INDIAN CORN. 



tains an unusually largo proportion of the phosphates, 

 and a considerable quantity of sugar and gum, though 

 but little starch. It is extensively cultivated for culi- 

 nary purposes, and serves as a delicious food, either 

 green or dry. 



HEMATITE or BLOOD-RED CORN, AND VARIETIES OF 

 DIFFERENT SHADES. The lively hues, peculiar to the 

 red, blue, and purple corns, generally depend on 

 the shades of the epidermis of the grains, and not the 

 oil. The origin of these colours appears to be purely 

 accidental, as white and yellow varieties have been 

 planted at remote distances from any other kind, and 

 have produced kernels of a brilliant red. The different 

 shades of colour in corn are supposed to be caused by 

 different proportions of iron, or other metals, com- 

 bined with oxygen and some acid principle, acted upon 

 by the rays of light. 



1. Rice Corn, a variety with small ears, the grains 

 of which are of various shades of colour, and often are 

 of the size and shape of rice. It contains more oil and 

 less starch than any other kind ; and when ground, its 

 meal cannot be made into bread alone, but is dry like 

 sand. From its oily nature and convenient size, this 

 corn is peculiarly adapted for feeding fowls.* 



2. Pop or Parching Corn, sometimas called Valpa- 

 raiso Corn ( Zea curagua, of botanists. ) The cars of ' 

 this variety are small, the grains of various shades 

 of colour, and contain, next to the ric3 corn, more oil 

 and less starch, than any other kind. Its flavour is 

 pleasant, when parched, for which purpose it is generally 

 preferred. This variety is believed to be the Cara of 

 the Incas of Peru, which, wfyen parched, they call Can- 

 cha, signifying a neighbourhood or street. % 



* See Dr. Jackson's Report, pp. 258 et 259. 



