548 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



other Polynesian islands. In connection with the distribution of this 

 plant, I consider it wiser to wait until the scientific report of the 

 investigations of Heyerdahl and his collaborators on Easter Island 

 is published. At that time we shall know what conclusions he draws 

 from the distribution of this particular plant. It is my surmise that 

 this problem also is more complicated than it appears to be at first 

 sight, since the occurrence of Scirpus totara is not restricted to Peru 

 and Easter Island only. Merrill (1954) was, in my opinion, often too 

 outspoken in opposing Heyerdahl's views, but nevertheless one must 

 agree with him that these views were not entirely justified, perhaps 

 because Heyerdahl too frequently depended upon the works of spe- 

 cialists who were not entirely qualified to express detailed opinions 

 in such an area. One must agree with Merrill's statement that "One 

 can see little or no basis for the Heyerdahl claims that the Polynesians 

 came from America, or that the American Indians ever peopled 

 Polynesia proper." Merrill continues: "There seems to be no doubt 

 that they did reach the Galapagos Islands, but these islands are not 

 Polynesian, and they may accidentally have reached certain Pacific 

 islands nearest to the west coast of America." 



REFERENCES 

 Beown, F. B. H. 



1935. Flora of southeastern Polynesia III. Dicotyledons. Bernice P. Bishop 

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 Buck, P. H. [Te Rangi Hiroa] . 



1937. Vikings of the sunrise. 335 pp. New York. 

 Candolle, Alphonse de. 



1883. Origine des plantes cultiv^es. 377 pp. Paris. 

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1950. Plant evidence of early contacts with America. Southwest. Journ. 

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 Cook, O. F. 



1904, Food plants of ancient America. Ann. Rep. Smithsonian Inst, for 

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1932. The problem of the sweet potato in Polynesia. Amer. Anthropologist, 

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1943. The botanical identity of the Hawaiian Ipu Nui or large gourd. Amer. 

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1777. A voyage round the world in H.M.S. Resolution, commanded by Capt. 

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1935. The genetics of cotton. XII. Homologous genes for anthocyanin pig- 

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 1939. The genetics of cotton. 193 pp. London. 



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