Fig. 41. ZEA MAYS, INDIA* CORN. 



INDIAN CORN. 



CHAPTER XIY. 



" Plumes of green bent o'er his forehead, 

 And his hair was soft and golden." 



MAIZE (Zea Mays, Fig. 41) ranks among the seven 

 cereals : wheat, barley, oats, rye, millet, rice, and 

 maize an iambic pentameter line which I have writ- 

 ten without intending it. , These are the seven pillars 

 which support the temple of humanity, the seven- 

 fold staff of life. 



Polenta, or Indian Corn porridge, is the chief 

 food of the Piedmontese : the natives here call them 

 " Polenta eaters," just as they call the French 

 " faiou," that is " scarlet runners," or eaters of haricot 

 beans. The word " faiou " is a corruption of 

 " Phaseolus," a scarlet runner. " Flageolet," a kind 

 of haricot, is an absurd distortion of the same Latin 

 word. 



