594 lEwton: history of kidney cotton. 



which the seeds adhere together. The following are descrip- 

 tions, condensed from Rohr, of three types of cotton which 

 have their seeds adhering together in clusters :^ 



"Guiana cotton, the seed ver\^ black and rough like fine chagrin, 

 those of each lock adhere together in the form of a long, narrow pyra- 

 mid. The kind most prized in Europe on account of its whiteness, 

 strength and length. Known in Europe as Cayenne, Surinam, Deme- 

 rara, Berbice and Essequibo. Planted all over Guiana. This is the 

 kind seen and described by all writers and travelers in this region. 

 It does not do so well in the West Indies. Yields two harvests yearly. 

 In Martinique called coion a pierre, in Jamaica, kidney cotton, also 

 link cotton. Grows lo to 12 feet wide if the ground is good. Nine 

 to eleven seeds in each lock. 



"Brazil cotton, the seed black and rough like those of Guiana cotton. 

 The seed of each lock adhere together in the form of a short, broad 

 pyramid. Only found in Brazil, imported into St. Croix by Dr. Peter 

 Duncan. Seven and not over nine seeds in each lock. I have often 

 found the seeds of the Guiana cotton in commerce, but never those 

 of the Brazilian. After growing the Brazilian cotton in St. Croix, 

 I saw no evidence of its changing into the Guiana kind. 



"Porto Rico cotton, the seed in each lock adhere together in the form 

 of a long, narrow pyramid, and are entirely covered with 'filz.' I have 

 known this kind for a long time. Very much like the Guiana cotton 

 in growth, size, shape of the tree and all its parts. It only bears with 

 me once a year. For the planter the only distinguishing character is 

 the entirely fuzzy seed. The wool is as hard to take off as that of the 

 Guiana cotton." 



The eccentric American botanist C. S. Rafinesque, in his 

 "Sylva Telluriana," published in 1838, proposed Latin binomial 

 names for the cottons described by Rohr.^ For the Guiana 

 and Brazil cottons he proposed the name Gossypium guyanense 

 and distinguished them as varieties verum and braziliensis . 

 For Rohr's Porto Rico cotton he proposed Gossypium rohrianum. 



F. R. de Tussac, a French colonist who settled in the Island 

 of Santo Domingo, and eventually lost his fortune there, pub- 

 ished in 1808 to 1827 his "Flore des Antilles." In this work, 

 devoted mainly to the botany and agriculture of the islands 

 of Santo Domingo (Hayti), Martinique and Guadeloupe, the 



^ Rohr, Julius Philip Benjamin von. Anmerkungen iiber den Cattunbau 

 zum nuzen der Daenischen Westindischen Colonien. i: 38-39, 45, 72-80, 1 20-121. 

 1791. 



' Rafinesque, C. S. Sylva Telluriana 16, 19. 1838. 



