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4. Bccenl E^xavatloHs in Pni P/As', Scmersetshi're. 

 By the Rev. H. H. Winwood. 



Till? author doscribcd tho position of these pits, of ^vhicIl thoro are a largo 

 niimher, iiiul which cover some 700 acres. Some niv ovmI, some niiiiid, and soiun 

 long, and their depths are various. The question to Le deeiih'd was whetiier tlieso 

 ])it8 wero ancient dwellings, or merely quarries, and t!ie author described tlio 

 ])roc('Ss of exploration in detail, and biought forwaid evidence to show that tlio 

 pits were sunk for the ]iurpose of ol)laining stone for building, and for grindstones, 

 a largo number of which have from time to time been dug up, and are now to be 

 f^een in the neighbo\irhood. 



5. On some doul/tfnl or intermediate Articiihitiom. ihj Horatio Hall. 



C On Food Plants used hy the North American Indians, 

 lly Professor Gkoroe Lawson, rh.D., LL.D., F.I.C., F.E.S.G. 



A knowleilge of the distribution of the sjxmtaneous plants cuiml)le of supplying 

 the wants of the aborigines is not unimi)ortant in connection witii aiitliropological 

 research, esj)ecially in regard to tlie range of tribes, whether stationary or migra- 

 tory, whilst the possession by .some of the tribes of cultivated plants foreign to this 

 countries they inhabit affords evidence that may be made available in t racing tlieir 

 origin and migrations, or ascertaining their past relations lo other tribes. What 

 little we do Icnow of their primitive modes of cultivation excites a desire to ascer- 

 tain more of a phase of agriculture which leads us back to its very beginnings. 

 The prevaletico of wild fruits over the more or less wooded portions of North 

 .America, of which numerous examples were cited, would adbrd even the improvi- 

 dent tribes a copious supply of healthy summer and autumn food to supplement 

 their iish and flesh diet; their constant recurrence to such .sources of supply would 

 lead tliem tf) a knowledge of the poisonous properties and powerful physiological 

 action of many native plants. 



In the Old World, the LeriuminosfP are Icnown as economical plants, chiefly on 

 account of their seeds; in America the roots of .several are edible. Psoralea 

 csculenta is the pomme blanche and jwmme de prairie of the western voyageurs, 

 who derived their knowledge of its qualities from the Indians. Amphicnrpcfu 

 monoica forms subterranean pods containing a single large seed. Apios tiihcroxa 

 is the wild potato, ' Syabuii' of the Micmac Indians, the root of which is graphi- 

 cally described by an early writer as like a series of ben.s' eggs on a sti'ing. It 

 appears to have been one of the most important food plants of the Alicmacs before 

 the advent of Europeans, and gave its name to the place in Nova Scotia called 

 Shubenacadie (.sgabun acadie) ; ' but, although at one time abundant, it is not 

 known there now, nor is there anj' tradition of its ever having been cultivated by 

 the aborigines. One other leguminous plant is well known to have been not only used 

 hut aLso cultivated by the Indians, but chiefly in the .south, the kidney bean 

 {P/iasfPolus), of which Columbus found planted tields in Cuba ; also ' many things 

 of the countrj', and calabazas, a glorious sight ! ' These beans were also found 

 cultivated by the Indians in Florida in 1528, and about the regions now known 

 as New Mexico and Souora, in inSo. De Soto found fields of maize, beans, and 

 pumpkins near Tampa Bay ; and at Caligoa (west of the Mississippi) ' teans and 

 pumpkins were in great plenty.' Cartier (1534) found in the north — Bay of 

 Gaspt5 — abundance of maize and beans, which must have been carried from the far 

 south and west. Father Sagard (1625) also mentions the cultivation of beans 

 (fezolles) by the Indians in the Huron country; the Ilurons used a third or 

 quarter part of these in their * succotash.' Le^carbot describes the planting of the 

 corn (maize) by the Indians of Maine in hills, 'and between the kernels of corn 

 they plant beans with Aarious colours, which are very delicate; tliese, because 

 they are not so high as the corn, grow very well among it,' Lawson, in his voyage 

 to Carolina (1700-1708), says the kidney beans were here before the English came, 



' Sgabun = potato. Acadie = plenty here. 



