570 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 878 



breeding grounds of the Pribilofs are located 

 largely upon rocky ground or upon firm soil 

 and have sufficient slope as a rule to prevent 

 the accumulation of sand. There are small 

 sand patches vrithin the limits of several rook- 

 eries which are infested with the parasite Un- 

 cinaria. This hook-worm is one of the con- 

 tributing causes to heavy annual losses among 

 the young seals born on sandy areas. The 

 Uncinaria parasite was doubtless a greater 

 source of danger in former years than at pres- 

 ent. It was, like the fighting of the males, a 

 natural check upon the unlimited expansion 

 of the seal herd, but not so potent. The 

 topography of some of the rookeries is such 

 that an extension of their limits would force 

 the breeding females to occupy unfavorable 

 sandy areas. This source of danger to young 

 seals can be eliminated, if sandy ground is 

 covered with rock, or fenced in so that breed- 

 ing seals can not occupy it. 



In conclusion it may be stated that with 

 our present knowledge of the life history of 

 the fur seal, there is no reason why our valu- 

 able herd should not only rapidly increase in 

 size, but, under wise management, actually 

 exceed in numiers the great herd occupying 

 the Pribilof Islands at the time of their dis- 

 covery. 



The principal thing in the management of 

 the rookeries will, however, be the limiting of 

 the number of the adult males allowed to enter 

 the rookeries. 



Notwithstanding the fact that during recent 

 years a very large proportion of the surplus 

 males has been killed for profit, our annual 

 photographic records show that there has al- 

 ways been, with the exception of one or two 

 seasons, a sufficient surplus of idle males adja- 

 cent to each rookery. Such animals force 

 their way in as soon as they acquire the weight 

 and the courage necessary for them to do so. 

 All claims that we have killed too many of 

 the surplus males can easily be disproved by 

 the photographic records of the Bureau of 

 Pisheries. 



0. H. TOWNSEND, 



Member of the Advisory Board 

 of the Fur Seal Service 



BOTANICAL NOTES 



FURTHER STUDIES OF THE COCONUT 



In a recent paper^ O. F. Cook publishes the 

 results of his further studies of the coconut. 

 It will be remembered that some years ago he 

 published his first considerable paper on this 

 tree, in which he showed among other things 

 that the name is coconut, as spelled above, and 

 not coeoanut, the dictionary makers to the 

 contrary, notwithstanding. The particular 

 purpose of the present paper appears to be to 

 prove the American origin of this tree, and 

 this the author seems to have done most con- 

 clusively. The conclusions may be sum- 

 marized as follows : 



All palms that are related to the coconut 

 (about 200 species, of 20 genera) are Ameri- 

 can, with possibly one exception. All species 

 of the genus Cocas are South American. The 

 most nearly related species are natives of the 

 interior valleys and plateaus of the Andes, 

 where the coconut also thrives, remote from 

 the sea. Neither sti-ucture nor habits of the 

 coconut tree indicate that it originated on the 

 seacoast. Moreover, it is not able to maintain 

 itself under littoral conditions without the 

 assistance of man, and is always crowded out 

 by other vegetation after human care is with- 

 drawn. 



" The dissemination of the coco palm along 

 tropical coasts is to be ascribed to primitive 

 man." " The theory that it has been dissemi- 

 nated by ocean currents is gratuitous, un- 

 proved and improbable." The long-accepted 

 theory as to the essentially littoral habitat of 

 the coconut must be abandoned in favor of 

 one quite the opposite. " The unusually large, 

 heavy seed and the thick, fibrous husk are to 

 be considered as adaptations for protecting 

 the embryo, assisting in germination, and es- 

 tablishing the young plants in the dry 

 climates of interior localities, the only con- 

 ditions where this palm could be expected to 

 maintain its existence in a wild state." 



" peck's REPORTS " 



Another of the well-known reports of the 

 state botanist of New York came to hand a 



^ Contrib. U. S. National Herbarium, Vol. 14, 

 Pt. 2. 



