230 



2 5 per cent, of the latter." On account of the large proportion 

 of water contained in a bisnaga or sahuaro, if the fiber is cut one 

 half inch thick it reduces to about one sixteenth of an inch in 

 thickness. " If a circumferential cut is made (as one would peel 

 an apple) from 20 to 40 feet in length of fiber may be obtained 

 from cacti of the larger growths." " Immediately after cutting 

 the fiber is placed direct in the tanning bath. The tanning proc- 

 ess requires from two to three hours, according to the thickness 

 of the fiber," but the drying process is more tedious. As much 

 water as possible is first pressed from the sheet, after which it 

 is hung up to dry, or dried by artificial heat. When dry the 

 leather is white or tan, and may be stained any color desired. 

 " The entire trunk of this giant, which reaches a height of 40 to 75 

 feet and a maximum diameter of two feet, may be utilized in the 

 manner described, and, as the sahuaro covers an area of 1 20,000 

 square miles in Arizona and Sonora, no lack of raw material will 

 be encountered in the application of this method of preparation." 



t 



Dr. N. L. Britton of the New York Botanical Garden describes 

 in Science for March 24 the cotton found growing " 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." 

 It was noticed over an area about a mile long and several hun- 

 dred feet wide. Dr. Britton further says, "there is a total ab- 

 sence 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 practicable 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, asso- 

 ciated 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 



