LE COCOTIER DE MER DES ILES SEYCtiELLES 273 



rapport de M. Ward, se défend de lui attribuer cette théorie. 

 En examinant soigneusement les Cocotiers de Mer, notre 

 auteur découvrit qu'ils avaient une sorte d'écorce, fait d'autant 

 plus intéressant que, comme nous l'avons vu plus haut, ils 

 avaient passé jusqu'alors pour n'en pas avoir. Vu l'importance 

 de cette constatation, nous citons ici les propres termes du 

 D r P. Wright : 



« I found on ail the trees that I examined, a paren- 

 chvmatous barkv laver that in trees that had fallen 

 was easily peeled otf. This barky laver was curiously 

 pitted ; this pitting was caused by the intrusion into the 

 parenchy matous laver, and piercing through it, of the 

 woody libres of the stem ; but without illustrations, it 

 would not be easy to explain this structure, and I must 

 therefore reserve it for another occasion. Some of the so 

 called « bowls » were met with on the mountain-slopes : 

 hère I need onlv add that section made through both young 

 and old trees revealed no peculiaritv of structure in this 

 portion of the stem other than what is met with in almost 

 ail palms. 



« From an examination of ail thèse forests, I arrived at 

 the conclusion that the growth of the stem depended very 

 much on the soil in which it grew ; and I was pleased at 

 being able to détermine this by the following facts. Manv 

 nuts hâve been planted on Isle S to Anne, in différent parts 

 of Mahé, and at Silhouette, and the date of the plantation 

 of thèse nuts is in manv cases known with great accuracy. 

 Thus M. Charles Savi planted some seven or eight at 

 Silhouette in one long row, some twenty feet apart, on the 

 side of a mountain, but onlv some two or three feet above 

 high water mark; the nuts were planted at the saine time, 

 in the year 1812. Of thèse, some six germinated, and for 

 the fîrst year or two grew wilhout one showing any great 

 advantage over the other; now after the lapse of lifty six 

 ■ years, three of (hese trees (two females and one maie 

 measure four feel in diameter at the base of their stem, 

 which is twenty six feet in height, and they bore their lirst 

 Annules du Musée culunial de Marseille. — 3" série, 3* vol. 1915. Ifc 



