COOK—-THE COCONUT PALM IN AMERICA. 305 
to South America, because all other species of the genus Cocos are 
confined to that continent, and he would further locate it in the 
northwestern portion of South America, because the wild species of 
Cocos of that region are much more similar to the coconut than are 
those of the Amazon Valley and eastern Brazil. Thus, from a purely 
biological standpoint, it is reasonable to suppose that the vigorous 
and productive coconut palms reported by Humboldt in the interior 
districts of Venezuela and Colombia may have been growing near the 
ancestral home of the species. 
In dealing with a plant like the coco palm we can be confident that 
it originated in a definite geographical region, along with the other 
similar and related species. To suppose that the same species has 
originated in two or more remote regions is quite as absurd an idea, 
from the standpoint of modern biology, as it would be in geometry 
to talk of a plane triangle including three right angles. It might be 
a matter of difficulty and debate to determine which of the other 
species of Cocos were most nearly related to the coconut, or which 
of the other American genera of Cocaceae were most nearly related to 
Cocos, but to insist that the coconut had sprung from the unrelated 
Malayan or Polynesian palms would be altogether fantastic. Bio- 
logical facts, though seldom appearing to be as exact and invariable 
as those of mathematics, are for some purposes equally definite. 
Geometry gave us the sciences of geography and navigation, and also 
made it possible to understand the motions of the planets. Biology, 
like geometry, is a system of bearings and measurements which may 
assist us in the solutions of many problems. 
The inability of the coconut to withstand the competition of ordi- 
nary tropical vegetation makes it unreasonable to suppose that the 
species originated in any region that had a natural forest covering. 
The fact that other related palms are much more tolerant of shade 
than the coconut makes it only the more probable that the coconut 
originally inhabited open places where it could have full exposure to 
the sun; that is, a place where the conditions were unfavorable for 
other tvpes of vegetation, but favorable for the coconut. A con- 
dition that the coconut can tolerate and that excludes most other 
vegetation is the presence of salt in the soil. Many salt deposits are 
found along the eastern side of the Andes from Colombia to Peru. 
Cieza de Leon devotes a special chapter to the native salt industry of 
Colombia, mentioning many springs, streams, and lakes in the Caucz 
Valley, and especially in the district of Anzerma where the coconut 
palms were found. 
Before I treat of the kingdom of Peru, or leave the government of Popayan, it seems 
to me well to give some account of the notable fountains there are in this land, and of 
the rivers of water from which they make salt, for thus the people are sustained, having 
no salt pits in these parts, and the sea being far distant. . 
