text: " We plucked some _siligo_ or bearded wheat near Palermo the beard of which was eight inches long the ear contained sixty grains eight being also in this instance the average increase; how many grains then must perish in the ground! In Palermo English gunpowder is sold by British sailors at the high price of from five to seven shillings per English pound; the "Polvere _nostrale_" of the Sicilians only fetches 1s