COMMON COTTON.
1251
Gossyp'ium herba'ceum, Linn. E.— Common Cotton.
Sex. Syst. Monadelphia, Polyandria.
(Hairs attached to the seed, E.)
jj (tiairs auauneu w -, _
s So - 0 -. It is somewhat doubtful who first mentioned cotton. Therer est reas °n for supposing that cotton cloth is referred to in the Oldfhti \ C JJ* (Harris, Nat. Hist, of the Bible ; Carpenter, Script. Nat.'e oj. ^.^°tton is certainly mentioned by Herodotus {Thalia, cv.) ; but^gvp t j IS translators are in error, in stating ( Euterpe , lxxxvi.) that thean! 5’ ’ n eu| hal»iing, wrapped the body in cotton cloth; since allHli n . °d)s are found, on a microscopic examination, to be linen.
■ lsf " Eat. lib. xix. cap. 2, ed. Valp.) speaks of the cotton plant"V'h B )’ and of the cloth ( Xylina ) made of the woolly substancee< s<? ? ^ enve l°pes the seeds.—(For further details see Royle’s Illustr. p, 84,
>nuuUl v GeA ; ClIAn -~ Calyx cup-shaped, obtusely five-toothed,at By a three-leaved involucel, with the leaves united and cor-tlar Bed J Base, and deeply cut or toothed irregularly. Style simple,Wc w d' 1 three or five furrows towards the apex. Stigmas usually^’^Buies five. Capsules three- to five-celled, three- to five-’ oiiiij, ^ 1 Be apex, loculicidal. Seeds numerous, imbedded in cotton.—^ a ck d ranc ^ ies and leaves more or less conspicuously covered with little^ rt a>tt) S ’ riG1 'ves below usually with one or more glands ( Wight and
p's Hg. 233 . Sp. Ciiab. —Bi-triennial; young parts hair}-.
Leaves hoary, palmate, with sub-lanceolate,rather acute lobes. Stipules falcate-lanceolate.Leaves of the exterior calyx dentate. Capsulesovate pointed. Seeds free, clothed with firmlyadhering white down under the long white wool{Roxburgh). — Petals of a lively yellow colour,with a purple spot near the claw. Dr. Roxburgh{FI. Ind. iii- 184) particularly distinguishes threevarieties cultivated in India—viz. the Dacca , the
j Has. —Asia. Cultivated in India, Syria , Asia
ncroaceum Minor, the Mediterranean, and America .
“fed CQt Description. — The filamentous substance,
‘ e surf a ° n ( ffossypium ), consists of tubular hairs, which arise fromH j n °f Bie seed-coat. By drying, they become flattened ;? th e n - 1S sta ^ e 5 if they be immersed in water and examined°nl UCrosco P e > they appear like distinct, flat, narrow ribands,f a JjjjJ 0cc asional appearances of joints, which are indicated'?Si is A\*}- a , ri s ht angle, or nearly so, to the side of the tube.‘Bieh CQ ^ l ^. tln guished (under the microscope) from the vegetable fibres ^tes linen by the tubes of the latter being in bundles,? lc ul a ti B en ng at ^’e extremities, and, when jointed, having oblique, lri atr>,[ r S- Cotton which has undergone no preparation is deno-1, coti °n- — (For much interesting information regarding1 Ca BocD ; vhich is unsuited to this work, consult Iloyle, op. cit.;s Diet, of Comm.; and Ure’s Diet, of Arts.)
1
Go,
t
Ss ypnim herbaceum.^led