History of the cotton manufacture in Great Britain: with a notice of its early history in the East, and in all the quarters of the globe ... and a view of the present state of the manufacture / By Edward Baines, jun.

  • Baines, Edward, Sir, 1800-1890.
Date:
[1835]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: History of the cotton manufacture in Great Britain: with a notice of its early history in the East, and in all the quarters of the globe ... and a view of the present state of the manufacture / By Edward Baines, jun. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    THE COTTON M A N U F A C TF R E. The fibres of cotton are shewn, by the microscope, to be somewhat flat, and two-edged or triangular, and to be not straight but contorted;—a construction which causes the fibres to adhere to each other, and which gives warmth to cotton clothing. The fibres of flax, on the other hand, are straight tubes, with a smooth surface. Cotton is produced both from annual plants and from trees, of which there are many varieties; and, under proper cultivation, it is raised in such abundance as to be the cheapest of all the materials of clothing.* * The natural history of the cotton plant will be given in a subsequent chapter.