CHAP TER III. 



NATURAL HISTORY OF COTTON ITS SPECIES AND 

 VARIETIES. 



SECTION I. THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF COTTON. 



IN dividing the genus Gossypium into species, we would 

 follow Dr. F. B. Hamilton, (Linn. Trans, v, 8,) who says that 

 the pubescence of the seeds is a better criterion than either 

 the number and forms of the lobes of the leaf, or the number 

 of glands for distinguishing the varieties. M. E-ohn divides 

 the cotton plants with which he was acquainted 



1. Into those with seeds black and rough. 



2. Those with seeds brownish-black and veined. 



3. Those with seeds sprinkled with short hairs. 



4. Those with seeds completely covered with a close down. 

 According to Dr. Royle, who has been long engaged in the 



investigation cf the subject in Great Britain and in India, the 

 different varieties of the cotton may be classed under four 

 distinct species, in the following manner : 



1. Grossypium indicum, or licrl>aceum the cotton plant of 

 China, India, Arabia, Persia, Asia Minor, and some parts of 

 Africa. 



2. Gossypium arboreum a tree-cotton indigenous to India. 



3. Gossypium barbadcnse the Mexican or West Indian 



[94] 



