AfisceUanPo^is. 155 



on the outside of each ankle. It is a large Otter, nearly 5 feet long. 

 The fur is beautifully soft, of a golden-brown hue, with a white 

 streak on each side of the throat. 



Artificial Hybridization in the Genus Gossypium. 

 By J. E. Balsamo. 



In the province of Terra d'Otranto, one of the most southern dis- 

 tricts of Italy, the cotton-tree has been cultivated from time imme- 

 morial. The processes of cultivation there generally followed are well 

 adapted to the nature of the plant, and in this particular there is 

 nothing to be changed : but the species of cotton-tree are not so well 

 selected ; for although the short-stapled Gossi/pimn herbaceum is not 

 much cultivated, but more comnionly the G. Jiirsiifiim, which is pre- 

 ferable as regards its textile qualities, this is far from having the 

 length, fineness, softness, and lustre of the cotton of Gossypium bar- 

 badense, commonly known as Sea-island or long-staple cotton. 

 During the American war I experimented upon manj^ American 

 varieties of cotton, particularly the Sea-islancl, New Orleans, and 

 Louisiana, and I distributed a great part of the seed which I obtained 

 among the cultivators of my province. The last two of these va- 

 rieties, which, from some of their characters, may be referred to the 

 Siamese type, prospered ; the Sea-island, which is less hardy and 

 lipens later, did not succeed. Most of its capsules open in the months 

 of September and October ; and the rains of autumn spoil its fibre. 

 It then occurred to me to unite the two types with long and short 

 staples, in the hope of obtaining a variety of cotton which should 

 combine the precocity and hardiness of the Louisiana or Siamese with 

 the length, fineness, and silky lustre of the Sea-island cotton. The 

 six hybrids and mules which I present to the Academy, taken from 

 among many others which I have obtained, are derived from the 

 harvest of last summer, and are crossings q^ Gossj/pitmi hirsutuin of 

 the improved white Siamese variety, and of the vai-iety with red or 

 nankeen cotton, with Gossypium harbadense. I purposely selected 

 the nankeen, because, as it is reddish, we may the better judge of 

 the predominance of the red or white type of the parents by the 

 different shades of the hybrid cottons. This is the most striking 

 character for those who are not accustomed to distinguish the or- 

 ganic, botanical, and physical differences of hybrid products. 



Each species of cotton-tree has five petals and a great number of 

 monadelphous stamens, all bearing anthers, and surrounding the 

 pistil at different heights. They seem to be so many radii implanted 

 obliquely upon the central cyHnder or bundle formed by the styles. 

 There are as many styles as stigmata, and they may easily be 

 separated with the point of a penknife. They may be recognized by 

 the naked eye in the form of three, four, or five delicate nervures, 

 united together on the inside. The number of cells in each capsule 

 invariably corresponds to that of the styles ; it is therefore of im- 

 portance to select the capsules which have the greatest number of 

 cells, in order to obtain a greater number of tufts of cotton. 



