COOK — THE COCONUT PALM IN AMEEICA. 305 



to South America, because ail other species of the genus Cocos are 

 confined to that continent, and he would further locate it in the 

 northwestern portion of South America, because the wild species of 

 Cocos of that region are much more similar to the coconut than are 

 those of the Amazon Valley and eastern Brazil. Thus, from a purely 

 biological standpoint, it is reasonable to suppose that the vigorous 

 and productive coconut palms reported by Humboldt in the interior 

 districts of Venezuela and Colombia may have been growing near the 

 ancestral home of the species. 



In dealing with a plant like the coco palm we can be confident that 

 it originated in a definite geographical region, along with the other 

 similar and related species. To suppose that the same species has 

 originated in two or more remote regions is quite as absurd an idea, 

 from the standpoint of modern biology, as it would be in geometry 

 to talk of a plane triangle including three right angles. It might be 

 a matter of difficulty and debate to determine which of the other 

 species of Cocos were most nearly related to the coconut, or which 

 of the other American genera of Cocaceae were most nearly related to 

 Cocos, but to insist that the coconut had sprung from the unrelated 

 Malayan or Polynesian palms would be altogether fantastic. Bio- 

 logical facts, though seldom appearing to be as exact and invariable 

 as those of mathematics, are for some purposes equally definite. 

 Geometry gave us the sciences of geography and navigation, and also 

 made it possible to understand the motions of the planets. Biology, 

 like geometry, is a system of bearings and measurements which may 

 assist us in the solutions of many problems. 



The inability of the coconut to withstand the competition of ordi- 

 nary tropical vegetation makes it unreasonable to suppose that the 

 species originated in any region that had a natural forest covering. 

 The fact that other related palms are much more tolerant of shade 

 than the coconut makes it only the more probable that the coconut 

 originally inhabited open places where it could have full exposure to 

 the sun; that is, a place where the conditions were unfavorable for 

 other types of vegetation, but favorable for the coconut. A con- 

 dition that the coconut can tolerate and that excludes most other 

 vegetation is the presence of salt in the soil. Many salt deposits are 

 found along the eastern side of the Andes from Colombia to Peru. 

 Cieza de Leon devotes a special chapter to the native salt industry of 

 Colombia, mentioning many springs, streams, and lakes in the Cauca 

 Valley, and especially in the district of Anzerma where the coconut 

 palms were found. 



Before I treat of the kingdom of Peru, or leave the government of Popayan, it seems 

 to me well to give some account of the notable fountains there are in this land, and of 

 the river.-* of water from which they make salt, for thus the people are sustained, having 

 no salt pits in these parts, and the sea being far distant. . . . 



