by means of microscopic observations instituted by James Thomson,
Esq. F. R. S. of Clitheroe, one of the most observant and experienced
cotton-manufacturers in Great Britain. He obtained about 400 specimens
of mummy cloth, and employed Mr. Bauer of Kew to examine them with
his microscopes. By the same method the structure and appearance of
the ultimate fibres of modern cotton and flax were ascertained; and
were found to be so distinct that there was no difficulty in deciding
upon the ancient specimens, and it was also found that they were
universally linen. About twelve years after Mr. Thomson had commenced
his researches he published the results of them in the Philosophical
Magazine[480], and he has accompanied them with a Plate exhibiting the
obvious difference between the two classes of objects. The ultimate
fibre of cotton is a transparent tube without joints, flattened so
that its inward surfaces are in contact along its axis, and also
twisted spirally round its axis (See A. Plate VI.): that of flax is a
transparent tube jointed like a cane, and not flattened nor spirally
twisted (See B. Plate VI.). To show the difference two specimens of the
fibres of cotton, and two of the fibres of mummy cloth are exhibited,
all of the specimens being one hundredth of an inch long, and magnified
400 times in each dimension. Any person, even with a microscope of
moderate power, may discern the difference between the two kinds of
fibres, though not so minutely and exactly as in the figures of Mr.
Bauer.
[480] Third Series, vol. v. No. 29, November 1834.
The difference, here pointed out, will explain why linen has greater
lustre than cotton: it is no doubt because in linen the lucid surfaces
are much larger. The same circumstance may also explain the different
effect of linen and cotton upon the health and feelings of those who
wear them (See Part Third, Chap. I.). Every linen thread presents
only the sides of cylinders: that of cotton, on the other hand, is
surrounded by an innumerable multitude of exceedingly minute edges.
Mr. Pettigrew, in his “History of Egyptian Mummies” (_London_ 1834,
_p._ 95.), expresses the opinion that the bandages are principally
of cotton, though occasionally of linen. He has since arrived at the
conclusion that they are all of linen: and his opinion appears to be
established on the following evidence, which he gives in a note to the
above mentioned work (_p._ 91.).
Dr. Ure has been so good as to make known to me that which I
conceive to be the most satisfactory test of the absolute nature of
flax and cotton, and in the course of his microscopic researches
on the structure of textile fibres he has succeeded in determining
their distinctive characters. From a most precise and accurate
examination of these substances he has been able to draw the following
statement:--The filaments of flax have a glassy lustre when viewed by
day-light in a good microscope, and a cylindrical form, which is very
rarely flattened. Their diameter is about the two-thousandth part of
an inch. They break transversely with a smooth surface, like a tube of
glass cut with a file. A line of light distinguishes their axis, with
a deep shading on one side only, or on both sides, according to the
direction in which the incident rays fall on the filaments.
The filaments of cotton are almost never true cylinders, but are
more or less flattened and tortuous; so that when viewed under
the microscope they appear in one part like a riband from the
one-thousandth to the twelve-hundredth part of an inch broad, and
in another like a sharp edge or narrow line. They have a pearly
translucency in the middle space, with a dark narrow border at each
side, like a hem. When broken across, the fracture is fibrous or
pointed. Mummy cloth, tried by these criteria in the microscope,
appears to be composed both in its warp and woof-yarns of flax, and
not of cotton. A great variety of the swathing fillets have been
examined with an excellent achromatic microscope, and they have all
evinced the absence of cotton filaments.
Mr. Wilkinson considers the observations of Dr. Ure, and Mr. Bauer as
decisive of the question[481].
[481] Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, London 1837, vol.
iii. p. 115.
With regard to the evidence from mummies it should be further remarked,
that, as they are partly wrapped in old linen (shirts, napkins, and
other articles of clothing and domestic furniture being found with the
long fillets and the entire webs), they prove the general application
of linen in Egypt to all the purposes of ordinary life.
Even to the present day flax continues to be a most important article
of cultivation and trade in Egypt[482]. The climate and soil are so
favorable, that it there grows to a height, which it never reaches in
Europe. It must no doubt, become coarser in proportion to its size,
and this circumstance may account for the use of it in ancient times
for all those purposes, for which we employ hemp, as for making nets,
ropes, and sail-cloth. The fine linen of the ancient Egyptians must
have been made from flax of lower growth and with thinner stems; and
the mummies testify, that they made cloth of the finest as well as of
the coarsest texture.
[482] Browne’s Travels in Africa, p. 83.
The following remark of Hasselquist respecting the _soft_ and _loose_
texture of the linen made in Egypt in his time agrees remarkably with
the appearance of that found in mummies. “The Egyptian linen is not
so thick,” says he, “as the European, being softer and of a looser
texture; for which reason it lasts longer and does not wear out so
soon as ours, which frequently wears out the faster on account of its
stiffness.” He also observes, “The common people in Egypt are clothed
in linen only, dyed blue with _indigo_; but those of better fortune
have a black cloak over their linen shirt.”
The coarse linen of the Ancient Egyptians was called Φώσων. It was made
of thick flax, and was used for towels (σουδάρια, _Julius Pollux_, vii.
_c._ 16.), and for sails (Φώσσωνας, _Lycophron_, _v._ 26.)[483]. Φώσων
may be translated _canvass_, or sail-cloth.
[483] Jablonski Glossarium Vocum Ægyptiarum, in Valpy’s edition of
Steph. Thesaur. tom. i. p. CCXCV.
Fine linen, on the other hand, was called Ὀθόνη. This term, as well
as the preceding, was in all probability an Egyptian word, adopted by
the Greeks to denote the commodity, to which the Egyptians themselves
applied it. It seems to correspond, as Salmasius[484], Celsius[485],
Forster[486], and Jablonski[487] have observed, to the אטון מצריס “Fine
linen of Egypt,” in Proverbs vii. 16. For אטון, put into Greek letters
and with Greek terminations, becomes ὀθόνη and ὀθόνιον. Hesychius
states, no doubt correctly, that ὀθόνη was applied by the Greeks to any
fine and thin cloth, though not of linen[488]. But this was in later
times and by a general and secondary application of the term.
[484] Salmasius in Achill. Tat. l. viii. c. 13, ὀθόνης χιτών.
[485] Celsii Hierobotanicon, t. ii. p. 90.
[486] Forster, De Bysso, p. 74.
[487] Ubi supra, p. CCXVII.
[488] The ancient Scholia (published by Mai and Butmann) on Od. η.
107, state that ὀθόναι were made both of flax and of wool. The silks
of India are called Ὀθόναι σηρικὰ.
It appears also that in later times ὀθόνη was not restricted to fine
linen. It is used for _a sail_ by Achilles Tatius in describing a storm
(l. iii.), and by the Scholiast on Homer, _Il._ σ.
Agreeably to the preceding remarks, the ὀθόναι mentioned in the two
passages of the Iliad may be supposed to have been procured from Egypt.
Helen, when she goes to meet the senators of Ilium at the Scæan Gate,
wraps herself in a white sheet of fine linen (Il. γ. 141.). The women,
dancing on the shield of Achilles (Il. σ. 595.), wear _thin sheets_.
These thin sheets must be supposed to have been worn as shawls, or girt
about the bodies of the dancers. Helen would wear hers so as to veil
her whole person agreeably to the representation of the lady, whom
Paulus Silentiarius addresses in the following line, written evidently
with Homer’s Helen before his mind:
You conceal your flowing locks with a snow-white sheet.--_Brunck_,
_Analecta_, _vol._ iii. _p._ 81.
Perhaps even the sheets, spread for Phœnix to lie upon in the tent of
Achilles, and for Ulysses on his return to Ithica from the country of
the Phæacians[489], though not called by the Egyptian name, should
be supposed to have been made in Egypt. In the time of Homer (900 B.
C.) the use of linen cloth was certainly rare among the Greeks; the
manufacture of it was perhaps as yet unknown to them.
[489] Il. ι. 657. Od. ν. 73. 118.
The term Σινδών (_Sindon_), was used to denote linen cloth still more
extensively than ὀθόνη, inasmuch as it occurs both in Greek and Latin
authors[490]. According to Julius Pollux this also was a word of
Egyptian origin, and Coptic scholars inform us that it is found in the
modern _Shento_, which has the same signification[491].
[490] E. g. Martial.
[491] Jablonski, ubi supra, p. CCLXXIV.
Serapion was called Sindonites, because he always wore linen (Palladii
_Hist. Lausiaca_, p. 172). He was an Egyptian, and retained the custom
of his native country.
Although Σινδών originally denoted linen, we find it applied, like
Ὀθόνη, to cotton cloth likewise; and although both of these terms
probably denoted at first those linen cloths only, and especially the
finer kinds of them, which were made in Egypt, yet as the manufacture
of linen extends itself into other countries, and the exports of India
were added to those of Egypt, all varieties either of linen or cotton
cloth, wherever woven, were designated by the Egyptian names Ὀθόνη and
Σινδών.
Another term, which is probably of Egyptian origin, and therefore
requires explanation here, is the term Βύσσος or Byssus. Vossius
(_Etymol._ L. _Lat._ v. _Byssus_) thinks it was, as Pollux and Isidore
assert, a fine, white, soft flax, and that the cloth made from it was
like the modern cambric: “Similis fuisse videtur lino isti, quod vulgo
_Cameracense_ appellamus.” Celsius, in his Hierobotanicon (_vol._ ii.
_p._ 173.), gives the same explanation. This was indeed the general
opinion of learned men, until J. R. Forster advanced the position, that
_Byssus was cotton_. A careful examination of the question confirms the
correctness of the old opinions, and for the following reasons.
I. The earliest author, who uses the term, is Æschylus. He represents
Antigone wearing a shawl or sheet of fine flax[492]. In the Bacchæ
of Euripides (_l._ 776.) the same garment, which was distinctive of
the female sex, is introduced under the same denomination. We cannot
suppose, that dramatic writers would mention in plays addressed to
a general audience clothing of any material with which they were
not familiarly acquainted. But the Greeks in the time of Æschylus
and Euripides knew little or nothing of cotton. They had, however,
been long supplied with fine linen from Egypt and Phœnice; and the
βύσσινον πέπλωμα of Antigone is the same article of female attire with
the ἀργενναὶ ὀθόναι of Helen, described by Homer. Indeed Æschylus
himself in two other passages calls the same garment linen. In the
Coephoræ (_l._ 25, 26.) the expressions, Λινόφθοροι δ’ ὑφασμάτων
λακίδες and Πρόστερνοι στολμοὶ πέπλων, describe the rents, expressive
of sorrow, which were made in the linen veil or shawl (πέπλος) of an
Oriental woman. In the Supplices (_l._ 120.) the leader of the chorus
says, she often tears her linen, or her _Sidonian veil_.
[492] Septem contra Thebas, l. 1041. See also Persæ, l. 129.
II. The next author in point of time, and one of the first in point of
importance, is Herodotus. In his account of the mode of making mummies,
he says (_l._ ii. _c._ 86.) the embalmed body was enveloped in cotton.
But the fillets or bandages of the mummies are proved by microscopic
observations to be universally linen; at least all the specimens have
been found to be linen, which have been submitted to this, the only
decisive test.
III. Herodotus also states (vii. 181.), that a man, wounded in an
engagement, had his torn limbs bound σινδόνος βυσσίνης τελαμῶσι. Now,
supposing that the persons concerned had their choice between linen
and cotton, there can be no doubt that they would choose linen as most
suitable for such a purpose. Cotton, when applied to wounds, irritates
them. Julius Pollux mentions (_l._ iv. _c._ 20. 181.; _l._ vii. _c._
16. _and_ 25. 72.) these bandages as used in surgery. The same fillets,
which were used to swathe dead bodies, were also adapted for surgical
purposes. Hence a Greek Epigram (_Brunck_, _An._ iii. 169.) represents
a surgeon and an undertaker AS LEAGUING TO ASSIST EACH OTHER IN
BUSINESS. The undertaker supplies the surgeon with bandages stolen from
the dead bodies, and the surgeon in return sends his patients to the
undertaker!
IV. Diodorus Siculus (_l._ i. § 85. _tom._ i. _p._ 96.) records a
tradition, that Isis put the limbs of Osiris into a wooden cow, covered
with Byssina. No reason can be imagined, why cotton should have been
used for such a purpose; whereas the use of fine linen to cover the
hallowed remains was in perfect accordance with all the ideas and
practices of the Egyptians.
V. Plutarch, in his Treatise de Iside et Osiride (_Opp._ _ed.
Stephani_, 1572, _vol._ iv. _p._ 653.) says, that the priests enveloped
the gilded bull, which represented Osiris, in a black sheet of Byssus.
Now nothing can appear more probable, than that the Egyptians would
employ for this purpose the same kind of cloth, which they always
applied to sacred uses; and in addition to all the other evidence
before referred to, we find Plutarch in this same treatise expressly
mentioning the linen garments of the priesthood, and stating, that
the priests were entombed in them after death, a fact verified at the
present day by the examination of the bodies of priests found in the
catacombs.
VI. The magnificent ship, constructed for Ptolemy Philopator, which
is described at length in Athenæus, had a sail of the fine linen of
Egypt[493]. It is not probable, that in a vessel, every part of which
was made of the best and most suitable materials, the sail would be
of cotton. Moreover Hermippus describes Egypt as affording the chief
supply of sails for all parts of the world[494]: and Ezekiel represents
the Tyrians as obtaining cloth from Egypt for the sails and pendants of
their ships[495].
