332 
cum ceruleum ; in Bauhins’ theatre, 1658, 459, Arumentum indi- 
cum mays dictum alterum; and an apparent copy in Morrison 
oxon. 1699, s. 8, 4. 73,7. 7, is labelled /rumentum tdicum mays 
dictum. Peter Martyr, in his first decade, written in 1493, de- 
scribes the maizium of Hispaniola as a. black, pea-size grain, 
which when broken is “whiter then snowe,” and hence a soft 
corn. De Vega, in his Royal Commentaries, says the ancient 
Peruvians had a sort called capia, “ tender and highly esteemed.” 
The mummy corns that I have seen from Peru have been soft 
corns. Dobrezhoffer says the Guaranies of Paraguay had an abati 
moroti, which consists of very soft and white grains. The maize 
found by Darwin imbedded with shells and rubbish on a terrace 
85 feet above the beach in Peru, he declares identical with the 
kind found in the Peruvian huacas. In the Tusayan pueblo 
(New Mexican) flute ceremonial legend, as given by Matilda Coxe 
Stevenson, occurs the following passage: ‘ He then placed a yel- 
low ear of corn to the north of the bowl, a blue ear to the west, a 
red ear to the south, and a white to the east; a black for the 
zenith was placed by the side of the yellow ear, and the all-color 
for the nadir by the side of the red ear.” In these colors we seem 
to recognize soft corn, especially as in the Zuni collection of soft 
corn we have these colors, and the same varieties in the same 
color I have seen in soft corn brought to Santa Fé by tourists 
from the Tesuque pueblo, nine miles distant. Du Pratz, in his 
history of Louisiana, 1763, mentions as a variety “ flour maiz, 
which is white, with a flat and shrivelled surface, and is the softest _ 
of all kinds.” 
The soft corns have a wide distribution, and seem to have been . 
popular with Indians, as.the kernels are readily broken down ini: 
flour. I have recognized it from Manitoba in the North; inspect” 
mens fromthe cliff dwellings and as in cultivation in eleven vat 
eties by the Southwestern tribes ; in the Omaha corn of Nebraska; 
‘the Squaw corn of Michigan; the Wyandotte of Illinois; in the 
Tuscarora in three colors from North Carolina; in Mexican In- 
dian corn in thirteen varieties; in the maizium described for the 
West Indies; in two varieties described in,Peru; in the mummy 
corn of Peru; in five varieties from Chili, including the Cuzco. 
This latter is the largest kerneled corn known, some collections — 
. . 
