ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. 351 



As to the American origin of P. lunatus, the Lima bean 

 and its varieties, there seems now to be no question. " It is 

 evidently," says M. De CandoUe (p. 276), " a Brazilian spe- 

 cies, dispersed by cultivation, and perhaps long ago natural- 

 ized, here and there, in tropical America." 



But as to the origin of P. vulgaris he is not free from 

 doubt. He finds " (1) that this species was not cultivated in 

 ancient times in the East Indies, the southwest of Asia, or 

 Egypt ; (2) that we are not absolutely certain that it was 

 known in Europe before the discovery of America ; (3) that 

 at that epoch the number of varieties suddenly increased in 

 the gardens of Europe, and all authors began to speak of it ; 

 (4) that the majority of species of this genus are found in 

 South America ; and (5) that seeds which apparently belong 

 to this species have been found in Peruvian tombs [at Ancon] 

 of a date somewhat uncertain, mixed with many other species, 

 all of which are American." (p. 275.) 



The proof that P. vulgaris (and P. nanus'), in varieties 

 almost innumerable, were cultivated by the natives of Amer- 

 ica before the coming of Europeans, seems to be conclusive. 

 The resolution of M. De CandoUe's doubts as to the American 

 origin of the species must depend chiefly on the identification 

 of the species known as Phaseoli (PhaseK, Fagiuoli, Feso- 

 les, etc.), in Europe, before the discovery of America. This 

 identification may not be impossible, but the space at our 

 disposal wiU not permit us to attempt it in this article, or even 

 to reexamine the authorities on which M. De Candolle admits 

 the probability " that the Dolichos of Theophrastus was our 

 pole bean (^haricot a rames), and the Fasiolos our cultivated 

 bush bean (^haricot nain)" p. 271. At present, we have 

 only to offer one or two notes. 



1. The distinction indicated by Galen (De Alimentis, lib. i. 

 cc. 25, 28) between the Phasiolos (^ao-ioAos) of Dioscorides 

 and Phaselus (^ao-T^Xos) — presumably the " vilis faselus " of 

 Virgil — if well founded, seems to have been lost sight of in 

 the middle ages. In Italy, the Greek and Latin names 

 Phasiolos, Faseolus, Faselus, Fasillus, etc., passed into the 

 modern Fagiuoli. Piero de' Crescenzi, of Bologna, whose 



