156 Miscellaneous: 
The oblique position and nearly radiating arrangement of the 
stamens renders artificial fecundation difficult, in consequence of the 
difficulty of cutting them all down to the bottom of the calyx and 
removing them without the falling of a little seminal dust upon the 
stigmata. Nevertheless I have succeeded in avoiding the contact of 
the’anthers with the latter, and in transporting the pollen to the 
pistils of flowers from which I had removed all the stamina. I took 
the precaution of cultivating the species intended for mutual fecun- 
dation at a distance from each other, and of waiting for the moment 
of the escape of the pollen, which usually takes place about noon, 
when the flower opens. Hence the hottest hours of the day are those 
of the dehiscence of the stamina. During and after fecundation the 
petals close again, the stamina acquire a more vertical position, and 
the pistil lowers its stigmata towards the stamina which are beneath 
it ; the corolla changes from yellow to rosy red, and on the following 
day it falls withered. Ifit happens to rain on the day of the flowering 
ef the cotton-tree, the water which remains in the flower alters and 
blackens the pollen ; in that case natural fecundation itself may fail, 
and the withered flower does not fall, or falls very late. Strong winds, 
by carrying off the greater part of the pollen, may also cause natural 
fecundation to be imperfect; in this case the capsule remains rudi- 
mentary, withers, and falls in a few days. 
My six hybrid plants, obtained from the nankeen cotton-tree, fe- 
cundated by the pollen either of the Siamese cotton-tree or of Gossy- 
pium barbadense, and from G. barbadense fecundated by the pollen 
of the nankeen cotton-tree, show in the colour, softness, elasticity, 
and length of the fibre, in the nakedness of the seeds and the form 
of the leaves, their relation to the two types which produced them. 
It is as well to state that in the floral organs of these hybrids I have 
not observed any deformity or modification, except that the ner- 
vures of the style present a helicoidal deviation at the extremity. 
Being engaged with cotton-trees, I wished to study the influence 
of light upon the germination of their seeds. I selected those of 
Gossypium barbadense, which are black, and more easily followed in 
the changes which they undergo during germination. I made use of 
a large glass vessel, into which I put a homogeneous vegetable soil. 
I introduced cotton-seeds at different depths, in such a manner that, 
being in contact with the inner wall of the vessel, I could see one 
side of them from without. A portion of these seeds were protected 
from the chemical rays of light by means of pieces of yellow paper 
pasted on the outside at the points corresponding to the seeds; the 
rest were left freely exposed to the light. The vessel was in the 
open air, and was watered every three days. This experiment was 
commenced on the 15th May; on the 24th the seeds covered by the 
paper began to show the radicle and the plumule, whilst those ex- 
posed to the light did not show the least sign of germination. The 
former throve in their vegetation ; the others, when taken out in ten 
days’ time, appeared sensibly altered. It appears, therefore, that 
light is injurious to the germination of the cotton-tree.—OComptes 
Rendus, November 4, 1867, pp. 763-766. ' 
