1 70 THE USES OF PLANTS. 



of that town and of Arbroath, which are now, how- 

 ever, seriously rivalled by Dunkirk and Calcutta. In 

 1851 we imported 21,000 tons ; in 1866, 81,300 tons ; 

 in 1873, 231,245 tons; declining in 1875 to 170,830 

 tons, but rising again to 232,032 tons, valued at from 

 i 1 to 22 a ton, of which, consequently, only the 

 waste is available for paper.* 



Crotalaria juncea^ L., the SUNN HEMP of India, 

 a Leguminous annual, extensively cultivated through- 

 out the country. 



Daphne papyracea, Wall., the NlPAL PAPER-SHRUB, 

 suitable for plate-paper. 



Gossypium herbaceutn, L., G. arbor eum, L., and G. 

 barbadense, L., Malvaceous plants, have on the outer 

 surface or testa of their seeds the unicellular hairs, 

 composed almost entirely of cellulose (C 6 H 10 O 5 ), 

 known as COTTON. G. herbaceum, L., was a native of 

 India. It has very hairy leaves, divided into three, five, 

 or rarely seven lobes, and flouers yellow with a purple 

 centre, or rarely wholly yellow, white or purple. G. 

 arboreum, L., a native of Tropical Africa, has thick, 

 glossy, deeply five or seven lobed leaves, and purple 

 flowers, often with a yellow centre. G. barbadense, 

 L., apparently the ancestral type of all the cottons 

 cultivated in America at the time of its discovery, 

 has almost smooth, three to five lobed leaves with 

 heart-shaped base, and yellow - flowers with a 

 crimson spot. All three species are now cultivated 

 in India, Egypt, and America, and there are numerous 

 hybrids and varieties. Sanskrit records carry back 

 the use of cotton to 800 B.C., and it may have been 



* ' Pharm. Journ.,' ix (1850), p. 545. 



