SOYER’S
PANTROPHEON.
[Illustration: _Pl. A_]
THE
PANTROPHEON
OR,
HISTORY OF FOOD,
And its Preparation,
FROM THE EARLIEST AGES OF THE WORLD.
BY A. SOYER,
AUTHOR OF
“The Gastronomic Regenerator” and the “Modern Housewife, or Ménagère,” &c.
EMBELLISHED WITH FORTY-TWO STEEL PLATES,
ILLUSTRATING THE GREATEST GASTRONOMIC MARVELS OF ANTIQUITY.
BOSTON:
TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS.
MDCCCLIII.
_The Author reserves his right of Translating this Work._
[Illustration]
LONDON:
VIZETELLY AND COMPANY, PRINTERS AND ENGRAVERS.
PETERBOROUGH COURT, FLEET STREET.
Contents.
Page
PANTROPHEON 3
I.
AGRICULTURE 9
II.
CEREALS 19
III.
GRINDING OF CORN 23
IV.
MANIPULATION OF FLOUR 30
V.
FRUMENTA 41
VI.
GRAINS: SEEDS 46
VII.
VEGETABLES 49
VIII.
DRIED VEGETABLES 53
Beans 53
Haricots 55
Peas 56
Lentils 57
IX.
KITCHEN GARDEN 59
Cabbage 60
Beet 62
Spinach 63
Mallows 64
Asparagus 64
Gourd 66
Turnips 67
Carrots 68
Blit (a sort of Beet) 68
Purslaine 68
Sorrel 69
Brocoli 69
Artichoke 70
Pompion 71
Cucumber 72
Lettuce 74
Endive 75
Onions 76
Leeks 77
Melon 77
Radish 79
Horse-Radish 80
Garlic 81
Eschalots 82
Parsley 82
Chervil 84
Water-Cresses 84
X.
PLANTS USED IN SEASONING 86
Poppy 86
Sesame 86
Sow-Thistle 87
Orach 87
Rocket 87
Fennel 88
Dill 88
Anise-Seed 88
Hyssop 88
Wild Marjoram 89
Savory 89
Thyme 89
Wild Thyme 89
Sweet Marjoram 89
Pennyroyal 90
Rue 90
Mint 90
Spanish Camomile 90
Cummin 91
Alisander 91
Capers 91
Asafœtida 91
Sumach 92
Ginger 92
Wormwood 93
XI.
FRUITS 95
XII.
STONE FRUIT 97
Olive Tree 97
Palm Tree 100
Cherry Tree 102
Apricot Tree 103
Peach Tree 104
Plum Tree 105
XIII.
PIP FRUIT 106
Quince Tree 106
Pear Tree 107
Apple Tree 108
Lemon Tree 109
Orange Tree 110
Fig Tree 112
Raspberry Tree 115
Currant Tree 115
Strawberry Plant 115
Mulberry Tree 116
XIV.
SHELL FRUIT 117
Almond Tree 117
Walnut Tree 118
Nut Tree 120
Pistachio Tree 120
Chesnut Tree 121
Pomegranate 122
XV.
ANIMAL FOOD 123
Rearing of Cattle 127
Markets 128
Butchers 129
XVI.
ANIMALS 133
The Pig 133
The Ox 142
The Lamb 146
The Kid 148
The Ass 150
The Dog 150
XVII.
POULTRY 152
The Cock 153
The Capon 154
The Hen 155
The Chicken 156
The Duck 168
The Goose 150
The Pigeon 162
The Guinea Hen 163
The Turkey Hen 168
The Peacock 166
XVIII.
MILK, BUTTER, CHEESE, AND EGGS 168
Milk 168
Butter 170
Cheese 173
Eggs 175
XIX.
HUNTING 179
The Stag 182
The Roebuck 184
The Deer 184
The Wild Boar 185
The Hare 188
The Rabbit 189
The Fox 190
The Hedgehog 190
The Squirrel 190
The Camel 190
The Elephant 191
XX.
FEATHERED GAME 193
The Pheasant 194
The Partridge 195
The Quail 196
The Thrush 197
The Blackbird 199
The Starling 200
The Flamingo 200
Fig-Pecker, or Beccafico 201
The Ortolan 203
The Ostrich 203
The Stork 204
The Sea-Swallow 204
The Wood-Hen, Bustard, Water-Hen, and Teal 206
The Woodcock, Snipe, Curlew, Crow, Turtle Dove, and Lark 207
XXI.
FISH 210
Sturgeon 216
Red Mullet 218
Sea-Eel 220
Lamprey 222
Sea-Wolf 223
Scarus, or Parrot-Fish 223
Turbot 224
Tunny 225
Conger-Eel 226
Eel 227
Pike 228
Carp 229
Eel-Pout 229
Trout 230
Gold Fish 230
Whiting 230
Cod Fish 231
Perch 232
Scate 233
Salmon 233
Sepia, or Cuttle-Fish 234
Swordfish 234
Shad 234
Rhombo, or Rhombus 235
Mugil 235
Mackerel 235
Haddock 236
Tench 236
Dragon Weaver 237
Loligo 237
Sole 237
Angel-Fish 237
File-Fish 237
Pilchard 238
Loach 238
Gudgeon 238
Herring 239
Anchovy 240
SHELL-FISH 241
Oysters 242
Sea-Hedgehog 245
Mussel 245
Scallop 246
Tortoise 246
Sea-Crawfish 247
Lobster 247
River Crayfish 248
Crab 248
Frogs 249
XXII.
THE COOK 251
THE KITCHEN 259
XXIII.
SEASONINGS 266
Salt 267
Brine 268
Digestive Salts 269
Garum 269
Honey 273
Sugar 275
Cinnamon 275
Cloves 276
Pepper 277
Verjuice 277
Vinegar 278
Truffle 279
Mushrooms 282
XXIV.
PASTRY 284
XXV.
WATER 293
XXVI.
