The vegetable lamb of Tartary, a curious fable of the cotton plant

admiral Africa Alexandria amongst ancient animal Arabian Gulf Asia Astracan BAROMETZ black crows Borametz Breyn caravan caravan travel Cardano Caspian Sea century China Chinese Claude Duret clothing coast colour commerce cotton plant cotton trade cotton-pod cultivated curious described Dicksonia East Egypt Emperor Europe fabrics feathers feet fern fern-root fibres flax fronds fruit Gossypium gourd grass grew on trees grow hairs herbage Herberstein Herodotus India Indus intercourse Julius Cæsar lamb-skins land linen little lamb manufacture melon mentioned mermaids Muscovy Museum myth natives Nature navel Nearchus Odoricus origin passage Persian plant-animal Portuguese quadruped quoted regarded remarkable resembling rhizome ripe root root-stock Royal Society rumour says Scaliger Scythian Lamb seed seen sheep Sigismund von Herberstein Sir Hans Sloane Sir John Mandeville skin soft species specimen stalk stem story TAN-COLOURED DOG Tartarian Lamb Tartary Theophrastus travellers tree-ferns Vegetable Lamb vegetable wool whilst white fleeces wool woven writers zoophyte