COTTON. 23 



the corslet of Amasis, is " tree-wool ;" the German 

 name for cotton is the same. If the words of Hero- 

 dotus have been properly understood, he says the 

 Egyptian priesthood made use of linen garments, 

 and none other, as well as the rest of the Egyptians. 

 As he is more than usually particular on this head, 

 mentioning how the Egyptian mode of weaving dif- 

 fers from that of the Greeks, &c., may we not con- 

 clude that cotton was neither used nor cultivated at 

 that time in Egypt ? The fact that no cotton has 

 been found on any of the mummies, would go to 

 confirm this hypothesis. And again, even sup- 

 posing he has been misunderstood, and that in one 

 or more instances we should read " cotton" instead 

 of "linen," is it probable he would refer to India 

 his description of the plant, if it were grown in 

 Egypt ? In this latter case, we should be led to 

 suppose that the cotton stuffs were imported. 



Whatever may have been the quantity of cotton 

 used in the time of the Romans, it is certain that in 

 the ninth century the Arabians, who were then mas- 

 ters of Egypt and the neighbouring countries, dressed 

 almost entirely in cotton stuffs ; for one of the first 

 remarks of two Arabian travellers, who went to China 

 at that time, was, that the Chinese, instead of wearing 

 cotton, as they and their countrymen did, chiefly 

 used silk stuffs for their garments. See the Abbe 

 Renaudot's translation of the Travels of two Moham- 

 medans in the ninth century an authentic and valu- 

 able work. 



Nowhere has cotton been found indigenous in 

 Europe. In those ages when ignorance of the science 

 of navigation rendered all intercourse between remote 

 nations tedious, hazardous, and uncertain, the ex- 

 pense and risk attendant on distant commerce were 

 sufficient obstacles to prevent the importation, to any 

 large amount, of so bulky an article. 