BEVERAGES 299
Tea 306
Coffee 310
Chocolate 312
XXVII.
DRINKING CUPS 316
XXVIII.
WINE 322
LIQUEUR WINE 332
XXIX.
REPASTS 339
XXX.
VARIETY OF REPASTS 354
XXXI.
THE DINING-ROOM 363
XXXII.
THE TABLE 368
THE TABLE SEATS 372
XXXIII.
THE SERVANTS 376
XXXIV.
THE GUESTS 380
XXXV.
A ROMAN SUPPER 386
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 399
MODERN BANQUETS 401
TABLE OF REFERENCES 413
TABLE OF RECIPES 444
INDEX 449
List of Illustrations.
Page
PLATE A.
FRONTISPIECE--PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR.
PLATE B.
HEAVEN AND EARTH.
PLATE B.*
VICTUA, OR THE GODDESS OF GASTRONOMY.
PLATE I.
EGYPTIAN LABOURERS.--No. 1, Egyptian Labourer. No. 2, Sketch of a
Plough. No. 3, Basket. No. 4, Egyptian with Sickle, drawn by
Horses 12
PLATE II.
GREEK AND ROMAN PLOUGHS.--Nos. 1 and 2, Greek and Roman Ploughs.
No. 3, Plough, turned once or twice. No. 4, Plough, as used by the
Gauls 14
PLATE III.
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.--No. 1, Plain Sickle. No. 2A, Plough, from
the Georgics of Virgil. No. 3, Scythe. No. 4, Spade. No. 5, Pick-axe.
Nos. 6 and 7, Mattocks 16
PLATE IV.
ALCINOUS’S HAND-MILL 25
PLATE V.
JUMENTARIÆ MILLS 26
PLATE VI.
PLAUTUS’S HAND-MILL 27
PLATE VII.
CAPPADOCIA BREAD.--No. 1, Loaf of Bread. No. 2, Pastry Mould. No.
3, Cappadocia Bread. No. 4, Mould for ditto 38
PLATE VIII.
SCALES AND WEIGHTS 130
PLATE IX.
VARRO’S AVIARY 198
PLATE X.
APICIUS AND EPICURUS 201
PLATE XI.
REMAINS OF KITCHEN STOVES.--No. 1, Kitchen Stove. No. 2. Stock Pot.
No. 3, Ditto. No. 4, Ladles. No. 5, Brazier 259
PLATE XII.
STOCK POTS AND BROKEN STEWPAN 261
PLATE XIII.
KITCHEN UTENSILS.--No. 1, Boiler, of Bronze. No. 2, Flat Saucepan.
No. 3, Kettle. No. 4, Gridiron. No. 5, Trivet 262
PLATE XIV.
CHAFING-DISH AND SILVER CUP.--No. 1, Chafing-Dish.
No. 2, Silver Cup 263
PLATE XV.
SPOON, FORK, KNIFE, SIMPULUM, &c.--No. 1, Roman Silver Spoon. No.
2, Brass Knife. No. 3, Simpulum. No. 4, Ditto. No. 5, Fork 264
PLATE XVI.
ROMAN SILVER KNIFE-HANDLE, SILVER SPOON, AND DEEP DISH.--No. 1,
Silver Knife-handle. No. 2, Spoon. No. 3, Dish 265
PLATE XVII.
ROMAN AND EGYPTIAN PAILS.--No. 1, Pail, of Bronze. No. 2, Pail, with
Two Handles (Egyptian) 297
PLATE XVIII.
DRINKING-CUPS.--No. 1, Drinking-Cups (Shaded). No. 2, Ditto, Pig’s
Head and Dog’s Head 316
PLATE XVIII.A
DRINKING-CUPS.--No. 3, Ram’s Head. No. 4, Boar’s Head 317
PLATE XIX.
DRINKING-HORNS.--Nos. 1 and 2, Drinking-Horns. No. 3, Horn, Aztec’s
Head 318
PLATE XX.
CRYSTAL VASE 319
PLATE XXI.
MURRHIN CUP 321
PLATE XXII.
RELICS FROM HERCULANEUM.--No. 1, Wine Press. No. 2, Diogenes.
No. 3, Beast of Burthen (a toy) 325
PLATE XXIII.
COLUM NIVARUM 327
PLATE XXIV.
VESSELS FOR HOLDING WINE.--No. 1, Amphora. Nos. 2 and 3, Smaller
Dolium. No. 4, Long-neck Bottle 328
PLATE XXV.
VASES FOR WINE.--No. 1, Large Vase. No. 2, Glass Vase. No. 3, Glass
Bottle, with Cup 363
PLATE XXVI.
VASES FOR WINE.--No. 1, Glass Vase. No. 2, Ditto. No. 3, Etruscan,
Three Handles. No. 4, Large Silver Vase. No. 5, Cantharus 364
PLATE XXVI.A
CURIOUS ORNAMENTAL TERRA-COTTA CUPS.--No. 1, Goose. No. 2, Teapot.
No. 3, Jupiter’s Head 365
PLATE XXVI.B
HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK’S VASE 366
PLATE XXVII.
VASES FOR WINE.--No. 1, Etruscan Flat Vase. No. 2, Marble Vase.
No. 3, Metal Vase. No. 4, Greek Etruscan Drinking Vase 370
PLATE XXVIII.
PROCILLATORES AND TRICLINIUM.--No. 1, Procillatores.
No. 2, Triclinium 378
PLATE XXIX.
ROMAN SUPPER 386
PLATE XXX.
No. 1, Greek Etruscan Vase. No. 2, Greek Terra-Cotta Vase. No. 3,
Etruscan Terra-Cotta Vase. No. 4, Glass Amphora, for Falernian
Wine. No. 5, Terra-Cotta Amphora, for Falernian Wine 390
PLATE XXX.*
CRATER, OR DRINKING CUP 391
PLATE XXXI.
No. 1, Curious Silver Dish. Nos. 2 and 3, Silver ditto 392
PLATE XXXII.
