had ever seen one.

When the writings and dissertations of Mandeville, Odoricus and others
are carefully considered, these conclusions force themselves upon us:
that direct personal observation must have played a very minor part in
the attempt to get at the truth in connection with the origin and growth
of the Cotton plant.

Their statements stand in very sharp contrast with those of writers who
lived before the Christian era commenced. Of these, mention must be made
of Herodotus, surnamed the _Father of History_.

This celebrated Greek historian and philosopher was born, B.C. 484, in
Halicarnassus in Greece. In his book of travels he speaks of the Cotton
plant. It appears, mainly owing to the tyrannical government of
Lygdamis, he left his native land and travelled in many countries in
Europe, Asia, and Africa. He appears to have at least determined, that
he would only write of those things of which he had intimate knowledge,
and would under no circumstances take for granted what he could not by
personal observation verify for himself. In speaking of India and the
Cotton plant, he says: "The wild trees in that country bear for their
fruit fleeces surpassing those of sheep in beauty and excellence, and
the natives clothe themselves in cloths made therefrom." In another
place he refers to a present which was sent by one of the kings of
Egypt, which was padded with cotton. He also describes a machine for
separating the seed from the fibre or lint. Compared with our modern
gins, as they are called, this machine was exceedingly primitive and
simple in construction.

There is not the slightest doubt that the first reliable information of
the physical characters of the fibre and its uses was conveyed into
Europe by the officers of the Emperor Alexander. One of his greatest
Admirals, named Nearchus, observed the growth of cotton in India, and
the use to which it was put, especially the making of sheets, shirts and
turbans.

Perhaps one of the most careful observers that lived before the
Christian era commenced, was Theophrastus, who wrote some strikingly
correct things about the Cotton plant of India three centuries before
Christ!

In describing the tree he said it was useful in producing cotton which
the Indians wove into garments, that it was not unlike the dog rose, and
that the leaves were somewhat like the leaves of the mulberry tree. The
cultivation of the plant was also very correctly noted as to the rows in
whic