VEGETABLE FIBERS. 613 



fiom the Guaxima of Brazil with good results. Two finely-prepared 

 samples were received ; the fiber is light in color, the filaments quite 

 fine, even, and strong, and might be spuu. It resembles finely-bleached 

 specimens of hemp rather than either flax or jute. A piece of twine 

 • twisted by hand to about the size of pack thread I was unable to break 

 with the fingers. 



Urena smuata^ another species, Royle mentions as common in most 

 parts of India, producing good fiber. This species is also represented 

 in the coUectiou of the department (Smithsonian Institution, 1869). 



Lagunaria Patersonii. — Norfolk Co witch Tree. — This beautiful shrubby 

 tree is indigenous in Queensland and Norfolk Island, and is closely re- 

 lated to Hibiscus. The fiber sample was prepared by Dr. Guilfoyle (Victoria 

 Exhibition, 1870), who accompanies it with a statement that it is suitable 

 for manufacturing paper of a superior quality, samples of which were also 

 presented, and for ropes, strong cordage, fine matting, and basket work. 

 The fiber is fine, strong, and glossy, although the specimen can hardly 

 be said to compare with 8ida rhom'oifoUa in any one of these particulars. 



Gossypium herbaceum. — Cotton. — This most important of all fiber 

 plants also belongs to the Malvacece. There are several distinct species, 

 as G. herbaceum, arboreum, sandicicense, ta'itense Mrsutuni, barbadense, re- 

 ligiosum, &c., and many different varieties. The first-named species is 

 generally accepted as the species most commonly cultivated in the 

 United States and North America. The origin of the cotton-plant is a 

 question not easily settled, as cotton has been grown in many countries 

 from an exceedingly remote period. It is probable that a plant number- 

 ing so many species is indigenous in diflerent localities, though lihind 

 states that it may possibly have come from Persia originally, then crossed 

 into Egypt, thence to Asia Minor and the Indian Archipelago. M. 

 Bernardin, curator of the Industrial Museum of Ghent, in his '•'■Nomen- 

 clature Uselle de Fibres Textiles,^^ gives the origin of the several species 

 named, crediting at least two to North America, G. barbadense fi'om the 

 West Indies, and G. liirsutum from Mexico. G. herbaceum he regards as 

 originally an East Indian species. These are points, however, upon which 

 authorities differ widely, and therefore we are left only to conjecture. 



Its Arabic name is Gotn, Kofan, or Kittn. In Persia it is called Pembeh, 

 or Poombeh. It is known as Cay Haung in China, and Watta ik or Watta 

 nolii in Japan. In Bengal it is Kobung; in Siam Tonfal, while its Tahiti 

 name is Vavai. The ancient Mexican name for the plant was Ychcax- 

 ihitviil. These are a few of its many native names, the long list that 

 might be given showing how universally the plant is in cultivation. 



Porcher states that cotton was first cultivated in the United States as 

 an experiment in 1621, and that it is a native of tropical America. Ac- 

 cording to Prescott, in the " Conquest of Mexico," the Spaniards found 

 it in that country, and it is also affirmed that the ancient Mexicans 

 "wove cotton garments stained with the most vivid and brilliant 

 colors, an art practiced by the Aztecs, but now entirely lost." Tliere are 

 records that cotton was cultivated in South Carolina as eaiiy as 16G0, 

 though it does not seem to have becomfj a matter of export for nearly a 

 century -after. It is recorded that " 7 bags " were exported in 1748. 

 The first importation of raw cotton into England from the East Indies 

 was in 1798. Although cotton has been cultivated in China for over 

 L*,000 years (and perhaps for a longer period), its introduction into Japan 

 is of comparatively recent date, it having been brought from the first- 

 named country between 1558 and 1570, A. D. Cotton is cultivated to 

 some extent in Southern Europe, and formerly Italy produced vast quan- 

 tities, but the industry has dwindled to almost nothing. 

 33 AG 