NERO AND HELIOGABALUS 398
PLATE XXXIII.
YORK BANQUET 404
PLATE XXXIV.
WILD BOAR A LA TROYENNE, AND THE HUNDRED GUINEA DISH 406
PLATE XXXV.
THREE SILVERED GLASS CUPS 407
THIS WORK
Is Dedicated by the Author
TO THE
GENIUS OF GASTRONOMY.
[Illustration]
PANTROPHEON.
“I did feast with Cæsar.”
SHAKSPERE.--“_Julius Cæsar_,” Act iii., _Sc._ 3.
“Dis-moi, ce que tu manges,
Je te dirai ce que tu es.”
BRILLAT-SAVARIN.--“_Physiologie du Goût._”
Thanks to the impressions received in boyhood, Rome and Athens always
present themselves to our minds accompanied by the din of arms, shouts
of victory, or the clamours of plebeians crowded round the popular
tribune. “And yet,” said we, “nations, like individuals, have two modes
of existence distinctly marked--one intellectual and moral, the other
sensual and physical; and both continue to interest through the lapse of
ages.”
What, for instance, calls forth our sympathies more surely than to
follow from the cradle that city of Romulus--at first so weak, so
obscure, and so despised--through its prodigious developments, until,
having become the sovereign mistress of the world, it seems, like
Alexander, to lament that the limits of the globe restrict within so
narrow a compass its ungovernable ardour for conquest, its insatiable
thirst of _opima spolia_ and tyrannical oppression. In like manner, a
mighty river, accounted as nothing at its source, where a child can step
across, receives in its meandrous descent the tribute of waters, which
roll on with increasing violence, and rush at last from their too narrow
bed to inundate distant plains, and spread desolation and terror.
History has not failed to record, one by one, the battles, victories,
and defeats of nations which no longer exist; it has described their
public life,--their life in open air,--the tumultuous assemblies of the
forum,--the fury of the populace,--the revolts of the camps,--the
barbarous spectacles of those amphiteatres, where the whole pagan
universe engaged in bloody conflict, where gladiators were condemned to
slaughter one another for the pastime of the over-pampered inhabitants
of the Eternal City--sanguinary spectacles, which often consigned twenty
or thirty thousand men to the jaws of death in the space of thirty days!
But, after all, neither heroes, soldiers, nor people, can be always at
war; they cannot be incessantly at daggers drawn on account of some
open-air election; the applause bestowed on a skilful and courageous
_bestiarius_ is not eternal; captives may be poignarded in the Circus by
way of amusement, but only for a time. Independently of all these
things, there is the home, the fire-side, the prose of life, if you
will; nay, let us say it at once, the business of life--eating and
drinking.
It is to that we have devoted our vigils, and, in order to arrive at our
aim, we have given an historical sketch of the vegetable and animal
alimentation of man from the earliest ages; therefore it will be easily
understood why we have taken the liberty of saying to the austere Jew,
the voluptuous Athenian, the obsequious or vain-glorious senator of
imperial Rome, and even to the fantastical, prodigal, and cruel Cæsars:
“Tell me what thou eatest, and I will tell thee who thou art.”
But, it must be confessed that our task was surrounded with
difficulties, and required much laborious patience and obstinate
perseverance. It is easy to penetrate into the temples, the baths, and
the theatres of the ancients; not so to rummage their cellars, pantries,
and kitchens, and study the delicate magnificence of their dining-rooms.
Now it was there, and there alone, that we sought to obtain access.
With that view we have had recourse to the only possible means: we have
interrogated those old memoirs of an extinct civilisation which connect
the present with the past; poets, orators, historians, philosophers,
epistolographers, writers on husbandry, and even those who are the most
frivolous or the most obscure--we have consulted all, examined all,
neglected nothing. Our respectful curiosity has often emboldened us to
peep into the sacred treasure of the annals of the people of God; and
sometimes the doctors of the Primitive Church have furnished us with
interesting traits of manners and customs, together with chance
indications of domestic usages, disseminated, and, as it were, lost in
the midst of grave moral instruction.
The fatigue of these unwonted researches appeared to us to be fully
compensated by the joy we experienced on finding our hopes satisfied by
some new discovery. Like the botanist, who forgets his lassitude at the
unexpected sight of a desired plant, we no longer remembered the dust of
fatidical volumes, nor the numberless leaves we had turned over, when by
a happy chance our gastronomic enthusiasm espied a curious and rare
dish.
Thus it is that this work--essay, we ought to call it--has been slowly
and gradually augmented with the spoils of numerous writers of
antiquity, both religious and profane.
We have avoided, as much as possible, giving to this book a didactic and
magisterial character, which would have ill-accorded with the apparent
lightness of the subject, and might have rendered it tedious to most
readers. We know not whether these researches will be considered
instructive, but we hope they will amuse.
When we compare the cookery of the ancients with our own--and the
parallel naturally presents itself to the mind--it often betrays strange
anomalies, monstrous differences, singular perversions of taste, and
incomprehensible amalgamations, which baffle every attempt at
justification. Apicius himself, or perhaps the Cœlius of the 3rd
century, to whom we owe the celebrated treatise “_De Opeoniis_,” would
run great risk--if he were now to rise from his tomb, and attempted to
give vogue to his ten books of recipes--either of passing for a poisoner
or of being put under restraint as a subject decidedly insane. It
follows, then, that although we have borrowed his curious lucubrations,
we leave to the Roman epicurean and to his times the entire
responsibility of his work.
The reader will also remark, in the course of this volume, asserted
facts of a striking oddity, certain valuations which appear to be
exaggerated, some descriptions he will pronounce fabulous or
impossible. Now, we have never failed to give our authorities, but we
are far from being willing to add our personal guarantee; so that we
leave all those antique frauds--if any--to be placed to the account of
the writers who have traitorously furnished them.