[493] Deipnos. l. v. p. 206 C. ed. Casaubon.
[494] Apud. Athenæum, Deipnos. l. i. p. 27 F.
[495] Ez. xxvii. 7. שש ברקמה ממצרים.
VII. It is recorded in the Rosetta Inscription (_l._ 17, 18.), that
Ptolemy Epiphanes remitted two parts of the fine linen cloths, which
were manufactured in the temples for the king’s palace; and (_l._ 29.)
that he also remitted a tax on those, which were not made for the
king’s palace. Thus in an original and contemporary monument we read,
that Ὀθόνια βύσσινα were at a particular time manufactured in Egypt.
But we have no reason to believe, that cotton was then manufactured in
Egypt at all, whereas linen cloth was made in immense quantities.
VIII. Philo, who lived at Alexandria, and could not be ignorant upon
the subject, plainly uses Βύσσος to mean flax. He says, the Jewish
High-Priest wore a linen garment, made of the purest _Byssus_, which
was a symbol of firmness, incorruption, and of the clearest splendor,
since _fine linen_ is most difficult to tear, is made of nothing
mortal, and becomes brighter and more resembling light, the more it is
cleansed by washing[496].
[496] De Somniis, vol. i. p. 653. Mangey.
Here we may notice the tenacity of the cloth found in Egyptian mummies.
A great part of it is quite rotten; and its tender and fragile state is
to be accounted for, not only from its great antiquity and exposure to
moisture, but from the circumstance, that much of it was old and worn,
when first applied to the purpose of swathing dead bodies. Nevertheless
pieces are found of great strength and durability.
Hans Jac. Amman, who visited the catacombs of Sakara in 1613,
found the bandages so strong, that he was obliged to cut them with
scissors[497]. Professor Greaves[498] and Lord Sandwich found them
as firm _as if they were just taken from the loom_. Abdollatiph, who
visited Egypt A. D. 1200, mentions that the Arabs employed the mummy
cloth to make garments[499]. Much more recently the same practice has
been attested as coming under his observation by Seetzen[500]. Caillaud
discovered in the mummy, which he opened, several _napkins_ in such
a state of preservation, that he took a fancy to use one. He had it
washed eight times without any perceptible injury. “With a sort of
veneration,” says he, “I unfolded every day this venerable linen, which
had been woven more than 1700 years.” (_Voyage à Meroe et au Fleuve
Blanc._)
[497] Blumenbach’s Beiträge, Th. 2. p. 74.
[498] Pyramidographia.
[499] P. 221 of the German translation; p. 198 of Silvestre de Lacy’s.
See App. A.
[500] See his letter to Von Hammer in the Fundgruben des Orients, 1 St.
p. 72. as quoted by Blumenbach, l. c.
IX. According to Josephus the Jewish priests wore drawers of spun
flax, and over the drawers a shirt. He calls a garment made of
Βύσσος a _linen_ garment. It had _flowers woven into it, which were
of three different substances_[501]. He soon after mentions the same
materials _as used for making the curtains of the tabernacle_. In all
these instances the figures or ornaments _were of splendid colors upon
a ground of white linen_. We have no reason to believe, that either
the Egyptians or the Israelites in the time of Moses knew anything of
cotton: so that, if Josephus gives a true account, Βύσσος must have
denoted a kind of flax.
[501] Ant. Jud. iii. 7. 1, 2. p. 112. ed. Hudson.
The shirt of the High Priest of the Jews was probably like that
worn in the worship of Isis, which was of Byssus, _but adorned with
flowers_, “Byssina, sed floridè depicta.” Apuleius, Met. l. xi.
X. Jerome on Ezekiel xxvii. says, “Byssus grows principally in Egypt”
(_Byssus in Ægypto quàm maximè nascitur_). Of the celebrity of the
Egyptian flax we have the most abundant proofs; but, if by _Byssus_
Jerome meant cotton, he here committed a strange mistake; for,
supposing cotton to have grown at all in Egypt, it certainly grew far
more abundantly in other countries, and of this fact he could scarcely
be ignorant.
XI. Martianus Capella plainly distinguishes between that substance and
_Byssus_[502]. He seems to have considered cotton as an Indian, Byssus
as an Egyptian product. He certainly supposed, that they were not the
same thing.
[502] Etym. L. Lat. v. Byssus.
XII. Isidorus Hispalensis expressly states, that _Byssus_ was a kind of
flax, very white and soft.
Byssus genus est quoddam lini nimium candidi et mollissimi, quod Græci
papatem vocant.--_Orig. l._ xix. 27.
Byssina (vestis) candida, confecta ex quodam genere lini grossioris
Sunt et qui genus quoddam lini byssum esse existiment.--_Ibid. c._ 22.
Forster conjectures (_p._ 4.) that for _genus quoddam lini_ we should
read _genus quoddam lanæ_, and conceives _tree_-wool (as Pollux and
some others call it), i. e. cotton, to be intended. His conjecture
seems probable. The remark of Isidore intimates, that in his time it
had already been a matter of dispute whether Byssus was a kind of flax
or something else.
XIII. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, testifies to the great strength of the
threads of Byssus.
Cloth made of Byssus indicates firm faith:
For threads of Byssus, it
is said, surpass
E’en ropes of broom in firmness and in strength[503].
_Ad Cytherium in Max. Biblioth. Patrum_, _vol._ vi. _p._ 264.
[503] See Part First, Chapters XII. and XIII.
Vossius also quotes the authority of Jerome and Eucherius to prove the
great tenacity of Byssus. But, if Byssus were cotton, it certainly
would not have been celebrated on that account.
The arguments of Dr. J. R. Forster on the other side of the question
will now be considered. See his _Liber Singularis de Bysso Antiquorum_,
Lon. 1776, _p._ 11. 50.
I. His first argument is as follows. Julius Pollux says (_l._
vii. _c._ 17.), that Βύσσος was “a kind of flax among the Indians.”
The Jewish rabbis indeed all explain the Hebrew שש (Shesh), which in
the Septuagint is always translated Βύσσος, as signifying _flax_. But
they use the term for flax in so loose and general a way, that they
may very properly be supposed to have included cotton under it. In the
same general sense we must suppose λίνον to be used by Julius Pollux;
and it is clear, that he must have meant cotton, because cotton grows
abundantly in India, whereas flax was never known to grow in India at
all.
In proof of this last assertion Forster refers to Osbeck’s Journal,
vol i. p. 383. He also appeals to a passage of Philostratus (_Vita
Apollonii_, _l._ ii. _c._ 20. _p._ 70, 71.), which has been quoted in
Part Third, p. 328., where that author certainly applies the term in
question to the cotton of India.
An answer to this argument, so far as it depends on the testimony of
Julius Pollux, was furnished by Olaus Celsius in his Hierobotanicon,
published in 1747, a work which Forster had better have consulted, when
he was writing a treatise expressly intended to ascertain the meaning
of one of the botanical terms employed in the _Scriptures_. The learned
and accurate Swede gives on good authority an emendation of the text of
Pollux, which entirely destroys the argument founded upon it by Forster
and those who agree with him. According to this reading Pollux only
asserts that Βύσσος is a kind of flax, without adding that it grew
among the Indians[504]. In a separate Appendix (E.), will be examined
distinctly and fully the critical evidence for the correct state of the
passages of Pollux, which it may be found necessary to cite. Pollux, in
asserting that Byssus was a kind of flax, coincides with all the other
witnesses who have been produced.
[504] Celsii Hierobot. vol. ii. p. 171.
Forster is also exceedingly incorrect in his mode of reasoning upon
the passage of Pollux, supposing it to be accurate and genuine. He
argues, that Pollux must have meant cotton by “_a kind of flax among
the Indians_,” because real flax does not grow in India at all; “In
Indiâ verò linum non erat, nec quidem nostrâ ætate linum reperitur in
Indiâ, quod jam Osbeckius in Itinerario ostendit, p. 383. vol. i. edit.
Anglicæ.” The “_English edition_” of Osbeck’s Voyage is a translation
from the German by Forster himself. In the page referred to we find the
following passage relative to flax, and no other:--“_Flax is so rare a
commodity in the East_, that many have judged with great probability
that the fine linen of the rich man, Luke xvi. 19, was no more than
our common linen.” This sentence implies that flax grew in the East,
though rarely. Whether it grew in India, Osbeck does not inform us.
Dr. Wallich, who travelled in India, states that flax grows in India,
and that he remembered having seen there a whole field blue with its
flowers. It is cultivated principally for its seed, from which oil is
extracted, the stalks being thrown aside as useless.
With respect to the passage from Philostratus, it is admitted, that he
uses Βύσσος to denote cotton. Besides its proper and original sense,
this word was occasionally used, as λίνον, ὀθόνη, _Sindon_, _Carbasus_,
and many others were, in a looser and more general application.
But the use of the term in this manner by a single writer, or even,
if they could be produced, by several writers of so late an age as
Philostratus, would be of little weight in opposition to the evidence,
which has been brought forward to prove, that Βύσσος properly meant
flax only.
II. Forster produces a passage from the Eliaca of Pausanias[505] from
which he argues, that βύσσος was not flax, because Pausanias here
distinguishes it from flax as well as from hemp.
[505] Paus. l. vi. cap. § 4.
But we know, that all plants undergo great changes by cultivation and
in consequence of the varieties of soil and climate. What can be more
striking than the innumerable tulips derived from the original yellow
tulip of Turkey, or all the varieties of pinks and carnations from a
single species? To make all the descriptions of cloth from the coarsest
canvass or sail-cloth to the most beautiful lawn or cambric, there must
have been, as there now are, great differences in the living plant. The
best explanation therefore of the language of Pausanias seems to be,
that he used λίνον to denote the common kind of flax, and βύσσος to
signify a finer variety[506]. In another passage, where he speaks of
the Elean Byssus, his language shows, that its peculiar excellence
consisted both in its fineness and in its beautiful yellow color; for
after expressing the admiration, to which this substance was entitled,
as growing nowhere else in Greece, he says, that “in fineness it was
not inferior to that of the Hebrews, but was not equally yellow[507].”
[506] Pausanias also distinguishes between λίνον and βύσσος in his
account of the clothing of a reputed statue of Neptune, l. vi. c.
25. § 5. When flax is raised to be manufactured into cambric and
fine lawn, twice as much seed is sown in the same space of ground.
The plants then grow closer together; the stalks are more delicate
and slender; and the fibres of each plant are finer in proportion.
[507] L. v. 5. § 2.
Others commend Byssus on account of its whiteness. See Philo.
Apoc. xix. 14. Themistius (Orat. p. 57. ed. Paris, 1684. p. 68. ed.
Dindorfii, Lips. 1832.) saw at Antioch “ancient letters wrapt _in
white Byssus_.” These, he says, were brought from Susa and Ecbatana.
It may further be remarked in opposition to the idea, that βύσσος meant
cotton in these passages, that there is not the slightest ground for
supposing, that cotton was cultivated either in Elis or in any other
part of Europe so early as the time of Pausanias, nor indeed until a
comparatively recent age.
III. Forster (_p._ 69-71.) considers the testimony of Herodotus, that
the embalmed bodies of the dead were wrapt in fillets of Byssus, as
decisive in favor of his opinion, because those fillets are found
on examination to be all cotton. It is presumed that the preceding
testimony, proves that so far as they have been examined, in the only
way which can settle the dispute, they are found universally to be
linen.
Of Forster’s _celebrated_ work it may be observed in general, _that
he rather from the very beginning assumes his point, than endeavors to
prove it_. He continually speaks of it as _demonstrated_. Nevertheless
the only arguments which can be found in his book, are those already
stated. Little as these arguments amount to in opposition to the
evidence, which has now been brought forward on the other side of the
question, we find that the most learned authors since Forster’s time,
and especially since the same opinion was embraced by Blumenbach, have
generally been content to adopt it. But, although such eminent names
as those of Porson[508], Dr. Thomas Young[509], Mr. Hamilton[510],
Dr. T. M. Harris[511], Mr. Wellbeloved[512], E. H. Barker[513],
Dr. A. Granville[514], Jomard[515], Wehrs[516], J. H. Voss[517],
Heeren[518], Sprengel[519], Billerbeck[520], Gesenius[521], E. F. K.
Rosenmuller[522], and Roselini[523], stand arrayed against the evidence
now produced, i. e. to prove that βύσσος meant _flax_ and _not_
cotton, as those authors have supposed. Yet their evidence may be
considered as going all for nothing, because they express not their own
opinion formed by independent inquiry and investigation, but merely the
opinion which they have adopted from Forster and Blumenbach.
[508] In his translation of the Rosetta Inscription, Clarke’s Greek
Marbles, p. 63.
[509] Account of Discoveries in Hieroglyphic Literature, p. 101. 114.
[510] Ægyptiaca, p. 321.
[511] Natural History of the Bible, 2nd edition, p. 447.
[512] Translation of the Bible, Gen. xli. 42.
[513] Classical Recreations.
[514] As quoted at p. 364.
[515] Description des Hypogées, p. 35.
[516] Vom Papier, p. 201.
[517] Virgil’s Ländliche Gedichte, iii. p. 313.
[518] Ideen über die Politik, &c.
[519] Historia Rei Herbariæ, tom. i. c. i. p. 15.
[520] Flora Classica, p. 177.
[521] Thesaurus Philologico-Criticus, v. נוצ.
[522] Biblische Alterthumskunde, 4. l. p. 175.
