Luke 15:16

And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

The husks ... These were the pods of the carob bean,[2] a coarse, locust-like bean with a certain sugar content, still used in the East for feeding swine. The seeds of this bean are strangely uniform in size and weight, and they were used as the measure of a "Carat" by gem merchants, weight of one seed equaling one carat, that term being directly derived from "carob."[3] It was only the pod, or husk, of the bean which was edible, the seeds being very hard and worthless as food. This product is still sold in Manhattan, New York City, the flour made of the pods having a sweet, chocolate-like taste, not being in any way very delicious, but it is supposed to be healthful.

No man gave unto him ... Nothing disappears any more quickly than the friends who have drunk the liquor and helped waste the substance of a man like the prodigal. His plight was altogether pitiful.

[2] English Revised Version, margin, en loco.

[3] Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.