72 Miscellaneous Facts and Observations. 



eight feet, and nine inches, and to the diameter of 

 twenty inches and a half, exclusive of the bark. 



The Cotton-tree receives its name from the very 

 large quantity of pappus, or cottony substance, which 

 the female flowers afford. This substance may, doubt- 

 less, be converted to very useful purposes. Whether 

 it is capable of being employed, in any case, as a 

 substitute for the real cotton, or produce of the spe- 

 cies of Gossypium, remains to be ascertained. At 

 some future day it will, in all probability, be employ- 

 ed in the manufacture of papers, of certain kinds. 



The President informs the Editor, that the twigs 

 of this tree, chopped down, afford an excellent food 

 for horses, which they have often been known to prefer 

 to bran of Mays, or Indian-corn, and similar articles. 

 Captain Merewether Lewis, and his party, while en- 

 gaged in exploring the country along the Missouri, 

 have often witnessed the good effects of the Cotton- 

 tree, as a fodder for their horses, especially in the 

 winter-season. 



15. From the country of the Five-Nations, the Edi- 

 tor has received the seed of a species of Tobacco, 

 which is said to be essentially different from the com- 

 mon cultivated Tobacco, or Nicotiana Tabacum. 

 It is a more humble plant; its flowers are yellow; 

 and its leaves are less narcotic than those of the To- 