[523] Monumenti dell’ Egitto. Mon. Civili, tomo. i. Pisa, 1834, capo.
iv. § 6.
There is, however, no reason to doubt, that Forster is right in
considering Βύσσος, or Byssus, as an Egyptian word with a Greek or
Latin termination. In the Septuagint version it is always used as
equivalent to the Hebrew שש (_Shesh_ or _Ses_), which according to
the Hebrew Rabbis was a kind of flax, that grew in Egypt only and was
of the finest quality[524]. Another term, used in the Pentateuch for
linen cloth is בד (_bad_), which seems to be nearly the same as שש.
The Egyptian term שש or בוץ (_buts_) is very seldom found in the Hebrew
Scriptures, and not until the intercourse became frequent between the
Jews and other oriental nations. But it is continually employed by the
Arabic, Persic, and Chaldee Translators, as equivalent to the Hebrew
terms שש and בד.
[524] Forster De Bysso, p. 5.
The distinction between Βύσσος and the Egyptian terms formerly
explained is very obvious. Φώσων, Ὀθόνη, and Σινδών denoted linen
cloth; Βύσσος the plant, from which it was made. Hence we so commonly
find the adjective form Βύσσινος or Byssinus, i. e. made of Byssus, as
in Σινδὼν βύσσινη, Ὀθόνη βύσσινη, Ὀθόνια βύσσινα, Στόλη βύσσινη, &c.,
and this is agreeable to the remark of the Patriarch Photius in his
192nd Epistle, Φυτὸν δὲ ἡ βύσσος, “Byssus is a plant.”
Herodotus (ii. 105.), pointing out resemblances between the Egyptians
and the Colchians, says, they prepare their flax in the same manner,
and in a manner which is practiced by no other nation. Xenophon
directs, that nets should be made of flax from the Phasis, or from
Carthage[525]. Pollux (_l._ v. _cap._ 4. § 26.) says, that the flax
for the same purpose should be either from those countries, or from
Egypt or Sardes. Callimachus (_Frag._ 265.) mentions the flax of
Colchis under the name of “the Colchian halm.” Strabo (_l._ xi. § 17.
_vol._ iv. _p._ 402. Tschuz.) testifies to the celebrity of Colchis for
the growth and manufacture of flax, and says, that the linen of this
country was exported to distant places.
[525] De Venat. ii. 4. Gratius Faliscus, in his directions on the same
subject, recommends the flax from the rich moist plains about the
river Cinyps, not very far from Carthage.
Optima Cinyphiæ, ne quid contere, paludes Lina
dabunt.--_Cynegeticon_, 34, 35.
It seems still to maintain its ancient pre-eminence: Larcher refers to
Chardin (_tom._ i. _p._ 115.), as saying, that the Prince of Mingrelia,
a part of the ancient Colchis, paid in his time an annual tribute of
linen to the Turks.
That flax was extensively cultivated in Babylonia appears from the
testimony of Herodotus, who says (i. 195.), that the Babylonians wore
a linen shirt reaching to the feet; over that a woollen shirt; and
over that a white shawl. Strabo (_l._ xvi. _cap._ 1. _p._ 739. _ed.
Casaub._) shows where these linen shirts were chiefly made; for he
informs us that _Borsippa_, a city of Babylonia, sacred to Apollo and
Diana, was a great place for the manufacture of linen.
The cultivation of flax in the region of the Euphrates may also be
inferred from the use of the linen thorax, as attested by Xenophon
(_Cyropedia_, vi. 4. 2.).
From Joshua ii. 6. we have evidence, that flax was cultivated in
Palestine near the Jordan. Rahab concealed the two Hebrew spies
(according to the common English version) “with the stalks of flax,
which she had laid in order upon the roof.” According to the Septuagint
translation, “the stalks of flax” were not merely “laid in order,” but
“stacked.” Josephus says, _she was drying the bundles_. The Chaldee
Paraphrast Onkelos also uses the expression מעוני כחנא, _bundles of flax_.
Agreeably to these explanations, the history must be understood as
implying, that the stalks of flax, tied into bundles, as represented in
the painting at El Kab[526], were stacked, probably crossways, upon the
flat roof of Ahab’s house, so as to allow the wind to blow through and
dry them.
[526] See Plate VI. p. 358.
Other passages, referring to the use of flax for weaving in Palestine,
are Levit. xiii. 47, 48. 52. 59, where linen garments are four times
mentioned in opposition to woollen.
Proverbs xxi. 13. The virtuous woman, so admirably described in this
chapter, “seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.”
(See Part First, Chapter I. p. 13.). This proves, that flax was still
an important article of cultivation in Palestine.
In 1 Chron. iv. 21. there is an allusion to a great establishment for
dressing the fine flax, called _Butz_, or _Byssus_. It was conducted by
certain families of the tribe of Judah[527].
[527] _Hebr._ משפחת בית־עבדת הבץ, i. e. “the families, or perhaps the
partnerships, of the manufactory of Byssus;” _Vulg._ “Cognationes
domus operantium byssum.”
Jeremiah (xiii. 1.) mentions אזור פשתים, “_a linen girdle_;” Lumbare
lineum, _Vulgate_; περίζωμα λινοῦν LXX. זרז רכתן _Jonathan_; סוזרא
רכהנא (sudarium) _Syriac_.
Hosea (ii. 5. 9.) mentions wool and flax as the two chief articles of
clothing for the Jews in his time.
Ezekiel (xliv. 17, 18.), in his description of the temple which he saw
in vision, says, the priests on entering the inner court would put on
linen garments, including a turban and drawers of linen[528]. The use
of wool is here prohibited and linen prescribed for those who were to
be engaged in sacred services, on account of its superior cleanliness
and purity. They were not to “_gird themselves with anything that
causeth sweat_.” On returning to the outer court, so as to be in
contact with the people, they were to put on the common dress, which
was at least in part woollen.
[528] It is remarkable that the Chaldee Paraphrast Jonathan here uses
בוצ (byssus) for the Hebrew פשתיס.
In the Old Testament we also find flax used _for making cords_, Judges
xv. xvi.; for the _wicks of lamps_, Is. xiii. 17.; and for a _measuring
line_, Ezek. xl. 3[529].
[529] The use of the cord of flax (_linea_) for measuring, &c. is the
origin of the word _line_. “Linea genere suo appellata, quia ex
lino fit.” Isidori Hisp. Etymol. l. xix. c. 18. De instrumentis
ædificiorum.
According to Herodotus vii. 25, 34, 36, the Phœnicians furnished Xerxes
with _ropes of flax_ for constructing his bridge, while the Egyptians
supplied ropes of Papyrus, which were inferior to the others in
strength.
Whilst פשת, derived probably from פשט, to strip or peel, is used for
flax in every state, we find another term, נערת, used for tow. This
term therefore corresponds to _Stuppa_ in Latin[530]; Etoupe in French;
Στύπη, στυππίον or στιππίον in Greek; סרקהא, from סרק, to comb, in
Syriac; _Werg_ in modern German.
[530] The origin of _Stuppa_, the Latin term, was from its use in
_stopping_ chinks (_stopfer_, German). It was either of hemp or
flax.
“Stuppa cannabi est sive lini. Hæc secundum antiquam orthographiam
stuppa (stipa?) dicitur, quod ex eâ rimæ navium _stipentur_: unde
et stipatores dicuntur, qui in vallibus eam componunt.” Isid. Hisp.
Orig. xix. 27.
Eccles. xl. 4. represents poor persons as clothed in coarse linen,
ὠμολίνον (Lino crudo, _Jerome_), meaning probably flax dressed and spun
without having been steeped[531].
[531] See Bodæusa Stapel on Theophrasti Hist. Plant. l. viii. p. 944.
In Rev. xv. 6. the seven angels come out of the temple clothed “_in
pure and white linen_.” This is to be explained by what has been
already said of the use of linen for the temple service among the
Egyptians and the Jews. On three other occasions mentioned in the New
Testament, _viz._ the case of the young man, who had “a linen cloth
cast about his naked body” (_Mark_ xiv. 51, 52.); the entombment of
Christ (_Matt._ xxvii. 59. _Mark_ xv. 46. _Luke_ xxiii. 53. xxiv. 12.
_John_ xix. 40. xx. 5, 6, 7.); and the case of the “sheet” let down in
vision from heaven (_Acts_ x. 11. xi. 5.), the sacred writers employ
the equivalent Egyptian terms, Σινδών, and Ὀθόνη or Ὀθόνιον.
The “Byssus of the Hebrews,” mentioned by Pausanias may have been so
called, because it was imported into Greece by the Hebrews, not because
it grew in Palestine, as many critics have concluded.
Herodotus (_l. c._) observes, that the Greeks called the Colchian flax
Σαρδονικόν. The epithet must be understood as referring to Sardes, from
the vicinity of which city flax was obtained according to the testimony
of Julius Pollux (_l. c._). In another passage Herodotus remarks (v.
87.), that the linen shift worn by the Athenian women, was originally
Carian. The Milesian Sindones, mentioned by Jonathan, the Chaldee
Paraphrast, on Lam. ii. 20, were, no doubt, made of the flax of this
country, although Forster (_De Bysso_, _p._ 92.), on account of the
celebrity of the Milesian wool, supposes them to have been woollen. It
is probable, that the Milesian net caps, worn by ladies, were made of
linen thread.
Jerome, describing the change from an austere to a luxurious mode of
life, mentions shirts from _Laodicea_. Some commentators have supposed
linen shirts to be meant.
According to Julius Pollux (vii. _c._ 16.) the Athenians and Ionians
wore a linen shirt reaching to the feet. But the use of it among the
Athenians must have come in much later than among the Ionians, who
would adopt the practice in consequence of the cultivation of flax
in their own country as well as in their colonies on the Euxine Sea,
and also in consequence of the general elegance and refinement of
their manners. Indeed it appears probable, that the linen used by the
Athenians was imported.
The only part of Greece, where flax is recorded to have been grown, was
Elis. That it was produced in that country is affirmed by Pliny (_l._
xix. _c._ 4.), and by Pausanias in three passages already quoted.
When Colonel Leake was at Gastūni near the mouth of the Peneus in
Elis, he made the following observations.
For flax (one of the chief things produced there) the land is once
ploughed in the spring, and two or three times in the ensuing autumn,
with a pair of oxen, when the seed is thrown in and covered with the
plough. The plant does not require and hardly admits of weeding, as it
grows very thick. When ripe, it is pulled up by the roots, and laid
in bundles in the sun. It is then threshed to separate the seed. The
bundles are laid in the river for five days, then dried in the sun,
and pressed in a wooden machine. Contrary to its ancient reputation,
the flax of Gastuni is not very fine. It is chiefly used in the
neighboring islands by the peasants, who weave it into cloths for
their own use[532].
[532] Journal of a Tour in the Morea, vol. i. p. 12.
In one of the Pseudo-Platonic Epistles (No. xiii. _p._ 363.) mention
occurs of linen shifts for ladies, made in Sicily, which certainly
implies nothing more than that linen was woven in Sicily. The material
for making it may have been imported. In like manner the linen of Malta
was exceedingly admired for its fineness and softness[533]; but the raw
material was in all probability imported.
[533] Diod. Sic. l. v. 12. tom. i. p. 339. ed. Wesseling.
“Flax,” observes Professor Müller, “was grown and manufactured in
Southern Etruria from ancient times, and thus the Tarquinii were
enabled to furnish _sail-cloth for the fleet of Scipio_: yarn for
making nets was produced on the banks of the Tiber, and fine linen for
clothing in Falerii[534].” This account agrees remarkably with the
views of Micali, and those historians who maintain the Egyptian origin
of the Etrurians.
[534] Etrusker. vol. i. p. 235, 236.
Pliny (xix. 1, 2.) mentions various kinds of flax of superior
excellence, which were produced in the plains of the Po and Ticino;
in the country of the Peligni (in Picenum); and about Cumæ in
Campania[535]. No flax, he says, was whiter or more like wool than that
of the Peligni.
[535] Probably Cumæ is intended by Gratius Faliscus in the expression
“Æoliæ de valle Sibyillæ.”--_Cyneg._ 35.
In the next chapter Pliny gives an account of the mode of preparing
flax; plucking it up by the roots, tying it into bundles, drying it in
the sun, steeping, drying again, beating it with a mallet on a stone,
and lastly hackling it, or, as he says, “_combing it with iron hooks_.”
This may be compared with the preceding extract from Colonel Leake’s
Journal, and with chapter 97 of Bartholomæus Anglicus, De Proprietabus
Rerum, which is perhaps partly copied from Pliny and treats of the
manufacture of flax, steeping it in water, &c., and of its use for
clothes, nets, sails, thread, and curtains.
In Spain there was a manufacture of linen at Emporium, which lay
on the Mediterranean not far from the Pyrenees[536]. According to
Pliny (_l. c._) remarkably beautiful flax was produced in Hispania
Citerior near Tarraco. He ascribes its splendor to the virtues of
the river-water flowing near Tarraco, in which the flax was steeped
and prepared. Still further southward on the same coast we find
Setabis, the modern Xativa, which is celebrated by various authors
for the beauty of its linen, and especially for linen _sudaria_, or
handkerchiefs:
Setabis et telas Arabum sprevisse superba
Et Pelusiaco filum componere lino.
_Silius Ital._ iii. 373.
Nam sudaria Setaba ex Hiberis
Miserunt mihi muneri Fabullus
Et Veranius.--_Catullus_, xx. 14.
