BOTANICAL SOCIETY OP CANADA. 
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we know that cotton was used more or less generally throughout the whole Roman 
Empire, and therefore was not unknown to the then civilized world. By the an- 
cients it was called " the wool of trees," from its great resemblance to sheep's 
wool. 
During many succeeding cerituries the use of cotton is seldom spoken of, although 
stuffs of woolen, linen and silk are often mentioned. But when Mohammed com- 
menced agitating the East with his religious ambition, then cotton seems to have 
attracted much attention. The fierce followers of the Prophet were wearers of 
cotton, and some writers hold that there was a certain feeling of religion associated 
with the wearing of cotton apparel. Hence it became for the first time an impor- 
tant article of commerce. For as these Eastern warriors spread over Asia and a 
portion of Southern Europe, they speedily caused the necessity of a requisite 
supply. 
In Spain. 
A;t the period when the Moors, Saracens, or Arabs — as they were variously 
denominated — occupied Andalusia, or the Region of the West, as Spain was called 
by these children of the Desert, they were known as manufacturers of cotton cloths; 
and, wearing it themselves, it became almost a mark of the Moorish usurpers, which, 
without doubt, caused a species of religious prejudice thait operated strongly 
against its more rapid introduction into the European world. 
The Arabs of Spain made paper out of cotton long before native Europeans 
were acquainted with that most useful article. Spain has therefore the credit of 
having introduced the cotton manufacture into Europe about the tenth century. 
The plant itself flourished on the fertile plains of Valencia, where now it grows 
wild. 
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the manufacture of cotton was 
commenced at Venice, and afterwards at Milan. Syria and Asia Minor it is sup- 
posed supplied the cotton yarn, for in later years both Italy and France imported 
all that they required from those countries. 
In America. 
The great navigator and discoverer, Christopher Columbus, found, on his arrival 
in the New World, in 1492, cotton growing spontaneously upon many of the islands 
of the West Indies ; and also, on the Continent of South America. Clavigero tells 
us that in Mexico and Peru, the natives, the aborigines of the country, universally 
made and wore cotton cloths, and formed also fishing nets of the same material. 
Fernando Cortez sent home to Spain, to his Sovereign, Charles the Fifth, after he 
