of the fineness of 278 hanks to the pound of 840 yards each. It was sold to the muslin manufacturers of Glasgow at 20 guineas the pound. These hanks are prepared by the next process, called reeling. The cops from the mule, or the bobbins from the throstle frame, are set in a frame so that they can be wound off upon a large 6-sided reel, which extends along the top of the same frame. With a reel of the circumference of 14 yards, 560 revolutions give the length of a hank. Many of these are wound along the length of the reel at the same time. When taken off they are weighed separately, and the weight of each designates the fineness of the yarn. The number expresses the number of hanks required to weigh a pound. The coarsest yarns weigh about pound to the hank; but the common qualities for coarse spinning run from 10 to 40 to the pound. The finest spinning seldom exceeds 300 hanks to the pound; no yarn finer than No. 350 was made in Eng land previous to 1840. The next year Messrs. Houldsworth of Manchester produced No. 450, and at the great exhibition of 1851 they furnished some lace made of No. 600, and also muslin for a dress for the queen made of No. 460, which exceeds in fineness any of the famed India productions. In a notice in the London "Despatch" it was stated that the same firm exhibited threads of No. 900, and also one specimen of No. 2,150, such that a pound would reach 1,026 miles. Even the No. 600 is too delicate to be handled or to serve any useful purpose. The finer yarns are singed by being run through a gas flame; they are then passed over a brush, and run through a hole in a piece of brass just large enough to admit the yarn. Any knot or bulge stops the yarn, and the defect is immediately remedied. The hanks are made up into cubical bundles of 5 or 10 lbs., and pressed and tied, when they are ready for the loom or for being twisted into thread, properly so called. Of this there are several kinds, as the sewing thread, lace thread, stocking thread, &c. They are all produced by doubling and twisting together two yarns or more, and by machines very similar to the throstle frame; the yarns as they are twisted are passed through water or a weak solution of starch, which gives more firmness and strength to the thread.-For further data connected with this manufacture, the reader is referred to the articles CALICO, CALENDERING, FACTORY, LOOM.-Cotton is distinguished from linen by the peculiar structure of its fibre when seen under a powerful microscope, the form being flattened, crooked, and shrivelled, while that of the linen fibre is round and straight with occasional cross knots or joints. Linen yarn also becomes yellow in a strong and hot solution in water of caustic potash, while cotton remains white, or is colored very slightly yellow. The two fibres may also be distinguished by the different effects produced upon them by concentrated sulphuric acid. The stuff to be tested must first be thoroughly cleaned by boiling and repeated washing in pure water. When well

dried it is dipped in the acid and left from half a minute to 2 minutes. The cotton threads become immediately transparent, the linen remaining white. It is then taken out and put in water to wash out the gummy matter produced by the cotton. On being dried, if the experiment has been well conducted, the yarns of cotton will have disappeared; but if the immersion in acid has been too long the linen also becomes transparent and eaten by the acid. Another method by which cotton is detected in unbleached linen is to place the stuff, after it is well washed in boiling water and dried, in a mixture of 2 parts of dried nitrate of potash and 3 parts of sulphuric acid, and leave it for 8 or 10 minutes. It is then washed and dried and treated with ether, to which a little alcohol is added. If cotton was present in the stuff, the ethereal liquid is thickened by the production of collodion. This may be separated, leaving the residue pure linen. When the fibre of cotton is thoroughtly consumed, the remaining ash is found to be about 1 per cent. of the original weight.-The cotton seed produces about 4 per cent. ash, which consists largely of phosphates, as seen by the 2d of the following analyses, the 1st presenting the composition of the ash of the fibre:

The seed constituting a large proportion of the weight, it must rapidly extract from the soil elements essential to the growth of the plant; hence the importance of restoring it to the land as manure, unless some substitute of animal matters is provided. The seed is of an oily nature, yielding a vegetable drying oil; but the quantity does not appear to be sufficient to justify its extraction; and the seed is more valuable as a fertilizer than to be applied to illuminating purposes by the production of either oil or gas.-Cotton itself is converted to few other purposes beside affording a material for yarns and thread. It is used to some extent for ropes; but these are unsuitable for many purposes by reason of their liability to stretch and shrink. The batting is used for wadding dresses and

bed comforters, and the raw cotton is made into mattresses, cushions, &c. By the action of nitric acid an explosive substance is prepared from the fibre, for the nature and uses of which see GUN COTTON and COLLODION. Cotton is a useful application in the dressing of burns and scalds, and a decoction of the root is sometimes administered as an emmenagogue, as that of the seeds is employed at the south as a remedy in intermittent fever.

