THE SWEET POTATO. 3 



Encyclopedia prior to 1573 was not the cultivated 

 sweet potato which was introduced into China 

 between 1573 and 1626. The old Chinese sweet 

 potato was known as "cliu," the introduced sweet 

 potato as "an-chu." The information was obtained 

 by Bretschneider from Chinese records of the six- 

 teenth century, i. e., the time of the introduction. 

 (Bretschneider in a letter to De Candolle, after read- 

 ing "De Candolle" on the origin of the sweet potato. 

 Quoted in footnote 2, Or. des PI. Cult., end of 

 article). 



3. The word ''ruktalu" seems a Bengalu name 

 composed of the Sanskrit ' ' alu, ' ' which is the name 

 of Arum campanulatum, and "rukta," of unknown 

 meaning and derivation (A. Pictet in a note to De 

 Candolle). The word "alu' is now employed to 

 mean yam and potato. Eoxburgh mentions no San- 

 skrit name; and Wilson's Sanskrit dictionary does 

 not give "ruktalu." 



According to Watt (Diet, of Econ. Prod, of India, 

 under Ipomcea batatas) the present-day vernacular 

 contains, among others, the following: 



Mita-alu, Sweet potato, Hind. ; Eanga-alu, lal-alu, 

 lal-shakarkand-alu (the red form) ; shine-alu (the 

 white), Beng.; Goria-alu (white form), Assam; 

 Gajar lahori (Lahore Carrot), Sind.; Lardak lahori 

 (Lahore Carrot) , Pers. All of these names compare 

 the sweet potato to another tuber or root, which is 

 certainly a better argument in favor of the opinion 

 that it was introduced than against it. The author 

 has not been able to find out the meaning of the 

 word "rukta," but its combination ^ith the word 

 "alu" suggests that it describes some quality of the 

 sweet potato, in which it differs from the arum. 



4. The fact remains that the sweet potato was 



