Sentence:  This strange wool-bearing plant is of the mallow tribe. ... Another name formerly given to the vegetable fleece was <WSD>"bombast</WSD>". This word was in use before our ancestors were skilful enough to weave the cotton wool which was brought to them from the East in the merchant ships of Venice and Genoa. What they did not want for candle-wicks, they employed in stuffing and wadding their doublets and other articles of dress. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Cotton, or cotton wool.