COTTON is a white soft Wool which is found in a Kind of brown Shell, which grows upon a Shrub in form of a Bush, according to what Father Du Tertre says of it. At first, when the Islands were inhabited by the French, I saw them says he, fill their Houses full of Cotton, in hopes it would yield them great Profit in Trade; but most of the Merchants wou'd not meddle with it, because it took too much room in the first Place, and was subject to take Fire, decay and the like.
This Shrub grows in a Bush, and the Branches that stretch wide are well charg'd with Leaves, something less than those of the Sycamore, and almost of the same Shape: it bears a great many fine, yellow, large Flowers; the Head of the Flower is of a purple Colour, and it is all strip'd on the Inside; it has an oval Button that appears in the Middle, and grows in Time to the Size of a Pigeon's Egg; when ripe it becomes black and divides itself into three Parts at Top; the Cotton or Down, looks white as Snow: In the Flake, which is swell'd by the Heat to the Size of a Pullet's Egg, there are seven Seeds as large as Lupins, sticking together; within it is white, oily, and of a good Taste.
This Cotton comes in great Quantities from all the Islands, and the Natives take great Care in the cultivating of it, as a Thing very useful for their Bedding: I have observ'd one Thing of the Cotton Flower not known to any Authors yet, or at least not taken Notice of; which is, that the Flowers, wrap'd up in the Leaves of the same Tree, and bak'd or roasted over a Fire of burning Coals, yield a reddish viscous Oil, that cures in a little Time old standing Ulcers, I have often experienced it with very good Success: The Seed of this Shrub will make the Parroquets fuddled; but it is beneficially used against Fluxes of Blood and Poisons.
We sell several Sorts of Cottons, which only differ according to the Countries from whence they come, and the various Preparations made of them. The first is the Cotton, in the Wool, that is to say, that which comes from the Shell, from which only we take the Seed: Those Cottons come from Cyprus, Smyrna, &c. The second is the Cotton in the Yarn, which comes from Damascus. The Jerusalem Cottons, which are call'd Bazac; the lesser Bazacs; the Beledin Cottons; those of Gondezel, Motasin and Genequin; but of all the Cottons we sell no better than that of Jerusalem, and the Islands. The true Bazac, or Jerusalem Cotton, ought to be white, fine, smooth, the best spun, and most equal, or evenest that can be. As to the Cotton in Wool, the whiter, longer, and sweeter it is, the more valuable it is. Those who buy in whole Bales, ought to take care it be not damag'd with Mould, Mustiness, or wet. Cotton has many Uses too well known to insist on. As to the black Seed which is found in the Cotton, there is an Oil made of it, admirable for taking away Spots and Freckles, and to beautify the Face; and has the same Virtues with Oil of the Cokar Kernels, made after the same Manner by the Natives, especially in the Island of Assumption, from whence almost all the Cokars we now sell are brought.
Xylon, Coto, Gossipium, Cotoneum, Bombyx Officinarum, or the Cotton of the Shops, is a Plant whereof there are two Kinds; the First is call'd Xylon five Gossipium herbaceum, by J Bauhinus, Ray and Tournefort, Gossipium fruticescens annuum, by Parkinson, and Gossipium fruticescens semine albo, by C. Bauhinus; which signifies either the Herb Cotton, the Annual Shrub Cotton, or that with the white Seed. It bears a Stalk of a Foot and a half, or two Foot high, that is woody, cover'd with a reddish hairy Bark, divided into several short Branches. The Leaves are a little less than the Sycamore Leaves, shap'd almost like those of the Vine, hanging to long Stalks, adorn'd with a Nap or Hair; the Flowers are numerous, fine and large, having the Shape or Form of a Bell, slit or cut into five or six Divisions to the Bottom, of a yellow Colour, mix'd with red or purple: When the Flower is fallen, it is succeeded by a Fruit the Bigness of a Filbert, which being ripe opens into three or four Quarters or Partitions, from whence appears a Flake of Cotton, white as Snow, which swells up or tumefies by Heat, to the Size of a little Apple. It contains in it gross Seeds like small Peas, oblong, white and cottony; each having in it a little oleaginous Kernel that is sweet to the Taste.
The second Sort is call'd Xylon Arboreum, or the Tree Cotton, by J. Bauhinus, Ray and Tournefort; it differs from the former in Bigness, for this grows into a Tree or Shrub of four or five Foot high. The Leaves approach, in some Measure, to those of the Linden Tree, indented deep into three Parts, without Nap or Down: The Flowers and Fruit are like those of the other Kind. The two Species of Cotton grow in Egypt, Syria, Cyprus, Candia and the Indies: The Flowers are vulnerary; the Seed pectoral, proper for Asthma's, Coughs, to procure Seed, consolidate Wounds, for Dysenteries, Scourings of the Belly, Spitting of Blood, &c.