﻿Cultivated 
  Elementary 
  Species 
  89 
  

  

  by 
  Columbus, 
  according 
  to 
  accounts 
  of 
  Oviedo 
  

   and 
  other 
  contemporary 
  Spanish 
  writers. 
  

  

  Concluding 
  we 
  may 
  state 
  that 
  according 
  to 
  

   the 
  whole 
  evidence 
  as 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  discussed 
  by 
  

   De 
  Candolle 
  and 
  especially 
  by 
  Cook, 
  the 
  coco- 
  

   nut-palm 
  is 
  of 
  American 
  origin 
  and 
  has 
  been 
  dis- 
  

   tributed 
  as 
  a 
  cultivated 
  tree 
  by 
  man 
  through 
  the 
  

   whole 
  of 
  its 
  wide 
  range. 
  This 
  must 
  have 
  hap- 
  

   pened 
  in 
  a 
  prehistoric 
  era, 
  thus 
  affording 
  time 
  

   enough 
  for 
  the 
  subsequent 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  

   fifty 
  and 
  more 
  known 
  varieties. 
  But 
  the 
  pos- 
  

   sibility 
  that 
  at 
  least 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  have 
  origin- 
  

   ated 
  before 
  culture 
  and 
  have 
  been 
  deliberately 
  

   chosen 
  by 
  man 
  for 
  distribution, 
  of 
  course 
  re- 
  

   mains 
  unsettled. 
  

  

  Coconuts 
  are 
  not 
  very 
  well 
  adapted 
  for 
  

   natural 
  dispersal 
  on 
  land, 
  and 
  this 
  would 
  rather 
  

   induce 
  us 
  to 
  suppose 
  an 
  origin 
  within 
  the 
  period 
  

   of 
  cultivation 
  for 
  the 
  whole 
  group. 
  There 
  are 
  

   a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  cultivated 
  varieties 
  of 
  differ- 
  

   ent 
  species 
  which 
  by 
  some 
  peculiarity 
  do 
  not 
  

   seern 
  adapted 
  for 
  the 
  conditions 
  of 
  life 
  in 
  the 
  

   wild 
  state. 
  These 
  last 
  have 
  often 
  been 
  used 
  to 
  

   prove 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  varietal 
  forms 
  during 
  cul- 
  

   ture. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  oldest 
  instances 
  is 
  the 
  variety 
  

   or 
  rather 
  subspecies 
  of 
  the 
  opium-poppy, 
  which 
  

   lacks 
  the 
  ability 
  to 
  burst 
  open 
  its 
  capsules. 
  The 
  

   seeds, 
  which 
  are 
  thrown 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  wind, 
  in 
  the 
  

   common 
  forms, 
  through 
  the 
  apertures 
  under- 
  

  

  