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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c53e815 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65967 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65967) diff --git a/old/65967-0.txt b/old/65967-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 032c06a..0000000 --- a/old/65967-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,20998 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, Wool, -and Other Fibrous Substances;, by Clinton G. Gilroy - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, Wool, and Other Fibrous - Substances; - Including Observations on Spinning, Dyeing, and Weaving. - -Author: Clinton G. Gilroy - -Release Date: July 31, 2021 [eBook #65967] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Turgut Dincer, SF2001, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF SILK, COTTON, -LINEN, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES; *** - - - - -[Illustration: - _Plate I._ - _From Original Drawings_ - CHINESE LOOMS. - _See Page 119._] - - - - - THE - HISTORY - OF - SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, - AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES; - INCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON - SPINNING, DYEING AND WEAVING. - - ALSO AN ACCOUNT OF THE - PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS, THEIR SOCIAL STATE - AND ATTAINMENTS IN THE DOMESTIC ARTS. - - WITH APPENDICES - - ON PLINY’S NATURAL HISTORY; - ON THE ORIGIN AND MANUFACTURE OF LINEN AND COTTON PAPER; - ON FELTING, NETTING, &C. - - DEDUCED FROM COPIOUS AND AUTHENTIC SOURCES. - - ILLUSTRATED BY STEEL ENGRAVINGS. - - NEW YORK: - HARPER & BROTHERS, 82 CLIFF STREET. - - 1845. - - - - - Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, - BY HARPER & BROTHERS, - In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, - for the Southern District of New York. - - - - - TO THE - PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, - THIS VOLUME - IS RESPECTFULLY - INSCRIBED. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -History, until a recent period, was mainly a record of gigantic crimes -and their consequent miseries. The dazzling glow of its narrations -lighted never the path of the peaceful Husbandman, as his noiseless, -incessant exertions transformed the howling wilderness into a blooming -and fruitful garden, but gleamed and danced on the armor of the -Warrior as he rode forth to devastate and destroy. One year of his -labors sufficed to undo what the former had patiently achieved through -centuries; and the campaign was duly chronicled while the labors it -blighted were left to oblivion. The written annals of a nation trace -vividly the course of its corruption and downfall, but are silent or -meagre with regard to the ultimate causes of its growth and eminence. -The long periods of peace and prosperity in which the Useful Arts were -elaborated or perfected are passed over with the bare remark that -they afford little of interest to the reader, when in fact their true -history, could it now be written, would prove of the deepest and most -substantial value. The world might well afford to lose all record of -a hundred ancient battles or sieges if it could thereby regain the -knowledge of one lost art, and even the Pyramids bequeathed to us by -Egypt in her glory would be well exchanged for a few of her humble -workshops and manufactories, as they stood in the days of the Pharaohs. -Of the true history of mankind only a few chapters have yet been -written, and now, when the deficiencies of that we have are beginning -to be realized, we find that the materials for supplying them have in -good part perished in the lapse of time, or been trampled recklessly -beneath the hoof of the war-horse. - -In the following pages, an effort has been made to restore a portion -of this history, so far as the meagre and careless traces scattered -through the Literature of Antiquity will allow.--Of the many beneficent -achievements of inventive genius, those which more immediately minister -to the personal convenience and comfort of mankind seem to assert a -natural pre-eminence. Among the first under this head may be classed -the invention of Weaving, with its collateral branches of Spinning, -Netting, Sewing, Felting, and Dyeing. An account of the origin and -progress of this family of domestic arts can hardly fail to interest -the intelligent reader, while it would seem to have a special claim on -the attention of those engaged in the prosecution or improvement of -these arts. This work is intended to subserve the ends here indicated. -In the present age, when the resources of Science and of Intellect have -so largely pressed into the service of Mechanical Invention, especially -with reference to the production of fabrics from fibrous substances, it -is somewhat