TOUGH LININGS OF CHAMBERS OF BOLLS. 57 



firm and incompressible, and resists tearing unless considerable 

 strength be exerted. 



A large percentage of attempted punctures of the larger bolls 

 failed because the weevils are unable to penetrate this protective lin- 

 ing. This fact is readily determined by the study of radial sections 

 of the outer wall through the warts which mark the weevils' points 

 of attack. The different texture of the new tissue which has closed the 

 wound shows, usually, that the cavity eaten out by the weevil extended 

 down to the tough basal lining, even when no evidence of the injury 

 has become apparent on the inside. In other instances, also very fre- 

 quent, the new tissue, developed as a result of the irritation of the 

 attempted puncture, exceeds the cavity and causes an inward swelling 

 or prominence of the inner lining analogous to the projecting warts 

 which are the usual external indication of weevil punctures. 



It occasionally happens, too, that the projection of the new tissue 

 occurs almost entirely in the inside, the external wart being very 

 slightly developed or not at all, though the new tissue and the inner 

 swelling show that a puncture had been attempted. 



The utility of this lining as a means of excluding the boll weevil 

 seems not to have been considered heretofore, and there has been no 

 opportunity as yet to compare the Kekchi cotton with other varieties 

 with regard to this feature. Certain it is, however, that in the Kekchi 

 cotton the parchment lining is almost as firm and tough as that which 

 surrounds an adult coffee seed. And it is certain, also, that a very 

 large proportion of the attempted punctures of the bolls failed to 

 bore through this inner wall of defense. 



The examination of a large number of bolls, which were full size or 

 nearly so, though still far from maturity, in most cases failed to find 

 more than a very few instances, if any, of very recent perforation, 

 though there were large numbers of instances where the weevils had 

 gnawed their way down through the parchment and deposited an 

 vgg. In many such cases the proliferation or new growth induced by 

 the injury causes the parchment to be raised up from the wall on the 

 inside to form a blister-like, rounded protuberance. (PI. VIII.) 

 Eggs laid outside the parchment are firmly embedded in the new 



« Since this was written Mr. McLaehlan has reported the existence of the same 

 form of protection in Upland varieties in Texas. The following note describes 

 the results of injuries inflicted upon the bolls of a plant of Parker cotton in four 

 days from August 8 to August 12. 1905 : 



" The 9 larger bolls, when opened, were found to have 28 weevil eggs deposited 

 in them ; 6 had struck the dissepiment ; 12 were not entirely through the shuck of 

 the boll (either not more than half way there or else stuck in the tough inner tis- 

 sue of the shuck) ; the others were embedded in the lint. In only two instances 

 was there any proliferation apparent. The outer shuck had proliferated at the 

 wound and in one case had encysted the egg. The other had merely forced the 

 egg to one side, having begun the development too late." 



