COTTON. 89 



dyed cotton cloth there are occasionally white specks, which are known 

 to dyers as " Dead Cotton." Such cotton, when seen in the staple, has 

 a matted, wrinkled, and dense appearance. This kind of cotton can 

 readily be detected by buyers, to whom it is known as " Gin Cut staple," 

 or unripe, half ripe, and " Dead Cotton." 



Impurities. The several kinds of foreign impurities met with in 

 raw cottons include bracts, sand, seed, leaf, motes, and damp or lossy 

 staples. When sand is mixed with the cotton it is termed the " Dead 



Fig. 63. Cotton fibres (magn.). 



Loss," and when it contains an excessive amount of moisture it is termed 

 an "Invisible Loss." 



Moisture. The amount of moisture contained in cotton as offered on 

 the market varies from 7J to 12 \ per cent, over absolute dryness, but 

 anything over 10 \ would be considered excessive, and entitle the pur- 

 chaser to an allowance for excessive moisture. This question has been 

 carefully dealt with by Mr. C. T. Bradbury, J.P., Managing Director 

 of "Gartside & Co. of Manchester, Limited," who made a number 

 of experiments to determine what should be considered a reasonable 

 amount of moisture in cottons. He found that ordinary raw cotton, 

 after being exposed for several days in the ordinary process of 

 manufacture to the working temperature of a mill, viz., from 70 to 

 80 F. (21 to 26 J C.), till a balance of moisture was obtained, and 

 then placed for twenty-four hours on the ground floor of a building open 

 to the outer air, absorbed from 1-6 to 3'6 per cent, of moisture, the 