remarkable that no methodical treatise on this topic has -been offered to the public, and that the topic itself seems to have -almost eluded the investigations of the learned. With the exception of -Mr. Yates’s erudite production, “_Textrinum Antiquorum_,” we possess no -competent work on the subject; and valuable as is this production for -its authority and profound research, it is yet, for various reasons, of -comparative inutility to the general reader. - -That a topic of such interest deserved elucidation will not be denied -when it is remembered that, apart from the question of the direct -influence these important arts have ever exerted upon the civilization -and social condition of communities, in various ages of the world, -there are other and scarcely inferior considerations to the student, -involved in their bearing upon the true understanding of history, -sacred and profane. To supply, therefore, an important desideratum in -classical archæology, by thus seeking the better to illustrate the true -social state of the ancients, thereby affording a commentary on their -commerce and progress in domestic arts, is one of the leading objects -contemplated by the present work. In addition to this, our better -acquaintance with the actual condition of these arts in early times -will tend, in many instances, to confirm the historic accuracy and -elucidate the idiom of many portions of Holy Writ. - -How many of the grandest discoveries in the scientific world owe their -existence to accident! and how many more of the boasted creations of -human skill have proved to be but restorations of lost or forgotten -arts! How much also is still being revealed to us by the monumental -records of the old world, whose occult glyphs, till recently, defied -the most persevering efforts of the learned for their solution! - -To be told that the Egyptians, four thousand years ago, were cunning -artificers in many of the pursuits which constitute lucrative branches -of our modern industry, might surprise some readers: yet we learn from -undoubted authorities that such they were. They also were acquainted -with the fabrication of crapes, transparent tissues, cotton, silk, and -paper, as well as the art of preparing colors which still continue to -defy the corrosions of defacing time. - -If the _spider_ may be regarded as the earliest practical weaver upon -record--the generic name _Textoriæ_, supplying the root from which is -clearly derived the English terms, _texture_ and _textile_, as applied -to woven fabrics, of whatever materials they may be composed--the -_wasp_ may claim the honor of having been the first paper-manufacturer, -for he presents us with a most undoubted specimen of clear white -pasteboard, of so smooth a surface as to admit of being written upon -with ease and legibility. Would the superlative wisdom of man but -deign, with microscopic gaze, to study the ingenious movements of the -insect tribe more minutely, it would not be easy to estimate how much -might thereby be achieved for human science, philosophy, and even -morals! - -For those who love to add to their fund of general knowledge, -especially in the department of natural history, the author trusts that -much valuable and interesting information will be found comprised in -those pages of this work which delineate the habits of the Silk-Worm, -the Sheep, the Goat, the Camel, the Beaver, &c.; while another -department, being devoted to the history of the Pastoral Life of the -Ancients, will naturally enlist the sympathies of such as take a deeper -interest in the records of ages and nations long since passed away. -From a mass of heterogeneous, though highly valuable materials, it has -been the design of the author to select, arrange, and conserve all -that was apposite to his subject and of intrinsic value. Thus has he -endeavored to render the piles of antiquity, to adopt the words of a -recent writer, well compacted--a process which has been begun in our -times, and with such eminent success that even the men of the present -age may live to see many of the thousand and one folios of the ancients -handed over without a sigh to the trunk-maker. - -The ample domains of Learning are fast being submitted to fresh -irrigation and renewed culture,--the exclusiveness of the cloister has -given place to an unrestricted distribution of the intellectual wealth -of all times. What civilization has accomplished in the physical is -also being achieved in the mental world. The sterile and inaccessible -wilderness is transformed into the well-tilled garden, abounding -in luxurious fruits and fragrant flowers. It is the golden age of -knowledge--its Paradise Regained. The ponderous works of the olden time -have been displaced by the condensing process of modern literature; -yielding us their spirit and essence, without the heavy, obscuring -folds of their