430 OEIGIN OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. 



wood and fibres are utilized in various "vvaj^s. The sap 

 extracted from the inner part of the inflorescence yields a 

 much-prized alcoholic drink. The shell of the nut forms 

 a vessel, the milk of the half-ripe fruit is a pleasant drink, 

 and the nut itself contains a great deal of oil. It is not 

 surprising that so valuable a tree has been a good deal 

 planted and transported. Besides, its dispersion is aided 

 by natural causes. The woody shell and fibrous enA^elope 

 of the nut enable it to float in salt water without injury 

 to the germ. Hence the possibility of its transportation 

 to great distances by currents and its naturalization on 

 coasts where the temperature is favourable. Unfortu- 

 nately, this tree requires a warm, damp climate, such as 

 exists only in the tropics, or in exceptional localities just 

 without them. Nor does it thrive at a distance from 

 the sea. 



The cocoa-nut abounds on the littoral of the warm 

 regions of Asia, of the islands to the south of this con- 

 tinent, and in analogous regions of Africa and America ; 

 but it may be asserted that it dates in Bi-azil, the West 

 Indies, and the west coast of Africa from an introduction 

 wliich took place about three centuries ago. Piso and 

 Marcgraf ^ seem to admit that the species is foreign to 

 Brazil without sajnng so positively. De Martins,^ who 

 has published a very important work on the Palmaceag, 

 and has travelled through the provinces of Bahia, Per- 

 nambuco, and others, where the cocoa-nut abounds, does 

 not say that it is wild. It was introduced into Guiana 

 by missionaries.^ Sloane ^ says it is an exotic in the 

 West Indies. An old author of the sixteenth century, 

 Martyr, whom he quotes, speaks of its introduction. This 

 probably took place a few years after the discovery of 

 America, for Joseph Acosta^ saw the cocoa-nut i)alm 

 at Porto Pico in the sixteenth century. De Martius 

 says that the Portuguese introduced it on the coast of 

 Guinea. Many travellers do not even mention it in this 



' Piso, BmsiL, p. 65 ; Marcgraf, p. 138. 



' Martius, Hist. Nat. Pabnarv.m, 6 vols, in folio; see vol. ii. p. 125. 

 ' Aublet, Guyane, suppl., p. 102. * Sloane, Jamaica, ii. p. 9. 



* J. Acosta, Hist. Nat. des Indes, French trans., 1598, p. 178. 



