59 



these, the early eohinists learned to eat the so-called "water-chinka- 

 pins", which are fruits of the beautiful golden-flowered American 

 lotus, X('ln))il)() lutea, -i plant closely allied to the sacred' lotus of India, 

 China and .lap.in. whose nuts are even now used as a food staple. The 

 split kernels of the latter may lie bought in the Chinese shops on 

 Pennsylvania Avenue in this city. The rootstocks of l)otli the American 

 and the Oriental lotus are also used for food. They resemble bananas 

 joined together end to end. with st'\eral hollow longitudinal tubes 

 running through them. 



Before I close, I should like to call attention to a plant, endemic in 

 eastern North America, whose tubers were called "ground-nuts," or 

 "Indian potatoes" by the early colonists. The latter name caused the 

 plant to be mi.staken by certain early writers for the white potato, 

 which was unknown in North America in early colonial days, but which 

 was confused with the ground nut on account of the resemblance of 

 the descriptions of the two plants. The white potato. Solniiiim tube- 

 rosum, was discovered in the Andes of South America by Cieza de 

 Leon; it was quite unknown in North America or in the West Indies in 

 the days of Sir Walter Raleigh aJid Sir Francis Drake, both of whom 

 have erroneously been given the credit of introducing the potato into 

 England. The "i)otato" which they observed in the West Indies was 

 not Solaiium tuhero.sum, which we now call the "white potato" or 

 "Irish potato." but a \ery distinct ))lant, Ipomora haiatas, which we now 

 (•ill the "sweet potato," but which in early days was known as the 

 Ixittiia or potato. Tiie error which has become widely spread, can be 

 [raced to John (urarde. the first author to publish an illustration of 

 Soldiiinu luhrrosinu. In his celebrated HerbaU he declares that the 

 potatoes figured by him were grown in his garden from tubers which 

 cime from "\'irii'inia, or Noremlvega." It is quite certain that this 

 statement was untrue, and that, as certain English writers have al- 

 ready suggested, Gerard "wished to mystify his readers." Whatever 

 may have been his motive, the error became widely spread. Even 

 Thomas .JctlVrson was led to believe that " Solanum tuberosum was en- 

 countered in Virginia by the early colonists, and Schoolcraft dfeclared 

 that its tubers were gathered wild in the woods like other wild roots. 

 The Indian potato of the early colonists is still abundant in "moist and 

 marisli grounds," as described b}' Herriot. It is a tuber-bearing plant 

 of the bean family, and is known botanically as Glycine apios. 



But I fear my talk has become too discursive, in turning from nuts 