former verbal drapery. We want real and substantial -knowledge; but we are a labor-saving and a time-economizing people,--it -must therefore be obtained by the most compendious processes. Except -those with whom learning is the business of life, we are too generally -ignorant of the mighty mysteries which Nature has heaped around -our path; ignorant, too, of many of the discoveries of science and -philosophy, in ancient as well as modern times. To meet the exigencies -of our day, a judgment in the selection and condensation of works -designed for popular use is demanded--a facility like that of the -alchymist, extracting from the crude ores of antiquity the fine gold of -true knowledge. - -The plan of this work naturally divides itself into four departments. -The first division is devoted to the consideration of _Silk_, its -early history and cultivation in China and various other parts of the -world; illustrated by copious citations from ancient writers: From -among whom to instance Homer, we learn that embroidery and tapestry -were prominent arts with the Thebans, that poet deriving many of his -pictures of domestic life from the paintings which have been found to -ornament their palaces. Thus it is evident that some of the proudest -attainments of art in our own day date their origin from a period -coeval at least with the Iliad. Again we find that the use of the -distaff and spindle, referred to in the Sacred Scriptures, was almost -as well understood in Egypt as it now is in India; while the factory -system, so far from being a modern invention, was in full operation, -and conducted under patrician influence, some three thousand years -ago. The Arabians also, even so far back as five centuries subsequent -to the deluge, were, it is stated on credible authority, skilled in -fabricating silken textures; while, at a period scarcely less remote, -we possess irrefragable testimony in favor of their knowledge of paper -made from cotton rags. The inhabitants of Phœnicia and Tyre were, it -appears, the first acquainted with the process of dyeing: the Tyrian -purple, so often noticed by writers, being of so gorgeous a hue as to -baffle description. The Persians were also prodigal in their indulgence -in vestments of gold, embroidery and silk: the memorable army of Darius -affording an instance of sumptuous magnificence in this respect. An -example might also be given of the extravagance of the Romans in -the third century, in the fact of a pound of silk being estimated -literally by its weight in gold. The nuptial robes of Maria, wife of -Honorius, which were discovered in her coffin at Rome in 1544, on being -burnt, yielded 36 pounds of pure gold! In the work here presented, -much interesting as well as valuable information is given under this -section, respecting the cultivation and manufacture of Silk in China, -Greece and other countries. - -The second division of the work, comprising the history of the -_Sheep_, _Goat_, _Camel_, and _Beaver_, it is hoped will also be found -curious and valuable. The ancient history of the _Cotton_ manufacture -follows--a topic that has enlisted the pens of many writers, though -their essays, with two or three exceptions, merit little notice. The -subsequent pages embody many new and important facts, connected with -its early history and progress, derived from sources inaccessible -to the general reader. The fourth and last division, embracing the -history of the _Linen_ manufacture, includes notices of _Hemp_, _Flax_, -_Asbestos_, &c. This department again affords a fruitful theme for the -curious, and one that will be deemed, perhaps, not the least attractive -of the volume. Completing the design of the work, will be found the -Appendices, comprising rare and valuable extracts, derived from -unquestionable authorities. - -Of the _Ten Illustrations_ herewith presented, five are entirely -original. It is hoped that these, at least, will be deemed worthy the -attention of the scholar as well as of the general reader, and that -their value will not be limited by their utility as elucidations of -the text. Among these, especial notice is requested to the engraving -of the Chinese Loom, a reduced fac-simile, copied by permission from a -magnificent Chinese production, recently obtained from the Celestial -Empire, and now in the possession of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign -Missions in this city. Another, equally worthy of notice, represents an -Egyptian weaving factory, with the processes of Spinning and Winding; -also a reduced fac-simile, copied from _Champollion’s_ great work on -Egypt. The Spider, magnified with his web, and the Indian Loom, it is -presumed, will not fail to attract attention. - -Throughout the entire work, the most diligent care has been used in the -collation of the numerous authorities cited, as well as a rigid regard -paid to