KNOWLTON: a fossil maize from PERU 135 



was perhaps drooping, unless it was held upright by the developing 

 leaves. The axis or "cob" has entirely disappeared so far as any 

 structural elements are concerned, and its place has been filled 

 by a closely cemented, fine-grained siliceous sand. The indi- 

 vidual kernels or grains of com are mostly roughly triangular in 

 shape, and markedly different in size. The grains are not ar- 

 ranged in vertical rows but in some parts of the ear there is evi- 

 dence of their being in diagonal rows, though this is perhaps ac- 

 cidental. When viewed as a whole the grains appear to be very 

 irregularly placed. In color the grains are dark brown, almost 

 black, and as the matrix replacing the axis is light yellow in 

 color, the grains stand out in strong relief. No structural or 

 cellular elements are retained in the interior of the grains, this 

 being filled with very fine-grained compact sand. 



Now the question arises as to the name by which this unique 

 specimen should be known. It must be confessed at once that 

 it proves exceedingly difficult, if not, indeed, impossible, to find 

 characters by which it can be adequately separated from certain 

 living types, such, for instance, as the Copacabana variety from 

 the regions of Lake Titicaca, yet the fact that it is so completely 

 fossilized lends support to the probability of its being several' 

 thousand years old instead of a few hundred years. For this 

 reason alone, and in order that it may be independently re- 

 ferred to, I venture to give it the name Zea antiqua. 



It is of course extremely unfortunate that nothing is known 

 as to the condition under which this specimen was found. If 

 this were known it might be possible to fix its age with a reason- 

 able degree of certainty. As it stands, however, there is little 

 but the fact of its thorough fossilization to base an opinion on, 

 and from this I venture the tentative suggestion that it seems 

 hardly likely to be younger than at least several thousand years. 

 In a recent paper on "The evolution of maize," by Paul Weather- 

 wax,^ he says: "Geology and archaeology are of little value to us 

 in solving these problems, since the oldest remains of these 

 plants found in the rocks or in human habitations are practically 

 modern." 



1 Bull. Torrey Club 45: 334. 1918. 



