HEMP. 



413 



scarcely credible is converted into textures which 

 are reconveyed to the countries of production. 



The value of cotton goods exported from Great 

 Britain during four years, stands thus : 



Piece Goods. Yarn or Twist. 



1828 £13,649,012 £3,595,405 



1829 13,568,132 3,976,874 



1830 15,294,923 4,133,741 



1831 13,282,185 3,975,019 



All these are real mercantile values. The 



official value at the custom house is nominal and 



invariable. 



In 1792 tlie official valne of cottons exported was £1,892,329 

 In 1830 . . . . 37,269,432 



The quantity of manufactured cottons ex- 

 ported to the East Indies alone in 1828, stood 

 thus : 



£1,394,681 

 153,238 



To the East India Company's territo-l -T^c mr 



ries, Ceylon, and China. ) 37,5f't',8iJb 



To the East India islands, Sumatra, &c. 4,680,370 



Besides which there was exported the follow- 

 ing quantity of cotton twist, or spun yam : 



To the East India Company's territo- ■)■'•■""»"• 



ries, Ceylon, and China. 1 4,549,219 



To the East India islands, Sumatra, &c. 37,836 



£390,344 

 -2,790 



tube, chiefly composed of a cellular texture; and 

 of a portion of longitudinal fibres, commonly 



The celerity with which the raw material is 

 converted into cloth by the aid of modern ma- 

 chinery is truly wonderful. The proprietor of 

 a cotton factory in Manchester, having obtained 

 an order for the shipment of some goods of a 

 particular description, purchased ten bales of 

 cotton of suitable quality in Liverpool. On 

 their arrival in Manchester, they were received 

 into the highest floor of his works, and thence 

 proceeding regularly downwards, underwent all 

 the intermediate processes of carding, spinning, 

 and weaving until, in ten days from their recep- 

 tion, the finished goods into which they were 

 converted were packed in bales, and proceeding 

 again to Liverpool for shipment. 



When, in 1787, spinning machinery was first 

 erected, one pound of Demerara cotton could be 

 spun into yam one hundred and sixty miles in 

 length; since that period great improvements 

 have been made in this machinery, and yam is 

 now spun having a still greater degree of fine- 



Hemp (cannabis sativaj. Natural family 

 urticem; dimcia, pentandria, Linnaeus. This is 

 an annual herbaceous plant, rising generally to 

 the height of six feet in ordinary soils; but in 

 a deep rich soil attaining a much greater height. 

 According to Du Hamel, in some parts of Alsace 

 the plant grows to the height of twelve feet, and 

 the stem at the lower part being three inches in 

 diameter. In some parts of Italy it has been 

 found eighteen feet in height. 



The stalk is hollow, and contains inside a white, 

 soft, medullary matter, inclosed in a very tender 



Hemp. 



called the reed or boon of the hemp. The bark 

 is rough and hairy, of a green colour, and com- 

 posed of a number of fibres which extend longi- 

 tudinally the whole length of the stem. These 

 are not reticulated, but are placed parallel to each 

 other, and united by the cellular texture. When 

 viewed with a microscope, each of these fibres 

 are seen to be made up of bundles of other 

 fibrils, which are twisted spirally, and which, 

 after the process of maceration, can be drawn 

 out and lengthened considerably. The leaves 

 grow out in pairs, opposite each other, on petioles, 

 accompanied by stipules or leaflets. The leaves 

 are divided into four, five, or more deep lobes, 

 which are pointed and deeply serrated on the 

 margins. The upper sides are dark green, the 

 under of a lighter hue; they are rough and fur- 

 rowed above, and ridged underneath. The male 

 and female flowers grow upon separate plants. 

 In general, the male plants are more slender and 

 delicate than the female, and have also finer and 

 more elastic fibres, composing the bark. The 

 stem grows up single, till near its top, where it 

 divides into several branches, which terminate 

 in thin pointed spikes. In the female the stem 

 is surmounted by tufts of leaves of a considera- 

 ble size, which readily distinguish it from the 

 male plant. The male flowers grow near the 

 top of the stem in clusters, each cluster bearing 

 nine or ten flowers. The fruit grows in great 

 abundance on the stem of the female hemp. The 

 seed is not preceded by any corolla; a membran- 

 ous hairy calyx, terminating in long points in- 

 closes the pistils, the base of which becomes the 

 seed. The male plant is quicker in its growth 

 than the female, and generally rises half a foot 

 higher, by which provision of nature the farina 

 from the stamina is readily diffused on the pistil 



