176 



POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



fine and silk-like delicacy of texture and it was found 

 afterwards to constitute the principal clothing material of 

 the Mexicans. Magelhaens found the natives of Brazil 

 employed it in stufling their beds. Raw cotton and cotton 

 fabrics have also been found in the ancient Peruvian tombs. 

 Indigenous cotton-plants have been discovered in the Gala- 

 pagos^ the Sandwich Islands^ the Sechelles Islands^ in Java^ 

 Borneo, and other Indian Islands^ and in the islands of the 

 Chinese coast. 



This remarkable product, the history of which so far has 

 been chiefly drawn from the above-mentioned interesting 

 work of Dr. Royle, is certainly produced by several species, 

 some of which are very distinct, whilst others are less 

 easily distinguished. Different botanists have described 

 the species of cotton as amounting to about twenty-four in 

 number, but many of these are very questionable. The 

 following species have been determined by Dr. Eoyle. 



1. Gossypium Indicum, Lam.arck ; G, herhaceum, Lin- 

 naeus, (Plate YII. fig. 32.) Native name Kotu Jiindee,— 

 Stjem more or less branched, herbaceous, one ant half 

 two feet high, in temperate climates ; hard and wood-like 

 and bi-triennial, four to six feet high, in its native and other 

 warm countries ; flowers bright yellow. Dacca cotton, from 