their veracity. As a work so elaborate in its character would -necessarily have to depend, to a considerable extent, for its facts -and illustrations, upon the labors of previous writers, the author -deems no apology necessary in thus publicly and gratefully avowing his -indebtedness to the several authors cited in order at the foot of his -pages; but he would especially mention the eminent name of Mr. Yates, -to the fruits of whose labors the present production owes much of its -novelty, attractiveness, and intrinsic value. - -_New York, Oct. 1st, 1845._ - - - - -CONTENTS. - - -PART FIRST. - -ANCIENT HISTORY OF SILK. - -CHAPTER I. - -SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING. - -Whether Silk is mentioned in the Old Testament--Earliest -Clothing--Coats of Skin, Tunic, Simla--Progress of Invention--Chinese -chronology relative to the Culture of Silk--Exaggerated -statements--Opinions of Mailla, Le Sage, M. Lavoisnè, Rev. J. Robinson, -Dr. A. Clarke, Rev. W. Hales, D.D., Mairan, Bailly, Guignes, and Sir -William Jones--Noah supposed to be the first emperor of China--Extracts -from Chinese publications--Silk Manufactures of the Island of -Cos--Described by Aristotle--Testimony of Varro--Spinning and Weaving -in Egypt--Great ingenuity of Bezaleel and Aholiab in the production of -Figured Textures for the Jewish Tabernacle--Skill of the Sidonian women -in the Manufacture of Ornamental Textures--Testimony of Homer--Great -antiquity of the Distaff and Spindle--The prophet Ezekiel’s account -of the Broidered Stuffs, etc. of the Egyptians--Beautiful eulogy on -an industrious woman--Helen the Spartan, her superior skill in the -art of Embroidery--Golden Distaff presented her by the Egyptian queen -Alcandra--Spinning a domestic occupation in Miletus--Theocritus’s -complimentary verses to Theuginis on her industry and virtue--Taste -of the Roman and Grecian ladies in the decoration of their Spinning -Implements--Ovid’s testimony to the skill of Arachne in Spinning and -Weaving--Method of Spinning with the Distaff--Described by Homer and -Catullus--Use of Silk in Arabia 500 years after the flood--Forster’s -testimony 1 - -CHAPTER II. - -HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE CONTINUED TO THE 4TH CENTURY. - -SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING.--HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ATTAINED IN -THESE ARTS. - -Testimony of the Latin poets of the Augustan -age--Tibullus--Propertius--Virgil--Horace--Ovid--Dyonisius -Perigetes--Strabo. Mention of silk by authors in the -first century--Seneca the Philosopher--Seneca the -Tragedian--Lucan--Pliny--Josephus--Saint John--Silius -Italicus--Statius--Plutarch--Juvenal--Martial--Pausanias--Galen--Clemens -Alexandrinus--Caution to Christian converts against the -use of silk in dress. Mention of silk by authors in the -second century--Tertullian--Apuleius--Ulpian--Julius -Pollux--Justin. Mention of silk by authors in the -third century--Ælius Lampidius--Vopiscus--Trebellius -Pollio--Cyprian--Solinus--Ammianus--Marcellinus--Use of silk by the -Roman emperors--Extraordinary beauty of the textures--Use of water -to detach silk from the trees--Invectives of these authors against -extravagance in dress--The Seres described as a happy people--Their -mode of traffic, etc.--(Macpherson’s opinion of the Chinese.)--City of -Dioscurias, its vast commerce in former times.--(Colonel Syke’s account -of the Kolissura silk-worm--Dr. Roxburgh’s description of the Tusseh -silk-worm.) 22 - -CHAPTER III. - -HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE FROM THE THIRD TO THE SIXTH CENTURY. - -SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING.--HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ATTAINED IN -THESE ARTS. - -Fourth Century--Curious account of silk found in the Edict of -Diocletian--Extravagance of the Consul Furius Placidus--Transparent -silk shifts--Ausonius describes silk as the produce of -trees--Quintus Aur Symmachus, and Claudian’s testimony of silk -and golden textures--Their extraordinary beauty--Pisander’s -description--Periplus Maris Erythræi--Dido of Sidon. Mention -of silk in the laws of Manu--Rufus Festus Avinus--Silk -shawls--Marciannus Capella--Inscription by M. N. Proculus, silk -manufacturer--Extraordinary spiders’ webs--Bombyces compared to -spiders--Wild silk-worms of Tsouen-Kien and Tiao-Kien--M. Bertin’s -account--Further remarks on wild silk-worms. Christian authors of the -fourth century--Arnobius--Gregorius Nazienzenus--Basil--Illustration -of the doctrine of the resurrection--Ambrose--Georgius -Pisida--Macarius--Jerome--Chrysostom--Heliodorus--Salmasius--Extraordinary -beauty of the silk and golden textures described by these -authors--Their invectives against Christians wearing -silk. Mention of silk by Christian authors in the fifth -century--Prudentius--Palladius--Theodosian Code--Appollinaris -Sidonius--Alcimus Avitus. Sixth century--Boethius. (Manufactures of -Tyre and Sidon--Purple--Its great durability--Incredible value of -purple stuffs found in the treasury of the King of Persia.) 