Observations and Reflections 353 



varieties, it is an important factor in the food supply of 

 the nations of the earth. The tomato, the egg-plant, 

 and the various varieties of green and red peppers are 

 the gift of the American tropics to the tables of civil- 

 ized men. The cacao is a strictly South American plant, 

 the cultivation of which has been carried into the hot 

 lands of the Orient. Chocolate is a Mexican word. In 

 its original form it was choco-latl, the first word in the 

 compound being the Aztec name for cacao, the second 

 syllable being the Aztec word for water. Long before the 

 conquistadores made their invasion, the people of the 

 hot lands of South America had practised the art of 

 grinding up the seeds of the cacao, and mixing sugar 

 and the fragrant extract derived from the pod of the 

 vanilla, which grows in the hot American woods, with 

 the paste, thus forming the material for a refreshing 

 drink. The work done on Indian metates is now prin- 

 cipally carried on in European and North American 

 factories, the Indian matrons and maids, who wielded 

 the mealing-stones, being replaced by machines driven 

 by steam or electricity. A recent study of the literature 

 of the subject made by the writer shows that over one 

 hundred well-known plants of the forest, field, and 

 garden, yielding food or medicine to man, have been 

 derived from the flora of the Americas, and principally 

 the floras of Middle and South America. 



The fauna of America has added but few species to 

 those in domestication. The most notable addition 

 is the noble fowl which graces the tables of Christendom 

 on festal occasions. The bird was imported into Spain 

 from Mexico by the early Spanish explorers. It had 

 been domesticated by the Indians, and also ranged in 

 its wild state from the highlands of Mexico as far 

 north as New England. Its English name, turkey, 



