liave been used a long time before the 

 discovery of America by Columbus, for 

 reasons already given. Mexican and 

 South American mummy cloth is found 

 to consist largely of cotton. 



Cotton is now extensively cultivated 

 in the warmer countries of both hemi- 

 spheres — in the southern United States 

 since the sixteenth century. The cotton 

 plant is in reality a perennial, becoming 

 quite shrubby with age, but in cultivation 

 it is treated as an annual, being grown 

 from seeds planted each spring. Three 

 or four seeds are planted to each hill, the 

 hills being about three feet apart. After 

 sprouting the weaker individuals are re- 

 moved, and at the end of three or four 

 months the remaining carefully culti- 

 vated plants are pruned to make them 

 more spreading and give a better yield 

 of cotton. The plants grow quite rapidly, 

 the cotton maturing about five months 

 after planting. With the exception of the 

 pruning, the planting and cultivation of 

 cotton in the southern states is not unlike 

 the planting and cultivation of corn in 

 the middle states. 



The cotton is picked by hand into bags 

 or baskets, spread out and dried, and 

 finally carted to the cotton gin, a machine 

 invented by Eli Whitney ( 1 793 ) , which 

 separates the fibers from the seeds. The 

 cotton is now pressed into bales, weigh- 

 mg from 400 to 500 pounds, for ship- 

 ment. The cotton fiber is subjected to 

 further processes of cleaning, carding, 

 etc., before it is ready to be manufac- 

 tured into cloth fabrics, thread, etc. 



Nearly all parts of the cotton plant 

 find a use. After the cotton is picked, 

 the stalks are burnt upou the fields or 

 "plowed under" to serve as a fertilizer 

 for the soil, which would otherwise be- 

 come impoverished very rapidly. The 

 bark of the root is collected and em- 

 ployed medicinally, its medicinal prop- 

 erties being highly lauded by the negroes 

 of the South. The seeds yield the cotton- 

 seed oil, which is not unlike olive oil. 

 This oil, however, varies in purity, the 

 purest being used as an adulterant of 

 olive oil or as a substitute for this oil. 

 The less pure grades are used for burn- 

 ing, but more in the preparation of wool- 

 len cloth and morocco leather, also as a 

 lubricant for machinery. It is also used 



as a substitute for almond oil and olive 

 oil in many pharmaceutical preparations 

 and in the manufacture of soap. The 

 seeds from which the oil has been ex- 

 pressed constitute the cottonseed cake, 

 used as a nutritious cattle fodder. In the 

 South a tea made from the seeds is con- 

 sidered a useful remedy in the treatment 

 of malaria and dysentery. A tea made 

 from the leaves is much used medicinally 

 in Jamaica and other islands of the West 

 Indies. 



It is, however, the fiber, or cotton, 

 which is the important part of the plant. 

 It would be a tedious and difficult task to 

 describe, or even enumerate, all of the 

 uses to which it is put. It is used as 

 wadding in clothing and quilts. It is 

 used by the bacteriologist in the filtra- 

 tion of air ; air passed through a layer of 

 cotton is germ free. It is also used in 

 the filtration oi liquids. Purified and 

 variously prepared, cotton is almost in- 

 dispensable in surgery. It forms an ex- 

 cellent protective covering for wounds, 

 ulcers, burns and scalds. It absorbs se- 

 cretions and arrests hemorrhages. It is 

 used in the preparation of gun cotton 

 (pyroxylin) nitro-cellulose, collodion and 

 flexible collodion. Gun cotton is pre- 

 pared by treating cotton with strong 

 nitric acid and is used in gunnery, blast- 

 ing and in photography. Collodion (col- 

 lodium) and flexible collodion are used 

 in surgery, in the treatment of ulcers, 

 skin diseases, to arrest hemorrhages, ap- 

 plied to inflamed areas, etc. 



The most important part of the entire 

 plant is the fiber or cotton as it is used in 

 the manufacture of cloth. The modern 

 method of cotton manufacture does not 

 date back further than 1760. Prior to 

 that time weaving and spinning were al- 

 together domestic. At first the work was 

 done by means of the ancient distaff and 

 spindle, more recently the spinning 

 wheel. By these only one thread could 

 be produced at a time and, as may be 

 imagined, the process was very slow. 

 Furthermore, the yarn produced was in- 

 ferior. A fairly good thread could be 

 spun from flax, but the softness, short- 

 ness and unevenness of the cotton fiber 

 made it difficult to produce a good uni- 

 form yarn by means of such crude appa- 

 ratus. In fact, so poor was the yarn 



235 



