260 On the Native Country of the Wild Potato, S^c. 



perate districts on the western coasts of the southern part of 

 that division of the new world. 



According to Molina*, it grows wild abundantly in the fields 

 of Chili, and in its natural state is called by the natives Maglia, 

 producing, when uncultivated, small and bitter tubers. The 

 Baron de Humboldt asserts t, that it is not indigenous in 

 Peru, nor on any part of the Cordilleras situated under the 

 Tropics. But this statement is contradicted by Mr. Lambert!, 

 on the authority of Don Jose Pavon and of Don Francisco Zea; 

 the former of whom says, that he and his companions, Dombey 

 and Ruiz, had not only gathered the Solanum tuberosum wild in 

 Chili, but also in Peru, in the environs of Lima ; and the latter 

 has assured Mr. Lambert, that he had found it growing in the 

 forests near Santa Fe de Bogota. The above account of Pavon 

 is further confirmed by the evidence of a specimen gathered by 

 him in Peru, and now forming a part of the herbarium of Mr. 

 Lambert, with the name of " Patatas del Peru." 



Mr. Lambert, in his communication to the Journal of Science 

 and the Arts, which I have referred to, supposes that the wild 

 potato is to be found on the eastern, as well as the western and 

 northern sides of South America. His opinion on this point 

 appears to have been founded on the following circumstances : 



Among the specimens in the Herbarium formed by Coromer- 

 son, when he accompanied Bougainville in his voyage round the 

 world, is one of a Solanum, gathered near Monte Video. In the 

 Supplement to the Encyclopedie, (Vol. IIL p. 746), this specimen 

 was described, on the authority of M. Dunal of Montpelier, as 

 belonging to a species distinct from Solanum tuberosum, under 

 the name of Solanum Commersonii, and it was subsequently 

 published by M. Dunal, with the same name in the Supplemetit 

 to his Solanorum Synopsis^. (The article from the Encyclopedie 

 is given below ||). Mr. Lambert, however, conjectured this spe- 



* Hist. Nat. du Chili, p. 102. 



t Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain. Black's Ed. Vol. II. p. 489. 



t Journal of Science a.id the Arts. Vol. X. page 2.5. § Page .5. 



II Morelle de Commerson. Solanum Commersonii. Solanum caiile her- 

 baceo, pilose ; foliis pinnatis sublyratis, pilosis : floribus corymbosis, ter- 

 miualibus ; pedicellis articulatis. Dun, Suppl. Sol. MSS. 



Toute 



