Where did Cotton anciently grow, and for what was it used?

In Egypt, where it was used by the priests and sacrificers, for a very
singular kind of garment worn by them alone.


In what manufacture is it now used?

It is woven into muslins, dimities, cloths, calicoes, &c.; and is
also joined with silks and flax, in the composition of other stuffs,
and in working with the needle.


How is the Cotton separated from the seed?

By machines called _cotton gins_, of which there are two kinds; the
_roller-gin_, and the _saw-gin_. In the former, the cotton, just as
gathered from the plant, is drawn between two rollers, placed so
closely together as to permit the passage of the cotton, but not of
the seeds, which are consequently left behind. In the _saw-gin_, the
cotton is placed in a receiver, one side of which consists of a
grating of parallel wires, about an eighth of an inch apart; circular
saws, revolving on a common axis between these wires, entangle in
their teeth the cotton, and draw it from the seeds, which are too
large to pass between the wires.


How is it made into Calico, &c.?

The cotton having been separated from the seed, is spun by a machine