Excerpt from Commercial Raw Materials: Their Origin, Preparation and Uses A consideration of the nature and uses of the materials, which are of economic importance and on which the business of the world and the life of its people are dependent, is a necessary part of the study of geography or commerce. Until recent years no schools in this country have systematically taken up the study of the products of the world, although courses along this line are essential parts of the curricula in many schools in Europe. This book, which is brie y descriptive of the origin, processes of preparation and uses of the most important commercial materials, will, it is hoped, aid teachers in all grades whether they take up the products in a special course or only refer to them in connection with the countries which produce them. No classification of materials has yet been devised which is not open to some criticism. The grouping adopted here is into substances of vegetable, animal and mineral origin. The plants first described yield foods or food accessories; following these are plants, such as the cocoanut, which yield both food and fiber; and then those, like the cotton plant, which supply fiber, oil and cattle food. All of the materials obtained from one plant are grouped together. The same subdivision is used as far as possible with substances of animal and mineral origin. This classification is generally found more convenient and better than the separation of the many different products which may come from one source. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."