We think, however, that most persons will peruse with some interest
(and, let us hope, a little indulgence) these studies on an art which,
like all arts invented by necessity or inspired by pleasure, has kept
pace with the genius of nations, and became more refined and more
perfect in proportion as they themselves became more polite.
It appears that the luxury and enchantments of the table were first
appreciated by the Assyrians and Persians, those voluptuous Asiatics,
who, by reason of the enervating mildness of the climate, were powerless
to resist sensual seductions.
Greece--“beloved daughter of the gods”--speedily embellished the
culinary art with all the exquisite delicacy of her poetic genius. “The
people of Athens,” says an amiable writer, whom we regret to quote from
memory, “took delight in exercising their creative power, in giving
existence to new arts, in enlarging the aureola of civilisation. At
their voice, the gods hastened to inhabit the antique oak; they
disported in the fountains and the streams; they dispersed themselves in
gamesome groups on the tops of the mountains and in the shade of the
valleys, while their songs and their balmy breath mingled with the
harmonious whisperings of the gentle breeze.”
What cooks! what a table! what guests! in that Eden of paganism--that
land of intoxicating perfumes, of generous wines, and inexhaustible
laughter! The Lacedæmonians alone, those cynics of Greece, threw a
saddening shade over the delicious picture of present happiness
undisturbed by any thought of to-morrow.
Let us not forget that an Athenian, not less witty than nice, and,
moreover, a man of good company, has left us this profound aphorism:
“_La viande la plus délicate est celle qui est le moins viande; le
poisson le plus exquis est celui qui est le moins poisson._”
Rome was long renowned for her austere frugality, and it is remarked
that, during more than five centuries, the art of making bread was there
unknown, which says little for her civilisation and intelligence.
Subsequently, the conquest of Greece, the spoils of the subjugated
world, the prodigious refinements of the Syracusans, gave to the
conquered nations, says Juvenal, a complete revenge on their
conquerors. The unheard-of excesses of the table swallowed up
patrimonies which seemed to be inexhaustible, and illustrious
dissipators obtained a durable but sad renown.
The Romans had whimsical tastes, since they dared serve the flesh of
asses and dogs, and ruined themselves to fatten snails. But, after all,
the caprices of fashion, rather than the refinement of sensuality,
compelled them to adopt these strange aliments. Paulus Æmilius, no doubt
a good judge in such matters, formed a high opinion of the elegance
displayed by his compatriots in the entertainments; and he compared a
skilful cook, at the moment when he is planning and arranging a repast,
to a great general.
We were very anxious to enrich our “PANTROPHEON” with a greater number
of _Bills of Fare_, or details of banquets; but we have become persuaded
that it is very difficult, at the present day, to procure a complete and
accurate account of the arrangement of feasts at which were seated
guests who died two or three thousand years ago. Save and except the
indications--more or less satisfactory, but always somewhat vague--which
we gather on this subject from Petronius, Athenæus, Apuleius, Macrobius,
Suetonius, and some other writers, we can do little more than establish
analogies, make deductions, and reconstruct the entire edifice of an
antique banquet by the help of a few data, valuable, without doubt, but
almost always incomplete.
One single passage in Macrobius--a curious monument of Roman
cookery--will supply the place of multiplied researches: it is the
description of a supper given by the Pontiff Lentulus on the day of his
reception. We present it to the amateurs of the magiric art:
“The first course (_ante-cœna_) was composed of sea-hedgehogs, raw
oysters in abundance, all sorts of shell-fish, and asparagus. The second
service comprised a fine fatted pullet, a fresh dish of oysters, and
other shell-fish, different kinds of dates, univalvular shell-fish (as
whelks, conchs, &c.), more oysters, but of different kinds, sea-nettles,
beccaficoes, chines of roe-buck and wild boar, fowls covered with a
perfumed paste, a second dish of shell-fish, and purples--a very costly
kind of Crustacea. The third and last course presented several
_hors-d’œuvre_, a wild boar’s head, fish, a second set of
_hors-d’œuvre_, ducks, potted river fish, leverets, roast fowls, and
cakes from the marshes of Ancona.”
All these delicacies would very much surprise an epicurean of the
present day, particularly if they were offered to him in the order
indicated by Macrobius. The text of that writer, as it is handed down to
us, may be imperfect or mutilated; again, he may have described the
supper of Lentulus from memory, regardless of the order prescribed for
those punctilious and learned transitions to which a feast owes all its
value.
Let us, we would say, in addressing our culinary colleagues, avoid those
deplorable _lacunes_; let us preserve for future generations, who may be
curious concerning our gastronomic pomp, the minutiæ of our memorable
magiric meetings, prompted, almost without exception, by some highly
civilising idea--a love of the arts, the commercial propagandism, or a
feeling of philanthropy. The Greeks and Romans--egotists, if there ever
were any--supped for themselves, and lived only to sup; our pleasures
are ennobled by views more useful and more elevated. We often dine for
the poor, and we sometimes dance for the afflicted, the widow, and the
orphan.
Moreover, a most important ethnographical consideration seems to give a
serious interest to the diet of a people, if it be true, as we are
convinced it is, and as we shall probably one day endeavour to
demonstrate, that the manners of individuals, their idiosyncrasies,
inclinations, and intellectual habits, are modified, to a certain
extent, as taste, climate, and circumstances may determine the nature of
their food; an assertion which might be supported by irrefragable
proofs, and would show the justness of the aphorism: “Tell me what thou
eatest, and I will tell thee who thou art.”
[Illustration: _Pl. B_
VICTUA
_or_
THE GODDESS OF GASTRONOMY
]
I.
