INTRODUCTION 7 



existed to allow of fairly satisfactory descriptions being framed. 

 Similarly I have not attempted to solve the enigma of every species Enigma of 

 that has been formed by authors who, in many cases, seem to have name3 - 

 treated accidental states as distinct forms or new species. The 

 citation of synonyms, given by me, has been accordingly largely 

 restricted to those that could be advanced with some degree of 

 assurance or to instances where historically it seemed desirable that 

 some attempt should be made to determine the probable plants 

 indicated. 



- It will, moreover, be observed that I have proposed to classify Classifioa- 

 the wild cottons on a system that I trust may be found to bear tlon * 

 comparison with that pursued in other genera. From that position 

 I have advanced to the inclusion of the cultivated forms within the 

 sections established for their presumed wild allies. But a still 

 further step has been taken, by the effort having been put forth to 

 classify the cultivated varieties, races, and hybrids of the various 

 species, so far as the material at my disposal would admit of such 

 being attempted. Under most of the recognisable races I have 

 furnished comparative descriptions, that may not only allow of their 

 identification, but afford data to mark the progression or retrogression 

 of future cultivation. 



Fully a century ago Bohr urged (as a result of many years' study 

 of the living plants in the West Indies) that trustworthy specific 

 characters could not be based on the shape of the leaf, the number charac- 

 and position of the glands, or the peculiarities of the bracteoles. teK L of *ke 

 He accordingly thought that the only satisfactory classification was 

 to be founded on the conditions of the seed. While I have accepted 

 that suggestion, and I trust made my studies of the seed yield 

 features of considerable utility, I have rested my classification upon 

 an assemblage of structural peculiarities rather than upon any single 

 characteristic by itself. Had Eohr lived to-day he would doubtless 

 have founded his classification on the manifestations of the wild 

 species. He would thus have escaped from the complexity and 

 confliction that he fell into through dealing with but one aspect of 

 the cultivated cottons. 



Characteristics of Wild Cottons. It may not be out of place to 

 mention here a few of the features of the wild cottons. They all 

 have, for example, a red-coloured woolly coating on the testa of the Red- 

 seed. In some this assumes the condition of a short dense velvet, 

 called the fuzz. In others there are two coats of wool an under- 



