is imported in various-sized pieces packed in chests, containing each from 100 to 150 lbs. Its colour is that of a reddish brown; its taste is not so bitter as that of the pale variety, but greatly more astringent. The yellow bark was first brought into use in England about the year 1790: it is obtained from the Cinchona cordifolia, which grows at Quito and Santa Fé. This variety is imported in pieces, some quilled and others flat, of from 8 to 10 inches in length, packed in chests containing from 90 to 100 lbs. each. The colour approaches to that of an orange; it gives out, in decoction, an odour very similar to that of pale bark; its taste is more bitter, but it is not astringent. Its goodness is judged of by the colour. If it loses its orange tint, and takes that of pale yellow, it is not so valuable, and it is still worse when of a dark colour, between red and yellow.

It is said that the native Indians were unacquainted with the medicinal virtues of this bark, and that its efficacy in cases of fever was accidentally discovered by the Jesuits, whence the name, by which it is very generally known, of Jesuits' bark. It was first brought to Europe in 1632, but more than half a century elapsed thereafter before its use became at all extensive in this quarter of the world. Humboldt states that from 12,000 to 14,000 quintals, or cwts., are annually exported from Peru.

During the three years ending with 1858, the average quantity of tanners' bark imported was 365,000 cwts. annually-duty free. BARK.-Medical Uses of [CINCHONA.]

BARK-BED, in horticulture, is a bed formed of the spent bark used by tanners, placed in the inside of a brick pit in a glazed house, constructed for forcing, or for the growth of tender plants.

The object of a bark-bed is to produce artificial warmth by the fermentation of the materials of which it consists, and at the same time to keep the atmosphere of the house constantly damp. Gardeners use it for all plants which require what they call bottom heat; that is to say, for all species which are natives of tropical climates, and for pineapples especially; but it is not employed in the cultivation of greenhouse plants, except sometimes for striking their cuttings. [CUTTINGS.]

In constructing a bark bed, the coarsest bark which can be obtained after the tanners have used it should be selected, because it is found that the slowness of the fermentation, and consequently the steadiness of the heat given off, is in proportion to the size of the fragments of bark employed: small tan, broken into minute pieces by machinery, although often the only material to be had, should consequently never be used if it can be avoided. After having been slightly dried by being spread in the sun, the tan is first laid in heaps, covered with mats, until fermentation has commenced; it is then transferred to the brick pit, in which it is finally to remain. Having been lightly but evenly arranged in the pit, and the glass roof of the house having been closed, the tan is left to undergo fermentation; which at first is violent, evolving more heat than any plants could bear. But in a few days it subsides; and when the temperature of the bed has fallen to 96°, it is

in a proper state to receive the pots, which are to be plunged in it. The heat will gradually, but very slowly diminish to 60°, below which it is scarcely desirable, in the opinion of gardeners, that the tan should be retained; but the temperature may a second time be raised to 70° or 80°, by turning the tan over, or fermentation may be further renewed by the addition of a small quantity of yeast. The temperature of the tan is generally judged of by feeling the end of a stick which is thrust into the centre of the bed; but as it is impossible to use so rude a test as this with any accuracy, it is now more customary to employ what is called a Breegazzi's thermometer introduced into the hollow end of a pole, and thus protected from being broken when thrust into the tan. It is, however, found that, after procuring the best kind of material, the heat of a bark-bed cannot be maintained so steadily or so long as is desirable; and it has been recommended to substitute fallen oak-leaves, which can easily be collected in the autumn. These ferment much more slowly than oak-bark, and never acquire so high a temperature as the maximum of that substance; and as they are less expensive, they should always be used when they can be procured. It is, however, to be remembered, that no other leaves than those of the oak, or of some other plant equally abounding in tannin, answer the purpose so well.