AGRICULTURE
Every nation has attributed the origin of agriculture to some beneficent
Deity. The Egyptians bestowed this honour on Osiris, the Greeks on Ceres
and Triptolemus, the Latins on Saturn, or on their king Janus, whom, in
gratitude, they placed among the gods. All nations, however, agree that,
whoever introduced among them this happy and beneficial discovery, has
been most useful to man by elevating his mind to a state of sociability
and civilization.[I-1]
Many learned men have made laborious researches in order to discover,
not only the name of the inventor of agriculture, but the country and
the century in which he lived; some, however, have failed in their
inquiry. And why? Because they have forgotten, in their investigation,
the only book which could give them positive information on the birth of
society, and the first development of human industry. We read in the
Book of Genesis that: “The Lord God took the man, and put him into the
garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it”[I-2] And, after having
related his fatal disobedience, the sacred historian adds: “Therefore
the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground
from whence he was taken.”[I-3]
Would it be possible to adduce a more ancient and sublime authority?
If it be asked why we take Moses as our guide, instead of dating the
origin of human society from those remote periods which are lost in the
night of ages, we invoke one of the most worthy masters of human
science--the illustrious Cuvier--who says:--
“No western nation can produce an uninterrupted chronology of more than
three thousand years. Not one of them has any record of connected facts
which bears the stamp of probability anterior to that time, nor even for
two or three centuries after. The Greeks acknowledge that they learned
the art of writing from the Phœnicians thirty or thirty-four
centuries ago; and for a long time after that period their history is
filled with fables, in which they only go back three hundred years to
establish the cradle of their existence as a nation. Of the history of
western Asia we have only a few contradictory extracts, which embrace,
in an unconnected form, about twenty centuries. The first profane
historian with whom we are acquainted by works extant is Herodotus, and
his antiquity does not reach _two thousand three hundred years_. The
historians consulted by him had written less than _a century_ previous;
and we are enabled to judge what kind of historians they were by the
extravagances handed down to us as extracts from Aristæus, Proconesus,
and some others. Before them they had only poets; and Homer, the master
and eternal model of the west, lived only _two thousand seven hundred_,
or _two thousand eight hundred, years ago_. One single nation has
transmitted to us annals, written in prose, before the time of Cyrus: it
is the Jewish nation. That part of the Old Testament called the
_Pentateuch_ has existed in its present form at least ever since the
schism of Jeroboam, as the Samaritans receive it equally with the Jews,
that is to say, that it has assuredly existed more than _two thousand
eight hundred_ years. There is no reason for not attributing the Book of
Genesis to Moses, which would carry us back _five hundred_ years more,
or _thirty-three centuries_; and it is only necessary to read it in
order to perceive that it is, in part, a compilation of fragments from
antecedent works: wherefore, no one can have the least doubt of its
being the oldest book now possessed by the western nations.”[I-4]
The descendants of our first parents--and, first of all, the Hebrew
people, who, as a nation historically considered, must occupy our
foremost attention--devoted all their energy to agricultural labour.
The chief of the tribe of Judah as well as the youngest son of the tribe
of Benjamin followed the plough, and gathered corn in the fields. Gideon
was thrashing and winnowing his corn, when an angel revealed to him that
he should be the deliverer of Israel;[I-5] Ruth was gleaning when Boaz
saw her for the first time;[I-6] King Saul was driving his team of oxen
in the ploughed field, when some of his court came and apprized him that
the city of Jabesh was in danger;[I-7] and Elisha was called away to
prophesy while at work with one of his father’s ploughs.[I-8] We could
multiply these incidents without end, to prove what extraordinary
interest the Jews took in agricultural occupations.
Moses regarded agriculture as the first of all arts, and he enjoined the
Hebrews to apply themselves to it in preference to any other: it was to
the free and pure air of the fields, to the strengthening, healthy, and
laborious country life, that he called their first attention. The sages
of Greece and Rome held the same opinion: in those republics the
tradesman was but an obscure individual, while the tiller of the soil
was considered as a distinguished citizen. The urban tribes yielded
precedence to the rustics, and this latter class supplied the nation
with its generals and its magistrates.[I-9] Our present ideas on this
point have materially changed with the times, and our modern Cincinnati
very seldom return to the field to terminate the furrow they have
commenced. The Israelites did not possess this excessive delicacy: they
preserved the taste for agriculture with which their great legislator,
Moses, had inspired them, and which the distribution of land naturally
tended to strengthen. No one, in fact, was allowed to possess enough
ground to tempt him to neglect the smallest portion; nor had any one the
right to dispossess the Hebrew of his father’s field,--even he himself
was forbidden to alienate for ever land from his family.[I-10] This wise
disposition did not escape the notice of an ancient heathen
author,[I-11] and various states of Greece adopted the same plan;
amongst others, the Locrians, Athenians, and Spartans, who did not allow
their fathers’ inheritance to be sold.[I-12]
The plan which we have adopted for our guidance in this work hardly
justifies us in casting more than a glance at the Mosaic legislation; we
shall, therefore, pass over all those prescriptions, all those memorable
prohibitions, which the reader must have so often admired in the Books
of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and content ourselves with observing that
Moses knew how to find in agriculture an infallible means of developing
the industry of his people, and that, by imposing the necessity of
giving rest to the land every seventh year,[I-13] he obliged them, by
the generality of this repose, to have stores in reserve; and
consequently to employ every means of preserving portions of the grain,
fruit, wines, and oil which they had gathered in the course of the six
years preceding.
Ancient casuists of this nation enter into the most minute details on
tillage and sowing, and also on the gathering of olives, on the tithes
which were paid to the priests, and the portion set aside for the poor.
They also mention some species of excellent wheat, barley, rice, figs,
dates, &c., which were gathered in Judea.[I-14]
The soil of this delicious country was astonishingly fertile,[I-15] the
operation of tillage was easy, and the cattle here supplied a greater
abundance of milk than anywhere else;[I-16] we will just remark that
even the names of several localities indicate some of these advantages.
For instance, Capernaum signified a beautiful country town; Gennesareth,
the garden of the groves; Bethsaida, the house of plenty; Nam was
indebted for its sweet name to the beauty of its situation; and Magdela,
on the borders of the sea of Galilee, to its site, and the happy life of
its inhabitants.
