285 
This view is rejected by some, and is, of course, to be held only 
tentatively. 
In 1919 Dr. F. H. Knowlton published a description of a fossil 
ear of maize found in Cuzco, Peru. This specimen afforded the 
‘first evidence suggesting the existence of Indian corn in a pre- 
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Fic. 2. Euchlaena mexicana Schrader (teosinte; Aztec, teocentli). Con- 
sidered by some as the possible wild ancest i 
Indian corn (Zea 
Mays). After Hitchcock, U. 5. 
D. A. Bulletin No, 772. 
ceding geological age, hence, if the conclusions are correct, the 
origin of this important plant must now be sought in remote pre- 
historic times. 
Corn was widely cultivated in North and South America before 
the time of Columbus, and unquestionably for a very long period, 
