^""iviay'iSr""'}         ^^^^  ^^^^^  Allied  Species  of  Salvia.  238 
account  by  Dr.  J.  T.  Rothrock,  which  is  copied  from  Report  upon 
United  States  Geographical  Surveys  west  of  the  one  hundredth  Meri- 
dian/^ vol.  vi^  p.  48  : 
"During  the  summer  of  1875  my  attention  was  called,  while  in 
Southern  California,  to  a  mealy  preparation  in  popular  use  among  the 
Indians,  Mexicans  and  prospectors.  On  inquiry,  I  found  it  was  called 
^  chia.'  Further  examination  proved  that  it  was  furnished  by  the 
seeds  of  Salvia  Columharice ,  Benth.  The  seeds  are  collected,  roasted  and 
ground,  in  the  native  way,  between  two  stones.  This  puts  it  in  the 
condition  in  which  I  first  saw  it.  It  is  used  as  a  food  by  mixing  it 
with  water  and  enough  sugar  to  suit  the  taste.  It  soon  develops  into  a 
copious  mucilaginous  mass,  several  times  the  original  bulk.  The  taste 
is  somewhat  suggestive  of  linseed  meal.  One  soon  acquires  a  fondness 
for  it  and  eats  it  rather  in  the  way  of  a  luxury  than  with  any  reference 
to  the  fact  that  it  is  exceedingly  nutritious  besides.  It  is  in  great 
demand  among  the  knowing  ones  who  have  a  desert  to  cross,  or  who 
expect  to  encounter  a  scarcity  of  water,  and  what  there  is,  of  bad  quality. 
By  preparing  it  so  thin  that  it  can  be  used  as  a  drink,  it  seems  to 
assuage  thirst,  to  improve  the  taste  of  water,  and,  in  addition,  to  lessen 
the  quantity  of  water  taken,  which  in  hot  countries  is  often  so  excessive 
as  to  produce  serious  illness.  As  a  remedy  it  is  invaluable  from  its 
demulcent  properties,  in  cases  of  gastro-intestinal  disorders.  It  also 
holds  a  place  among  domestic  remedies,  for  the  same  purpose  that  flax- 
seed occasionally  does  with  us,  i.  e.,  a  grain  of  the  seed  is  placed  in  the 
eye  (where  it  gives  no  pain)  to  form  a  mucilage  by  means  of  which  a 
foreign  body  may  be  removed  from  the  organ.  I  have  found  it  of  great 
service  as  a  poultice.  As  a  matter  of  archaeological  interest,  it  may  be 
noted  that  quantities  of  this  seed  were  found  buried  in  the  graves 
several  hundred  years  old.  This  proves  that  the  use  of  the  seed  reaches 
back  into  the  remote  past.  Indeed,  I  find  several  allusions  to  the  name 
Chia  in  the  second  volume  of  Bancroft's  great  work  on  the  Native 
Races  of  the  Pacific  States,"  pp.  232,  280,  347  and  360.  Chianpinoli 
appears  to  have  been  made  by  the  so-called  Aztec  races  from  corn 
which  was  roasted  and  ground  as  the  Chia  was.  Chia  was,  among  the 
Nahua  races  of  ancient  Mexico,  as  regularly  cultivated  as  corn,  and 
often  used  in  connection  with  it.  Indeed,  it  was  one  of  the  many  kinds 
of  meal  in  constant  use  and  which  appear  to  have  gone  then,  as  now, 
under  the  generic  name  of  pinoli." 
It  seems  to  me  impossible  tliat  this  sj)ecies  shouldbe  identical  vvitli 
