Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1859-10-05
RICHMOND WHIG.
! NATIVE HARIrArIoNs or Iyn1.v con.-

read paper in answer TO the question as Ind;, c,
,.e. haixe) native Of three Continents like Cotton an
The grains Of maize (fndau coru) had been reu.,r..
untary weight for certain divisions Of quantities an
uss' s' IN Cnlna. Some curiosity was felt Ascertai
proofs OF its existence there Mr. Gallatin rerar.,e
maize plant exclusively American Ia its origin: Lut Ger
tain European botaDiss who travelled extensively in In
ua express an opinion IL Is natural the warmer por
French missionary of reputation, who traverse.
China, Mongolia aud Thibe notices that Indian corr, 4
~ green state was presented to him. roasted as food
wnie crossing mountains the 3Uh parallel OF lati
tudc on bis route from LaSs1 in Thibet TO Canton A,
English traveller in Abyssnia mentions Irdian corn a
% ue Var variety OF grain well known near the head waters
'c we. he describes II rather scarce IN the up
country but mutually exchanged by friends as pr,se,r
VI compliment. 1T Is seldom ground being NOR. ire
qnentiy eaten with butter, delicae, alter beipe
roasted on the einbers, boiled ike peas :
| Dr. Livingston states that the Makoolos near Lake
Ng"mi, t~ho had never white ma before his ar.
| nval among them made garden aud plant., mai.
for him, that he might have bread TO eat NJ. vii ~
other people "The ripe maize was pounded by thp
women into fine meal in large wooden morars the coun
P VI "ich may be seen depicted on ancient Eiyp-
uah monuments They prove exceedingly like our
Southern homiuy blocks.
- Indian corn is not generally understood throughou,
Europe In Great Britain the csrn" describe, ey
cry kind OF breadstu including oats Some wears ago
young English gentleman carried hom, with iIim a.
Walking cane, stalk OF Indian corn n,aty vanished
ms old country friends admired it very much and farm
ers inquired what wood was made of,n
pairing its lightness with their own heavy timber IN.
.oungster gravey informed them "t was the straw of
American corn, with which the Yankees Uttered their
tie" He then added to their surprse by nresan,i,s .
large ear of Indian curn the grain produced by such
straw The English farmers invariably placed The corn
corn. ~ o. ~ ""saS
An objection that maize was not represented on the
sculptures oil the ancient Egyptians does not prove they
were ignorant of this grain since other well tnoxn OF
Jecs OF antiquity, native TO that country urrc o
TED on their monuments But snch An emblem i stron.,
y suspected upon certain Assyrian remains though
IN .l.
the peculiarities of this plant
The Greeks, in dcrision called the ancient Epvnti,bs
Au-ea'ets. IL was said OF them, they baked bread
less from barley wheat OF which they had abpnd,n
than from the meal of a sort Of grain called Pea m nv
ra." $50" VI Oi,-
Something very much like Indian corn was known I,
BABYLON Tor HercdotuS said he feared to describe IL n,
his countrymen, las it grew seven feet high and VS.
very productive" European authorities VINO have wit
Yen Tue Islands Of the East Indian Archipelago de-
clare me Hdtire title OF Indian in Java "sapuno
preceded nn intercourse with the Arabiaps who in,,
d9eed the hhhomean religion long before the Discovery
VI Aherlca or an intercourse with Europeans.
some ancient laws of the Hebrews with dstinrt NOR
Indian "
DIR. Gibbon proceeded to enquire what was the char
acter Oh te Mamma OF the Wilderness" that SURPRISED
some portions of the Hebrew people with s novcy. .,
which so many varied accounts have been rendered. h,
commentators In the Hebrew Scripture this substance
u distinctly represented have been prenared for o
IKE ordinary breadstuif: Gathered and ground in min,
beat or crushed in mortar baked in pans and ae mt
cakes A"nber' NJ chap. w. The specific details of
ne natural color fayor and qualities of this
are similar TO those which Indian corn would tI6I ~
readily spols after being baked or boiled bur nroys w
~ durable after the grains matured and well dried
measure OF manna' was cautiously ordered 10 he nre
served IN the dry, ''as a memorial" that future sans
tons might certainly know what Kind of food spnno,od
that people during their wandering migration In Va
IN accordance with the devotional feeling of the ACE n
uiooon said that this bread should bc attributed ir,
70 te Almighty, as all natural usually are by eve
~ ihn.eigent primitive people Man did angles
lhA nnFA
fsain but some Hebrew scholars of authority nst ,b
true Interpretation TO be "Oxens foodn-a very d;fF,
Illustration ~ perfectly intcligble wherever Indian corn
"a special gift" The Agonguns it 1.-THE grain or
berry OF the Great Spirit
There is little geographical informal ton also carefully
inserted in the original Hebrew, quite important eluc-
date, without detractng from the interest of this Record
of ancient people. "a Southeast wind facilitates
navigation in the upper branches of the Arabian Gulf in
the direction OF the Emgrant Camp sometimes within
sight of the The Southeast wind brought up
ocks of birds called quais which water fowls
and aided the trausportion Of grain from the sea- in
the proper direction. Maize, in eatern sacks contn
be carried from the of Africa the out
let of the Red Sea- feed Turkish soldiers the oppo-
site shores of Arabia Such cagoes in native boats be-
ing subject 10 modern tariff charges found
ted in the commercial statistics OF the present day.
