Editing Cotton (section)

====Arabia====
The Greeks and the Arabs were not familiar with cotton until the [[Wars of Alexander the Great]], as his contemporary [[Megasthenes]] told [[Seleucus I Nicator]] of "there being trees on which wool grows" in "Indica."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Simon |first=Matt |date=8 August 2013 |title=The Most Bonkers Scientific Theories (Almost) Nobody Believes Anymore |url=https://www.wired.com/2013/08/the-most-bonkers-scientific-theories-and-why-you-should-be-thankful-for-them/ |access-date=2024-06-12 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US}}</ref> This may be a reference to "tree cotton", ''[[Gossypium arboreum]],'' which is native to the Indian subcontinent.

According to the ''[[Columbia Encyclopedia]]'':<ref name=ce>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140923071411/https://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/cotton "cotton"] in ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', Sixth Edition. 2001–07.</ref>

{{Blockquote|Cotton has been spun, woven, and dyed since prehistoric times. It clothed the people of ancient India, Egypt, and China. Hundreds of years before the Christian era, cotton textiles were woven in India with matchless skill, and their use spread to the Mediterranean countries.}}