THE BANANA. 



365 



Tlie Banana— (^Musa sapientvni). 



Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Wherever the meait 

 heat of the year exceeds 75° of Fahrenheit, the banana 

 is one of the most important and interesting objects 

 for the cultivation of man. All hot countries appear 

 equally to favour the growth of its fruit ; and it has 

 even been cultivated in Cuba, in situations where the 

 thermometer descends to 45° of Fahrenheit. Its 

 produce, as already mentioned, is enormous. The 

 banana, therefore, for an immense portion of man- 

 kind, is what wheat, barley, and rj'e are for the inha- 

 bitants of Western Asia and Europe, and what the 

 numerous varieties of rice are for those of the coun- 

 tries beyond the Indus*. 



The banana is not known in an vmcultivated state. 

 The wildest tribes of South America, who depend 



* Humboldt's Polilical Essay on New Spain — Black's Trans 

 lation, vol. ii. 



