COTTON. 



Cotton. 



After the cotton has been gathered, it is dried in the 

 sun until the seed becomes quite hard, otherwise it 

 would heat and spoil. It in general requires to be laid 

 out three days on a tile, or wooden platform, exposed 

 to hot sun. The seed is then separated by passing the 

 cotton between two slightly grooved wooden rollers, of 

 a diameter of a quarter of an inch. These rollers 

 are driven by treddles, put into motion by a ne- 

 gro's foot, whilst he presses the cotton between them 

 with his hands. This machine is called a gin. A good 

 workman can gin from 50 to 6'0 lbs. per day ; but the 

 labour is so great, that the same people ought not to 

 be kept at work for more than a fortnight together. Af- 

 ter the cotton has been ginned, it is carefully picked 

 by women, who free it from broken seeds, dried leafs^ 

 or yellow locks of cotton. An expert woman will pre- 

 pare from 25 to 30 lbs. per day. Some people switch 

 it, and the cleaning is undoubtedly much facilitated by 

 it, but as it has been disapproved of by the manufac- 

 turers, it has been very generally discontinued. 



After the cotton has been thus cleaned, it is packed 

 in bales, into which it is compressed by means of a 

 screw. In this state it is sent to Europe, and employed 

 for the various beautiful fabrics that do such infinite 

 credit to British exertion and ingenuity. See Cotton 

 Machinery. 



It would be foreign to the object of the present ar- 

 ticle to enter into any details respecting the wonderful 

 and beautiful degree of perfection at which our manu- 

 facturers have at length arrived. It may be sufficient 

 to observe, that they far surpass those of any other na- 

 tion, and that there is not the most remote chance of 

 their being exceeded, until some country should unex- 

 pectedly call forth resources and treasures of which 

 we cannot at present form even an imperfect concep- 

 tion. 



From the consideration of the plant in its perfect 

 state, we naturally turn to the diseases to which it is 

 obnoxious ; and we have much pleasure in laying be- 

 fore our readers the observations which follow, as we 

 have derived them from a gentleman whose high charac- 

 ter and liberal attainment have long rendered him con- 

 spicuous among the few men of observation and talent 

 that resort to the western hemisphere. To Dr Chis- 

 holm of Clifton we owe the whole of that valuable in- 

 formation which we are about to detail, and which he 

 has afforded in the most liberal and generous manner. 



The cotton plant is particularly attacked by an in- 

 -sect that receives the general name of chenille, or cot- 

 ton caterpillar, and by a particular blight called the blast. 

 Of the caterpillar we shall give the account in Dr 

 Chisholm's own words : " The chenille, or cotton cater- 

 pillar, is generally about an inch, or an inch and a 

 half in length. Its general appearance is beautiful. A 

 ungle line of white runs down the whole length of the 

 back, and a double line of the same colour parallel to 

 this runs down each side ; the intermediate spaces of 

 the back and sides are of a fine glossy black, covered 

 with soft down, intermixed with short black bristles ; 

 the belly is yellow, inclining to white ; and the respi- 

 ratory organs are in number double that of the rino-s 

 composing the body, viz. twenty. The head is round- 

 ed, black and corneous, and armed with two lateral 

 corneous jaws, constituting a cutting forceps, of most 

 rapacious and destructive power. I have reason to be- 

 lieve, that this species of the phalaena has not been hi- 

 therto described by entomologists ; at least I do not 

 MM m Linnaeus, and the other writers on the subject 

 5 



271 



I have consulted, any tiling. Until, therefore, a better Cotton. 

 is given, I offer the following character : v *" ""Y""~ 



Phalaena geometra seticornis alis omnibus subgriseis 



subangulatis deflexis. 

 Larva subpilosa, setulis nigris interpositis ; 12-poda, 

 20-annulata, dorso nigro nitido, linea dorsali, line- 

 olis geminis lateralibus flavescentibus albis — ab- 

 domine albo flavescente. Pupa obtecta, subovalis, 

 fusca-nigrescens, coriacea. 

 Habitat in Guiana, Gossypii variis, forsan omnibus, 

 speciebus, quarum folia petiolos fructusque etiani 

 immaturos mira diraque voracitate, devorat. 

 One of the most singular circumstances respecting 

 this species of the phalaena, is the uncommonly fra- 

 grant smell which issues from the plant on which it 

 feeds, although neither the animal itself nor the plant 

 is possessed of any fragrance separately. I have often 

 endeavoured to ascertain the cause of this singularity, 

 by bruising the insect, and the leaves of the cotton tree, 

 but without being able to perceive any remarkable pe- 

 culiarity of odour. So powerful, however, is the odour 

 produced by the ravages of this caterpillar, that it may 

 be perceived more than a hundred yards from the plant. 

 Another equally singular circumstance is the manner 

 in which the ova of this insect are preserved — a cir- 

 cumstance, until of late, extremely puzzling to the en- 

 tomologist. A whole year may occur sometimes with- 

 out any appearance of the chenille ; and notwithstand- 

 ing this, the year immediately following may be mark- 

 ed by the most extensive proofs of its voracity. Where, 

 in the mean time, are the ova preserved ? Some curi- 

 ous planters, with a view to ascertain this point, and 

 to destroy the brood of so pernicious an insect, have 

 cut down and burnt the cotton trees, on which we 

 must suppose it deposits its eggs, and have also burnt 

 the grass, and every other vegetable production of the 

 land which it has infested ; but without being success- 

 ful in preventing a renewal of the ravages of the in- 

 sect on the new plant on the following year. Infusing 

 the seeds in the strongest brine and decoction of to- 

 bacco has been resorted to with a similar result. The 

 ova of this species of phala?na seem, therefore, to be 

 of the nature of those which may remain long un- 

 changed ; whose fecundation may require the agency 

 of a very considerable' degree of heat ; and whose vi- 

 tality may resist the power of chemical agents, and the 

 fervour of ignition itself. Until this ideosyncracy, if 

 I may so apply the word, of the ova of certain tribes 

 of insects was discovered, the permanency of the brood 

 of the cotton moth, notwithstanding the application of 

 fire to the plants on which they have been deposited, 

 was considered as altogether inexplicable. The disco- 

 very of Spallanzani, more especially, has thrown light 

 on this singular quality, which completely divests it of 

 mystery, whilst it raises our astonishment to a tenfold 

 degree. The observations of M. M. Humboldt and Bon- 

 pland have confirmed the fact ; and the ingenious and 

 learned Mr Good, were more wanting, has, by some 

 very curious additional facts, established the knowledge 

 of this most wonderful economy of nature. See Mr 

 Good's Anniversary Oration before the Medical Society 

 of London, March 1808, p. SO — 34. 



A third curious observation relative to the history of 

 the cotton moth and caterpillar, is the rapidity with 

 which it carries its ravages to distinct and even distant 

 fields of the plantation. We should indeed be inclined 

 to imagine, that the wind has much agency in spread- 

 ing its destructive progeny ; for, in the course of a sin- 