Hispanæque alio spectantur Setabis usu.
_Gratius Faliscus_, l. 41.
[536] Strabo, l. iii. cap. 4. vol. i. p. 428. ed. Siebenkees.
Pliny also mentions a kind of flax, called Zoelicum, from a place in
Gallicia.
Strabo (iv. 2. 2. p. 41. ed. Sieb.) particularly mentions the linen
manufacture of the Cadurci: and from them the Romans obtained the best
_ticking_ for beds, which was on this account called Cadurcum.
Flax, as we are told by Pliny (xix. 1.), was _woven into sail-cloth in
all parts of Gaul_; and, in some of the countries beyond the Rhine, the
most beautiful apparel of the ladies was linen. Tacitus states that the
women of Germany wore linen sheets over their other clothing[537].
[537] Fœminæ sæpiùs lineis amictibus velantur.--_Germania_, xvii.
5. The use of the same term for Flax in so many European languages,
and especially in those of the North of Europe, is an evidence of
the extensive use of this substance in very early times; e. g. Greek,
Λίνον· Latin, Linum; Slavonian, Len; Lithuanian, Linnai; Lettish,
Linni; German, Lein; French, Suio; Gothic, and Anglo-Saxon, Lin; Welsh,
Llin.
Jerome mentions the shirts of the Atrebates as one of the luxuries of
his day, and his notice of them seems to show, that they were conveyed
as an article of merchandize even into Asia.
Whether the manufactures of the Atrebates were equal to the modern
Cambric we cannot say; but, supposing the garments in question to
have been linen, it is remarkable that this manufacture should have
flourished in Artois for 1800 years[538].
[538] Erasmus makes the following remarks on the words “Atrebatum et
Laodiceæ:”
“Apparet ex his regionibus candidissima ac subtilissima linea mitti
solere. Nunc hujus laudis principatus, si tamen ea laus, penes meos
Hollandos est. Quanquam et Atrebates in Belgis haud ita procul a
nobis absunt.”
See also Mannert, Geogr. 2. l. p. 196.
The following translation of a passage from Eginhart’s Life of
Charlemagne (c. 23.) shows, that during several succeeding centuries
the Franks wore linen for their under garments.
Vestitu patrio, hoc est Francisco utebatur: ad corpus camiseam
lineam, et feminalibus lineis induebatur: deinde tunicam, quæ limbo
serico ambiebatur, et tibialia............Sago Veneto amictus. In
festivitatibus veste auro textâ, et calceamentis gemmatis, et fibulâ,
aureâ sagum astringente, diademate quoque ex auro et gemmis ornatus
incedebat. Aliis autem diebus habitus ejus parum a communi et plebeio
abhorrebat.
Charles drest after the manner of his countrymen, the Franks. Next
to the skin he wore a shirt and drawers of linen: over these a tunic
bordered with silk, and breeches. His outer garment was the sagum,
manufactured by the Veneti. On occasion of festivals he wore a garment
_interwoven with gold_, shoes adorned with gems, a golden fibula to
fasten his sagum, and a diadem of gold and gems. On other days his
dress differed little from that of the common people[539].
[539] The trowsers worn by the Franks were sometimes linen, sometimes
made of skins.--Agathias ii. 5.
The Veneti here mentioned were, no doubt, the people who lived in the
country near Vannes in Britany. We have formerly seen (Part Second, pp.
282 and 283. Chapter III.), that the Sagum was the principal article of
dress manufactured in the north of Gaul.
According to Paulus Diaconus, as quoted in the notes on this passage of
Eginhart[540], the Lombards and the Anglo-Saxons used principally linen
garments.
[540] Ed. Schmincke, Trajecti 1711, p. 110.
Linen, which appears to have been originally characteristic of the
Egyptian and Germanic nations, came by degrees into more and more
general use among the Greeks and Romans, and was employed not only
for articles of dress, especially those worn by women, and for sheets
to lie upon, but also for _table-covers_ and for _napkins_ to wipe
the hands, an application of them which was the more necessary on
account of the want of knives, forks, and spoons. Also those who
waited at table, were girt with towels. At the baths persons used
towels to dry themselves. A man wore a similar piece of cloth under
the hands of the tonsor. Plutarch (_On Garrulity_) tells the following
anecdote of Archelaus. When a loquacious hair-dresser was throwing
the ὠμόλινον about him in order to shear him, he asked as usual, “How
shall I cut your majesty’s hair?” “_In silence_,” replied the king.
Alciphron tells of the barber putting on him a linen cloth (σινδών) in
order to shave him (_l._ iii. Ep. 66.); and Phaneas, in an Epigram,
calls the cloth used in shaving by the same name, Σινδών. Diogenes
Laertius also (vi. 90.) tells a story respecting the philosopher
Crates, which shows that at Athens it was not deemed proper for a man
to wear linen as an outer garment, but that persons were enveloped in
it under the hands of the hair-dresser. “The Athenian police-officers
(οἱ ἀστύνομοι) having charged him with wearing a linen sheet for his
outer garment, he said, ‘I will show you Theophrastus himself habited
in that manner;’ and when they doubted the fact, he took them to see
Theophrastus at the hair-dresser’s.”
Coarser linen was used in great quantity both for sails, and for
awnings to keep off the heat of the sun from the Roman theatres, the
Forum, and other places of public resort[541].
[541] See p. 321.
The Emperor Alexander Severus, as we learn from the following passage
of his Life written by Ælius Lampridius, was a great admirer of good
linen, and preferred that which was plain to such as had _flowers_
or _feathers_ interwoven as practised in Egypt and the neighboring
countries.
Boni linteaminis appetitor fuit, et quidem puri, dicens, ‘Si lintei
idcirco sunt, ut nihil asperum habeant, quid opus est purpurâ?’ In
lineâ autem aurum mitti, etiam dementiam judicabat, quum asperitati
adderetur rigor.
He took great delight in good linen, and preferred it plain. “If,”
said he, “linen cloths are made of that material in order that
they may not be at all rough, _why mix purple with them_?” But to
_interweave gold in linen_, he considered madness, because this made
it rigid in addition to its roughness.
The following passage of the Life of the Emperor Carinus by Flavius
Vopiscus is remarkable as proving the value attached by the Romans of
that age to the linen imported from Egypt and Phœnice, especially to
the _transparent_ and _flowered_ varieties.
Jam quid lineas petitas Ægypto loquar? Quid Tyro et Sidone tenuitate
perlucidas, micantes purpurâ, plumandi difficultate pernobiles?
Why should I mention the linen cloths brought from Egypt, or
those imported from Tyre and Sidon, which are so thin as to be
_transparent_, which _glow with purple_, or are prized on account of
their _labored embroidery_?
CHAPTER II.
HEMP[542].
CULTIVATION AND USES OF HEMP BY THE ANCIENTS--ITS USE
LIMITED--THRACE--COLCHIS--CARIA--ETYMOLOGY OF HEMP.
[542] According to a statement in the Western (Missouri) Journal, about
7,000 bales of hemp, the crop of 1844, was shipped from that place
last spring. It is thought that 20,000 bales will be raised in that
neighborhood this year (1845).
The use of Hemp among the ancients was very limited. It is never
mentioned in the Scriptures, and not often by the heathen writers
of antiquity. It is remarkable, that no notice is taken of it by
Theophrastus. It was however used among the Greeks and Romans,
for making ropes and nets, but not for sacks, these being made of
goats’-hair[543].
[543] See Chap. IV. p. 299, 301.
The only reason for introducing hemp in this enumeration is, that,
according to Herodotus (iv. 74.) _garments were made of it by the
Thracians_. “They were so like linen,” says he, “that none but a very
experienced person could tell whether they were of hemp or flax; one,
who had never seen hemp, would certainly suppose them to be linen.” The
coarser kinds of linen would, it is certain, be scarcely, if at all
distinguishable from the finer kinds of hempen cloth.
Hesychius (_v._ Κάνναβις) quotes the preceding remark of Herodotus,
only saying that the Thracian _women_ made _sheets_ of hemp (ἱμάτια).
In substituting these expressions he puts upon the words of Herodotus
an explanation derived from his familiar knowledge of Grecian customs.
To the present day hemp is produced abundantly in the vicinity of the
countries which were occupied by the ancient Thracians. A traveller
who has lately visited them, informs us, that “the men who drive the
horses, which drag the boats upon the Danube between Pest and Vienna,
_now wear coarse tunics of hemp_[544].
[544] Travels in Circassia, &c., by Edmund Spencer, 1837, vol. i. p. 13.
Ammianus Marcellinus (xxxi. 2. _p._ 474.), speaking of the Huns, who
lived beyond the Palus Mæotis, says,
They cover themselves with tunics made of linen, or of the skins of
_wild mice_ sewed together.
These _tunics_, though called “lintea,” may have been the hempen
garments, which, according to Herodotus, were scarce to be
distinguished from linen.
The next writer, who mentions hemp after Herodotus, is Moschion,
rather more than 200 years B. C. He states[545], that the magnificent
ship Syracusia, built by the command of Hiero II., was provided with
hemp from the Rhone for making ropes. The common materials for such
purposes were _the Egyptian Papyrus, the bark of the Lime-tree, of
the Hemp-leaved Mallow, and of the Spanish and Portugal Broom_, and
probably also the Stipa Tenacissima of Linnæus.
[545] Apud Athenæum, l. v. p. 206. Casaub.
Hemp, as well as flax, was grown abundantly in Colchis[546]. It was
brought to the ports of the Ægean Sea by the Ionian merchants, who were
intimately connected with the northern and eastern coasts of the Euxine
through the medium of the Milesian colonies. This fact may account for
the cultivation of hemp in Caria. The best was obtained in the time of
Pliny (_l._ xix. _c._ 9.) from Alabanda and Mylasa in that country.
Pliny also mentions a kind, which grew in the country of the Sabines,
and which was remarkable for its height.
[546] Strabo, l. xi. § 17. vol. iv. p. 402, ed. Siebenkees.
Automedon, who lived a little before Pliny, complains in an Epigram
of a bad dinner given him by one of his acquaintances, and compares
the tall stringy cabbages to hemp[547]. As this author was a native
of Cyzicus, he would probably have abundant opportunities of becoming
familiar with the plant.
[547] Κανναβίνη. Brunck’s Analecta, ii. 209.
In the time of Pausanias hemp was grown in Elis. See his _Eliaca_, _c._
26. § 4.
Dioscorides (_l._ iii. _c._ 141.) gives an account of hemp, in which he
distinguishes between the _cultivated_ and the _wild_. By _Wild Hemp_
he means the AlthϾ Cannabina, _Linn._[548]. He observes respecting the
Cultivated Hemp, by which he meant proper hemp, the Cannabis Sativa,
_Linn._, that it was “of great use for twisting the strongest ropes.”
[548] See Chap. XII. p. 194.
On the whole we may conclude, that hemp was not the natural growth
either of Italy, Greece, or Asia Minor, but was confined, as it still
is in a great degree, to countries lying further north and having a
more rigid climate. The intimate connexion of the Romans with the
Greek colony of Marseilles may have brought it among the Sabines, as
the active trade between the Euxine and Miletus may have introduced it
into Caria. With the material its name was also imported, and this is
substantially the same in all the languages of Europe, as well as in
many Asiatic tongues[549].
[549] Sanscrit, GONI, SANA, or SHANAPU; Persic, CANNA; Arabic, KANNEH,
or KINNUB; Greek, ΚΑΝΝΑΒΙΣ; Latin, CANNABIS; Italian, CANNAPA;
French, CHANVRE, or CHANBRE; Danish and Flamand, KAMP, or KENNEP;
Lettish and Lithuanian, KANNAPES; Slavonian, KONOPI; Erse, CANAIB;
Scandinavian, HAMPR; Swedish, HAMPA; German, HANF; Anglo-Saxon,
HAENEP; English, HEMP. Our English word CANVASS (French, CANEVAS,)
has the same origin, meaning cloth made of hemp (CANAV).
Hemp is comparatively rare in India, as well as flax; and, as flax
is there only used for obtaining oil, so hemp is never used for
making cordage or for weaving, _but only for smoking on account of
the narcotic qualities of its leaves_. (Wissett on Hemp, p. 20,
25.) Its name SANA, SUNU, or GONU, is given also to the Crotalaria
Juncea, which is principally applied by the Indians to the same
uses as hemp in Europe. See Chap. XIII. p. 202.
If we compare flax with other spinning materials, such as wool
and cotton, we shall find it to possess several characteristic
properties. While cotton and wool are presented by nature in
the form of insulated fibres, the former requiring merely to be
separated from its seeds, and the latter to be purified from dirt
and grease before being delivered to the spinner, flax must have
its filaments separated from each other by tedious and painful
treatment. In reference to the spinning and the subsequent
operations, the following properties of flax are influential and
important:--
1. The considerable length of the fibres, which renders it
difficult, on the one hand, to form a fine, level, regular thread,
on the other, gives the yarn a considerably greater tenacity, so
that it cannot be broken by pulling out the threads from each
other, but by tearing them across.
2. The smooth and slim structure of the filaments, which gives to
linen its peculiar polished aspect, and feel so different from
cotton, and especially from woollen stuffs, unless when disguised
by dressing. The fibres of flax have no mutual entanglement,
whereby one can draw out another as with wool, and they must
therefore be made adhesive by moisture. This wetting of the fibres
renders them more pliant and easier to twist together
3. The small degree of elasticity, by which the simple fibres can
be stretched only one twenty-fifth of their natural length before
they break, while sheep’s wool will stretch from one fourth to one
half before it gives way.
