HISTORICAL. 11 
the original home of maize, is supported by botany and 
meteorology. All of the plants closely related to maize are 
Mexican. Itis an accepted evolutionary principle that sev- 
eral species of the same genus, or genera of the same tribe, 
though dispersed to the most distant quarters of the globe, 
must originally have proceeded from the same source, as they 
are descended from the same progenitors. It is also obvious 
that the individuals of the same species, though now in dis- 
' tant regions, must have proceeded from one spot, where their 
parents were first produced; for it is incredible that individ- 
uals, identically the same, should have been produced from 
parents specifically distinct. Applying these principles to 
maize, we reach the conclusion that maize was originally 
Mexican. ὃ * * The evidence to the present date (1893) 
places the original home of our American cereal, maize, in 
central Mexico.” 