COTTON WORM, the caterpillar of an owlet moth, of the tribe of noctua (N. rylina, Say). The perfect insect is of a triangular shape, about an inch in length; the upper wings reddish gray, a dark spot with a whitish centre in the middle; the under wings are darker. The caterpillars have 16 legs, but the foremost prop legs are so short that in creeping they arch up the back like the geometers or span worms; the color is green, with light yellow stripes and black dots along the back; the 2d and 3d generations are darker than the 1st; they grow to the length of an inch and a half. The eggs are deposited from 10 to 15 on the under surface of the tender leaves, to which they are firmly attached, and of a color resembling the leaf; the period of incubation is variously stated from 6 to 15 days, depending probably on the heat of the season; the time of hatching is at night, and the young begin to eat very soon, growing very rapidly; the skin is changed several times before they attain their full growth; in 15 to 20 days after attaining the full size they cease to feed, and form an imperfect cocoon of a leaf and silk; in this the chrysalis state is passed, from 10 to 12 days; after this the moths lay their eggs, and die after a period of about a week, or, according to some observers, surviving mild winters. This insect is in some years exceedingly destructive to the cotton, sometimes cutting off the entire crop of certain districts; it appears often in a sudden and unaccountable manner, as if it must migrate from the south. They were first noticed as destroyers of cotton about the year 1800, since which their ravages have been more or less serious almost every year; It is believed by some that they appear at intervals of 3 years in the same districts, and that their greatest ravages occur after intervals of 21 years; the years 1804, 1825, and 1846 were remarkable in this respect; the time of year varies from June to October. A moderate degree of cold is sufficient to kill them, though moisture and strong winds do not appear to disturb them. They devour both the short staple and the long staple cotton, and rarely, if ever, touch any other plant. When they appear early in the season, there are usually 3 broods. This is undoubtedly the insect referred to by Dr. Burnett in the "Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History," vol. iv. p. 316; he is of opinion that it comes from South America, and that the last brood perishes entirely, either from cold or starvation, leaving no progeny behind them. Fires in the fields have been recommended as attracting and destroying this moth; white

cotton flags, about a yard square, are said to attract it, and to be used as deposits for the eggs; great numbers may be caught by molasses and vinegar spread on plates. But these and similar contrivances will be of little avail until the exact appearance of the first moths is ascer tained; then their speedy destruction would prevent the production of the 2d and 3d crops, and thus limit, if it did not arrest, their ravages.Another insect, destroying great numbers of cotton buds, is the boll-worm moth, belonging to the same tribe of noctua, and probably to the genus heliothes. This is a tawny, yellowish moth, which may be seen toward evening, in summer and autumn, hovering over the cotton blooms, and depositing a single egg in each flow. er; the egg is hatched in 3 or 4 days, and the worm eats its way into the centre of the boll, causing its premature fall; the insect instinetively leaves the boll when it is about to full, and enters another, and finally attacks the nearly matured bolls, rendering the cotton rotten and useless. The caterpillars have 16 feet, creeping with a gradual motion, unlike the true cotton worm; they vary much in color, some being green, others brown, but all more or less spotted with black, and having a few short hairs. A single moth will lay 500 eggs, and, as 3 broods are produced in a year, a whole field will be very soon infested with them.-These are the two greatest enemies on the cotton plantations, and the same remedies are effectual in both. In the

Agricultural Report of the Commissioner of Patents," for 1855, is an excellent article by Townend Glover, Esq., on the insects found on the cotton plant, on the stalk, on the leaf, on the terminal shoots, on the flower, and on the boll, whether injurious, beneficial, or indiffer ent. Many cotton worms are destroyed by spiders, beetles, and ichneumon flies.

