aker obtained his smaller type. The differences existing 
between these two groups of modern gourd seeds are 
probably due merely to a correlation with the type of 
fruit. 
It has long been an accepted fact that Lagenaria was 
a well established cultigen in Pre-Columbian America, 
and the recent finding of gourd seeds in the Preceramic 
levels at Huaca Prieta has now placed its actual presence 
in the Western Hemisphere at or before 1200 B.C. 
(Bird, 1951). The problem of the origin of any cultivated 
plant is a matter of considerable interest, particularly in 
the case of a species which must have come from another 
hemisphere. Lagenaria is of special interest in that it was 
one of the few cultivated plants which was undoubtedly 
common to the tropics of both hemispheres in Pre- 
Columbian times. 
Archaeological, historical, and linguistic evidence sug- 
gest that Lagenaria has long been part of man’s economy 
in the Old World. He not only used the young fruits 
for food, but at an early date learned that the mature 
fruits were impervious to water and other liquids and 
therefore were admirably suited for containers. This 
characteristic also made this fruit adaptable for floats, 
particularly among people whose culture was intimately 
associated with the sea. 
Many authorities consider Lagenaria, a monotypic 
genus, to be indigenous to Africa. But even if that is 
the case, it must have reached India and eastern Asia at 
a very early date, and then spread to Malaya, the islands 
of the Pacific, and tropical areas of the Americas. The 
question as to how this dispersal was effected is naturally 
a matter of speculation. Carter (1950), in his discussion 
of the presence of Lagenaria in the New World, con- 
cludes that this plant probably was carried by man across 
the Pacific ocean to the Western Hemisphere at an early 
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