Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 251, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 November 1917 — An Aztec Grain. [ARTICLE]

An Aztec Grain.

At the time of the Spanish conquest, an ivory grain, finer than mustard seed, was made into paste for molding into religious idols and was an important food in these times of scarcity of maize. This grain, known to the Aztecs as “huauhtli,” was among the tributes jiaid. by the pueblos to Montezuma. The botanical identity of the seed was long unknown, but the collection of Dr. Edward Palmer in the states of Sincola and Pallsco Included fish-eggllke seeds of an amaranthus. The plant was found both wild and under cultivation, a paste of the seed and sugar being sold under the name of “suale.” Dr. W. E. Safford of the deparMent of agriculture has recognized in these specimens the sacred “huauhtli” of Montezuma’s time, gnd suggests that this amaranthus might be cultivated in favorable Closely allied plants are cultivated in India, Tibet, South America and Africa as grain crops.