156 Myr. G. Ord on the Natural Habitat of the Common Potato, 
been ascertained to be deleterious, and it has been boldly as- 
serted that both men and beasts have been poisoned by eating of 
the vegetable when it was in a morbid state. Do not, I beseech 
you, give countenance to such opinions as these: they may be 
productive of great evil. Where is that individual who has not 
frequently observed at his domestic board an unsound potato? 
What is that blackish morbid matter which is often seen in the 
centre of the tuber ?—the evidence of the very rot in question. 
When we detect it in our dish we merely abstain from eatmg what 
is by no means palatable, and finish our meal without the least 
suspicion that there has been “ poison in the pot.” 
Believe me to be, my dear Sir, most sincerely yours, 
To Sir W. Jardine, Bart. NunnG@y Onn. 
The discovery of America made known to the world three ve- 
getable productions, which have acquired a character from their 
intrinsic qualities that is worthy of note—the common potato, the 
maize, and the tobacco. ‘The first two have contributed greatly 
to the means of human sustenance, and consequently to the 
augmentation of population, especially in those countries where 
the ordinary bread-corn is of difficult or expensive cultivation. 
The last is a luxury which seems destined to know no limit but 
that of the human race. 
The period of the introduction into Europe of the potato, the 
Solanum tuberosum, has been the subject of frequent discussion ; 
and writers are not yet agreed on this pomt. From various 
sources we learn that this plant was cultivated in the southern 
parts of Europe not long after the discovery of America; hence 
there is reason to presume that it formed part of the vegetable 
collections which were transported into Spain by the adventurers 
under Christopher Columbus. ‘This illustrious navigator made 
four voyages to America in the following years :— 
First voyage in 1492-1493. . 
Second ,, 14938-1494, 1495, 1496. 
Third. |..«95... 1498, 
Fourth ,, 1502, 1508, 1504. 
As there has existed a difference of opinion with regard to the 
natural habitat of the common potato, it may be well to state 
that it was never found in any of the West India islands, either 
wild or cultivated, by the early navigators; the root named by 
the aborigines of Hispaniola ages being undoubtedly the sweet 
potato, the Convolvulus batatas of botanists. 
From Peter Martyr’s account of the first voyage of Columbus 
we extract the following passage. Speaking of the natives of 
