Aprtc 24, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



665 



now engaged in a botanical expedition in the 

 West Indies. As you will see, Dr. Britton 

 wishes to have the information in his letter 

 published in Science. The seeds received 

 from him were turned over to Mr. O. F. Cook, 

 who has examined them and prepared a mem- 

 orandum, a copy of which I enclose. 



This most interesting cotton will be grown 

 for comparative study with other Central 

 American and West Indian cottons, which 

 Mr. Cook is engaged in acclimatizing and 

 breeding. 



Frederick V. Coville 



Washington, D. C, 

 April 9, 1908 



Schooner " Nellie Leonora " 



Off Bluefields, Jamaica, 



March 6, 1908. 

 Mr. F. V. Coville, 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C. 

 My dear Coville: 



I am sending you by mail a small box of 

 cotton, with seeds collected yesterday near 

 Portland Point, Jamaica, by Mr. Wm. Harris 

 and myself. We were very much interested 

 in observing this cotton plant, which is grow- 

 ing in great abundance at that point in the 

 extreme southern part of Jamaica, in coastal 

 thickets both in sand and on nearly level 

 limestone rock where there is scarcely any 

 soil; we noticed it over an area about a mile 

 long and several hundred feet wide. There 

 is a total absence of weeds of cultivation, the 

 cotton being associated with characteristic 

 plants of the coastal lowlands. The flowers 

 are small, the petals white with a crimson 

 spot at the base, fading through the day to 

 pink; the pods are small, nearly globular, the 

 foliage pubescent or very nearly glabrous. 



There are no white residents at the place; 

 the negroes say that the cotton was brought 

 there in slavery times and planted, but the soil 

 is such that no cultivation would be prac- 

 ticable and the remarkable absence of weeds 

 indicates that no cultivation was attempted 

 there; the negroes say that it was formerly 

 collected and shipped. 



The occurrence of the plant at this place. 



associated only with native species, has given 

 us a strong impression that it is indigenous, 

 though it may not be ; at any rate it is a race 

 of cotton that has probably been quite un- 

 changed from its pristine condition. 



It at once occurred to us that this race 

 might prove a very valuable one for breeding 

 purposes, inasmuch as it furnishes a new point 

 of departure. I therefore ask that you trans- 

 mit the seeds sent by mail to such officer 

 of the Department of Agriculture as will be 

 most interested; I have good museum and 

 herbarium specimens of the plant which we 

 will share with you. 



I ask also that you send a copy of this letter 

 for publication in Science. 



Tours very sincerely, 



(Signed) N. L. Britton 



Note on Professor Britton's Wild Jamaica 

 Cotton 



Professor Britton's account of the condi- 

 tions under which this primitive type of 

 cotton grows would seem to establish beyond 

 doubt that it is reaUy a wild plant. The very 

 small bolls and sparse lint would seem to pre- 

 clude the idea that this cotton was introduced 

 into the island for civilized agriculture. If 

 not truly indigenous it must have been 

 brought in aboriginal times, or by accident. 



The existence of wild cotton in Jamaica has 

 been claimed by Macfayden and others, but 

 the evidence has not been convincing. Mac- 

 fayden described two species of cotton 

 (Gossypium jamaicense and G. oligospermum) 

 as native of Jamaica, but both are said to 

 have yellow flowers and have been reckoned as 

 forms of Sea Island cotton (Gossypium harha- 

 dense). White flowers are not known in any 

 cottons of the Sea Island series. 



In the characters of the seeds and boUs 

 Professor Britton's cotton closely resembles 

 a type which grows wild on the Florida Keys. 

 Sir George Watt's recent monograph refers 

 this Florida cotton and other reputed wild 

 cottons from Florida, Jamaica, Curacao and 

 other West Indian localities to Gossypium 

 punctatum, a species originally described from 

 Africa. The same author reckons Gossypium 

 punctatum as one of several ancestors of our 



