COTTON FIBRE 33 



Defective Agriculture. In all defective agriculture, therefore, as Wild 

 also with wild plants left to a state of nature, the greater prevalence 

 of kempy or dead cotton would be a natural enough circumstance, staples. 

 It is probably the case that the rod-like condition is the final form 

 intended to be produced, and hence the less frequency of twisted 

 cotton cells seen in wild as compared with cultivated species. And 

 in this view it is significant that Bowman, so long ago as 1882, 

 should have been able to add that the tendency to the kempy 

 condition is ' a case of reversion,' for in that opinion he was 

 unquestionably correct. Spruce (' Cotton Cult, in Peru,' p. 47) 

 observes that the browner the staple the shorter and more brittle 

 it becomes. Hanausek ('Tech. Mikroskopie,' 1900, p. 58), who 

 has devoted some attention to the study of dead cotton, has come 

 to the same conclusion as Bowman namely, that it is commonest 

 in the coarser grades (Levantine and Indian), and rarest in the Sea 

 Island. 



The period of harvest must, therefore, in all successful cultiva- Harvest 

 tion, be the stage when a maximum of the so-called perfectly P enod> 

 formed and spirally twisted cells has been attained. 



Matured Fibres. Concluding his observations on these issues, 

 Dr. Bowman adds : ' The probability is, therefore, that in all bolls 

 of cotton some of the fibres never attain maturity, from some cause 

 or other, either their position on the matrix preventing their getting 

 a sufficiency of light or nourishment, or some other reason inter- 

 fering with the perfect development of the hair, the proportion of 

 this fibre being more or less dependent on the character of the 

 season and the health of the plant.' Speaking of perfectly- Perfectly, 

 formed hairs, he remarks : ' The fully-matured fibres ' are those C otton 

 ' where the tubular form is perfect and the twisting regular and 

 symmetrical, while the tube-walls are solid and present distinct 

 evidences of cellular or laminated structure.' 



The Cell-cavity. By staining cotton fibrils, the various struc- 

 tures, discussed above, are not only rendered more vivid, but it is 

 shown that a considerable portion of the cell is filled up with the 

 endochrome. This central chamber is most conspicuous along the The endo- 

 lower two-thirds ; in fact the upper third gradually tapers into a 

 transparent cellulose (or ' kempy ') solid beak, in which a central 

 cavity and endochrome can hardly be spoken of as visible. 

 But the study of the central cavity will once more emphasise the 

 fact that the cellulose and endochromic materials are not by any 



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