Calico, a stuff or cloth of cotton, originally manufactured in India; but, within the last twenty or thirty years, it has been imitated in Britain, and brought to great perfection, since the invention of machines for spinning cotton. In the towns of Manchester, Glasgow, Paisley, etc. many thousands of industrious hands are employed in the manufacture of this article ; which, according to its different degrees of fineness, is sold from 6d. to 6s. and upwards, a yard.

Cotton cloth is an intermediate substance between that made of flax and animal wool ; but by no means deserves to be commended as a substitute for flannel, next the skin. Calico imbibes and retains the perspired humors, unless it be as frequently changed as linen; while flannel admits a free evaporation through its more numerous pores.