PREFACE xi 



in cotton on account of the innate perversity of things 

 Egyptian I decided to abandon the accepted method of 

 crop-inspection on a large scale, and to substitute detailed 

 examination of a few plants. The literature then extant 

 gave scarcely any assistance to such heterodox procedure, 

 and the story of the researches which followed from this 

 decision has been written on a tolerably clean sheet. 



The work began as Genetics, but necessarily extended' 

 into Physiology. This mental transition was accelerated 

 by the pronounced deterioration of the Egyptian crop, 

 both in yield and quality, which began to be obvious in 

 1905, and culminated in the catastrophic failure of the 

 1909 crop. The physiological researches necessitated by 

 demands for information as to the possible effects of 

 unsuitable soil- water conditions have given results of 

 more immediate interest, and of greater novelty than 

 the weary routine accumulation of critical data for 

 Mendelian analysis, though the latter are probably of 

 higher intrinsic value. 



For years it had been intended to establish a suitable 

 field laboratory in which the work could be conducted 

 efficiently, but, owing to various causes, this establishment 

 was delayed, and it has taken from December 13th, 1907, 

 when the resolution was passed, till March, 1912, to 

 realise intentions in this respect. The scope and utility 

 of the work has been limited to a regrettable extent by 

 the absence of this provision, and more particularly on 

 the economic side. 



My acknowledgments for assistance rendered must of 

 necessity be incomplete. In the first place, my thanks 

 are due to the Khedivial Agricultural Society, which for six 

 years gave me freedom to conduct researches as I chose ; 

 for this exceptional treatment I am indebted to H.H. 

 Prince Hussein Pasha Kamel, President of the Society, to 

 Mr. G. P. Foaden, and to Abdel Hamid Bey Abaza, 

 successively Secretary-General thereof, while my colleagues 



