COTTON, ARTIFICIAL. A material made in Germany from the wood of the fir-tree, which is reduced to thin shavings. These are washed, then steamed for ten hours, after which they are treated with a strong solution of sodium lye and then heated under great pressure for thirty-six hours. The wood is then said to be changed to pure cellulose. To give the material greater re sisting power. castor-oil and gelatin are added.
Japan had 200,000 spindles in operation in 1889. and 1,358,125 spindles in 1399. Japan con sumed 911,375 bales of cotton in 1S90, and 044.818 bales in 189S. China had 570,000 spindles in operation in 1899. It is estimated that on .July 1, 1900. the world's working spindles numbered 105,000.000.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Description and cultivation.— Bibliography. Description and cultivation.— True, "The Cotton Plant." in United States De partment of Agriculture Office, Experiment Sta tions, Bulletin 33 (Washington. 1890) ; Story of the Cotton Plant (New York, 1899 ) : Lecompte, Le coton: culture, his toire r'conomique (Paris, 1900) ; Hohnel, Ueber die B«umwolle (Vienna, 1893) ; Parlatore, Le specie dei cotoni (Firenze, 1860) ; Todaro, Rein time sulla culture dei colon+ in Italia ... (Rome,
187S) : Mallet, Cotton: the Chemical, Geological end Meteorological Conditions for Its Successful Cultivation (London, 1862) : Bowman, Strut-tare of the Cotton Fibre (Manchester, 1881) ; 'the Cotton Fibre: Its Structure (Manchester, 1890) ;Tompkins, Cotton, Cott on Oil, Cotton Plant ing, Harvesting . . . (Charlotte, N. C., 1901) ; Dana, Cot toa from Seed to Loom. (London, 1878).
Manufacture and Uses.—Ashwo•th, Cotton: Its Cultiration, Manufacture and Uses (Man chester. 1858) : Ellison, Cotton Trade of Great Britain ( London, 1894): Brooks, Cotton and Its Uses, 'Varieties. Structure of Fibre . . . (New York, T898) ; Hammond, The Cotton Industry (New York, 1S97) ; Latham, Alexander & Co.. Cotton 11orenient and Flue! eat ions (New York, 1899) ; C'uit1a'a and Commerce of Cotton in India (London. 1851) ; Marsden, History of Cotton Manufacture (London.1,965): Posselt. The Struc ture of Fibres, Yarns and Fabrics (Philadelphia, 1892).
after which it is ready to be spun into thread and reeled.