Good flax should have a bright silver gray or yellowish color
(inclining neither to green nor black); it should be long, fine,
soft, and glistening, somewhat like silk, and contain no broad
tape-like portions, from undissevered filaments. Tow differs from
flax in having shorter fibres, of very unequal length, and more
or less entangled. Hemp agrees in its properties essentially with
flax, and must be similarly treated in the spinning processes.
The manufacture of linen and hemp yarn, and the tow of either, may
be effected by different processes; by the distaff, the hand-wheel,
and spinning machinery. It will be unnecessary to occupy the pages
of this volume with a description of the first two well known
domestic employments. Spinning of flax by _machinery_ has been much
more recently brought to a practical state than the spinning of
cotton and wool by machines, of which the cause must be sought for
in the nature of flax as above described. The first attempts at the
machine spinning of flax, went upon the principle of cutting the
filaments into short fragments before beginning the operation. But
in this way the most valuable property of linen yarn, its cohesive
force, was greatly impaired; or these attempts were restricted to
the spinning of tow, which on account of its short and somewhat
tortuous fibres, could be treated like cotton, especially after it
had been further torn by the carding engine. The first tolerably
good results with machinery seem to have been obtained by the
brothers Girard at Paris, about the year 1810. But the French have
never carried the apparatus to any great practical perfection. The
towns of Leeds in Yorkshire, of Dundee in Scotland, and Belfast
in Ireland, have the merit of bringing the spinning of flax by
machines into a state of perfection little short of that for which
the cotton trade has been so long celebrated.
For machine spinning, the flax is sometimes heckled by hand, and
sometimes by machinery. The series of operations is the following:--
1. The heckling.
2. The conversion of the flax into a band of parallel rectilinear
filaments, which, forms the foundation of the future yarn.
3. The formation of a sliver from the riband, by drawing it out
into a narrower range of filaments.
4. The coarse spinning, by twisting the sliver into a coarse and
loose thread.
5. The fine spinning, by the simultaneous extension and twisting
of that coarse thread.
All heckle machines have this common property, that the flax
is not drawn through them, as in working by hand, but, on the
contrary, the system of heckles is moved through the flax properly
suspended or laid. Differences exist in the shape, arrangement,
and movements of the heckles, as also in regard to the means by
which the adhering tow is removed from them. The simplest and most
common construction is to place the heckles upon the surface of a
horizontal cylinder, while the flax is held either by mechanical
means or by the hand during its exposure to the heckle points.
Many machines have been made upon this principle. It is proper in
this case to set the heckle teeth obliquely in the direction in
which the cylinder turns, whereby they penetrate the fibres in
a more parallel line, effect their separation more easily, and
cause less waste in torn filaments. To conduct the flax upon the
cylinders, two horizontal fluted rollers of iron are employed,
which can be so modified in a moment by a lever as to present the
flax more or less to the heckling mechanism. The operator seizes
a tress lock of flax with her hand and introduces it between the
fluted rollers, so that the tips on which the operation must begin,
reach the heckles first, and by degrees the advancing flax gets
heckled through two thirds or three fourths of its length, after
which the tress or strick is turned, and its other end is subjected
to the same process. By its somewhat rapid revolution the heckle
cylinder creates a current of air which not only carries away the
boomy particles, but also spreads out the flax like a sheaf of
corn upon the spikes, effecting the same object as is done by the
dexterous swing of the hand. The tow collects betwixt the teeth of
the heckle, and may, when its quantity has become considerable, be
removed in the form of a flock of parallel layers.
Flax has been for a long period spun wet in the mills; a method
no doubt copied from the practice of housewives moistening their
yarn with their saliva at the domestic wheel. Within a few years
the important improvement has been introduced of substituting hot
for cold water, in the troughs through which the fibres in the act
of spinning pass. By this means a much finer, smoother, and more
uniform thread can be spun than in the old way. The flax formerly
spun to twelve pounds a bundle is, with hot water, spun to six.
The inconvenience of the spray thrown from the yarn on the fliers
remains, aggravated by increased heat and dampness of the room
where this hot process goes on. Being a new expedient, it receives
daily changes and ameliorations. When first employed, the troughs
of hot water were quite open; they are now usually covered in, so
as almost entirely to obviate the objections to which they were
previously liable. With the covers has been also introduced a new
method of piecening or joining on any end, which may have been run
down, namely, by splicing it to the adjoining roving, whereby it
is carried through the water without imposing a necessity on the
spinner to put her hand into the water at all. In some places she
uses a wire, for the purpose of drawing through the end of the
roving to mend a broken yarn.
This may be considered the inherent evil of flax-spinning,--the
spray thrown off by the wet yarn, as it whirls about with the flier
of the spindles. A working dress, indeed, is generally worn by the
spinners; but, unless it be made of stuff impermeable to water,
like Mackintosh’s cloth, it will soon become uncomfortable, and
cause injury to health by keeping the body continually in a hot
bath. In some mills, water-proof cloth and leather aprons have
actually been introduced, which are the only practicable remedy;
for the free space which must be left round the spindles for the
spinner to see them play, is incompatible with any kind of fixed
guard or _parapluie_.
CHAPTER III.
ASBESTOS.
Uses of Asbestos--Carpasian flax--Still found in Cyprus--Used in
funerals--Asbestine-cloth--How manufactured--Asbestos used for fraud
and superstition by the Romish monks--Relic at Monte Casino--Further
impostures of the monks--Remarks thereon.
Varro mentions the name _Asbestos_ as a proof, that the cloth so called
was a Greek invention[550]. His argument is obviously correct. The term
(ἄσβεστος) means _inextinguishable_, and was most properly applied to
the wicks of lamps, which were made of this substance and were never
consumed.
[550] De Lingua Lat. L. v. p. 134. ed. Spengel.
The fullest account of the properties and uses of Asbestos is contained
in the following passage from Sotacus, a Greek author who wrote on
Stones[551]. The passage occurs in the Historiæ Commentitiæ, attributed
to Apollonius Dyscolus (_cap._ 36).
The Carystian stone has woolly and colored appendages, which are
_spun_ and woven into _napkins_. This substance is also twisted
into wicks, which, when burnt, are bright, but do not consume. The
napkins, when dirty, are not washed with water, but a fire is made
of sticks, and then the napkin is put into it. The dirt disappears,
and the napkin is rendered white and pure by the fire, and is
applicable to the same purposes as before. The wicks remain burning
with oil continually without being consumed. This stone is produced
in Carystus, from which it has its name, and in great abundance in
Cyprus under rocks to the left of Elmæum, as you go from Gerandros to
Soli.--_Yates’s Translation._
[551] Sotacus is several times quoted by Pliny (L. xxxvi., xxxvii.) as
a foreign writer on Stones.
“At Carystus,” says Strabo, “under Mount Ocha in Eubœa is produced the
stone, which is combed and woven so as to make _napkins_ (χειρόμακτρα)
or _handkerchiefs_. When these have become dirty, instead of being
washed, they are thrown into a flame and thus purified[552].”
[552] Lib. x. p. 19. ed. Sieb.
Plutarch speaks in similar terms of napkins, nets, and _head-dresses_,
made of the Carystian stone, but says, that it was no longer found in
his time, only thin veins of it, like hairs, being discoverable in the
rock[553].
[553] De Oraculorum Defectu, p. 770. ed. H. Stephani, Par. 1572.
Mr. Hawkins ascertained, that the rock, which was quarried in Mount
Ocha, now called St. Elias, above Carystus, is the Cipolino of the
Roman antiquaries[554]. Further north in the same island Dr. Sibthorp
observed “rocks of _Serpentine_ in beds of saline marble, forming the
Verdantique of the ancients[555]:” and he states, that on the shore
to the north of Negropont “the rocks are composed of serpentine stone
with veins of asbestos and soapstone intermixed[556].” Tournefort
speaks of Amiantus as brought from Carysto in his time, but of inferior
quality[557].
[554] Travels in various Countries of the East, edited by Walpole, p.
288.
[555] Ibid. p. 37.
[556] Ibid. p. 38.--N. B. Asbestos is always found in rocks of
Serpentine.
[557] Voyage, English Translation, vol. i. p. 129.
Pausanias (i. 26. 7.) says, the wick of the golden lamp which was kept
burning night and day in the temple of Minerva Polias at Athens, was
“of _Carpasian flax_, the only kind of flax which is indestructible
by fire.” This “Carpasian flax” was asbestos from the vicinity of
Carpasus, a town near the north-east corner of Cyprus, which retains
its ancient name, _Carpas_.
Dioscorides (L. v. c. 93.) gives a similar account of the qualities and
uses of Amiantus, and says it was produced in Cyprus[558].
[558] See p. 392.
Majolus says[559], that in the year 1566 he saw at Venice Podocattarus,
a knight of Cyprus, and a writer on the history of that island, who
exhibited at Venice cloth made of the asbestos of his country, which he
threw into the fire, and took it out uninjured and made quite clean.
[559] Dier. Canicular. Part I. Collog. xx. p. 453.
Referring to Cyprus, Sonnini (_Voyage en Grèce_, i. _p._ 66.) says,
L’amiante, _asbestos_, ou lin incombustible des anciens, est encore
aussi abondant qu’il le fut autrefois; la carrière qui le fournit est
dans la montagne d’Akamantide, près du cap Chromachiti.
Le talc est commun, surtout près de Larnaca, où on l’emploie à
blanchir les maisons; et le plàtre a de nombreuses carrières.
The “talc” may be the same with the “Lapis specularis,” which was found
in Cyprus, according to Pliny (xxxvi. 45.). The testimony of Sonnini so
far agrees with those of the ancients, that all the places mentioned
were on the northern side of the island, so that the asbestos seems to
have been found between Solæ towards the West and Carpas towards the
East.
Pietro della Valle, when he was at Larnaca, was presented with a piece
of the amiantus of the country, but says that it was no longer spun and
woven.
Pliny, if we can rely upon his testimony as given in the existing
editions of his works, states, that Asbestos was obtained in Arcadia
(H. N. xxxvii. 54.) and in India.
“A kind of flax has been discovered which is incombustible by fire.
It is called _live flax_; and we have seen napkins of it burning upon
the hearth at entertainments, and, when thus deprived of their dirt,
more resplendent through the agency of fire than they could have been
by the use of water. The funeral shirts made of it for kings preserve
the ashes of the body separate from those of the rest of the pile. It
is produced in deserts and in tracts scorched by the Indian sun, where
there are no showers, and among dire serpents, and thus it is inured
to live even when it is burnt. It is rare, and woven with difficulty
on account of the shortness of its fibres. That variety which is of
a red color becomes resplendent in the fire. When it has been found
it equals the prices of excellent pearls. It is called by the Greeks
Asbestine Flax, on account of its nature. Anaxilaus relates, that if a
tree surrounded with cloth made of it be beaten, the strokes are not
heard. On account of these properties this flax is the first in the
world. The next in value is that made of byssus, which is produced
about Elis in Achaia, and used principally for fine female ornaments.
I find that a scruple of this flax, as also of gold, was formerly
sold for four denarii[560]. The nap of linen cloths, obtained chiefly
from the sails of ships, is of great use in surgery, and their ashes
have the same effect as spodium. There is a certain kind of poppy
the use of which imparts the highest degree of whiteness to linen
cloths.”--Pliny, Lib. xix. ch. 4.
[560] i. e. eighteen grains of this flax were worth 2_s._ 10_d._ stg.,
being equal in value to its weight in gold.
Besides the manufacture of napkins, this description exactly agrees
with the accounts of Strabo, Sotacus, Dioscorides, and Plutarch.
Pliny’s account of the use of this material in funerals has been
remarkably confirmed by the occasional discovery of pieces of asbestine
cloth in the tombs of Italy. One was found in 1633 at Puzzuolo, and was
preserved in the Barberini gallery[561]. Another was found in 1702 a
mile without the gate called Porta Major in Rome. We have an account of
the discovery in a letter written from Rome at the time; and appended
to Montfaucon’s Travels through Italy. A marble sarcophagus having been
discovered in a vineyard was found to contain the cloth, which was
about 5 feet wide, and 6½ long. It contained a skull and the other
burnt bones of a human body. The sculptured marble indicates, that the
deceased was a man of rank. He is supposed to have lived not earlier
than the time of Constantine. This curious relic of antiquity has been
preserved in the Vatican Library since the period of its discovery, and
Sir J. E. Smith, who saw it there, gives the following description of
its appearance:--
It is coarsely spun, but as soft and pliant as silk. Our guide set
fire to one corner of it, and the very same part burnt repeatedly with
great rapidity and brightness without being at all injured[562].
[561] Keysler’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 292. London 1760.
[562] Tour on the Continent, vol. ii. p. 201.
Also in the Museo Barbonico at Naples there is a considerable piece of
asbestine cloth, found at Vasto in the Abruzzi, the ancient Histonium.
Hierocles, the historian, as quoted by Stephanus Byzantinus, gives the
following account of the Asbestos of India:--
The Brachmans use cloth made of a kind of flax, which is obtained from
rocks. _Webs_ are produced from it, which are neither subject to be
consumed by fire nor cleansed by water, but which, after they have
become full of dirt and stains, are rendered clear and white by being
thrown into the fire.
The following testimonies illustrate the fact, recorded by both
Hierocles and Pliny, that Asbestos was obtained from India.