Notwithstanding the quantity of heat given out by a bark-bed, it is always found necessary to employ some other mode of warming a house in addition-either by smoke-flues, or hot-water, or steampipes; and this being the case, and such contrivances being of themselves sufficient to raise the atmosphere to any temperature that can be required, a question has been started, whether a bark-bed is really of any use. We have already stated that the object of a bark-bed is to produce artificial warmth by fermentation, and moisture in the atmosphere by parting with its water. So far as these objects go, they can certainly be abundantly and more efficiently supplied by other means: the warmth by flues or water-pipes, and the moisture by open tanks, or by steam-cocks, or by watering the floors and walls of a hot-house. But there still remains what gardeners call bottom-heat-that is to say, a steady temperature around roots somewhat higher than that of the atmosphere surrounding the stem and leaves. All experience shows that this is of the first importance in gardening, as indeed was to be expected when it is considered that the mean temperature of that part of the soil in which plants grow is universally something higher in nature than that of the air itself; so that in all cases plants are stimulated by some amount of bottom-heat. Thus, even near London, the average temperature of garden-ground at two feet below the surface is in March 41° 57 (Fahr.), while the mean temperature of the atmosphere in that month is only 40°49. See Lindley's 'Theory and Practice of Horticulture,' 2nd ed. book ii., chap. i., where this subject is fully discussed.

BARLEY is a grain too generally known to require a minute description. It is readily distinguished from other grain by its pointed extremities, and by the rough appearance of its outer skin, which is the corolla of the flower closely enveloping the seed, and, in most varieties, adhering strongly to it.

Barley belongs to the family of the Graminer: its botanical characters are described in the article HORDEUM, in NAT. HIST. DIV.

According to the most ancient authors, barley formed a principal part of the food of man in the early ages, and it continues to do so at this day, in many countries where the progress of agriculture and the increase of wealth have not yet enabled the inhabitants to exchange the coarser barley loaves for the more palatable and nutritious wheaten bread, and where the soil is not well adapted to rye, or the climate to maize.

Of all the cultivated grains, barley is perhaps that which comes to perfection in the greatest variety of climates, and is consequently found over the greatest extent of the habitable world. It bears the heat and drought of tropical regions, and ripens in the short summers of those which verge on the frigid zone. In genial climates, such as Egypt, Barbary, and the south of Spain, two crops of barley may be reaped in the same year, one in spring from seed sown the preceding autumn, and one in autumn from a spring sowing. This explains a passage in Exodus (ix. 31), where the effect of the hail is mentioned which desolated Egypt, in consequence of the refusal of Pharaoh to let the children of Israel depart: "The flax and the barley were smitten, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled; but the wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not come up." Commentators agree that this event happened in the month of March; the first crop of barley was therefore nearly ripe, and the flax ready to pull: but the wheat and the rye sown in spring were not yet sufficiently advanced in growth to be injured by the hail.

Agricultural writers in general have distinguished the different species of barley, either from the time of sowing them, into winter barley and spring barley, or, from the numbers of rows of grains in the ears, into six-rowed, four-rowed, and two-rowed, or flat barley. Another distinction may be made, between those which have the corolla strongly adhering to the seed, and those in which it separates from it, leaving the seed naked, from which circumstance these are called naked barleys. Without entering into any discussion whether these differences are sufficient to constitute distinct species, or are to be considered as varieties produced by climate, soil, or cultivation, we shall only observe that those kinds which are hardier, and will bear the

winters of our climate, may also with success be sown in spring, as is the case with the Scotch bere or bigg. There seem, in fact, to be only two very distinct species of barley generally cultivated: one which produces three perfect flowers, and as many seeds united at the base, at each joint of the rachis, or middle of the ear, alternately on each side (fig. 1), and another, in which the middle floret is perfect, and the two others barren, forming a flat ear, with only one row of grains on each side, as our common spring barley (fig. 2). The first species Fig. 1.

d

a Winter barley.

d

has sometimes the middle floret small or abortive, and consequently only four rows of grains, giving the ear a square appearance; but that this is only an occasional deviation is proved by its returning to the perfect ear with six rows, in rich soils, and under proper cultivation.

In some varieties of both kinds the seeds stand more apart from each other, and at a greater angle with the rachis; the ear is also shorter, giving it the appearance of a bat or fan, whence it has been called Battledore Barley; it is also known by the name of Sprat Barley. In others the corolla separates from the seed when ripe, and the awns fall off: these are the naked barleys. Each of these has been in repute at different times, and is worthy of the attention and careful cultivation of the practical and experimental agriculturist.

