mS 
86 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOTANY OF [ Malvaceae. 
more brilliant than cinnabar, which they employ in dyeing their stuffs. Theophrastus, 
lib. 4, ec. 9., and Pliny, lib. 12, ce. 10, who follows him, mention that the islands 
Tylos and Aradus, the modern Bahrein, in the Persian Gulf, produce abundance of 
cotton, which was manufactured into clothing. Heeren, Commerce of the Ancients, 
vol. ii, p. 278, Fr. ed., concludes by saying, ‘‘ Il est fort probable que les plantations de 
Tylos furent le resultat du commerce avec Inde, veritable patrie du coton.” 
Dr. Harris, in assigning dutz as the Hebrew name of cotton, mentions that this bears 
some resemblance to dessa, its Arabic name, according to Prosper Alpinus Exot. 
t. 38, whence the Bucccs of the Greeks, and the byssus of the Latins. The European 
names have evidently been derived from .,b3 quin, kutn, or kootn, which is the most 
common Arabic name, though others are assigned it in that copious language. The 
other Asiatic names do not appear to have any connection with this or with one 
another; as Persian, poombeh. Hindee, the plant kupas, the cotton rove. Bengalee, 
kapase, tula, banga. Sanscrit, karpassee. From the last the Hindee and Bengalee 
have no doubt had their origin; and the resemblance between these and the term 
Gossypium, which has been considered of Egyptian origin, in being written with so 
many of the same consonants, is remarkable. 
It has sometimes been considered a subject of doubt, whether the cotton was 
indigenous to America, as well as to Asia; but without sufficient reason, as it is 
mentioned by very early voyagers, formed the only clothing of the natives of Mexico; 
and as stated by Humboldt, is one of the plants of which the cultivation among the 
Aztec tribes was as ancient as that of the pili (Agave), the maize and the quinoa 
(Chenopodium). If more evidence be required it may be mentioned, that Mr. Brown has 
in his possession cotton not separated from the seeds, as'well as cloth manufactured from 
it, brought by Mr. Cumming from the Peruvian tombs; and it may be added, that the 
species now recognized as American, differ in character from all the known Indian species, 
In a cultivated state, cotton is now distributed over a very wide expanse of the globe 
on both sides of the Equator: on the north extending as far as the southern shores of 
Europe, and on the south to the Cape of Good Hope; in the islands of the Pacific 
Ocean, it is found both in the Friendly and the Society Islands. Nearly under 
the Line it is cultivated in the islands of Celebes, Java, Timor, and the Seychelles, as 
well as in Kutung, where the best is said to be grown, extending northwards up the 
Malayan Peninsula, along the coast of Tenasserim into the Burhmese territory, and from 
this westward into Siam and China, whence there. is a peculiar species. Cotton is 
common in every part of India; a wild species was found in Ceylon, and: another in 
Silhet by Dr. Roxburgh. From India the cotton seems to have travelled by the way of 
the Persian Gulf into Arabia, as well as into Persia, and from thence to Syria and. Asia 
Minor, From Arabia and from the ancient commerce by the Red Sea- with India it was 
probably introduced into Egypt, whence it seems to have spread into the interior of Africa, 
and to both its western and northern coasts. The islands and shores of the Mediterra- 
nean long supplied Europe with all the cotton it required; during the reign of Napoleon, 
he 
