THE POTATO TEECENTENAEY. 171 



pecially, ono may suppose, to the Irish, climato, tlian any of 

 the existing varieties, and, therefore, stronger to resist 

 disease. The expectation that such a result might ensue 

 was founded upon the fact that while the tuheriKum loves 

 the dry and sterile regions of Central Chili, whore no rain 

 falls for six months, tlie Maglia luxuriates in the humid 

 forests of the Chonos Islands. 



According to Mr. Baker, the 8. tuberosum inhabits the 

 Andes of Chili, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Columbia ; also 

 the mountains of Costa B/ica, Mexico, and the south-western 

 United States ; while the variety Maglia is found on the low 

 land of the Chili shore, as far south as the Chonos Archi- 

 pelago. The four other species of tuber-bearing Solanums 

 arc all likewise American, and are found in La Phita, 

 Uruguay, Mexico, and the south-western United States, 

 From this it seems clear that the " openauk " of Harriot, if 

 really potatoes, could not have been, as his statement would 

 appear to imply, indigenous plants, but must have been 

 introduced by cultivation, having been derived in the first 

 instance from a very distant region. It is possible, however, 

 that the plant, though originally introduced, may in the 

 course of time have become naturalized, and therefore in a 

 legitimate sense wild. 



The difficulties of this inquiry have been increased by the 

 circumstance, not always recognised, that there were potatoes 

 in England and on the continent of Europe before the dis- 

 covery of the Solanum tuberosum. These pre-solanal potatoes 

 were what wo now call " sweet potatoes." They were the 

 tubers of a convolvulaccous plant, the Convolvulus batatas, 

 otherwise Batalas edulis. Whence and when they originally 

 came, .and to what extent they were used in this country, ai'o 

 questions more difficult to answer than any wo have yet con- 

 sidered. The plants yielding them are found both in the 



