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ANNUAL REPORT 1918 AND 1919 



this during my stay in northern Guatemala, as it is especially true of the 

 Maya race which occupies northern Guatemala and southern Mexico. The 

 staple foodstuffs of the people are largely the same as at the time of the 

 Conquest. Indian corn, black beans, squashes and a few other vegetables 

 are still the principal articles of diet. The most important change which 

 the Conquest seems to have brought is the introduction of cane sugar and 

 coffee, two plant products not known in the New World in earlier times. 



Will it not be true, therefore, that the position held by the avocado 

 at the present day among the tribes of Mexico, especially among those 

 which have not come in such close contact with European civilization as 

 have the Aztecs of the Mexican plateau, is very much the same which it 

 occupied four hundred years ago? I believe we are safe in considering 

 that it is. After all, four hundred years is a short time in which to change 

 entirely the habits of a people. Particularly does this hold true in regard 

 to habits of eating. 



We must depend upon the accounts of the early Spanish voyagers, 

 and the writings of recent students of archaeology, to give us the traditions 

 concerning the avocado. I have already found one instance in which the 

 name of this fruit enters into Aztec mythology. According to Robelo, the 

 mythical Yaotl was appointed by the gods to be guardian of the penitent 

 Yappan; he treated Yappan and his wife with such excessive cruelty that 

 he was transformed into the insect Ahuacachapulin. The latter name is 

 composed of two words, ahuacatl and chapulin, or "avocado-grasshopper." 



The method of designating the avocado in the picture writing of the 

 Aztecs is known, and has been published in the United States. The Aztec 

 name for this fruit, ahuacatl, from which we derive our name avocado, has 

 been the subject of recent researches in the literature, but I will not here 

 enter into detail regarding the origin and significance of the word. 



Practically our only knowledge of the avocado among the ancient 

 Mexicans is based upon its uses among a single tribe, the Nahuatls or Az- 

 tecs, who occupied the Valley of Mexico at the time of the Conquest and 

 were the most powerful of Mexican nations. Compared to the study given 

 this tribe, — its language, religion, daily life, and so on, — by archaeologists 

 and historians, the amount given to the other peoples of Mexico, with very 

 few exceptions, has been inconsiderable. As the result of this, our knowl- 

 edge of the avocado among the ancient Mexicans is mainly a knowledge of 

 it among a single people of Mexico, the Aztecs. In order to broaden the 

 range of our knowledge we must have as much information as it is possible 

 to obtain regarding the extent to which this fruit was grown by other tribes, 

 their names for it, and the uses to which it was put by them. 



The accounts of the early Spanish travelers are interesting, and by 

 studying them carefully and correlating the statements of these early stu- 

 dents with our present knowledge of the avocado I believe we can extract 

 more of value from them than has yet been obtained. Particularly is this 

 true in regard to the distribution of the various races of the avocado at the 

 time of the Conquest; by a careful examination of the different accounts ft 

 is possible to tell in most instances precisely what race is being described, 

 and this, together with the mention of a geographical location which usually 

 accompanies each account, will throw much light upon our study of the 

 races and their distribution. It is to be regretted, however, that nearly all 

 of the early travelers had a better eye for medicines than foods, and they 



