Page:History of Greece Vol II.djvu/246

 230 HISTORY OF GREECE. lainous region c/ the Laconian Taygetus. There is, however no part of Greece where the remains of ancient metallurgy appear now so conspicuous, as the island of Seriphos. The excellence and varieties of marble, from Pentelikus, Hymettus, Paros, Karystus, etc., and other parts of the country, so essen- tial for the purposes of sculpture and architecture, is wel) Known. 1 Situated under the same parallels of latitude as the coast of Asia Minor, and the southernmost regions of Italy and Spain, Greece produced wheat, barley, flax, wine, and oil, in the earliest times of which we have any knowledge ; 2 though the currants, Indian corn, silk, and tobacco, which the country now exhibits, are an addition of more recent times. Theophrastus and other authors, amply attest the observant and industrious agriculture prevalent among the ancient Greeks, as well as the care with which its various natural productions, comprehending a great diversity of plants, herbs, and trees, were turned to account. The cultivation of the vine and the olive, the latter indispensable to ancient life, not merely for the purposes which it serves at present, but also from the constant habit then prevalent of anoint- ing the body, appears to have been particularly elaborate ; and the many different accidents of soil, level, and exposure, which were to be found, not only in Hellas proper, but also among the scattered Greek settlements, afforded to observant planters mate- rials for study and comparison. The barley-cake esems to hava been more generally eaten than the wheaten loaf; 3 but one or 1 Strabo, x. p. 447 ; xiv. pp. 680-684. Stephan. Byz. T. AWj/t/'Of, AOKC tiaipuv. Kruse, Hellas, ch. iv. vol. i. p. 328. Fiedler, Reisen in Griechen- land, vol. ii. pp. 118-559. grew in Greece in the time of Pansanias, following, though with some doubt, the judgment of some critics, that /3w<r6f meant cotton. I now believe that this was a mistake, and have expunged the passage. 3 At the repast provided at the public cost for those who dined in the Prytaneium of Athens, Solon directed barley-cakes for ordinary days, wheaten bread for festivals (Athenseus, iv. p. 137). The milk of ewes and goats was in ancient Greece preferred to that of cows (Aristot. Hist. Animal, iii. 15,5-7); at present, also, cow's-milk and butter is considered unwholesome in Greece, and is seldom or never eaten (Krusc, Hellas, vol. i. ch. 4, p. 368).
 * Note to second edition. In my first edition, I had asserted that cotton