COLOUR OF NANKIN COTTON. 363 



of the cotton of commerce is yielded by three of these 

 species and their varieties." As a botanical characteristic, 

 the colour of the fibre yielded by the plant seems to be of 

 little importance. Any one, indeed, examining a collec- 

 tion of specimens of cotton must see that there are few 

 marked distinctions between them as regards colour, none 

 being absolutely white, while most of them exhibit various 

 shades of cream -colour, verging to fawn. Nankin cotton 

 may be considered to be situated, as far as colour is 

 concerned, at one end of the scale, at the other end of 

 which we find Sea-Island and other almost pure white 

 kinds. Several authorities assert, it is true, that Nankin 

 cotton is produced by one species of the genus only, viz. 

 Gossypium religiosum ; but others say it is found on more 

 than one species. Dr. Forbes Royle, who upholds the 

 latter opinion, says: — "G. religiosum of Linnaeus seems 

 to be distinguished from other species only by having 

 tawny- coloured cotton; but we have seen that both the 

 common Indian cotton, the Chinese cotton, the arboreous 

 species, and G. barbadense all occasionally produce nan- 

 keen-coloured cotton, and that therefore it cannot be con- 

 sidered as characteristic." Referring to " China cotton," 

 the same author says* : — " The specimen in ( Herb. Hook./ 

 from Mr. Fortune, is less hairy than most Indian speci- 

 mens, though clothed with a number of short hairs. Mr. 

 Fortune states, in a note with some specimens that he 

 sent to Dr. Lindley from China, that the white-coloured 

 and the nankeen- coloured cotton are yielded by the same 

 plant, and that the two kinds are separated by the Chinese. 

 Besides India and China, this species is cultivated in 

 Persia, Syria, Asia Minor, and the islands of the Medi- 

 terranean, as well as in the north of Africa and the south 

 of Europe. The kind yielding the nankeen-coloured cot- 

 ton in Malta is probably a variety." Fortune, in his 

 * On the Culture and Commerce of Cotton &c, p. 143. 



