CHAPTER IV.

WOOL AND COTTON.

WOOL.--What is Wool?--Chemical Composition--Fibre--Antiquity of Shepherd Life--Varieties of Sheep--Introduction into Australia--Spanish Merino--Wool Wealth of Australia--Imports and Exports of Wool and Woollen Produce--Woollen Manufacture 81

COTTON.--Cotton Plant in the East--Mandeville's Fables about Cotton--Cotton in Persia, Arabia, and Egypt--Columbus finds Cotton-yarn and Thread in 1492--In Africa--Manufacture of Cloth in England--The American Cotton Plant 91