Winter barley is mostly sown in those countries where the winters are mild, and the springs dry, as in the south of France, Italy, and Spain, or in those where the snow lies deep all the winter, and where the sun is powerful immediately after the melting of the snow in spring, as is the case in parts of Russia, Poland, and some parts of North America. In most climates, where the winter consists of alternate frosts and thaws, and the early part of spring is usually wet, as is the case in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the young barley is too apt to suffer from these vicissitudes, and the spring-sown barley gives the more certain prospect of a good crop but the grain of the latter is seldom so heavy as that which has stood the winter, and, being harvested later, it interferes with the wheat harvest, which is an incon

venience.

The winter-sown barley is generally of the six-rowed sort, of which the bere or bigg is an inferior variety, though, being hardy, and of rapid growth, it is well suited to exposed situations and inferior soils. The Siberian barley, a variety of which, with naked seeds, has been highly extolled by foreign agricultural writers, especially by Thaer, under the name of Hordeum caeleste, seems to be a superior sort in rich

a An ear of common, or Norfolk, spring barley.

b The same, with the grain partly pulled off.

d The single grain, with the remnant of the two abortive flowers.

stems and leaves, which make it by far the best sort to sow for the purpose of green food for cattle and sheep, and, if fed off early, the roots will, in a rich soil, shoot out an abundance of fresh stems, and produce a good crop of grain at harvest.

The barley most commonly cultivated in England is that which has only two rows. It is almost universally sown in spring. The varieties produced by difference of soil and cultivation, as well as by seed have been divided by most agricultural writers into early and late occasionally brought from other countries, are innumerable; they sorts; but this is a distinction which is not very accurate. It is well known that hot gravelly soils bring any grain to perfection in less time than the stronger and colder soils, and that the produce acquires from the soil in which it grew a disposition to ripen earlier or later. This property it retains for a few seasons, by some modification of its vegetating power, to which, for want of a better name, that of habit may be given, being analogous to the alterations produced on living animals by habit. Thus seed sown repeatedly in a light dry soil becomes early ripe, and that sown on the heavy moist land late ripe, although originally the same. The early grain is always less heavy than the late; and from these circumstances the experienced cultivator of barley chooses his seed from such land as may modify the habit produced by his own, giving him a crop with as heavy a grain as his soil can produce, and within a convenient period.

The common, or Norfolk, spring barley, so called because it is the principal sort cultivated in that county, has a moderate-sized ear, containing from ten to fifteen seeds on each side, on an average (fig. 2). The straw is not very long, and makes good fodder for cattle in winter. Some prefer the long-eared, which contains from twelve to twenty seeds in a row, but it has a weaker straw, and is subject to be beaten down by rains from the weight of the ear. Particular varieties have been in great repute at different times, when first introduced, and then seem to have degenerated and lost their superiority. Of this kind is the Moldavian barley. This barley was much sought after some years ago; and of late years the Chevalier barley (fig. 3), so called from the gentleman who first brought it into notice. It is said, that having observed an ear of barley in his field greatly superior to the rest, he carefully saved the seed, and cultivated it in his garden, till he had a sufficient quantity to sow it in a field. It has since been extremely multiplied and diffused through the country. Some eminent maltsters and brewers have declared, that it contains more saccharine matter than any other sort; and the trials hitherto made have convinced many agriculturists that it is not only heavier in the grain, but also

more productive. In 1832 Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, who was always foremost in all agricultural experiments and improvements, sowed a conFig. 3.

but because, when deprived of its skin and made into pot barley, it swells by boiling, and makes a good substitute for rice in broths and Fig. 4.