COTTON, CHARLES, an English humorist and poet, born at Beresford Hall, Staffordshire, in 1630, died at Westminster in 1687. He was educated at Cambridge, travelled on the continent, and inherited in 1658 his father's property, already much encumbered, to the burdens on which he soon added. His estate was near the river Dove, famous for its beauty and its trout, where he passed a studious and careless life, delighting his friends by his humor and accomplishments. He built a fishing house on the banks of the Dove, in which he entertained for years his friend Izaak Walton. For recreation as well as pecuniary relief, he translated several works from the French and Italian, among which were Montaigne's "Essays" and Corneille's tra gedy of "Horace." He made a wealthy second marriage, which, however, did not remove his embarrassments, as the lady's fortune was secured from his mismanagement. In 1664 and 1672 be published "Scarronides, or Virgile Travestie," an indelicate burlesque of the 1st and 4th books of the Æneid. He also burlesqued several of the dialogues of Lucian, in poetical translations, and wrote a serious poem entitled the "Wonders of the Peake" (1681), a humorous piece entitled a

"Journey to Ireland," and several occasional poems. He is now best known by the second part which he added to the 5th edition of Walton's "Complete Angler," valuable for the technical information which it gives concerning fly fishing, and for its descriptions of the scenery of the Dove, and of his fishing-house on a little peninsula in the river, having a bowling green near by, and inscribed Piscatoribus sacrum, with a cipher including the first 2 letters of the names of Walton and Cotton.

COTTON, JOHN, one of the first ministers of Boston, Mass., born in Derby, Eng., Dec. 4, 1585, died in Boston, Dec. 23, 1652. At the age of 13 he entered Trinity college, Cambridge, and was afterward fellow of Emmanuel and employed as lecturer and tutor. About 1612 he became vicar of St. Botolph's church in Boston, Lincolnshire, where he remained 20 years, noted as a preacher and controversialist, and inclining in his doctrines and practices toward the Puritan worship. His influence with his people carried them mostly with him, but he was at length informed against for not kneeling at the sacrament, and cited to appear before Archbishop Laud in the high commission court. Upon this he sought safety in flight, and after sojourning for some time in London went to America, arriving in Boston Sept. 4, 1633. In October he was ordained on a day of fasting, by imposition of hands by the minister and 2 elders, teacher of the church in Boston and colleague with Mr. Wilson the pastor. In this connection he remained over 19 years, with such influence and standing that he has been called the patriarch of New England. In 1642 he was invited, together with Hooker and Davenport, by the assembly of divines at Westminster, to assist in their counsels, and was in favor of accepting the invitation, but was dissuaded by Hooker, who was intent upon forming himself a system of church government for New England. His death was brought on by exposure in crossing the ferry to Cambridge, where he was going to preach. His reputation for learning was very high, and, as was frequent among the ministers of that time, was sustained by an accumulation of obscure and professional knowledge. He was a critic in Greek, wrote Latin with elegance, and could discourse in Hebrew, and spent 12 hours a day in reading, his favorite author being Calvin. His pulpit eloquence was famous for its simplicity and plainness, and his discourses were exceedingly effect ual in exciting attention to religion. He was very regular in religious observances, keeping the Sabbath holy from evening to evening, and it was from him that the form of that observance was disseminated throughout New England. His publications were numerous, consisting of sermons and controversial works upon most of the subjects discussed in his time. The most important are those published in the course of his controversy with Roger Williams, and his "Power of the Keys" on the nature of church government. He maintained that the church is constituted of elders and brethren; that the VOL. V.-49

elders are intrusted with the government to the extent of admissions and excommunications, yet that there is so much liberty left among the brethren that nothing of common concern can be imposed upon them without their consent. Against Williams he defended the interference of the civil power in religious matters for the support of the truth, maintaining the duty, for the good of the church and of the people, of putting away those who, after repeated admonitions, persist in rejecting fundamental points of doctrine or worship. Nevertheless he was charitable and benevolent, and contributed freely of his labors and substance to strangers and those in distress.-A monumental tablet, with a Latin inscription by Mr. Edward Everett, was erected in St. Botolph's church in 1857, in honor of Cotton, chiefly by contributions from his descendants in Boston, Mass.

COTTON, SIR ROBERT BRUCE, an English antiquary, founder of the Cottonian_library, born at Denton in Huntingdonshire, Jan. 22, 1570, died in London, May 6, 1631. He made a very valuable collection of ancient manuscripts, including many which had been scattered about the kingdom when Henry VIII. dissolved the monasteries. In 1629 he was arrested on a false suspicion of having written an obnoxious pamphlet, thrown into the tower, and his library was sequestrated. Though released, he was still denied access to his library; and to this deprivation he attributed the malady of which he died. His collection was augmented by his son and grandson, and, after having been partly destroyed by fire in 1731, was afterward transferred to the British museum.

COTYS, or COTYTTо, a Thracian female divinity, whose festival (the Cotyttia) resembled that of the Phrygian Cybele. It was held at night, and celebrated with licentious revelry.

