AfisceUanPo^is. 155 on the outside of each ankle. It is a large Otter, nearly 5 feet long. The fur is beautifully soft, of a golden-brown hue, with a white streak on each side of the throat. Artificial Hybridization in the Genus Gossypium. By J. E. Balsamo. In the province of Terra d'Otranto, one of the most southern dis-tricts of Italy, the cotton-tree has been cultivated from time imme-morial. The processes of cultivation there generally followed are well adapted to the nature of the plant, and in this particular there is nothing to be changed : but the species of cotton-tree are not so well selected ; for although the short-stapled Gossi/pimn herbaceum is not much cultivated, but more comnionly the G. Jiirsiifiim, which is pre-ferable as regards its textile qualities, this is far from having the length, fineness, softness, and lustre of the cotton of Gossypium bar-badense, commonly known as Sea-island or long-staple cotton. During the American war I experimented upon manj^ American varieties of cotton, particularly the Sea-islancl, New Orleans, and Louisiana, and I distributed a great part of the seed which I obtained among the cultivators of my province. The last two of these va-rieties, which, from some of their characters, may be referred to the Siamese type, prospered ; the Sea-island, which is less hardy and lipens later, did not succeed. Most of its capsules open in the months of September and October ; and the rains of autumn spoil its fibre. It then occurred to me to unite the two types with long and short staples, in the hope of obtaining a variety of cotton which should combine the precocity and hardiness of the Louisiana or Siamese with the length, fineness, and silky lustre of the Sea-island cotton. The six hybrids and mules which I present to the Academy, taken from among many others which I have obtained, are derived from the harvest of last summer, and are crossings q^ Gossj/pitmi hirsutuin of the improved white Siamese variety, and of the vai-iety with red or nankeen cotton, with Gossypium harbadense. I purposely selected the nankeen, because, as it is reddish, we may the better judge of the predominance of the red or white type of the parents by the different shades of the hybrid cottons. This is the most striking character for those who are not accustomed to distinguish the or-ganic, botanical, and physical differences of hybrid products. Each species of cotton-tree has five petals and a great number of monadelphous stamens, all bearing anthers, and surrounding the pistil at different heights. They seem to be so many radii implanted obliquely upon the central cyHnder or bundle formed by the styles. There are as many styles as stigmata, and they may easily be separated with the point of a penknife. They may be recognized by the naked eye in the form of three, four, or five delicate nervures, united together on the inside. The number of cells in each capsule invariably corresponds to that of the styles ; it is therefore of im-portance to select the capsules which have the greatest number of cells, in order to obtain a greater number of tufts of cotton.
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