COOK—THE COCONUT PALM IN AMERICA. 3389 
does not appear to be able to maintain itself under littoral conditions 
without the assistance of man. ‘Though carried by man to all of the 
warmer parts of the earth, it has not been able to establish itself as 
a wild plant on any tropical coast, but is always crowded out by 
other vegetation after human care is withdrawn. 
Wafer’s circumstantial account of the existence of large numbers 
of coconut palms on the Cocos Islands, 800 miles west of Panama, 
in 1685, taken together with their almost complete disappearance 
at the present day, affords a striking illustration of the dependence 
of the coconut upon human assistance not only for its distribution, 
but for its continued existence on oceanic islands. 
The dissemination of the coco palm along the tropical coasts is 
to be aseribed to the ageney of primitive man, as with the sweet 
potato, banana, and other domesticated plants which were widely 
distributed in prehistoric times. The theory that it has been dis- 
seminated by ocean currents is gratuitous, unproved, and improbable. 
The development of distinct varieties of the coconut has not been 
confined to the Polynesian and Malayan islands. Distinct varieties 
are also to be found in isolated localities in America, such as the 
Soconusco region of Mexico and the island of Porto Rico, 
The existence of many and diverse varieties in the Malay region 
does not indicate that the species is native there, but the opposite, 
since the proximity of the wild stock of a species is likely to hinder 
the appearance and preservation of mutations among its cultivated 
representatives. The relative uniformity of the coconuts of America 
is in accord with the probability of an origin in this hemisphere. 
The discovery of distinet varieties in isolated localities in America 
accords with the probability that the Malayan varieties have arisen, 
like other cultivated varieties, through segregation and mutation 
rather than by gradual evolution and natural selection. 
HISTORICAL CONCLUSIONS. 
At the time of the discovery of America the coconut was not con- 
fined to the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Panama, as De Candolle 
believed, but was already widely distributed along the Atlantic 
side of the American tropics. Early records show its presence in 
Cuba, Porto Rico, Brazil, and Colombia at dates so early as to pre- 
clude the idea of introduction by the Spaniards. 
The statement of Pickering, frequently quoted in works of refer- 
ence, to the effect that coconuts were reported by Columbus on the 
coast of Central America during his fourth voyage, proves to be 
erroneous. On the other hand, there appears to be a definite refer- 
ence to the coconut in Cuba in the journal of the first voyage of 
Columbus. 
