gradual diminution of the population. See Irish Land Laws.
COTTIN, kō̇′tăN′, Alaric. A nickname of Frederick the Great, originated by Voltaire.
COTTIN, Sophie Risteau (1770-1807). A French novelist, born at Tonneins, and generally known to a now past generation as the author of Elisabeth ou les exilés de Sibérie, which won the praise of imitation from Xavier de Maistre in La jeune Sibérienne (1825). In France her vogue was not lasting. Sainte-Beuve says that by 1840 her books were read only ‘from curiosity to learn the emotional moods of our mothers.’ She died in Paris, August 25, 1807.
COT′TLE, Joseph (1770-1853). An English publisher, born probably in Gloucestershire. He opened a bookshop in Bristol and was instrumental in publishing some of the first poems of Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth. He remained in business from 1791 to 1799. After his retirement he produced several volumes of poetry, such as Malvern Hills (1798); John the Baptist (1801); Messiah (1815), which awoke the satire of Byron. His Early Recollections, Chiefly Relating to Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1837), with a second edition under the title Reminiscences of Coleridge and Southey (1847), contains interesting information on the early lives of Coleridge and Southey, but is disfigured by many details that show Cottle himself in an unpleasant light.
COTTON (Fr., Sp. coton, from Ar. quṭun, quṭn, cotton, from qaṭana, to inhabit). An important vegetable fibre distinguished from all other fibres by the peculiar twist it possesses, which makes it exceedingly valuable for spinning. It is cultivated in those parts of the globe between the two thirty-fifth parallels of latitude (a region which contains the largest portion of the land surface of the globe), although its most profitable cultivation is between the twentieth and thirty-fifth parallels north of the equator. Within this belt lie the cotton districts of the United States, northern Mexico, Egypt, northern Africa, and Asia, except the extreme southern parts of India and the Malay Peninsula. South of the equator cotton is grown in Brazil, nearly all of which country is said to be favorably adapted to its cultivation; in Australia, though not to any great extent; in Africa, where the extent of production is not known, and in the islands of the Pacific. Cotton is grown under wider range of climatic conditions, over a greater area, and by a greater variety and number of people, and is useful for a larger number of purposes than any other fibre. Its cheapness and the extent of its production preclude the demand ever exceeding the supply except locally and temporarily. Although cotton is grown mainly for the fibre surrounding its seeds, its by-products, the seeds as a source of oil and cake, and also the fibre of the stalks, are of great importance. See Cottonseed and Its Products.
Botanical and Commercial Classifications. The cotton of commerce is the product of a few species of Gossypium, a genus of the natural order Malvaceæ, to which also belong the hollyhock, mallow, hibiscus, etc., as may be readily seen by a comparison of their flowers. (For illustration, see Plate with article Hemp.) There are in all about 50 species of Gossypium, only a few of which are economically important. They are small trees, shrubs, or herbaceous plants, and in their duration are perennials, biennials, or annuals. The leaves of the cultivated species are three to seven, or even nine-lobed, and are more or less sprinkled with small black or pellucid dots. The flowers vary in color; the common colors in the United States are white or light yellow, with purple spots at base, the whole flower turning red the second day after opening. The flowers usually are borne singly in the axils of the leaves except in the ‘cluster’ type, where a number occur together. At their bases the flowers are surrounded by three or more green heart-shaped bracts, which are deeply cut or fringed and are united at their bases to form a cup. These constitute the ‘squares.’ The fruit, known as the boll, is a three to five-celled capsule, containing the numerous seeds, more or less covered with lint, which is white or tawny. All of the species are of tropical origin, yet their most successful cultivation is in temperate climates where there is a period of six months free from frosts and where there is an abundant and well-distributed rainfall throughout the growing season. An increasing temperature during the period of greatest growth is believed to be conducive to the production of the best fibre, and in India, where a lower grade of staple is produced, the decreasing temperature at this period is held responsible for the inferior quality. The botanical origin of plants that have long been in cultivation is always a source of perplexity, and the exact species to which the different varieties of cotton belong has been the subject of much controversy. By almost common consent it is now agreed that most of the cotton of commerce is the product of three or four species and their hybrids. These species are Gossypium arboreum and Gossypium peruvianum, arborescent species grown only in the tropics; Gossypium barbadense, the source of the celebrated Sea Island cotton, and Gossypium herbaceum, the species from which most of the crop of India and the United States is grown. By some the American upland cotton is believed to have originated from Gossypium maritimum and Gossypium hirsutum, but these are now believed to be the same as Gossypium barbadense and Gossypium herbaceum. There is perhaps no other plant that responds so quickly to changes in environment and improved cultivation, and to this are doubtless due the many varieties and species.
The Sea Island cotton, Gossypium barbadense, with its beautiful, long and silky staple, is one of the most valuable of the races or species of cotton. The flower is of a rich cream-color and its seeds are black, small, and easily separable from the lint. This species attains the highest perfection along the coast region of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, with well-known varieties grown under irrigation in Egypt from American seed. The fibre of Sea Island cotton averages about one and three-quarter inches in length, with one and one-half to two and one-half as the extremes. It is adapted to the finest thread and lace work, and other products for which the short staple is not suited. The Egyptian varieties are usually a little shorter in staple and are of a tawny color. These are often used for the natural colored balbriggan underwear, hosiery, etc., where a smooth finish and silky lustre are desired. The cultivation of Sea Island cotton is highly developed, and the United States crop of 1898-99 was 67,611 bales of 500
