105 



taste ; the husbandmen take great pains to destroy 

 it, iiotwithstandiDg which^ it constantly springs 

 ip agaioj and if a horse eats of it^ he is sure to 

 die, unless immediate measures are taken to make 

 him sweat profusely by violent exercise. 



Besides those which have been brought from 

 Europe, Chili produces a great number of valu- 

 able plants, both alimentary, medicinal, and such 

 as are useful in the arts. Many of these, parti- 

 cularly the alimentary kind, were w ell known and 

 cultivated before the arrival of the Spaniards. 



Sect. II. Alimentary Herbs or Plants. -ThQ 

 maize (zeamais) or Turkey wheat, called by 

 the Chilians giia, was well known in America 

 when Columbus first arrived there. Tliis fact is 

 confirmed by all the writers of that period, and it 

 is vc^y certain that it was the only species of 

 corn at that time made use of by the natives. 

 The improper application of the name of the 

 Indies to America has probably led M. Bomare 

 to observe, that the maize is indigenous to Asia, 

 from whence it was carried into Europe, and 

 from thence to America. There are likewise 

 some autiiorSj as C. Durante, in his herbal, 

 who improperly denominate it Turkey wheat, 

 considering it as originally from Turkey. 



Maize grows extremely well in Chili,* and 



* In the old continent wlieat is tlie most comnion grain, 

 \>id in the new world maize hus always been^ and still is, the 