Next to the Hebrews, in agriculture, came the Egyptians, a strange and
fantastical people, who raised the imperishable pyramids, the statue of
Memnon, and the lighthouse of Alexandria, and who yet prayed religiously
every morning to their goddess--a _radish_, or their gods--_leek_ and
_onion_.[I-17] Whatever there may be of folly and rare industry in this
mixture, we cannot but agree that the art of agriculture was very
ancient in Egypt, as the father of the faithful--Abraham--retired into
that country at a time of famine;[I-18] and, later, the sons of Jacob
went there also to purchase corn.[I-19]
We know that the Romans called this province the granary of the empire,
and that they drew from it every year twenty million bushels of
corn.[I-20] If we are to believe the Egyptians, Osiris, son of Jupiter
(and hence a demi-god of good family), taught them the art of tilling
the ground by aid of the plough.[I-21] This instrument, we may easily
believe, was much less complicated than ours of the present day; there
is no doubt that in the beginning, and for a great length of time
afterwards,
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE No. I.
No. 1. Represents an Egyptian labourer tilling the ground with a
pickaxe of a simple form; drawn at Thebes, by Mons. Nectoul, member
of the commission of the French expedition in Egypt, from paintings
in the subterranean vaults of Minich.
No. 2. Is a sketch of the plough, which a great number of Egyptian
figures hold as an attribute; this was taken from the subterranean
vault of Eileithya; it represents the plough guided by a labourer,
and drawn by oxen tied by the horns, and whipped by a second
labourer, whilst a third, placed by the side of the oxen, throws
before them the seeds which are to be covered by the ploughed
earth.
No. 3. A basket to carry the seeds. On the tombs of the kings of
Thebes is seen painted a sower, with a basket like this, an
attribute which is seen hanging on the back of the divinity Osiris.
No. 4. Represents an Egyptian with a sickle, much like in shape to
a scythe; and Denon, of the French expedition, proved that corn was
also cut with a scythe.
[Illustration: _Pl. 1_]
it was nothing but a long piece of wood without joint, and bent in such
manner that one end went into the ground, whilst the other served to
yoke the oxen;[I-22] for it was always these animals which drew the
plough, although Homer seems to give the preference to mules.[I-23]
The Greeks, clever imitators of the Egyptians, pretended that Ceres
taught them the art of sowing, reaping, and grinding corn; they made her
goddess of harvest, and applied themselves to the labour of agriculture
with that rare and persevering ability which always characterised these
people, and consequently was often the cause of many things being
attributed to them which they only borrowed from other nations.[I-24]
The Romans, future rulers of the world, understood from the first that
the earth claimed their nursing care; and Romulus instituted an order of
priesthood for no other object than the advancement of this useful art.
It was composed of the twelve sons of his nurse, all invested with a
sacerdotal character, who were commanded to offer to Heaven vows and
sacrifices in order to obtain an abundant harvest. They were called
_Arvales_ brothers;[I-25] one of them dying, the king took his place,
and continued to fulfil his duty for the rest of his life.[I-26]
In the palmy days of the republic, the conquerors of the universe passed
from the army or the senate to their fields;[I-27] Seranus was sowing
when called to command the Roman troops, and Quintus Cincinnatus was
ploughing when a deputation came and informed him that he was appointed
dictator.
Everything in the conduct of the Romans gives evidence of their great
veneration for agriculture. They called the rich, _locupletes_, that is,
persons who were possessors of a farm or country seat (_locus_); their
first money was stamped with a sheep or an ox, the symbol of abundance:
they called it _pecunia_, from _pecus_ (flock). The public treasure was
designated _pascua_, because the Roman domain consisted, at the
beginning, only of pasturage.
After the taking of Carthage, the books of the libraries were
distributed to the allied princes of the republic, but the senate
reserved the twenty-eight books of Mago on agriculture.[I-28]
We shall briefly point out the principal processes of this art in use
among the Greeks and Romans, or at least those which appear to us most
deserving of interest. Like us, the ancients divided the land in
furrows, whose legal length (if we may so term it) was one hundred and
thirty feet.[I-29] Oxen were never allowed to stop while tracing a
furrow, but on arriving at the end they rested a short time; and when
their task was over they were cleaned with the greatest care, and their
mouths washed with wine.[I-30] The ground being well prepared and fit to
receive the seed, the grain was spread on the even surface of the
furrows, and then covered over.[I-31]
The primitive plough, already mentioned, was of extreme simplicity. It
had no wheels, but was merely furnished with a handle, to enable the
ploughman to direct it according to his judgment; neither was there any
iron or other metal in its construction. They afterwards made a plough
of two pieces, one of a certain length to put the oxen to, and the other
was shorter to go in the ground; it was similar, in shape, to an anchor.
Such was the style of plough which the Greeks used.[I-32] They also very
often employed a sort of fork, with three or four prongs, for the same
purpose.[I-33] Pliny gives credit to the Gauls for the invention of the
plough mounted on wheels. The Anglo-Norman plough had no wheels;[I-34]
the ploughman guided it with one hand, and carried a stick in the other
to break the clods.
The Greeks and Romans had not, perhaps, the celebrated guano of our
days, though we would not positively assert it; but they knew of a great
variety of manures, all well adapted to the various soils they wished to
improve. Sometimes they made use of marl, a sort of fat clay;[I-35] and
frequently manure from pigeons, blackbirds, and thrushes, which were
fattened in aviaries[I-36] for the benefit of Roman epicures. Certain
plants, they thought, required a light layer of ashes, which they
obtained from roots and brushwood;[I-37] others succeeded best,
according to their dictum, on land where sheep, goats, &c., had grazed
for a long time.[I-38]
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE No. II.
Nos. 1 & 2. Greek and Roman plough, made of several pieces; the
first taken from the “Miscelan. Erudit.” of Spon, the second from
an engraved stone in the gallery of Florence.
