ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED FRUITS 275 
names for some of them being found in the Sanskrit. The mild 
acid varieties seem to have first attracted attention, the sweet 
orange seemingly being the most recent of all, though now the 
most popular in the West, where it has been greatly improved. 
The banana (Musa sapientum), literally the food of the wise, 
from an old tradition that this was the special food of the 
Hindu philosophers. Its near relative, the plantain, sometimes 
reckoned as a separate species, J/usa paradisiaca, is larger 
and coarser than the banana and generally requires cooking 
for the best results. 
The banana is without doubt native to the lower regions of 
southeastern Asia and the outlying islands, where it has been 
cultivated from antiquity. It was early known to the Greeks, 
Latins, and Arabs as an Indian fruit, but the only ancient 
names are in Sanskrit. The ancient Egyptians and Hebrews 
did not know the plant, which Candolle considers to be a sign 
that its cultivation cannot be regarded as remote. 
Whether the banana is also native to Africa and the New 
World is yet a matter of uncertainty. It was certainly known in 
both continents at a very early day, and Stanley, as well as earlier 
explorers, found the banana and the plantain both cultivated 
and wild in the depths of the Kongo. The plant almost never 
bears seeds. 
The pineapple (Ananassa sativa). Without doubt this is truly 
an American plant, native in the regions of the Orinoco and 
_ northward. It was of course unknown till the discovery of the 
New World, but has since spread rapidly over all subtropical 
countries. It is clearly the finest tropical fruit when had at its 
best, which is rare. 
The grape. The cultivated grape of to-day comes from two 
distinctly different sources, one the Old World, the other 
the New. 
one bears fruit of a good quality. The writer speaks from experience in this, 
for it was his habit in riding over the mountains in eastern South America to 
depend upon the wild orange for refreshment. The trees bearing good fruit 
could readily be told at a distance, 