Marco Polo[563] mentions, that incombustible cloth was woven from a
fibrous stone found at Chenchen in the territory of the Great Khan.
It was pounded in a brass mortar; then washed to separate the earthy
particles; spun and woven into cloth; and cleansed, when dirty, by
being thrown into the fire.
[563] Marsden’s Translation, p. 176.
Bugnon, in his _Rélation Exacte concernant les Caravanes_ (_Nancy_,
1707, _p._ 37-39.) mentions, that Amiantus was found in Cyprus and on
the confines of Arabia. He says, _they spun it and made stockings,
socks, and drawers_, which fitted closely; that over these they wore
their other garments; and that they were thus protected from the heat
in travelling with the caravans through Asia.
Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea, shows that he was acquainted with the
properties of this substance, _by comparing the three children cast
into the fiery furnace without being hurt_ (_Dan._ iii.) to Asbestos,
“which, when put into the fire seems to burn and to be turned to
ashes, but, when taken out, becomes purer and brighter than it was
before[564].”
[564] Homilia de Jejunio, p. 111.
Damasus (_in Silvestro Papa_) mentions, that the Emperor Constantine
directed asbestos to be used for the wicks of the lamps in his
baptistery at Rome.
For further particulars respecting the places where amiantus is
procured, and the mode of preparing it for the manufacture of cloth, we
refer to the treatises of mineralogists and to the Essays of Ciampini,
Tilingius, Mahudel, and Bruckmann on this particular subject. We are
informed, that it is softened and rendered supple by being steeped in
oil, and that _fibres of flax are then mixed with it_ in order that it
may be spun. When the cloth is woven, it is put into the fire, by which
the flax and oil are dissipated, and the asbestos alone remains[565].
[565] Tournefort’s Travels, vol. i. p. 129. Bruckmann, Hist. Nat.
Lapidis. Brunswic. 1727. p. 31, 32. This author says the asbestos
was put into warm water, and there rubbed and turned about. An
earth separates from it, which makes the water as white as milk.
This is repeated five or six times. The fibres, thus purified, are
spread out to dry.
Ignorance of the true nature of Asbestos caused it to be employed in
the dark ages for purposes of superstition and religious fraud. Of this
we have a proof in the following account which we find in the Chronicon
Casinense of Leo Ostiensis, L. ii. _c._ 33.
His diebus Monachi quidam ab Jerusolymis venientes particulam lintei,
cum quo pedes discipulorum Salvator extersit, secum detulerunt, et
ob reverentiam sancti hujus loci devotissimè hic obtulerunt, sexto
scilicet Idus Decembris; sed, cum a plurimis super hoc nulla fides
adhiberetur, illi fide fidentes protinus prædictam particulam in
accensi turibuli igne desuper posuerunt, quæ mox quidem in ignis
colorem conversa, post paululùm vero, amotis carbonibus, ad pristinam
speciem mirabiliter est reversa. Cumque excogitarent qualiter, vel
quanam in parte pignora tanta locarent, contigit, dispositione
divinâ, ut eodem ipso die, transmissus sit in hunc locum loculus
ille mirificus, ubi nunc recondita est ipsa lintei sancti particula,
argento et auro gemmisque Anglico opere subtiliter ac pulcherrimè
decoratus. Ibi ergò christallo superposito venerabiliter satis est
collocata: morisque est singulis annis, ipso die Cœnæ Dominicæ ad
mandatum Fratrum eam a Mansionariis deferri et in medium poni, duoque
candelabra ante illam accendi et indesinenter per totum mandati
spatium ab Acolito incensari. Demum verò juxta finem mandati a
singulis per ordinem fratribus flexis genibus devotissimè adorari et
reverentèr exosculari.
There is no good reason to doubt the truth of this narrative so far as
respects the veracity and credit of the historian. Leo Ostiensis became
an inmate of the Abbey of Monte Casino a few years after the event is
said to have happened, and could scarcely be misinformed respecting the
circumstances, more especially as he held during the latter part of
his abode there the office of Librarian. There is nothing improbable
in the story. Asbestine cloth, as we have learnt from Marco Polo, was
manufactured in Asia during the middle ages, and the reputed relic was
obtained at Jerusalem. That the pilgrims, who visited Jerusalem, should
be imposed upon in this manner, is in the highest degree probable,
since we are informed, that the very same substance _in its natural
state_ was often sold to devotees AS THE WOOD OF THE TRUE CROSS, and
its incombustibility was exhibited as the proof of its genuineness.
This we learn in the following passage from Tilingius, who wrote “_De
lino vivo aut asbestino et incombustibili_.”
Antonius Musa Brassavolus Ferrariensis tradit, impostores lapidem
Amiantum simplicibus mulierculis ostendere vendereque sæpenumero pro
ligno crusis Servatoris nostri. Id quod facile credunt, cùm igne
non comburatur, quodque ligni modo plurimis constet lineis intercur
santibus.--_Miscellanea Curiosa Naturæ Curiosorum_, _Decuriæ_ ii.
_Ann._ ii. _p._ 111. _Norembergæ_, 1684.
The monks on their arrival at Monte Casino would naturally display the
same evidence, by which they themselves had been convinced; and the
appearance of the cloth, when put into the fire and taken out of it,
is described exactly as it would be in fact, supposing it to have been
made of amiantus.
Montfaucon, in his Travels in Italy (_p._ 381. _English ed._ 8_vo._),
describes a splendid service book, which was written A. D. 1072 by Leo
at the expense of brother John of Marsicana, and presented by John to
the Monastery of Monte Casino, where it was exhibited to Montfaucon
as one of the most valuable and curious monuments. An illumination in
this book represents a monk _kneeling before St. Benedict_, the patron
and founder of the institution, and holding in his hands a cloth,
on which St. Benedict is placing his left foot. Montfaucon gives an
engraving from this picture: he supposes the cloth to be a monk’s
cowl, and conjectures that it was thus used in admitting novices. This
explanation is evidently a most unsatisfactory one, nothing being
produced to render it even probable. We believe the cloth to be that
the history of which has just now been given, and that the design of
the artist was to represent a monk _wiping the feet of St. Benedict
with the same cloth with which Jesus wiped the feet of his disciples_.
This supposition will appear the more probable if we attend to the
date of the MS. (A. D. 1072) and the persons, by whom and at whose
expense it was written. “_Brother_ John of Marsicana” appears to have
been at this time advanced in years, wealthy, and highly respected,
since we are informed, that in the year 1055, when Peter was chosen
Abbot of the Monastery, some of the brotherhood wished to choose John,
although he, foreseeing that the choice would be likely to fall on
him, had obstinately sworn on the altar, that he would never undertake
the office. John was at this time provost of Capua[566]. Seventeen
years afterwards he went to the expense of providing the service-book
seen by Montfaucon. He employed as his scribe one of the fraternity,
who was his junior and from the same city with himself. For there can
be scarcely a doubt, but that Leo, who wrote the MS., was the same
who was the author of the Chronicon. The author of the Chronicon, at
the commencement of his history, calls himself “Frater Leo, cognomine
Marsicanus[567]”. He was made Bishop of Ostia A. D. 1101, so that we
may suppose him to have been twenty or thirty years of age, when the
MS. was made. Of his aptitude for such an employment we cannot doubt,
when we consider his future labors as Librarian and author of the
Chronicle. But if these facts be evident, it is equally manifest, that
these two accomplished Benedictines could not have expressed their
veneration towards their founder in any way better suited to their
ideas and belief than by exhibiting in the manner described that relic,
WHICH WAS SOLEMNLY DISPLAYED ONCE A YEAR WITH BURNING CANDLES AND
ATTENDING ACOLYTHES TO THE ADMIRING AND ADORING CROWD OF DEVOTEES.
[566] Dominum Johannem, cognomine Marsicanum, qui tunc Capuæ erat
præpositus, &c.--_Leonis Ostientis Chronicon Casinense_, L. ii.
_c._ 92.
[567] Marsicana (civitas) was in Marsica, the territory of the ancient
Marsi.
On inquiry it is found that this relic exists no longer at Monte
Casino, although the original copy of the Chronicon of Leo Ostiensis is
still preserved in the Library[568]. It appears that the relic has long
been lost, since there is no mention either of it, or of the casket
which contained it in the “Descrizione Istorica del Monastero di Monte
Casino, Napoli, 1775.”
[568] Excursions in the Abruzzi, by the Hon. Keppel Craven, vol. i. p.
54.
A large glove of this substance is in the Hunterian Museum at
Glasgow. An English traveller states that he has lately seen at Parma
a _table-cloth_, made of Amiantus from Corsica, for the use of the
ex-Empress Maria Louisa, who resided there after the fall of Napoleon.
In modern times cloth of asbestos is scarcely made. Indeed it is not
probable that this material will ever be obtained in much abundance,
or that it will cease to be a rarity except in the places of its
production. It is never seen in Great Britain, or on the continent,
save in the cabinets of the curious.
The annexed Map (Plate VII.) is designed to indicate the divisions
of the Ancient World as determined by the Raw Materials principally
produced and employed in them for weaving.
The Red division produced Sheeps’-Wool and Goats’-Hair: also
Beavers’-Wool in the portion of this division, which lies to the North
of the Mediterranean Sea, and of the rivers Padus and Ister: and
Camels’-Wool and Camels’-Hair in the portion lying South-East of a line
drawn through the coast of Syria. The nations to the North of this
division clothed themselves in skins, furs, and felt.
The Yellow at the Eastern corner indicates the commencement of the
vast Region, unknown to the Ancients, the inhabitants of which clothed
themselves in Silk.
The Green indicates the countries, all low and bordering on rivers, in
which the cloth manufactured was chiefly Linen.
The Brown is designed to show the cultivation of Hemp in the low
country to the North of the Euxine Sea, and probably in other places,
North of the Red division, which were adapted for its growth.
Lastly, the Blue, which is the colour of the Baharein Isles and of
India, shows that the inhabitants of these countries have from time
immemorial clothed themselves in Cotton.
[Illustration: _Plate VII_
_SERICA_
_MAP showing the Divisions of the ANCIENT WORLD
according to the Raw Materials principally produced in them for
Weaving._]
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX A.
ON PLINY’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Sheep and wool--Price of wool in Pliny’s time--Varieties of wool
and where produced--Coarse wool used for the manufacture of
carpets--Woollen cloth of Egypt--Embroidery--Felting--Manner of
cleansing--Distaff of Tanaquil--Varro--Tunic--Toga--Undulate or waved
cloth--Nature of this fabric--Figured cloths in use in the days of
Homer (900 B. C.)--Cloth of gold--Figured cloths of Babylon--Damask
first woven at Alexandria--Plaided textures first woven in
Gaul--$150,000 paid for a Babylonish coverlet--Dyeing of wool in the
fleece--Observations on sheep and goats--Dioscurias a city of the
Colchians--Manner of transacting business.
LIB. VIII. c. 47s. 72. 50s. 76.[569]
[569] The edition here followed is that of Sillig, Lipsiæ, 1831-6, 5
vols., 12mo.
“We are also much indebted to sheep both in sacrifices to propitiate
the gods, and in the use of their fleeces. As oxen produce by
cultivation the food of men, so we owe to sheep the protection of
our bodies.... There are two principal kinds of sheep, the _covered_
and the _common_. The former is softer, the latter more delicate in
feeding, inasmuch as the covered feeds on brambles. Its coverings are
chiefly of Arabic materials.
“The most approved wool is the Apulian, and that which is called
_the wool of Greek sheep_ in Italy, and _the Italic wool_ in other
places. The third kind in value is that obtained from Milesian sheep.
The Apulian wools have a short staple, and are only celebrated for
making pænulas. They attain the highest degree of excellence about
Tarentum and Canusium. In Asia wools of the same kind are obtained at
Laodicea. No white wool is preferred to those which are produced about
the Po, nor has a pound ever yet exceeded a hundred sesterces (about
$3,60.). Sheep are not shorn everywhere: in certain places the practice
of pulling off the wool continues. There are various colors of wool,
so that we want terms to denote all. Spain produces some of those
varieties which we call _native_; Pollentia, near the Alps, furnishes
the chief kinds of black wool; Asia and Bætica those ruddy varieties
called _Erythrean_; Canusium a sandy-colored[570] wool; and Tarentum
one of a dark shade peculiar to that locality. New-shorn greasy wools
have all a medicinal virtue. The wool of Istria and Liburnia being
more like hair than wool, is unsuitable for making the cloths which
have a _long_ nap. This is also the case with the wool of Salacia in
Lusitania; but the cloth made from it is recommended by its _plaided
pattern_. A similar kind is produced about Piscenæ (i. e. _Pezenas_),
in the province of Narbonne, and likewise in Egypt, the woollen cloth
of which country, having been worn by use, is _embroidered_ and lasts
some time longer. The _coarse wool with a thick staple was used in
very ancient times for carpets_: at least Homer (900 B. C.) speaks
of the use of it. _The Gauls have one method of embroidering these
carpets, and the Parthians another._ Portions of wool also make cloth
_by being forced together by themselves_[571]. With the addition of
vinegar these also resist iron, nay even fires, which are the last
expedient for purging them; for, having been taken out of the caldrons
of the polishers, they are sold for the stuffing of beds, an invention
made, I believe, in Gaul, certainly in the present day distinguished
by Gallic names: for in what age it commenced I could not easily say,
since the ancients used beds of straw, such as are now employed in
camps. The cloths called _gausapa_ began to be used within the memory
of my father; those called _amphimalla_ within my own, (See Part
First, p. 30,) as well as the shaggy coverings for the stomach, called
_ventralia_. For the tunic with the laticlave is now first beginning
to be woven after the manner of the _gausapa_. The black wools are
never dyed. Concerning the dyeing of the others we shall speak in their
proper places, in treating of sea-shells or the nature of herbs.
