302 Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 



reformation of its substance by precipitation, after having been dis- 

 solved by a chemical agent. The structure is far too fine to have 

 been formed from any debris which could be the result of merely me- 

 chanical action. 



The specimen of Ph. tubifer, in my father's collection, shows in 

 a remarkable manner the fitting of the hole to the shape of the shell, 

 M'hich is not symmetrical, and could not turn in the slightest degree. 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 



July 11, 1850. — Professor Fleming, President, in the Chair. 



The following communications were made : — 



1. Dr. Cleghorn, H.E.I.C.S., directed attention to the culture 

 of cotton in Mysore. He read extracts from a letter of Captain On- 

 slow, Superintendent of Nuggur Di\'ision of Mysore, in reference to 

 the culture of American cotton at Cuddoor. In spite of an unfavour- 

 able season the experiment had proved satisfactory. The seeds were 

 supplied from Dr. Wight's government plantation, at Coimbatore — 

 " the natives pay in kind, and the produce is bought, if they like to 

 sell at the market rates." When traversing the Peninsula in the 

 execution of duty, Dr. Cleghorn had given some attention to the 

 culture of cotton in India, a question of such importance in its com- 

 mercial and agricultural bearings : his observations enabled him to 

 express an opinion, that in the extensive cotton tracts above the Ghats, 

 large quantities of cotton might be supplied of an improved quality. 

 In the present state of ignorance and poverty amongst the ryots, it is 

 manifestly unreasonable to expect rapid progress in the agriculture 

 of Hindostan. The aiming at new improvements are so many devia- 

 tions from the practice of their ancestors, whose footsteps they follow 

 with the utmost devotion and reverence : hence progress must be 

 slow, but it is not imperceptible. The face of the country is much 

 improved in the districts longest under our rule, and where good 

 roads exist : the next essential for developing the cotton trade is the 

 presence of enterprising inland traders. Dr. Cleghorn mentioned 

 that he had examined and compared all the species of Gossypium in 

 the Herbarium of the Botanical Society (comprising the collections 

 of Hamilton Buchanan, and Lady Dalhousie, with contributions from 

 Wight, Campbell, &c.), and also those in the Herbarium of Professor 

 Balfour, with a view to ascertain the specific characters by which to 

 discriminate them from one another : he considered the entire series 

 remarkable, as showing the striking diiferences which soil, climate and 

 culture produce in species, and which may appear in nature, giving 

 rise to a multiplication of species. The unimportant discrepancies of 

 foliage and pubescence are good for nothing. The whole group of 

 so-called species seems referable to G. herbaceum, L., G. arhoreum, L., 

 G. barbadense, L., and G. acuminatum, Rox. Dr. Cleghorn looked 

 anxiously for the work of Dr. Royle, which is expected to contain the 

 fullest information on the entire subject of Indian cotton and its 

 culture. 



2. " On the occurrence oi Eleocharis uniglamis. Link., near Black- 

 ness Castle, Linlithgowshire," by Mr. J. T. Syme. He gave the 



