191. _The SOUR-GOURD, BOABAB, or AFRICAN CALABASH-TREE_ (Adansonia
digitata) _is probably the largest of all vegetable productions. The
trunk, although not usually more than twelve or fifteen feet high, is
frequently from sixty to eighty feet in girth. The lowest branches extend
almost horizontally; and, as they are sometimes near sixty feet in
length, they bend, by their own weight, to the ground; and thus the whole
tree forms an hemispherical mass of verdure, which measures from 120 to
130 feet in diameter._
_The fruit is oblong, about ten inches in length, pointed at both ends,
and covered with a greenish down, under which there is a blackish and
woody rind. Its interior consists of a whitish, spongy, and juicy
substance, with several brown seeds._
_This tree is a native of Senegal and other parts of Africa._
The virtues and uses of the sour-gourd tree and its fruit are numerous and
of great importance to the inhabitants of the countries in which it is
found. The _bark_ and _leaves_ are dried, powdered, and preserved in bags,
to be employed as a seasoning for food. Two or three pinches of this powder
are put, by the negroes, into their messes, under an impression that it
promotes perspiration and moderates the heat of the blood.
The pulp of the _fruit_ has an agreeably acid flavour. This is not only
eaten when fresh, but is dried and powdered for medicinal uses; a kind of
soap is also prepared from it.
In Senegal, when the trees are decayed, the _trunks_ are hollowed, by the
negroes, into burying-places for their poets, musicians, and buffoons.
These persons are much esteemed whilst they live, although they are
supposed to derive their superior talents from sorcery or an alliance with
demons. When dead, however, their bodies are regarded with horror, and are
not allowed the usual burial, under a notion that the earth would, in such
case, refuse to produce its accustomed fruits. The bodies inclosed in these
trees are said to become perfectly dry without decaying, and thus to form a
kind of mummies, without the process of embalming.
192. _COTTON is a soft vegetable down, which is contained in the seed
vessels, and envelopes the seeds of the cotton-plant_ (Gosypium
herbaceum, Fig. 52), _which is cultivated in the East and West Indies,
and numerous other countries of hot climates._.
_This, though an annual plant, grows to a considerable heights It has
leaves of bright green colour, marked with brownish veins, and each
divided into five lobes. The flowers have only one petal, in five
segments, with a short tube, and are of pale yellow colour, with five red
spots at the bottom._
The cotton pods are of somewhat triangular shape, and have each three
cells. These, when ripe, burst, and disclose their snow-white or yellowish
contents, in the midst of which are contained small black seeds, in shape
somewhat resembling those of grapes.
We are informed, by Mr. Edwards, that the plants are raised from seed, the
land requiring no other preparation for them than to be cleared of its
native incumbrances. The seeds are usually sown in rows six or eight feet
asunder, and the holes in which they are put are about four feet apart. At
the end of five months the plants begin to flower, and in two months more
the pods are formed. After the cotton is gathered, it is freed from the
seeds to which it is attached, by a very simple machine, consisting of two
small rollers that are close and parallel to each other, and move in
opposite directions. The cotton is next hand-picked, to free it from
decayed leaves, broken seeds, and other impurities; after which it is
packed, for sale, in bags of about two hundred pounds each.
Though the cotton plant flourishes best in tropical climates, it is capable
of cultivation in such as are not so hot; and it is now an object of
attention in several of the southern parts of Europe.
We receive great quantities of cotton from America, and the East and West
Indies. The whole quantity imported into this country, in the year 1802,
exceeded 60,000,000 pounds' weight; whilst the average annual importation,
anterior to 1780, did not amount to one tenth part of this; so rapid has
been the increase and prosperity of our cotton manufactories. Calicoes and
muslins of all kinds are made of cotton; fustians, corderoys, and
innumerable other articles. Nankeens, which are manufactured in India, are
made of a kind of cotton which is naturally of a reddish buff colour.
After the cotton is imported into England, the first process which it goes
through is that of _carding_. Some years ago, this was performed by the
hand, upon the knee, with a single pair of cards; but it is now performed
with cylindrical cards, worked by machinery. The next and most important
improvements in the manufacture of cotton, were made at Cromford, in the
county of Derby, by the late Sir Richard Arkwright; who, in 1768, first
introduced the method of _spinning_ cotton by machinery. By this
contrivance cotton was _carded_, _roved_, and _spun_, with the utmost
expedition, correctness, and equality. Other machines have, at different
subsequent periods, been invented by various mechanics and manufacturers,
particularly that called a _jenny_, by which one person is able to spin a
hundred hanks of cotton yarn a-day, containing, in the whole, near a
million of yards. The concluding operation is that of weaving, which is
performed with a machine called a loom, in the same manner as flax (97) and
hemp (259).
Cotton is capable of being manufactured into paper, which is little
inferior to that made from linen rags.
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