24 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



In later times, the cotton plant was transplanted 

 and successfully cultivated in Asia Minor, particu- 

 larly in the districts near Smyrna, in the islands of 

 the Archipelago, in Malta, and Sicily, into which 

 places it was introduced either from Egypt or Persia. 



In Tournefort's time the beautiful island of Milo 

 was celebrated for its cotton, but most of the Greek 

 islands produced a good quality, though no great 

 quantity. The cotton now very scantily grown in the 

 Cyclades has the dazzling whiteness which Pliny 

 attributes to the Egyptian. 



It has been made a subject of controversy, whe- 

 ther the cotton plant is indigenous in the new world. 

 The American colonists procured cotton seed from 

 Smyrna, in the same manner as they supplied them- 

 selves with many other Oriental productions, before 

 they had become acquainted with all the native plants 

 of the west. To this they were incited by the natu- 

 rally eager desire of giving to the country of their 

 adoption every advantage of which, from its climate 

 and soil, it appeared susceptible. A different spe- 

 cies of cotton is, however, found growing wild in 

 America. 



Although it has been maintained that, at the time 

 of the conquest of Mexico, cotton furnished almost 

 the only clothing worn by the natives, its cultivation 

 was neglected ; while the art which had been so suc- 

 cessfully practised by the Aztecs, of imparting to it 

 the most brilliant hues, was entirely lost*. It might 

 now soon become an article of extensive commerce 

 to the Mexicans, as the tree propagates itself, and 

 attention is only requisite to prevent the ground 

 from being overrun with weeds. 



The colonists of the southern parts of North 

 America, at a very early period of their settlement, 

 cultivated cotton. That found native was neglected, 

 * Ward's Mexico. 



