68 DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



hairs with which the seeds are clothed ; these hairs are tubular, unjuiuted, 

 flattened, and slight!}- twisted. When ripe, the seed is gathered, and the hairs 

 and the seed are separated by a machine called a gin; the cotton is then 

 packed in bales for the market. 



Geoqraphij. — The geographical distribution of the cotton-plant is mostly 

 confined to tropical and subtropical countries, though it has some varieties 

 that have gradually become acclimated to regions of light frost. It is culti- 

 vated in a broad belt all around the globe. 



GossYProivi ARBOREUM (Tree Cotton), 



The cotton-plant will fruit well in the same latitude with the sugar-cane. 

 The East Indies, China, the Asiatic islands, Greece, and the islands of the 

 Eastern Mediterranean, the countries of the Levant, Asia Minor, Northern 

 and Western Africa, Australia, and the isles of the Pacific, the West Indies, 

 Southern United States, Venez.uela, British Guiana, and Brazil, are the centers 

 of cultivation. 



Eti/molofji/. — Gossypium is from Goz, an Arabian word, signifying silky. 

 The specific name, herhaceum, signifies herb-like, and Barhadense is for Bar- 

 badoes. Arboreum means tree-like. The word cotton is from a Syriac word 

 meaning fine, delicate. 



History. — It is not known when or where the cotton-plant first began to 

 minister to man's comfort ; it is a reasonable inference that it was among the 

 ^vst, if not the very first, of the fibrous plants to attract attention. 



