820 REVIEWS. 



land." Gavcilasso says these roots " which the Spaniards call 

 'batatas' and the Indians of Peru 'apichu,' " are of four or 

 five different colors, etc. " The least good are those that have 

 been brought from Spain." 



Jean De Lery found them in Brazil in 1557, and described 

 them under their Tupi name — " Hetich," as he wrote it — of 

 which " the soil of Brazil is as prolific as that of Limousin or 

 Savoy is of rapes." He describes the Indian method of plant- 

 ing ; yet, " since these roots are the principal article of food 

 of this country, and are met with by travelers in various 

 places, I judge that they grow spontaneously " (Hist. Navig. 

 in Brazil, p. 1G5). Montoya (Tesoro, 1G39) gives the Tupi- 

 Guarani name, " Yeti" and mentions numerous varieties. 1 



Monardes, in the third part of his " Simpl. Medic, ex Novo 

 Orbe," published in 1574 (translated by Clusius, ed. 1593, 

 p. 439), states that Battatoe " are now so common in Spain, 

 that ten or twelve caravel loads are sent annually from Velez- 

 Malaga to Seville." 



De Candolle (who has elsewhere printed a short article upon 

 the subject) calls attention to the fact, which ought to be fa- 

 miliar, that sweet potatoes are roots, not tubers, and that 

 Turpin long ago published good figures illustrating this ; also 

 that while these roots are free from acrid or noxious qualities, 

 all the Conrolvidacece with tubers, of which there are many, 

 and not a few of lai-ge size, are inedible and acrid, — mostly, 

 as we know, violently purgative. 



Manihot utilissima, Manioc, Cassava-plant. — De Candolle 

 assigns good reasons for concluding (as did Robert Brown, 

 without giving his reasons) that this important food-plant of 

 the tropics is American, not African. But he leaves un- 

 noticed the convincing fact that " Manioc " and " Manihot " 

 are Brazilian names, slightly corrupted, of a plant cultivated 

 in St. Domingo and Cuba before the landing of Columbus, 

 and which became known to Spanish and Portuguese discov- 

 erers before 1500, by its Haytian name, " yuca," or " hiucca." 



1 Hans Stade, who was a captive in eastern Brazil in 1549, briefly 

 mentions these "roots called ' Jetlilci,'' of pleasant taste." (Captivity, 

 Hakl. Soc. ed. p. 1G6.) 