Chevalier Barley.

siderable portion of land with this barley, and the result is said to have been perfectly satisfactory. In the year 1833 the writer of this article sowed two acres of Chevalier barley in the same field with some of the best of the common barley. The soil was poor light sand, but in good order, and very clean. The produce of the whole was nearly the same, four quarters per acre; but the Chevalier barley weighed 57 lbs. per bushel, while the common weighed only 52. This gives the farmer an advantage of nearly ten per cent. The sample was very fine, and the whole that he could spare was eagerly purchased by his neighbours for seed at his own price. It is long in the ear and very plump, and the plants tiller so much, that half a bushel may be saved per acre in the seed. This is probably owing to its grains being all perfect, and vegetating rapidly. The straw, like that of the other long-eared barleys, appears weak in proportion to the ear; it is said also to be harder, and not so palatable to cattle. These are circum. stances which experience alone can ascertain. That hitherto it has a decided superiority over the common sorts, no one who has tried it fairly in well-prepared land seems to deny; but unless great care be taken in cultivating picked parcels for seed, selecting the finest ears and plumpest grain, it will probably share the fate of its predecessors degenerate, and lose its reputation. This contingency, though anticipated many years ago, has not, however, yet (1859) befallen the Chevalier barley: it is still held to be among the best varieties we possess. There are many additional sorts of two-rowed barley deserving the attention of growers, under the different circumstances of soil and climate in which this grain is cultivated, as the Dunlop, the Annat, the so-called Italian; and other varieties might be named. The Annat barley and Italian are good, stiff-strawed sorts, standing well where other kinds would be laid; the Dunlop is an early kind. A black, two-rowed barley, later than the kinds just named, but, in the instances in which we have known it tried, remarkable for its good malting quality, may also be named. There is also a black, six-rowed barley, not however of greater merit for late cold climates than the hardy bere commonly grown in Ireland and the highlands of Scotland. The Sprat, or Battledore, Barley (fig. 4), also called Putney Barley, from having been once extensively cultivated near that place, is in much esteem in Germany. It is the Hordeum Zeocriton; also called German rice, or rice barley, not from any resemblance it bears to rice,

A plant is said to tiller when it produces several stems from the crown of the root (fig. 5, a) at the surface of the soil.

Sprat (or Battledore) Barley.

puddings. It is not much cultivated in England at present, but it is hardy and productive, and grows well in stronger soils, especially the marly, and is well worth the attention of experimental agriculturists. It certainly was once in good repute in this country, and may suit particular soils and situations.

Might not the cultivation of the various kinds of grain purposely for seed be more generally practised, and form a distinct branch of agriculture? And would not this be well adapted to small occupiers and cottagers, who may have had allotments of land given or let to them, to enable them to live by their own labour and industry, without parochial aid? Thus the good qualities of any grain might be perpetuated, new varieties might be produced, and the defects corrected by cultivation, as is the case with horticultural plants.

All kinds of barley require nearly the same soil, and whether they are sown before winter or in spring, the ground must be well prepared, and the soil pulverised by repeated ploughings and harrowings, or by the operation of those instruments which have been invented for this especial purpose; in order that the fibres of the roots, which are very minute and delicate, may penetrate the soil easily in search of nourishment.

The cultivation of all the varieties is nearly the same, and is best understood in the counties of Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk, in which a great quantity of excellent barley is produced and malted for the London market. In the light soils, barley is invariably sown after turnips, which have been fed off the land by sheep, or been drawn to feed the cattle in winter in the yards or stalls, which, by means of an abundance of litter, make a vast supply of manure ready for the next turnip crop. When the land has been properly prepared for turnips [TURNIPS], and well manured, and the turnips have been carefully hoed, so that no weeds of any kind remain, it is then in the finest state for barley as soon as the turnips are off. Turnips require a wellpulverised soil, and so does barley. If the soil is very dry and light, the sheep folded upon it consolidate the surface by their treading, and enrich it by their urine and dung. As soon as a part of the field is cleared and the hurdles removed, the land is ploughed with a shallow furrow, and thus the sheep and the ploughs are often seen in the same field succeeding each other, that no time may be lost in turning in and covering the dung, which is very volatile, and would soon lose much of its qualities by the action of the sun and winds. This is sufficient. preparation for the seed, which may now be sown or drilled without delay.

In heavier soils, which have become tenacious by the winter's rains, or on which the sheep have been folded in wet weather, the soil may not be in a sufficiently divided state to receive the seed with advantage. In that case it must be worked and stirred till a proper tilth is produced: this is a great loss and hindrance, by increasing the