Besides the use of barley in brewing, there is in some countries, especially in Scotland and Germany, a great consumption of this grain, for broths, soups, and other food. For this purpose it is freed from its husks and formed into round granules, about the size of small shot, and of a pearly whiteness, which thence have the name of _pearl-barley_. All except the heart or best part of the grain is thus taken away. The barley, in this state, when boiled, forms a nutritive food; and a decoction of it, properly flavoured with acid, is said to be one of the best beverages that can be adopted in acute diseases. The making of pearl barley is a German invention. In Scotland the lower classes make it by means of hand-mills; and many persons are satisfied with merely ridding the grain of its husks by stamping it in mortars. _Barley-meal_ is occasionally made into bread by the poor; and it is likewise used for the fattening of poultry and swine. From _barley-straw_ a yellowish coloured paper has been manufactured; the making of which was, some years ago, attempted in this country upon a large scale, but without success. 31. _RYE_ (Secale cereale, Fig. 16.) _is a kind of grain supposed to have been first introduced into the northern parts of Europe from the island of Crete._ As bread corn, sometimes alone, but more commonly mixed with wheat, rye was formerly in great request, particularly in the northern counties of England. This mixture, which is denominated _blend-corn_, or _maslin_, is at present partially used, in certain districts, not only from motives of economy, but also because the rye is supposed to render the bread more moist and palatable than it would otherwise be. In some part of the country, rye is much used by ginger-bread bakers, for the dark colour of its flour is not perceptible, when mixed with treacle. This species of grain is frequently used for the distillation of spirits. It has been remarked, in some districts of France, that rye, from bad seasons, or from other causes, has proved noxious and even poisonous. The grains of the corn, thus degenerated, are black on the outside and tolerably white within; and, when dry, are harder and closer than good grain. Bread that is made of rye which contains even a great quantity of this bad corn, is not distinguishable by the taste, from other rye bread; and it seldom produces its ill effects till some time after it has been eaten, it is then said to occasion gangrenes in the legs and other parts of the body, and dangerous fevers. The poorer people, however, are those chiefly who are subject to these diseases, as many of them have little other substantial food to subsist upon than bread made of this species of corn.