MALVACEAE. 163 



at base, deciduous. The capsule is bluntly three-cornered, three-valved, three-celled ; con- 

 taining about three seeds in each cell, immersed in cotton; these seeds are clothed with 

 a close, dense, short tomentum, are convex on one side, and somewhat flattened on the other. 



The varieties are exceedingly numerous, both as regards the glands, the 

 colour of the flowers and the shape of the leaves, as well as the length and 

 fineness of the cotton, and the height to which the bush grows. Dr. Mac- 

 fadyen, (Flw. Jam. i. 74,) says : " I am inclined to the opinion that the 

 numerous sorts of cotton we meet with, are properly but varieties of one species, 

 and hence the characters by which it has been attempted to distinguish them, 

 are so variable and so little to be depended upon." 



Cotton appears to be indigenous to all the tropical regions of the old and 

 new world. It was early known and used in India and Egypt ; in the former 

 of these countries, apparently antecedent to its employment in the latter, where 

 it was long preceded by the use of flax, as is shown by the mummy-bandages 

 of the earliest date being universally composed of linen. Both Herodotus 

 and Arrian speak of cotton as indigenous to India, whence it probably was 

 carried to Egypt. It was found in general use in Mexico and South America 

 at the time of the conquest, and the cloth made from it, found in Peruvian 

 tombs, demonstrates that it was a production of the country, and not derived 

 from Eastern sources. It may also be stated that the wild species differ in the 

 two hemispheres. 



The cotton plant, as before stated, is a native of warm climates, but is often 

 found at considerable elevations, as Humboldt saw it growing in Central 

 America, at an elevation of 9000 feet, and in Mexico as high as 5500, and 

 Royle states that in the Himalayas it occurs at 4000 feet above the level of 

 the sea. The finest qualities are grown near the sea, as in the case of the 

 Sea Island cotton, from the coast of Georgia. In a work like the present, it 

 would be out of place to speak of the commercial importance of this article, 

 but its medical properties require notice, though they are not of a very de- 

 cided character. The flowers are used for the same purposes as those of the 

 mallow, as are also the roots, which Ainslie, (Mat. Ind. ii. 283,) states have 

 been useful in India, in complaints of the urinary organs. In Brazil a decoc- 

 tion of the leaves is thought beneficial in the bites of venomous reptiles ; and 

 steeped in vinegar, they are said to relieve hemicrania. According to Mar- 

 tius, the seeds, which afford much oil, are emollient, and are employed in 

 emulsions, and injections in diseases of the mucous membranes. 



The cotton-wool, when carded, forms an excellent application to burns and 

 scalds, and has been recommended as a dressing to blisters, when it is wished 

 to dry them rapidly. It has also proved useful in erysipelas. 



\ 



Besides the above, many other plants of this order have acquired some re- 

 pute for their demulcent and emollient qualities, among which may be noticed 

 Abutilon cordatum, a common native species, the leaves of which are very 

 mucilaginous, and are employed in some parts of the Southern States as a 

 substitute for the Marsh-mallow ; the fibres of the bark were used by the In- 

 dians in place of hemp. A. indicum, and other allied species, are esteemed 

 in India as emollients, as is Spkceralcia cisplatena in Brazil. The most im- 

 portant plant of the order, after the cotton, is the Abelmoschus esculentus, so 

 well known under the name of Okra, and so extensively used as a culinary 

 vegetable. This plant abounds in mucilage, and may be employed medici- 

 nally in all cases requiring the employment of emollients and demulcents. 

 The A. moschatus yields seeds having a strong odour of musk, and which are 

 considered as cordial and stomachic. Dr. Hamilton, ( Trans. Med. Bat. Soc. 

 1834,) gives an instance where these seeds were successfully administered in 

 the bite of a venomous reptile. 