41 - -CHAPTER IV. - -HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE CONTINUED FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF -SILK-WORMS INTO EUROPE, A. D. 530, TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. - -A. D. 530.--Introduction of silk-worms into Europe--Mode by -which it was effected--The Serinda of Procopius the same with the -modern Khotan--The silk-worm never bred in Sir-hind--Silk shawls -of Tyre and Berytus--Tyrannical conduct of Justinian--Ruin of the -silk manufactures--Oppressive conduct of Peter Barsames--Menander -Protector--Surprise of Maniak the Sogdian ambassador--Conduct of -Chosroes, king of Persia--Union of the Chinese and Persians against -the Turks--The Turks in self-defence seek an alliance with the -Romans--Mortification of the Turkish ambassador--Reception of the -Byzantine ambassador by Disabul, king of the Sogdiani--Display of silk -textures--Paul the Silentiary’s account of silk--Isidorus Hispalensis. -Mention of silk by authors in the seventh century--Dorotheus, -Archimandrite of Palestine--Introduction of silk-worms into Chubdan, -or Khotan--Theophylactus Simocatta--Silk manufactures of Turfan--Silk -known in England in this century--First worn by Ethelbert, king of -Kent--Use of by the French kings--Aldhelmus’s beautiful description of -the silk-worm--Simile between weaving and virtue. Silk in the eighth -century--Bede. In the tenth century--Use of silk by the English, Welsh, -and Scotch kings. Twelfth century--Theodoras Prodromus--Figured shawls -of the Seres--Ingulphus describes vestments of silk interwoven with -eagles and flowers of gold--Great value of silk about this time--Silk -manufactures of Sicily--Its introduction into Spain. Fourteenth -century--Nicholas Tegrini--Extension of the Silk manufacture through -Europe, illustrated by etymology--Extraordinary beauty of silk and -golden textures used in the decoration of churches in the middle -ages--Silk rarely mentioned in the ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth -centuries 66 - -CHAPTER V. - -SILK AND GOLDEN TEXTURES OF THE ANCIENTS. - -HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ATTAINED IN THIS MANUFACTURE. - -Manufacture of golden textures in the time of Moses--Homer--Golden -tunics of the Lydians--Their use by the Indians and -Arabians--Extraordinary display of scarlet robes, purple, striped with -silver, golden textures, &c., by Darius, king of Persia--Purple and -scarlet cloths interwoven with gold--Tunics and shawls variegated with -gold--Purple garments with borders of gold--Golden chlamys--Attalus, -king of Pergamus, _not_ the inventor of gold thread--Bostick--Golden -robe worn by Agrippina--Caligula and Heliogabalus--Sheets interwoven -with gold used at the obsequies of Nero--Babylonian shawls intermixed -with gold--Silk shawls interwoven with gold--Figured cloths of gold -and Tyrean purple--Use of gold in the manufacture of shawls by the -Greeks--4,000,000 sesterces (about $150,000) paid by the Emperor Nero -for a Babylonish coverlet--Portrait of Constantius II.--Magnificence of -Babylonian carpets, mantles, &c.--Median sindones 84 - -CHAPTER VI. - -SILVER TEXTURES, ETC., OF THE ANCIENTS. - -EXTREME BEAUTY OF THESE MANUFACTURES. - -Magnificent dress worn by Herod Agrippa, mentioned in Acts xii. -21--Josephus’s account of this dress, and dreadful death of -Herod--Discovery of ancient Piece-goods--Beautiful manuscript -of Theodolphus, Bishop of Orleans, who lived in the ninth -century--Extraordinary beauty of Indian, Chinese, Egyptian, and other -manufactured goods preserved in this manuscript--Egyptian arts--Wise -regulations of the Egyptians in relation to the arts--Late discoveries -in Egypt by the Prussian hierologist, Dr. Lepsius--Cloth of glass 93 - -CHAPTER VII. - -DESCRIPTION OF THE SILK-WORM, ETC. - -Preliminary observations--The silk-worm--Various changes of the -silk-worm--Its superiority above other worms--Beautiful verses on the -May-fly, illustrative of the shortness of human life--Transformations -of the silk-worm--Its small desire of locomotion--First sickness -of the worm--Manner of casting its Exuviæ--Sometimes cannot be -fully accomplished--Consequent death of the insect--Second, third, -and fourth sickness of the worm--Its disgust for food--Material of -which silk is formed--Mode of its secretion--Manner of unwinding the -filaments--Floss-silk--Cocoon--Its imperviousness to moisture--Effect -of the filaments breaking during the formation of the cocoon--Mr. -Robinet’s curious calculation on the movements made by a silk-worm -in the formation of a cocoon--Cowper’s beautiful lines on the -silk-worm--Periods in