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 poUen, 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 foils withered. If it happens to rain on the day of the flowering 

 of 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 capsi;le 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- 

 pmm barbadense, and from G. barbudense 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 tj^pes 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 

 Gossypmm 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 difi^erent 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 24tli 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. — Comptes 

 Bendus, November 4, 1867, pp. 763-766. 



