CHAPTER XXIII 



OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS 



"Zar de tres tintas, indio, bianco, y negro, 

 Que rige el continente americano 

 Y que se llama Pueblo Soberano." Felipe Pardo. 



r "PHE discovery of the New World added to the 

 resources of mankind a number of things, which 

 before that event were unknown to the inhabitants of 

 the Eurasian Continent and Africa. It is interesting 

 to observe how many of the food-plants and vegetables, 

 now in common use all over the world, had their origin 

 in Central and South America. Perhaps the most 

 important of these is maize, or Indian corn (Zea mais). 

 The word maize is Haytian in its origin. It was the 

 name which the Spanish conquerors of Hispaniola 

 received from the Indians and which they carried with 

 the grain to Europe, where it became incorporated into 

 all the modern languages. The cultivation of the 

 plant has extended throughout southern Europe, 

 Africa, Asia, and Oceanica. It is one of the principal 

 grain crops of the world to-day, and millions of human 

 beings and tens of millions of domesticated animals 

 depend upon it in whole or in part for their sustenance. 

 The potato is another American plant, which plays an 

 important part in the domestic economy of mankind. 

 It grows wild on the western side of South America. 

 Improved by cultivation and developed in countless 



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