rapidly ripening wheat was attacked by the chiahuiztli,[1] and the greater part destroyed.
The eclipse occurred about nine o'clock in the morning. For three quarters of an hour the city was shrouded in almost total darkness, during which the greatest confusion and consternation prevailed.[2] To the superstitious and already excited minds of the lower classes this phenomenon appeared as an evil omen, a belief which subsequent events only served to confirm.
With the loss of the wheat crop the consumption of corn increased, its price being further advanced by the partial failure of the crop, due to excessive moisture and cold. The situation was indeed critical. Maize was the food staple of the natives, and since the loss of the wheat crop the tortilla had taken the place of wheat bread, not only among all the lower and laboring classes of the capital, but also to some extent among the wealthy.[3] Such was now the increasing scarcity that by the beginning of September the price of wheat had more than doubled. The
- ↑ According to Sigüenza, Carta al Almirante, MS., 28, who submitted the wheat to a microscopic examination, this is a small insect, a mere speck to the naked eye, the size of a needle point, with legs like those of a flea, and wings resembling those of a weevil. Myriads of them were seen on each ear of wheat, and spread with astonishing rapidity. He states that pulgon, or aphis, is the meaning given this word in the Mexican vocabulary. Molina, in his Vocabulario, pt. ii. 19, to which Sigüenza probably refers, writes the word chiauitl, which he renders in Spanish, 'Otro biuoro, o pulgon q roe las viñas'—worm or aphis which destroys vineyards. Robles, Diario, ii., writes it chahuistle, describing it as a worm which attacks the roots, and this term is also probably taken from Molina's definition. In modern times the usual form of the word is that given by Robles, and it is generally applied to rust in grain.
- ↑ Stars of the first, second, and third magnitude were visible; dogs howled; birds, with frightened cries, flew wildly about; cocks crew; women and children screamed; the native women in the plaza abandoned their stalls and fled in terror to the cathedral; and the excitement and dread were increased by the ringing of the church bells for prayers throughout the city. Sigüenza y Góngora, Carta, MS., 27-8; Robles, Diario, ii. 66.
- ↑ Cavo, Tres Siglos, ii. 79, is not altogether to be relied on. Sigüenza y Góngora. Carta, MS., 31, whose statements are to be preferred, for reasons which will hereafter be shown, says, 'jamas le faltó á la republica el pan con la pension de caro, porque (ya que otra cossa no se podia), se acomodaron los pobres y plebeyos á comer tortillas (ya sabe vmd. que asi se nombra el pan de maiz por aquestas parttes) y a los criados de escalera auajo de casi todas las cassas de Mexico se les rasionaua con ellas.'