COUCH GRASS (triticum repens, Linn.), known by a great variety of names in different localities, such as twitch, witch, quitch, squitch, quack, quake, dog grass, chandler grass, wheat grass, is one of the most troublesome pests of the farm. The plant is about 2 feet high, having rough leaves, somewhat hairy, and trailing at the lower joints. Although a grass, it performs the office of a vile weed, being an insidious creeper, multiplying and ramifying itself in all directions. Its scraggy roots go deep into the soil, and take firm hold. Each joint, whether of the root or stem, can produce a new plant, which in turn, if not destroyed, will produce others beyond number. Every friend to enlightened agriculture is an enemy to couch grass. Some slovenly farmers let it grow as pasture and meadow, and thus infest their tillage land. Its nutritive qualities do not make up for its disadvantages in a thorough system of husbandry. Couch grass can withstand intense frost without injury. On lands sown with winter grain, or seeded down with grass, even if stripped of their snowy protection and winter-killed, couch grass commonly shows itself in early spring when no sign of the crops is to be seen.

This land must have a thorough harrowing before another crop, and in covering the seed, if any of the cereals are being sown, clean the harrow teeth at the head lands, gather the rubbish into heaps, and when dry, burn it. A crop of turnips, whose broad leaves exclude sun and air, and the frequent disturbance of the soil in hot weather, are useful in subduing this noxious weed. If hand hoes, horse hoes, root cleaners, and other disturbing implements are not used, it will defy every effort, made at a late date, to banish it from a growing crop for the season. Cleaning land thoroughly in autumn keeps the roots from penetrating the soil deeply, and from getting a strong hold, almost impossible to be broken. In the early autumn the roots strike horizontally and obliquely, and then go down till the growth of the plant is stopped by the cold of winter. The ashes of couch contain only about 10 per cent. of potash and 51 per cent. of lime. Professor Voelcker found a little more than 20 per cent. of bone earth in it. The large amount of soluble silica found in its ashes explains why clay soils, rich in alkaline silicates, are conducive to its growth. In parts of Europe where paring and burning are much practised, it is known that the fouler the land is made by couch grass, the larger is the ensuing crop of turnips.

COUCHING. See CATARACT.

COUCY, the name of a French family, who from the 12th to the end of the 14th century held the first rank among the great barons in the N. of France. They took their name from the castle of Coucy, situated about 12 m. S. W. of Laon.

COUCY, RENAUD, or RAOUL DE, castellan of Coucy, but probably not a relation of the celebrated family of that name, a French minstrel of the 12th century, was the reputed author of 24 songs, remarkable for simplicity and tenderness, which were reprinted in 1830 under the editorship of Francisque Michel. His name is associated with a famous romance of the 13th century, but which has been mixed up with another legend of Gabrielle de Vergy. This romance, under the title of Roumans dou chastelain de

Coucy, was published in 1829. It is founded upon the following legend, which has been reproduced under various forms: Coucy was in love with a French lady, the wife of the chevalier de Fayel. Fighting in the ranks of the crusa ders, he was mortally wounded, and deputed his servant to carry his heart to his mistress. The messenger was surprised by the husband. The latter caused the heart to be cooked and to be presented to his wife, who tasted it, but being informed of the origin of the dish she starved herself to death.

COUGAR (felis concolor, Linn.), a carnivo rous animal, also called puma, or American lion; and by the early settlers of the United States, painter (a corruption of panther) and catamount. It has a very extensive range, being found from northern New York to Patagonia in South America. The length of the body of the adult cougar is from 4 to 4 feet, and that of the tail from 2 to 23 feet; the females are somewhat less. The fur is thick and close, of a pale reddish brown color above, shading into white on the flanks and lower parts; the muzzle, chin, throat, and inside of limbs are grayish white, and the breast is almost pure white; the back of the ears, and the part from which the whiskers spring, are brownish black; the tip of the tail black; the whiskers white; on the face and sides there are sometimes a few stripes. The cougar is an active climber, but prefers the grassy plains and meadows of South America, where it is very destructive to the herds. In the forests of the north it lives chiefly on deer, upon which it drops from a branch overhanging their paths and watering places. It is not satisfied with seizing a single victin, but will kill as many of a herd as it can, sucking only a small portion of the blood of each; it is accordingly destroyed whenever an opportunity offers. It is cowardly by nature, and will flee from man; but if wounded, it will turn upon the hunter, and prove a dangerous foe. In the north it is generally hunted by dogs, and driven to a tree, where it is easily shot. It is readily tamed, and many instances are on record of its docility and even affection.