ernational trade. Cotton is here considered peculiar in
that it is the only crop of importance, all of which is sold by those
who produce it. It, therefore, gives rise to an enormous commerce and
provides a medium of exchange that almost entirely takes the place of
gold in the settlement of interstate and international balances." By
it countries are bound together "in its globe engirdling web; so that
when a modern economist concerns himself with the interdependence of
nations he naturally looks to cotton for his most effective
illustration."

Showing its startling growth in the Orient and the Occident even from
the time of Alexander the Great, cotton is traced as a factor in the
development of ancient nations and in the rise of the modern. It
strikes one as being a little strange to read in this economic
treatise such captions as "The Vegetable Lamb" and "Cotton Mythology."
The author then gives in more detail the earliest history of the
industry, referring to Hindu skill, Alexander's trade routes, Egyptian
mummies, the microscope, the transit from Rome to Spain, cotton and
the Renaissance, Edward III as the weaver king, the entrance of cotton
into England and the transformation of the country.

Taking up the industrial revolution the author develops the subject
more scientifically. The work contains less of mere history and gives
a more economic view of the forces set to work by the culture of
cotton throughout the civilized world. The numerous inventions which
figured so conspicuously in the rise of the industry are discussed. In
this portion of the work, however, the author has hardly said anything
new. He has merely restated well-known facts so as to give them a
somewhat enlarged and original treatment. Here we read more about Kay,
Hargraves, Arkwright, Compton, Cartwright, Watt, Davy and Brindley,
whose inventive genius supplied the mechanical appliance upon which
this industrial progress was based. Mention is also made of the
captains of industry who set this machinery going and directed the
world-wide movement which resulted in multiplying the wealth of some
and bringing comfort and prosperity to many. The references to the
influence of cotton on such writers as Malthus and Darwin and upon
such explorers as Columbus and Cortes show the breadth with which the
author treats the subject.

A large part of this work, of course, is devoted to tracing the
connection of cotton with the early manufacturing in the Unit