48 ARACHIS flYPOG^A (pEA-NUT) 



Some time later citizen Tessier, a member of the Institut 

 National, and of the Societe libre d'Agriculture of the 

 Department of the Seine, made the members of the Agri- 

 cultural vSociety a gift of oil obtained from the pea-nut 

 plants of the Landes, and at a banquet given to the members 

 this oil was voted excellent, being, in the opinion of some, 

 equal to the best olive oil that the town of Aix could pro- 

 duce. Cossigny, who took part in the banquet, adds : 

 " After having tasted it with both lish and salad I am able 

 to endorse their opinion." 



According to this last piece of evidence t'.ie pea-nut, 

 therefore, seems to have been lirst introduced into Spain. 



The original plants which were carried from Brazil into 

 other countries underwent certain modifications, so that it 

 was believed that such and such a variety arose in such 

 and such a country. In 1519-1521, the Magellan Expedi- 

 tion, which opened up to the Spaniards the route to the 

 Far East by way of the Pacific, left them masters of the 

 Moluccas and Philippines, where they introduced the 

 Peruvian form. According to M. Dubard, it is thence that 

 it spread to Jap m, to the Sunda Islands, Malacca, Indo- 

 China, the whclj of Southern Asia, and Madagascar. 



In the opinion of some, the Mauritian variety is derived 

 from Mozambique. This lacks confirmation, but all the 

 known facts point to Boiu'bon and Mauritius having obtained 

 their seed from Africa, or even Madagascar. 



Cossigny says : " The ground-nut has been grown for 

 some considerable time in the Isle of France and Reunion ; 

 it was obtained from Madagascar, where this plant is in- 

 digenous. The same species is also grown in India. The 

 fruit of the latter is somewhat smaller than that of the 

 Brazilian species, but the shell, which is of the same friable 

 character, is less thick, rougher, and the straw colour is 

 darker. In these islands are found pods containing three 

 or even four seeds, whereas all the original Brazilian species 

 only have one, or at most two." 



