38 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



in a similar manner to the others, but differ in colour, 

 being first white, then changing to rose, and finally 

 to red. It is not known of what country this is 

 native. Lamarck believes that it is indigenous to 

 the lowest latitudes of America. Cavanilles sup- 

 poses that it comes from the Cape of Good Hope. 

 It is cultivated in the Mauritius. There are two 

 varieties of this species, in the one the cotton is 

 extremely white, in the other it is of a yellowish 

 brown, and is the material of which the stuff called 

 nankin is made; it may therefore be presumed 

 that this species is a native of China, whence nankin 

 cloths are obtained. The yellowish brown colour 

 of Chinese nankins is therefore the natural colour 

 of the cotton and is not imparted by dyeing. The 

 name is derived from the city of Nankin, to which 

 place the manufacture of these cotton stuffs was 

 peculiar. 



The colour of the nankins was long thought to 

 be artificial, and Van Braam, who travelled in China 

 with a Dutch embassy at the end of the last century, 

 informs us, that the European merchants sent to 

 request that the nankins for their markets might be 

 dyed of a deeper colour than those last received. 

 The fact was, the Chinese had made the last lighter 

 than usual in consequence of a great and sudden 

 demand, which obliged them to mix their common 

 white cotton with the yellowish brown. 



The various species of cotton just described have 

 teen distinguished according to their respective bo- 

 tanical characteristics. Dr. Rohr classes the species 

 and varieties by the different appearances of the seed; 

 other cultivators arrange the various kinds according 

 to the facility with which the cotton is ginned, dr 

 divested of its seed ; some again consider the distinc- 

 tive difference to reside in the shape of the seed-pod, 

 the number of its divisions, or the manner and time 