"Indan," or Negro Corn, as some German travellers
it, is described by DIR. Barth, be taken to
Tmbuctoo in the of Africa, in eahern sacks ou
cAmels backs like rice aud other products of that coun
try. In ancient Assyran Sculpture men are descr
bed similarly loaded with grain Of special title "dazrn
Maize may, therefore, prove to have wild or native
rauge in the central portions of Asia ana of Africa like
other plants hitherto attributed to each alone
The notice Of cotton and tobacco harvest in the in
terror of Southern China aud in Africa induces opin
ion that these plants had also been placed Creative
Hand in portions of the earth remote from each other
in the several continents OF Asia Afrcs and America
Prof Gray, Of Cambridge College Who bad early iu.
terrupted the reading of this paper said Dr. Gb5on had
proved that the people OF the countries TO which lac
forred used breadsus in the way in which ed
Indian corng but he would like hear single piece
OF evidence that Indian known before the dis
covcry Of America by Columbus"
DIR. Gibbon thought il scarcely courteous in Prof
Gray TO deny such evidence when he had Intercepted the
proofs
Mr. J. H. Alexander Of Baltimore in "An Universal
Dictionary on Weights and Measures inscribed TO Prof
Bache, Of Washington CITY, mentions that some Chitese
weights dsduccd from the grains Of maize OF In.
dian corn; as we know English Troy weights were
derived from the irrsgUlar standard of ,.he,tcorn
grains.
DIR. Gbbon did pretend that Indian Corn, Tobacco
or Cotton grew native in amy portion Of Europe yet hc
had doubt those plants existed 10 Asia and Africa
before Columbus discovered America
Prof W. d. Whitney, Of New Haven, sad he "thought
II hardly fair to rob America Of the honor of having fur.
nhed such important esculcnt Indian Corn TO the
world He objected to "a general disposition TO take
away from America the credit of her naural produc.
tons. The potato always called Irish aud the Tur-
diar
Dr. Gibbon replied, "hc could not regard this A.
question Of patriotism, but ol scientific truth lie
had no disposition to deprive America Of NY Of her no.
nors but wished to know where the Almighty had origi.
nally planted Indian Corn where certain Professors
decide ought TO have been grown for the honor Of the
country"
Hon. George Folsom, Of New York, enquired Of ProC
Gray m there did not exist in Oriental countries at the
present day, variety Of Indian Corny"
Prof Cray replied che had no doubt Of H.
Mr. Folsom said NE had no doubt OF H. for he had
Indian Corn IN Egypt where IL was Manufactured
into meal very much like our corn cakes
Prof Gray asked 'fft was Indian Corn or Dowra
which was probably our broomcornfn
Mr. Folsom replied "hc saw both Indian corn and Dow.
- there but they both called by bs same naras-
He could not learn that there distinctive name for
each although he repeatedly cndcavorcd to do so One
was Sorghum Mlci, aud the other was a small variety
Of what call Indan Corn
DIR. Gbbon remarked that "the common title for In.
dian corn w Europe Turkey or Egyptian corn ~
In the interior Of Africa il sometimes called USvr.
ian or Egyptian Mllct" Tho Abyssinians called Il
"kict from the sea-" their usual mode NJ designating
any foreign importation. Dr. Livingston found "Dowra"
and haizc growing side by side in the centre Of Alrc,
Maize recently brought from Syria to Maryland was de-
scrbcd OF IN amethyst blue purple color Just as No
represented II IN bis day. when this imported Svt
A. nlnuf Ia iflaI ID s.aa