96 



TEXTILE FIBRES. 



Varieties and Properties of Cottons continued. 



The above list includes nearly all the commercial cottons that are 

 used in the trade. The lengths and diameters are perhaps as nearly 

 correct as our knowledge of microscopy will allow at present. 



Each variety of cotton is graded in dimensions, depending chiefly 

 upon the length, which for individual grades is recognised as a standard 

 by the Liverpool or the Manchester Cotton Brokers' Association. 



Grades of cotton are denned by certain abbreviated terms or letters, 

 which carry with them the price at which the grade or staple is selling 

 at on a particular day. American are as follows, viz., G.O., L.M., Md., 

 G.M., F.G.M., M.F. 



Of the above six terms the first means that the staple is good 

 ordinary, or the lowest class ; the second, low middling ; the third, 