No. 3. Plough, made of one crooked piece of wood, turned once or
twice.
No. 4. Plough, as used by the Gauls, furnished with wheels.
When the harvest season arrived, they joyfully prepared to cut the corn,
with instruments varying in form according to the locality or the fancy
of the master. In one place they adopted the plain sickle,[I-39] in
another that with teeth.[I-40] Sometimes they mowed the corn, as they
did the meadows, with a scythe;[I-41] or else they plucked off the ears
with a kind of fork, armed with five teeth.[I-42] A short time after the
harvest, the operation of thrashing generally began. Heavy chariots,
armed with
[Illustration: _Pl. 2_]
pointed teeth, crushed the ears: Varro calls this machine the
“Carthaginian chariot.”[I-43] Strabo asserts that the ancient Britons
carried the corn into a large covered area, or barn, where they thrashed
it; adding that, without this precaution, the rain and damp would have
spoiled the grain.[I-44] At all events, this kind of thrashing in barns,
with flails and sticks, was not unknown to other countries; Pliny speaks
of it,[I-45] and Columella describes it;[I-46] we may add that the
Egyptians were also very probably acquainted with this method, since the
Jews, who had submitted to their power, employed it themselves.[I-47]
When the corn had been thrashed, winnowed, and put into baskets very
similar to our own of the present day,[I-48] they immediately studied
the best means of preserving it: some preferred granaries exposed to a
mild temperature, others had extensive edifices with thick brick walls
without openings, except one hole only, in the roof, to admit light and
air.
The Spaniards, Africans, and Cappadocians, dug deep ditches, from which
they excluded all moisture; they covered the bottom and lined the sides
with straw, then put in the grain, and covered it up. The ancients were
of opinion that corn in the ear could, by this means, be preserved a
great number of years.[I-49]
If it is desirable to keep corn for any length of time, choose the
finest and best grown. After having worked it, make a pile as high as
the ceiling will permit. Cover with a layer of quicklime, powdered, of
about three inches thick; then, with a watering-pot, moisten this lime,
which forms a crust with the corn. The outside seeds bud, and shoot
forth a stalk, which perishes in winter. This corn is only to be touched
when necessity requires it. At Sedan, a warehouse has been seen, hewed
out of the rock and tolerably damp, in which there had been a
considerable pile of corn for the last hundred and ten years. It was
covered with a crust a foot thick, on which persons might walk without
bending or breaking it in the slightest degree.
Marshal Vauban proposed eating corn in soup, without being ground; it
was boiled during two or three hours in water, and when the grains had
burst, a little salt, butter, or milk, was added. This food is very
nice, not unwholesome, and might be employed when flour is scarce,
heated, or half-rotten.--DUTOUR.
The Chinese instituted a ceremony which had for its base to honour the
profession of agriculture: every year, at the time of ploughing the
fields, the emperor with all his court paid a visit to his country
residence near Pekin, and then marked out several furrows with his
plough.
In 1793, the National Convention of France instituted also a similar
fête; and the president of the local administration of his county was to
mark out a furrow.
In 1848 a grand republican procession took place through Paris, to the
Champ de Mars, wherein agriculture played a prominent part.
The first treatise on agriculture was printed in 1538; and its
importance has been so much felt from that period, that there are now in
France more than one hundred and twenty societies of agriculture, who
distribute prizes to encourage discoveries for the improvement of this
science.
We have, in our days, the Royal Agricultural Society of England, which
also awards prizes;[V] and through such institutions all information can
be obtained on the successive progresses made in that indispensable art,
which may be said to have arrived to such a degree of perfection, that
future generations may find some difficulty in improving upon it. One
great evidence of which is, the immense number of samples of
agricultural produce, machines, and implements of husbandry, which great
and the glorious Exhibition of 1851 has ushered to the world.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE No. III.
No. 1. Is the plain sickle. No. 2. Another, with teeth.
No. 3. A scythe, very similar to those now in use.
No. 4. A spade; its handle is supplied with a double crossbar,
fixed at a little distance off the spade, to support the foot; it
is still so used in Italy and the southern parts of France.
No. 5. A pickaxe, as it was found engraved on the various
sarcophagi; the pick end was sometimes flattened, and then called
pick-axe.
Nos. 6 and 7. The mattocks; the first was drawn from an engraved
stone in the “Monuments Antiq.” of Winckelmann.
No. 2 A. Represents a plough, composed according to the “Georgics”
of Virgil.
Previous to the arrival of the Romans, the ancient Britons paid but
little attention to agriculture. Their intestine discords left them
scarcely any leisure to cultivate their fields, or apply themselves to
the improvement of an art which flourishes only in peaceful times. They
reared a great number of cattle; but their chief corn was barley, of
which they made their favourite drink. They put the grain in the ear
into barns, and beat it out as they wanted it. Those inhabitants of the
island who were the least civilized subsisted solely on milk and the
flesh of animals,
[Illustration: _Pl. 3_]
which they had learned to master by their skill.[I-50] But the people of
this nation, for which Heaven had in reserve such a brilliant destiny,
knew how to endure hunger, cold, and fatigue, without a murmur. A Briton
passed entire days immersed to the neck in the stagnant waters of a
marsh; a few roots sufficed for his nourishment, and, if we are to
believe Dio, his frugal habits enabled him to appease the craving of his
stomach with an aliment composed of ingredients no longer known, and of
which he took each time, at long intervals, a quantity not exceeding in
size that of a bean.[I-51]
Let us add that the art of gardening was known rather early in Great
Britain, and that marl was employed to manure the land.[I-52]
The Anglo-Saxons employed themselves diligently in the cultivation of
the soil; they established farms, sowed grain, and reared cattle. The
fleece of their sheep furnished them with precious wool, which they
spun, and then converted into sumptuous clothing.[I-53]
Strutt gives us a curious detail of rural occupations at that epoch. We
will cite the original text:
“January exhibits the husbandman in the fields at plough, while his
attendant, diligently following, is sowing the grain.
