THE ORIGIN OF ANON AS. 197 



Philippines. And from Rheede we learn that in Malabar the ola was some- 

 times called by a native name meaning 'the Manilla jack fruit,' whilst the 

 Anona reticulata, or sweet-sop, was called by the Malabars, ' the Paranji,' [i.e., 

 •Firingi or Portuguese) jack fruit. These facts seem \o indicate that probably 

 the ata and its name came to India from Mexico via the Philippines, whilst 

 the anona and its name came to India from Hispaniola via the Cape. In the 

 face of these probabilities the argument of General Cunningham from the 

 •existence of the tree in a wild state loses force. The fact is undoubted and 

 may be corroborated by the following passage from ' Observations on the Nature 

 of the Food of the Inhabitants of South India,'' 1864, p. 12. — ' I have seen it stated 

 in a botanical work that this plant {Anona sq.) is not indigenous, but introduced 

 from America or the West Indies. If so, it has taken most kindly to the soil 

 of the Deccan, for the jungles are full of it ;' [also see Watt, Econ. Diet, ii. 

 1259, seq., who supports the foreign origin of the plant]. The Author 

 adds that the wild custard-apples saved the lives of many during famine 

 in the Hyderabad country. But on the other hand, the Argemon Mexicana, 

 a plant of unquestioned American origin, is now one of the most familiar 

 weeds all over India. The cashew {Anarcardium occidentule^), also of American 

 • origin, and carrying its American name with it to India, not only forms 

 .tracts of jungle now (as Sir G. Birdwood has stated) in Canara and the 

 Concan (and, as we may add from personal knowledge, in Tanjore) but was 

 •described by P. Vincenzo Maria more than two hundred and twenty years ago 

 .as then abounding in the wilder tracts of the Western coast. 



" The question raised by General Cunningham is an old one, for it is alluded 

 to by Rumphius who ends by leaving it in doubt. We cannot say that we 

 .have seen any satisfactory suggestion of another (Indian) plant as that re- 

 presented in the ancient sculpture of Bharhut. [Dr. Watt says, ' They may 

 prove to be conventional representations of the Jack-fruit tree or some other 

 allied plaut ; they are not unlike the flower heads of the sacred Kadamba 

 or Anthocephalus' (loc : cit : i 2(i0). ] But it is well to get rid of fallacious 

 arguments on either side." 



In the " Materia Medica of the Hindus, by Udoy Chand Dutfc with a 

 Glossary by G.King, M.B., Calc 1877," we find the following synonyms 

 given : — 



" Awm.i squamosa: Skt. Gtndagatra ; Beng. Ata; Hind. Sharifa an 

 .Sitaphal. " 



"Anona reticulata'. Skt. Leavali ; Beng. Leona." 



This is all we gather from ihe Glossary of Yule and Burnell. What I note 

 is that the heavy sword of General Cunningham, like that of Brennus, when the 

 gold for the ransom of Rome was being weighed, has been thrown on behalf of 

 the people who say the ata and the anona are indigenous to India. Let it 

 not be forgotten that the above Glossary, at the beginning of the article, says 

 •' fruit originally introduced from S. America," which confirms the opinion of 

 .the enlightened authors, malgre that of General Cunningham. 



