But the spirit of research, fostered by the fusion of races and the social and intellectual competition thus engendered, was not crushed by these proceedings; and for the next century and more the higher minds of Spain found in Damascus and Bagdad the intellectual aliment which they desired.
The opinion of Pliny, that it is the most ancient aliment of mankind, appears to be well-founded, for no less than three varieties have been found in the lake dwellings of Switzerland, in deposits belonging to the Stone Period.