“February. The grain being put into the earth, the next care was to
prune their trees, crop their vines, and place them in order.
“March. Then we follow them into the garden, where the industrious
labourer is digging up the ground, and sowing the vegetables for the
ensuing season.
“April. Now, taking leave of the laborious husbandman, we see the
nobleman regaling with his friends, and passing the pleasant month in
carousings, banquetings, and music.
“May brings the lord into the field to examine his flock, and
superintend the shearing of the sheep.
“June. With this month comes the gladsome time of harvest. Here are some
cutting down the corn, while it is, by others, bound up in sheaves and
laid into the carts, to be conveyed to the barns and granaries; in the
meantime they are spirited up to their labours by the shrill sound of
the enlivening horn.
“July. Here we find them employed in lopping the trees and felling of
timber, &c.
“August. In this month they cut down the barley with which they made
their old and best beloved drink (ale).
“September. Here we find the lord, attended by his huntsmen, pursuing
and chasing the wild boars in the woods and forests.
“October. And here he is amusing himself with the exercise of that old
and noble pastime, hawking.
“November. This month returns us again to the labourers, who are here
heating and preparing their utensils.
“December. In this last month we find them thrashing out the grain,
while some winnow or rather sift it, to free it from the chaff, and
others carry it out in large baskets to the granaries. In the meantime,
the steward keeps an account of the quantity, by means of an indented or
notched stick.”[I-54]
Agriculture was always protected with paternal solicitude by a prince,
whose name will ever remind us of the sanguinary day of Saint
Bartholomew. Here is a textual passage from the edict issued by Charles
IX., the 18th October, 1571.
“We have commanded and ordained, and do hereby command and ordain, that
no man engaged in the cultivation of land, by himself, his servants, and
his family, with intent to raise grain and fruit necessary for the
sustenance of men and beasts, shall be liable to the process of
execution for debt, nor on any account whatsoever, neither in his own
person, nor his bed, horses, mares, mules, asses, oxen, cows, pigs,
goats, sheep, poultry, ploughs, carts, waggons, harrows, barrows, nor
any other species or kind of cattle or goods serving in the said tillage
and occupation. * * * The said husbandmen being under our protection and
safeguard, seeing that we have so placed them and do place them by these
presents.”[I-55]
II.
CEREALS.
The nomenclature which the Romans have left us of their various kinds of
corn is so obscure and uncertain, that some modern writers are
continually contradicting each other, and, by these means, have raised
doubts which render our task more difficult, instead of enlightening us
on the subject.
We shall do all in our power to avoid the censure which we take the
liberty of passing upon them.
“_Triticum_,” wheat, or corn; “_Blé_,” from the ancient Latin word
“_Bladus_,” which signifies fruit or seed. The botanist Michaux has
discovered in Persia, on a mountain four days’ journey from Hamadan, the
place where wheat (a species known as _spelt_, from the Latin _spelta_)
is indigenous to the soil, from which we may presume that wheat has its
origin in that country, or some part of Asia not far from Persia. This
grain was more cultivated formerly than it is now; nevertheless, it is
still gathered in Italy, Switzerland, Alsace, in the Limousin and in
Picardy, to make bread, with spelt, a greater quantity of leaven, and,
above all, a little salt. This bread is white, light, savoury, and keeps
moist for several days.--PARMENTIER.
_Robus_, a variety of corn heavier than triticum, and remarkable for its
brilliant polish.
Every year, on the 25th of April, an appeal was made to the god Robigus,
to prevent the mildew from corrupting this fine specimen of corn. This
festival was founded by the great king, Numa Pompilius.[II-1]
_Siligo_, a beautiful quality of wheat, of great whiteness, but lighter
in weight than the preceding kind.[II-2]
_Trimestre_, a kind of siligo, sown in Spring, and which was ready for
reaping three months afterwards.
_Granea_, the grain merely deprived of its husk: it was boiled in water,
to which milk was added.[II-3]
_Hordeum_, barley.[II-4] The flour of this corn was the food of the
Jewish soldiers.[II-5] It was, with the Athenians, a favourite dish, but
among the Romans an ignominious food. Augustus threatened the cohorts
that, should they not fight bravely, he would punish every tenth man
with death, and give the remainder barley for food.[II-6] This corn was
certainly in use among the Egyptians in the time of Moses, since one of
the plagues which afflicted that people was the loss of the barley in
the ear before it came to maturity.[II-7]
_Panicum_, panic grass.[II-8] Certain inhabitants of Thrace and of the
borders of the Euxine, or Black Sea, preferred this to all other
food.[II-9]
_Millium_, millet, was used for making excellent cakes.[II-10]
_Secale_, rye.[II-11] Pliny thinks this grain detestable, and only good
to appease extreme hunger.[II-12]
_Avena_, oats.[II-13] Virgil had but very little esteem for this
grain.[II-14] The Romans cut it in the spring for the cattle to eat
green; and the Germans, in the time of Pliny, took great care in its
cultivation, and made a pulp of it which they thought excellent.[II-15]
_Oryza_, rice. Pliny[II-16] and Dioscorides[II-17] class it with the
wheats; whereas Galen, on the contrary, places it among vegetables.
Rice was rather scarce in Greece at the time when Theophrastus lived: it
had lately been brought from India, 286 years before Christ.
The ancients considered it most nutritious and fattening.[II-18]
_Zea_, spelt, or rice wheat,[II-19] equally esteemed by Greeks and
Latins.[II-20]
_Sesamum_, sesame. Pliny classes this among the seeds sown in
March,[II-21] and Columella places it among the vegetables.[II-22] The
Romans knew how to prepare this corn in a manner at once wholesome and
agreeable. They made it into very dainty cakes, which were served at
dessert,[II-23] whence sprang the saying _sesame cakes_, which was
applied to those sweet and flattering expressions called honied words
(in French, _paroles sucrées_).[II-24]