FIBRE PLANTS 313 



parted curtains of muslin. These and the roller 

 shade at the window are both cotton. The sheets, 

 pillow cases, mattress, and coverlid are cotton. 

 Turkish towels and bath rug are cotton. After 

 our bath we dress in clothes of cotton, if the season 

 permits. In the coldest winters we wear some 

 garments of cotton. Our buttons are sewed on 

 with cotton thread. Through the day we see and 

 use cotton fabrics. Towels, tablecloths, and 

 napkins are of linen, but rarely is it in common 

 use in other ways in our day. It costs too much. 



Cotton cloth is prosaic and coarse in the calicoes 

 and muslins of the ordinary kinds. But some of 

 the muslins of India were of cobweb fineness — 

 "webs of woven wind," the poet has called them. 

 The Hindoos two thousand years ago were produc- 

 ing, on their simple looms, fabrics whose fineness 

 cannot be exceeded by the best modern looms. 

 Exquisite cotton fabrics, dyed in many harmon- 

 ious colors, were sent from Mexico to the Spanish 

 monarch by Cortez, who rifled the treasures of the 

 Aztecs. 



The cotton plant belongs to the Mallow 

 Family, along with the hollyhock, hibiscus, althea, 

 okra and the little weed we call "cheeses." The 

 flowers plainly proclaim the relationship of these 

 cousins. The trumpet-like corolla has a belt of 



