PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 221 
breadth. Professor Henfrey, ‘Micrographical Dictionary,’ is 
nearly as bad; he says, “‘ From the absence of the regular thick- 
ening layers the cells of the cotton hairs become collapsed when 
dry, appearing like a'thin band with thickened borders.” 
12. I have said that I have not found the above descriptions to 
apply otherwise than exceptionally, but I should mention here, 
that in some of the samples small knots remained after the cotton 
was teased out with the fingers, and that I examined several of 
these knots and found them composed (almost entirely) of very 
thin, weak, ftat fibres, much entangled. 
13. Although it seems probable that the quality of cloth pro- 
duced and the facility of working must depend materially upon the 
JSorm of the fibre, yet great stress is laid upon its length. It is 
therefore with much regret that I am obliged to say I have not 
been able to devise any easy and practical method of measuring 
single fibres. The exceeding tenuity of the fibre, say as a mean 
zaocth of an inch in diameter, renders it impossible to apply it 
to an ordinary scale, and the only method I can see is to cement 
them to a glass slide, which can then be applied to a scale ruled 
on glass for the purpose. This is exceedingly tedious and very 
trying to both eyes and head from the impossibility of seeing the 
fibres without a lens; I therefore abandoned it for the method 
adopted (I believe) by the broker and manufacturer, of repeatedly 
drawing a small portion through the fingers until it appears to be 
nearly all in a line, and then measuring these small tufts. 
14. It is necessary also to observe that there is no equality of 
form or diameter in the individual fibres, which are in one part 
round, in another flattish and twisted, appearing varicose; spread- 
ing out into a flat, thin fibre for some distance, to become again 
contracted, &c. This variation of form seems to render anything 
like a standard of measurement next to impossible. 
15. I have sent herewith the small tufts of cotton from which 
the lengths entered in the table were obtained. His Excellency’s 
proposition to draw lines on paper exhibiting the average length 
of the several staples is, I think, a very good one. I would, how- 
ever, suggest that a broad black line on white paper, while quite 
as well seen as a white line on black paper, would be more readily 
executed, the latter method, I fear, would require wooden blocks 
engraved for the purpose. It should be accompanied by a short 
description of the way in which a small tuft is to be prepared for 
measurement. The photo-lithograph sent by the Cotton Supply 
Association is not very plain, and unaccompanied by any expla- 
nation it seems likely to be misunderstood; for a friend of mine 
who has taken some interest in cotton cultivation told me he 
thought it was intended to represent seeds with the adhering 
fibres simply stretched out. If an educated man could fall into 
this error, it would not be strange if the native cultivator should 
find it hard to understand. 
16. I will not detain this report longer, but will endeavour to 
