362 DR. EDWARD SCHUNCK ON THE 



XLI. On the Colour of Nankin Cotton. 

 By Edward Schunck, Ph.D., F.R.S. 



Read November i8tb, 1873. 



Among the numerous varieties of cotton existing in com- 

 merce there is one which cannot fail to strike the most 

 unpractised eye, in consequence of the peculiar colour 

 (varying from a pale yellow, or, rather, fawn, to brown or 

 reddish brown) which it exhibits. This kind of cotton is 

 generally called ' ' Nankin " cotton, from its having been 

 used by the Chinese for the manufacture of the well- 

 known fabric called nankin or nankeen. Specimens of 

 raw cotton of the colour referred to from other countries, 

 however, such as India, America, the west coast of Africa, 

 and the shores of the Mediterranean, are found in all 

 extensive collections of the fibre; so that it cannot be 

 considered a product peculiar to China. In Malta, I am 

 informed, it is especially abundant, more so even than 

 the ordinary white kind. Whether it is produced by a 

 peculiar species or variety of the cotton-plant or whether 

 the colour is owing to peculiarities of climate, soil, or 

 method of culture influencing the plant is, on the other 

 hand, a question not easily determined. Considerable 

 doubt, indeed, prevails as to the number of species em- 

 braced by the genus Gossypium, and the characters by 

 which they are distinguished from one another — some 

 authorities admitting only four species, whilst others 

 describe more than twenty. Among the former is Dr. 

 Forbes Royle, who says*: — "The result of our investiga- 

 tion of the species of the genus Gossypium is, that there 

 are at least four distinct species, which may be easily 

 distinguished, and that the great mass, probably the whole, 

 * On the Culture and Commerce of Cotton &c., p. 151. 