“M. Varro says, that the wool continued to his time upon the distaff
and spindle of Tanaquil, also called Caia Cæcilia, in the temple of
Sangus; and that there remained in the temple of Fortune a royal
undulate toga made by her, which Servius Tullius had worn. Hence
arose the practice of carrying a distaff with wool upon it, and a
spindle with its thread, after virgins who were going to be married.
She first wove the straight tunic, such as is worn by tiros together
with the _toga pura_, and by newly-married women. The _undulate_
or waved cloth was originally one of the most admired; from it was
derived the _soriculate_[572]. Fenestrella writes, that _scraped_ and
_Phryxian_ togas came into favor about the end of the reign of the
Divine Augustus. The _thick poppied_ togas are of remoter origin, being
noticed even so far back as by the poet Lucilius in his Torquatus.
The _toga prætexta_ was invented among the Etruscans. I find evidence
that kings wore the _striped toga_[573], that figured cloths were
in use even in the days of Homer; and that these gave rise to the
_triumphal_. To produce this effect with the needle was the invention
of the Phrygians, on which account cloths so embroidered have been
called _Phrygionic_. In the same part of Asia king Attalus (see Part
I. p. 88.) discovered the art of inserting a woof of gold: from which
circumstance the _Attalic_ cloths received their name. Babylon first
obtained celebrity by its method of _diversifying the picture with
different colors_, and gave its name to textures of this description.
But to weave with a great number of leashes, so as to produce the
cloths called _polymita_ (i. e. damask cloths), was first taught in
Alexandria; to divide by squares (i. e. plaids) in Gaul. Metellus
Scipio brought it as an accusation against Cato, that even in his time
Babylonian coverlets for triclinia were sold for 800,000 sesterces
($30,000), although the emperor Nero lately gave for them no less
than 4,000,000 sesterces (about $150,000). The _prætexta_ of Servius
Tullius, covering the statue of Fortune which he dedicated, remained
until the death of Sejanus, and it is wonderful that they had neither
decayed of themselves nor been injured by the worms of moths through
the space of 560 years. We have, moreover, seen the fleeces of living
sheep dyed with purple, with the coccus, or the murex, in pieces of
bark _a foot and a half long_, luxury appearing to force this upon them
as if it were their nature.
“In the sheep itself the excellence of the breed is sufficiently shown
by the shortness of the legs and the clothing of the belly. Those which
have naked bellies used to be called _apicæ_, and were condemned. The
tails of the Syrian sheep are a cubit broad, and in that part they
bear a great quantity of wool. It is thought premature to castrate
lambs before they are five months old. In Spain, but especially in
Corsica, there is a race of animals called musmons, resembling sheep,
except that their covering is more like goats’-hair. The ancients
called the mixed breed of sheep and musmons _Umbri_. _Sheep have a very
weak head_, on which account they are obliged to turn from the sun in
feeding. _They are most foolish animals._ Where they have been afraid
to enter, they follow one dragged along by the horn. They live ten
years at the longest, but in Æthiopia thirteen years. Goats live there
eleven years, and in other countries eight at the most.... In Cilicia
and about the Syrtes, goats have a shaggy coat, which admits of being
shorn.”
[570] This term is adopted as the best translation of the Latin
_fulvus_, which, as well as the corresponding Greek adjective
ξανθὸς, denoted a light yellowish-brown. Hence it was so commonly
applied to the light hair, which accompanies a light complexion and
often indicates mental vivacity, and which has consequently been
always considered beautiful. Hence also it was used to denote the
appearance of the Tiber and other rivers, when they were rendered
turbid by the quantity of sand suspended in their waters.--See
Fellows’s _Discoveries in Lycia_.
[571] See Appendix C.
[572] It is probable that _soriculate_ cloth was a kind of velvet, or
plush, so called from its resemblance to the coat of the
field-mouse, _sorex_, dim. _soricula_. _Soriculata_ may have been
changed into _sororiculata_ by repeating or at the beginning of the
word.
[573] The toga worn by the kings and other supreme magistrates among
the Romans was called _trabea_ from the stripes, which were
compared to the joists or rafters of a building (_trabes_).
LIB. VI. c. 5.
“The remaining shores are occupied by savage nations, as the
Melanchlæni and Coraxi, Dioscurias, a city of the Colchians, near the
river Anthemus, being now deserted, although formerly so illustrious,
that Timosthenes has recorded that three hundred nations used to resort
to it, speaking different languages; and that business was afterwards
transacted on our part through the medium of one hundred and thirty
interpreters.”
APPENDIX B.
ON THE ORIGIN AND MANUFACTURE OF LINEN AND COTTON PAPER.
THE INVENTION OF LINEN PAPER PROVEN TO BE OF EGYPTIAN ORIGIN,--COTTON
PAPER MANUFACTURED BY THE BUCHARIANS AND ARABIANS, A. D. 704.
Wehrs gives the invention of Linen paper to Germany--Schönemann
to Italy--Opinion of various writers, ancient and modern--Linen
paper produced in Egypt from mummy-cloth, A. D. 1200--Testimony of
Abdollatiph--Europe indebted to Egypt for linen paper until the
eleventh century--Cotton paper--The knowledge of manufacturing,
how procured, and by whom--Advantages of Egyptian paper
manufacturers--Clugny’s testimony--Egyptian manuscript of linen paper
bearing date A. D. 1100--Ancient water-marks on linen paper--Linen
paper first introduced into Europe by the Saracens of Spain--The Wasp
a paper-maker--Manufacture of paper from shavings of wood, and from
the stalks or leaves of Indian-corn.
No part of the _Res Diplomatica_ has been more frequently discussed
than the question respecting the origin of paper made from linen rags.
The inquiry is interesting on account of the unspeakable importance
of this material in connection with the progress of knowledge and
all the means of civilization, and it also claims attention from the
philologist as an aid in determining the age of manuscripts.
Wehrs refers to a document written A. D. 1308 as the oldest known
specimen of linen paper; and, as the invention must have been at least
a little previous to the preparation of this document, he fixes upon
1300 as its probable date[574]. Various writers on the subject, as Von
Murr, Breitkopf, Schönemann, &c., concur in this opinion.
[574] Vom Papier, p. 309, 343.
Gotthelf Fischer, in his Essay on Paper-marks[575], cites an extract
from an account written in 1301 on linen paper. In this specimen the
mark is a circle surmounted by a sprig, at the end of which is a star.
The paper is thick, firm, and well grained; and its water-lines and
water-marks (_vergures et pontuseaux_) may readily be distinguished.
[575] This Essay, translated into French, is published by Jansen, in
his Essai sur l’origine de la gravure en bois et en taille-douce,
Paris 1808, tome i. p. 357-385.
The date was carried considerably higher by Schwandner, Principal
Keeper of the Imperial Library at Vienna, who found among the charters
of the Monastery of Göss in Upper Stiria one in a state of decay, only
seven inches long and three wide. So highly did he estimate the value
of this curious relic as to publish in 1788 a full account of his
discovery in a thin quarto volume, which bears the following title,
“_Chartam linteam antiquissimam, omnia hactenus producta specimina
ætate suâ superantem, ex cimelüs Bibliothecæ Augustæ Vindobonensis
exponit Jo. Ge. Schwandner_,” &c. The document is a mandate of
Frederick II. Emperor of the Romans, entrusting to the Archbishop
of Saltzburg and the Duke of Austria the determination of a dispute
between the Duke of Carinthia and the Monastery of Göss respecting the
property of the latter in Carinthia. Schwandner proves the date of it
to be 1243. He does not say whether it has any lines or water-mark,
but is quite satisfied from its flexibility and other qualities, that
it is linen. Although on the first discovery of this document some
doubt was expressed as to its genuineness, it appears to have risen
in estimation with succeeding writers; and we apprehend it is rather
from inadvertence than from any deficiency in the evidence, that it is
not noticed at all by Schönemann, Ebert, Delandine, or by Horne. Due
attention is, however, bestowed upon it by August Friedrich Pfeiffer
_Uber Bücher-Handschriften, Erlangen_ 1810, _p._ 39, 40.
With regard to the circumstances which led to the invention of the
paper _now in common use_, or the country in which it took place,
we find in the writers on the subject from Polydore Virgil to the
present day nothing but conjectures or confessions of ignorance. Wehrs
supposes, and others follow him, that in making paper linen rags were
either by accident or through design at first mixed with cotton rags,
so as to produce a paper, which was partly linen and partly cotton,
and that this led by degrees to the manufacture of paper from linen
only[576]. Wehrs also endeavors to claim the honor of the invention
for Germany, his own country; but Schönemann gives that distinction
to Italy, because there, in the district of Ancona, a considerable
manufacture of cotton paper was carried on before the fourteenth
century[577]. All however admit, that they have no satisfactory
evidence on the subject.
[576] Vom Papier, p. 183.
[577] Diplomatik, vol. i. p. 494.
A clear light is thrown upon these questions by a remark of the Arabian
physician, Abdollatiph, who visited Egypt A. D. 1200. He informs
us[578], “_that the cloth found in the catacombs, and used to envelope
the mummies, was made into garments, or sold to the scribes to make
paper for shop-keepers_.” Having shown (See Part IV. Chapter I.) that
this cloth was linen, the passage of Abdollatiph, therefore, may be
considered as a decisive proof, which, however, has never been produced
as such, of the manufacture of linen paper as early as the year 1200.
[578] Chapter iv. p. 188 of Silvestre de Sacy’s French translation,
p. 221 of Wahl’s German translation. This interesting passage was
translated as follows by Edward Pococke, the younger:--“Et qui
ex Arabibus, incolisve Rifæ, aliisve, has arcas indagant, hæc
integumenta diripiunt, quodque in iis rapiendum invenitur; et
conficiunt sibi vestes, aut ea chartarüs vendunt ad conficiendam
chartam emporeaticam.”
Silvestre de Sacy (Notice, &c.), animadverting on White’s
version which is entirely different, expresses his approbation of
Pococke’s, from which Wahl’s does not materially differ.
This account coincides remarkably with what we know from various other
sources. Professor Tychsen, in his learned and curious dissertation
on the use of paper from Papyrus (published in the _Commentationes
Reg. Soc. Gottingensis Recentiores_, vol. iv. A. D. 1820), has brought
abundant testimonies to prove _that Egypt supplied all Europe with
this kind of paper until towards the end of the eleventh century_. The
use of it was then abandoned, cotton paper being employed instead. The
Arabs in consequence of their conquests in Bucharia had learnt the art
of making _cotton paper_ about the year 704, and through them or the
Saracens it was introduced into Europe in the eleventh century[579].
We may therefore consider it as in the highest degree probable, that
the mode of making cotton paper was known to the paper-makers of Egypt.
At the same time endless quantities of linen cloth, the best of all
materials for the manufacture of paper, were to be obtained from the
catacombs.
[579] _Wehrs vom Papier_, p. 131, 144, _Note_. _Breitkopf, p._ 81.
If we put together these circumstances, we cannot but perceive how
they conspire to illustrate and justify the statement of Abdollatiph.
We perceive the interest which the great Egyptian paper-manufacturers
had in the improvement of their article, and the unrivalled facilities
which they possessed for this purpose; and thus, we apprehend,
the direct testimony of an eye-witness of the highest reputation
for veracity and intelligence, supported as it is by collateral
probabilities, clears up in a great measure the long-agitated question
respecting the origin of paper such as we _now_ commonly use for
writing.
The evidence being carried thus far, we may take in connection with it
the following passage from Petrus Cluniacensis:--
[Latin 444]Sed cojusmodi librum? Si talem quales quotidie in usu
legendi habemus, utique ex pellibus arietum, hircorum, vel vitulorum,
sive ex biblis, vel juncis orientalium paludum, aut ex rasuris veterum
pannorum, seu ex qualibet alia forte viliore materia compactos,
et pennis avium vel calamis palustrium locorum, qualibet tinctura
infectis descriptos.--_Tractatus adv. Judæos_, c. v. _in Max. Bibl.
vet. Patrum, tom._ xxii. p. 1014.
All the writers upon this subject, except Trombelli, suppose the
Abbot of Clugny to allude in the phrase “ex rasuris veterum pannorum”
to the use of woollen and cotton cloth only, and not of linen. But,
as we are now authorized to carry up the invention of linen paper
higher than before, and as the mention of it by Abdollatiph justifies
the conclusion that it was manufactured in Egypt some time before his
visit to that country in 1200, we may reasonably conjecture that Petrus
Cluniacensis alluded to the same fact. The treatise above quoted is
supposed to have been written A. D. 1120. The account of the materials
used for making books appears to be full and accurate. The expression
“_scrapings of old cloths_” agrees exactly with the mode of making
paper from linen rags, but is not in accordance with any facts known to
us respecting the use of woollen or cotton cloth. The only objection
against this view of the subject is, that, as Peter of Clugny had
not when he wrote this passage travelled eastward of France, we can
scarcely suppose him to have been sufficiently acquainted with the
manners and productions of Egypt to introduce any allusion to their
newly invented mode of making paper. But we know that the Abbey of
Clugny had more than 300 churches, colleges, and monasteries dependent
on it, and that at least two of these were in Palestine and one at
Constantinople. The intercourse which must have subsisted in this way
between the Abbey of Clugny and the Levant, may account for the Abbot
Peter’s acquaintance with the fact. It is therefore probable that he
alludes to the manufacture of paper in Egypt from the cloth of mummies,
which on this supposition had been invented early in the twelfth
century[580].
