Wittmack — Our Present Knowledge of Ancient Plants. 13 
I have, however, some interesting things to say about 
the seeds found in America. In North America we have 
especially the Jndian corn or maize found in the mounds. 
It is all carbonized. Thecobs of the mounds at Madisonville, 
Ohio, resemble exactly the common corn, with flat grains like 
the so-called Virginia corn. Besides maize, in the south- 
western border states at Los Muertos, Arizona, and in the 
caves of the cliff-dwellers are found common garden beans 
(Phaseolus vulgaris), small ones, like the so-called pearl 
beans. 
Quite different articles are found in the sepulchres of the 
ancient Peruvians, especially in the ancient cemetery at An- 
con near Lima.* Here we also find mummies, but they are 
at the most only about five hundred years old. The dry air 
permitted the corpses to be preserved without being embalmed. 
They are in a squatting position covered with blankets, and 
resemble a bale of goods. In the interior are often found 
nets with food, for the men at Ancon were poor fishermen, 
no rich Incas. The women have small baskets with yarn of 
lama wool and knitting needles of wood, probably that they 
might be diligent in heaven. The grains are not carbonized, 
having retained their structure nearly unaltered, being only 
slightly browned. Many cobs of corn of various varieties are 
found so well preserved that one can see the single starch 
grains under the microscope. One variety with thick cobs and 
naveled grains is probably the origin of the American dent- 
corn. But to me the most important fact was that there 
were found two kinds of beans, very large beans, which are 
* L. Wittmack. Bohnen ausaltperuanischen Griabern. Verhdl., d. bot. 
Ver. Neu Brandenburg, bd. XXI, Sitzungsberichte, p. 176 (1879). —‘* Das 
Vaterland der Bohnen und der Kirbis.’? Tageblatt der Naturforscher 
Versammlung in Danzig, 1880, p. 176. — *‘Antike Simereien aus der alten 
und neuen Welt in ihren Beziehungen zur Gegenwart. Nachrichten aus 
dem Klub der Landwirte in Berlin, 1881, no. 115.—‘* Die Heimath der 
Bohnen und der Kurbisse.’’ Berichte der deut. botan. Gesell., bd. VI, 
1888, p. 374. —‘* Die Nutzpflanzen der alten Peruaner.’’ Comptes rendus 
du Congrés international des Américanistes, 7 session, Berlin, 1888, p. 
325.— Text to plates 105-107 of Reiss und Stiibel ‘‘ Das Totenfeld von 
Ancon in Peru.’’ Berlin, 1880-1887. 
