MANIOC—MAIZE. 379 
this purpose, the poisonous juice being carefully se- 
parated from the fecula, called cassava, before mak- 
ing the dough. Raynal asserted that the manioc 
was transported from Africa to America to serve for 
the maintenance of the negroes; but our author 
shows that it was cultivated there long before the 
arrival of Europeans on that side of the Atlantic. 
The bread made of it is very nutritive; but, be- 
ing extremely brittle, it does not answer for distant 
carriage. The fecula, however, grated, dried, and 
smoked, is used on journeys. The root loses its poi- 
sonous qualities on being boiled, and in this state the 
decoction is used as a sauce, although serious acci- 
dents sometimes happen when it has not been long 
enough exposed to heat. The husbandry of it, we 
may observe, requires more care than that of the 
banana. In this respect it resembles the potato ; 
and the roots are ripe in seven or eight months after 
the slips have been planted. 
The same region produces maize, the cultivation 
of which is more extensive than that of the banana 
and manioc. Advancing towards the central plains, 
we meet with fields of this important plant all the 
way from the coast to the valley of Tolucca, which 
is upwards of 9186 feet above the sea. Although 
a great quantity of other grain is produced in Mexi- 
co, this must be considered as the principal food of 
the people, as well as of most of the domestic ani- 
mals, and the year in which the maize-harvest fails 
is one of famine and misery to the inhabitants. 
There is no longer a doubt among botanists that 
this plant is of American origin, and that the Old 
Continent received it from the New. 
It does not thrive in Europe where the mean 