[580] Gibbon says (vol. v. p. 295, 4to edition), “The inestimable art
of transforming linen into paper has been diffused from the
manufacture of _Samarcand_ over the Western world.” This assertion
appears to be entirely destitute of foundation.
Another fact, which not only coincides with all the evidence now
produced, but carries the date of the invention still a little higher,
is the description of the manuscript No. 787, containing an Arabic
version of the Aphorisms of Hippocrates, in Casiri’s _Bibliotheca
Arabico-Hispana Escurialensis_, tom. i. p.
235. This MS. was probably brought from Egypt, or the East. It has a
date corresponding to A. D. 1100, and is of linen paper according to
Casiri, who calls it “Chartaceus.”
“Codices chartacei,” _i. e._ MSS. on linen paper, as old as the
thirteenth century, are mentioned not unfrequently in the Catalogues of
the Escurial, the Nani, and other libraries. Joseph Brooks Yates, Esq.
F. S. A., of West Dingle near Liverpool, is in possession of a fine
MS. of some of the Homilies of Chrysostom, written in all probability
not later than the thirteenth century. It is on linen paper, with the
water-lines perfectly distinct in both directions. The water-mark is a
tower, the size and form of which are shown in Plate IX. Fig. 18. From
the appearance of this paper, it is probable that the form or mould may
perhaps have been made of thin rods of cane or some other vegetable.
These rods, however, may have been metallic. They were placed so close,
that of the water-lines produced by them 17 may be counted in the space
of an inch, the water-lines at right angles to these being one inch and
a quarter apart.
The preceding facts coincide with the opinion long ago expressed by
Prideaux, who concluded that linen paper was an Eastern invention,
because “most of the old MSS. in Arabic and other oriental languages
are written on this sort of paper,” and that it was first introduced
into Europe by the Saracens of Spain[581].
[581] Old and New Testament connected, Part I. chapter 7. p. 393, 3rd
edition, folio.
A few observations, by way of concluding this part of the subject,
may here be properly bestowed upon the _material_ with which the
WASP-FAMILY construct their nests.
The wasp is _a paper-maker_, and a most perfect and intelligent one.
While mankind were arriving, by slow degrees, at the art of fabricating
this valuable substance, the wasp was making it before their eyes, by
very much the same process as that by which human hands now manufacture
it with the best aid of chemistry and machinery. While some nations
carved their records on wood, and stone, and brass, and leaden
tablets,--others, more advanced, wrote with a style on wax,--others
employed the inner bark of trees, and others the skins of animals
rudely prepared,--the wasp was manufacturing a firm and durable paper.
Even when the papyrus was rendered more fit, by a process of art, for
the transmission of ideas in writing. The paper of the papyrus was
formed of the leaves of the plant, dried, pressed, and polished; _the
wasp alone knew how to reduce vegetable fibres to a pulp, and then
unite them by a size or glue, spreading the substance out into a smooth
and delicate leaf_. This is exactly the process of paper-making. It
would seem that the wasp knows, as the modern paper-makers now know,
that the fibres of rags, whether linen or cotton, are not the only
materials that can be used in the formation of paper; she employs other
vegetable matters, converting them into a proper consistency by her
assiduous exertions. In some respects she is more skilful even than our
paper-makers, for she takes care to retain her fibres of sufficient
length, by which she renders her paper as strong as she requires. Many
manufacturers of the present day cut their material into small bits,
and thus produce a rotten article. One great distinction between good
and bad paper is its toughness; and this difference is invariably
produced by the fibre of which it is composed being long, and therefore
tough; or short, and therefore friable.
The wasp has been laboring at her manufacture of paper, from her
first creation, with precisely the same instruments and the same
materials; and her success has been unvarying. Her machinery is very
simple, and therefore it is never out of order. She learns nothing,
and forgets nothing. Men, from time to time, lose their excellence in
particular arts, and they are slow in finding out real improvements.
Such improvements are often the effect of accident. Paper is now
manufactured very extensively by machinery, in all its stages; and
thus, instead of a single sheet being made by hand, a stream of paper
is poured out, which would form a roll large enough to extend round
the globe, if such a length were desirable. The first experimenters
on paper machinery in England, Messrs. Fourdrinier, it is said,
spent the enormous sum of 40,000_l._ in vain attempts to render the
machine capable of determining the width of the roll; and, at last,
accomplished their object at the suggestion of a bystander, by a strap
revolving upon an axis, at a cost of _three shillings and sixpence_!
Such is the difference between the workings of human knowledge and
experience, and those of animal instinct. We proceed slowly and in the
dark--but our course is not bounded by a narrow line, for it seems
difficult to say what is the perfection of any art; animals go clearly
to a given point--but they can go no further. We may, however, learn
something from their perfect knowledge of what is within their range.
_It is not improbable that if man had attended in an earlier state of
society to the labors of wasps, he would have sooner known how to make
paper_. We are still behind in our arts and sciences, because we have
not always been observers. If we had watched the operations of insects,
and the structure of insects in general, with more care, we might have
been far advanced in the knowledge of many arts which are yet in their
infancy, for nature has given us abundance of patterns. We have learnt
to perfect some instruments of sound by examining the structure of the
human ear; and the mechanism of an eye has suggested some valuable
improvements in achromatic glasses.
Réaumur has given a very interesting account of the wasps of Cayenne
(_Chartergus nidulans_), which hang their nests in trees[582]. Like
the bird of Africa called the social grosbeak (_Loxia socia_), they
fabricate a perfect house, capable of containing many hundreds of
their community, and suspend it on high out of the reach of attack.
But the Cayenne wasp is a more expert artist than the bird. He is _a
pasteboard-maker_;--and the card with which he forms the exterior
covering of his abode is so smooth, so strong, so uniform in its
texture, and so white that the most skilful manufacturer of this
substance might be proud of the work. It takes ink admirably!
[582] Mémoires sur les Insectes, tom. vi., mem. vii. See also Bonnet,
vol. ix.
The nest of the pasteboard-making wasp is impervious to water. It hangs
upon the branch of a tree, and those rain-drops which penetrate through
the leaves never rest upon its hard and polished surface. A small
opening for the entrance of the insects terminates its funnel-shaped
bottom. It is impossible to unite more perfectly the qualities of
lightness and strength.
Mr. J. Rennie, speaking of wasps’ nests, gives us the following
interesting account of one lately examined by him:--“The length,”
says he, “is about nine inches, six stout circular platforms stretch
internally across, like so many floors, and fixed all round to the
walls of the nest. They are smooth above, with hexagonal cells on the
under surface. These platforms are not quite flat, but rather concave
above, like a watch-glass reversed; the centre of each platform is
perforated for the admission of the wasps, at the extremity of a short
funnel-like projection, and through this access is gained from story to
story. On each platform, therefore, can the wasps walk leisurely about,
attending to the pupæ secured in the cells, which, with the mouths
downward, cover the ceiling above their heads--the height of the latter
being just convenient for their work.”
Pendent wasps’-nests of enormous size are found in Ceylon, suspended
often in the talipot-tree at the height of seventy feet. The appearance
of these nests thus elevated, with the larger leaves of the tree,
used by the natives as umbrellas and tents, waving over them, is very
singular. Though no species of European wasp is a storer of honey,
yet this rule does not apply to certain species of South America. In
the “Annals and Magazine of Natural History” for June, 1841, will
be found a detailed account, with a figure of the pendent nest of a
species termed by Mr. A. White _Myraptera scutellaris_. The external
case consists of stout cardboard covered with conical knobs of various
sizes. The entrances are artfully protected by pent-roofs from the
weather and heavy rains; and are tortuous, so as to render the ingress
of a moth or other large insect difficult. Internally are fourteen
combs, exclusive of a globular mass, the nucleus of several circular
combs, which are succeeded by others of an arched form--that is,
constituting segments of circles.
Good writing, printing and wrapping paper, may be procured from the
shavings of common wood. The wood must be reduced to shavings by the
ordinary jack-plain shaving size. The shavings are then placed in a
cistern or boiler sufficiently large, and covered with water, which
should be raised to the boiling-point. To every one hundred pounds of
the wood so reduced, from twelve to eighteen pounds of alkali, either
vegetable or mineral, is to be added, in proportion to its quality for
strength. If salts are used they should be reduced before coming in
contact with the wood. The salts may, however, be put in with the water
and wood before reduction, but the first method is the most preferable.
Should lime be used, there must be a sufficient, in all cases, to equal
twelve pounds of pure black salts. One hundred pounds of wood will, if
well attended to, make from five to seven reams of paper[583].
[583] Mr. Edmund Shaw, of Fenchurch Street, London, obtained a
patent in England bearing date September 14, 1837, for a method
of manufacturing paper from the leaves which cover the ears of
Indian-corn.
According to this patent the envelopes or leaves which cover
the corn are in the first instance put into a vessel containing
water. The water may be pure or slightly alkaline; the water is
then boiled in the vessel into which the aforesaid envelopes or
fellicular leaves are thrown, after being macerated. When they
have imbibed water and become thickened and swollen, so that the
matter interposed between the fibres is reduced to a state of pulp
or jelly, a slight beating by fulling, mallet, or other mechanical
means will effect a separation of the fibre from the adherent
glutinous matter, and washing or rinsing with water during the
beating, will cleanse it entirely from the glutinous matter.
The fibre is then bleached, by immersing, or immersing and beating
or stirring it about in a solution of chloride of lime, or with
beating engines, as at present practised for the bleaching of
rags in paper mills, and the fibre is in like manner reduced to
pulp, and paper manufactured therefrom, or the quality of the
paper may be varied by the admixture of a portion of rags or other
filamentous substance.
It may be well to remark, that some attempts to produce paper from
the above mentioned material, have been made, but were abandoned
from the incapability of producing good white paper.
The patentee claims the mode, or process, above described of making
white paper by the application of bleached pulp, produced from the
stalks or leaves of Indian-corn.
APPENDIX C.
ON FELT.
MANUFACTURE AND USE OF FELTING BY THE ANCIENTS.
Felting more ancient than weaving--Felt used in the East--Use of it
by the Tartars--Felt made of goats’-hair by the Circassians--Use
of felt in Italy and Greece--Cap worn by the Cynics, Fishermen,
Mariners, Artificers, &c.--Cleanthes compares the moon to a
skull-cap--Desultores--Vulcan--Ulysses--Phrygian bonnet--Cap
worn by the Asiatics--Phrygian felt of Camels’-hair--Its great
stiffness--Scarlet and purple felt used by Babylonish decorators--Mode
of manufacturing Felt--Northern nations of Europe--Cap of
liberty--Petasus--Statue of Endymion--Petasus in works of ancient
art--Hats of Thessaly and Macedonia--Laconian or Arcadian hats--The
Greeks manufacture Felt 900 B. C.--Mercury with the pileus and
petasus--Miscellaneous uses of Felt.
There seems no reason to question the correctness of Professor
Beckmann’s observation[584], that the making of felt was invented
_before_ weaving[585]. The middle and northern regions of Asia are
occupied by Tartars and other populous nations, whose manners and
customs appear to have continued unchanged from the most remote
antiquity[586], and to whose simple and uniform mode of existence
this article seems to be as necessary as food. Felt is the principal
substance both of their clothing and of their habitations. Carpini, who
in the year 1246 went as ambassador to the great Khan of the Moguls,
Mongals, or Tartars, says, “Their houses are round, and artificially
made like tents, of rods and twigs interwoven, having a round hole in
the middle of the roof for the admission of light and the passage of
smoke, _the whole being covered with felt, of which likewise the doors
are made_[587].” Very recently the same account of these “portable
tents of felt” has been given by Julius von Klaproth[588]. Kupffer says
of the Caratchai, “Leurs larges manteaux de feutre leur servent en même
tems de matelas et de couverture[589].” The
large mantle of felt, here mentioned, is used for the same purpose in
the neighboring country of Circassia[590]. One of these mantles now in
the possession of Mr. Urquhart was made of black goats’-hair, and had
on the outside a long shaggy villus. The Circassians sleep under this
mantle by night, and wear it, when required, over their other dress
by day. A similar article is thus described by Colonel Leake[591]:
the postillions in Phrygia “wear a cloak of white camels’-hair, _half
an inch thick_, and so stiff that the cloak stands without support,
when set upright on the ground. There are neither sleeves nor hood;
but only holes to pass the hands through, and projections like wings
upon the shoulders for the purpose of turning off the rain. It is the
manufacture of the country.” The Chinese traveller, Chy Fa Hian, who
visited India at the end of the fourth century, says, that the people
of Chen Chen, a kingdom in a mountainous district situated about the
Lake of Lob, wore dresses like those of the Chinese, except that they
made use of felt and stuffs (_du feutre et des étoffes_[592]).
[584] _Anleitung zur Technologie_, p. 117, _Note_.
[585] See Gilroy’s Treatise on the _Art of Weaving_, p. 14.
[586] Malcolm’s _Hist. of Persia_, ch. vi. vol. i. pp. 123, 124.
[587] Kerr’s _Collection of Voyages and Travels_, vol. i. p. 128. See
also p. 167, where the same facts are related by William de
Rubruquis.