106 ESSEX SOCIETY. 



Moreover, Bonafous himself declares that it is evident, to look 

 at it, that the meliga is a real maize, and he is, therefore, in- 

 clined to believe, that it was known in Asia and Europe before 

 the discovery of America. 



After this accumulation of evidence in favor of its eastern 

 origin, it is worthy of remark, that some have even asserted, 

 that it was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. But 

 such conjectures, as that the black millet brought from India to 

 Italy in the time of Pliny,* was the maize, are probably ill- 

 founded. Even Mr. St. John, whose great familiarity with the 

 domestic affairs of ancient Greece, entitles him to the highest re- 

 spect, says :f — " In the region beyond Bactria, a species of corn 

 was found, which must unquestionably have been maize, since 

 the grains are said to have been as large as olive stones, and to 

 maize alone, can we apply Herodotus' description! of the 

 wheat found in Babylonia, the straw of which, was encircled by 

 leaves four inches in diameter, and its return from two to three 

 hundred fold. Now, in wheat, I believe so prodigious an in- 

 crease is all but impossible ; whereas, a still greater return might 

 be obtained from the Indian corn." And there have not been 

 wanting those who think that Homer distinctly mentions 

 maize, "§. as well as the naturalist, Theophrastus, in his history 

 of plants ;|| and allusions are frequently made in the Bible,1I 

 to a grain that could have been no other than maize or Indian 

 corn. Such was the opinion of William Cobbett.** It arose, 

 however, from utter ignorance of the ancient mode of planting 

 or sowing wheat, which will be alluded to hereafter. 



It is now proper to enumerate, briefly, the authorities on the 



* Pliny Naturalis Historia. Lib. xxvii., c. 7. 



t History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece. Tom. iii., pp. 40G-7. Lon- 

 «Ion : 184'i. 



t Herodotus. Lib. i., § 193, p. 80, of Wheeler's Ed. Boston : 1842. 



^ Od. Lib. iv. ; verses 41, and 604. 



II Theop. Historia Plantaruin. Lib. viii., c. 4. It should be noticed, that his description 

 IS very general. Speaking of eight kinds of wheat which had been imported into Greece 

 from Asia, he says, that one of these varieties was heavier than the rest. May not this have 

 been the variety to which Herodotus alludes, and the same as that which Mr. St. John says 

 was called Camel's tooth ? 



IT 2d Kings iv., 42. Job xxiv., 24. Leviticus ii., 14, and .xxiii., 14. Deut. xxiii., 24 and 

 25. Gen. xli., 5. Matt, xii., 1. Ruth ii., 14, and Sara, xvii., 28. 



** See also Hooker, Jour, of Botany, (Classical Plants of Sicily,) 1834. p. 219. 