which its various progressions are effected -in different climates--Effects of sudden transitions from heat to -cold--The worm’s appetite sharpened by increased temperature--Shortens -its existence--Various experiments in artificial heating--Modes of -artificial heating--Singular estimate of Count Dandolo--Astonishing -increase of the worm--Its brief existence in the moth state--Formation -of silk--The silken filament formed in the worm before its -expulsion--Erroneous opinions entertained by writers on this -subject--The silk-worm’s Will 98 - -CHAPTER VIII. - -GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHINESE MODE OF REARING SILK-WORMS, ETC. - -Great antiquity of the silk-manufacture in China--Time and mode -of pruning the Mulberry-tree--Not allowed to exceed a certain -height--Mode of planting--Situation of rearing-rooms, and their -construction--Effect of noise on the silk-worm--Precautions observed -in preserving cleanliness--Isan-mon, mother of the worms--Manner -of feeding--Space allotted to the worms--Destruction of the -Chrysalides--Great skill of the Chinese in weaving--American writers -on the Mulberry-tree--Silk-worms sometimes reared on trees--(M. -Marteloy’s experiments in 1764, in rearing silk-worms on trees in -France)--Produce inferior to that of worms reared in houses--Mode of -delaying the hatching of the eggs--Method of hatching--Necessity for -preventing damp--Number of meals--Mode of stimulating the appetite of -the worms--Effect of this upon the quantity of silk produced--Darkness -injurious to the silk-worm--Its effect on the Mulberry-leaves--Mode -of preparing the cocoons for the reeling process--Wild silk-worms of -India--Mode of hatching, &c.--(Observations on the cultivation of silk -by Dr. Stebbins--Dr. Bowring’s admirable illustration of the mutual -dependence of the arts upon each other.) 119 - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE SPIDER. - -ATTEMPTS TO PROCURE SILKEN FILAMENTS FROM SPIDERS. - -Structures of spiders--Spiders not properly insects, and why--Apparatus -for spinning--Extraordinary number of spinnerules--Great number of -filaments composing one thread--Réaumur and Leeuwenhoeck’s laughable -estimates--Attachment of the thread against a wall or stick--Shooting -of the lines of spiders--1. Opinions of Redi, Swammerdam, and -Kirby--2. Lister, Kirby, and White--3. La Pluche and Bingley--4. -D’Isjonval, Murray, and Bowman--5.--Experiments of Mr. Blackwall--His -account of the ascent of gossamer--6. Experiments by Rennie--Thread -supposed to go off double--Subsequent experiments--Nests, Webs, -and Nets of Spiders--Elastic satin nest of a spider--Evelyn’s -account of hunting spiders--Labyrinthic spider’s nest--Erroneous -account of the House Spider--Geometric Spiders--Attempts to procure -silken filaments from Spiders’ bags--Experiments of M. Bon--Silken -material--Manner of its preparations--M. Bon’s enthusiasm--His -spider establishment--Spider-silk not poisonous--Its usefulness -in healing wounds--Investigation of M. Bon’s establishment by M. -Réaumur--His objections--Swift’s satire against speculators and -projectors--Ewbank’s interesting observations on the ingenuity of -spiders--Mason-spiders--Ingenious door with a hinge--Nest from -the West Indies with spring hinge--Raft-building Spider--Diving -Water-Spider--Rev. Mr. Kirby’s beautiful description of -it--Observations of M. Clerck--Cleanliness of Spiders--Structure of -their claws--Fanciful account of them patting their webs--Proceedings -of a spider in a steamboat--Addison--His suggestions on the compilation -of a “History of Insects” 138 - -CHAPTER X. - -FIBRES OR SILKEN MATERIAL OF THE PINNA. - -The Pinna--Description of--Delicacy of its threads--Réaumur’s -observations--Mode of forming the filament or thread--Power of -continually producing new threads--Experiments to ascertain -this fact--The Pinna and its Cancer Friend--Nature of their -alliance--Beautiful phenomenon--Aristotle and Pliny’s account--The -Greek poet Oppianus’s lines on the Pinna, and its Cancer friend--Manner -of procuring the Pinna--Poli’s description--Specimens of the -Pinna in the British Museum--Pearls found in the Pinna--Pliny and -Athenæus’s account--Manner of preparing the fibres of the Pinna for -weaving--Scarceness of this material--No proof that the ancients were -acquainted with the art of knitting--Tertullian the first ancient -writer who makes mention of the manufacture of cloth from the fibres -of the Pinna--Procopius mentions a chlamys made of the fibres of -the Pinna, and a silken tunic adorned with sprigs or feathers of -gold--Boots of red leather worn only by Emperors--Golden fleece of the -Pinna--St. Basil’s account--Fibres of the Pinna not manufactured into -cloth at Tarentum in ancient times, but in India--Diving for the Pinna -at Colchi--Arrian’s account 174 - -CHAPTER XI. - -FIBRES, OR SILKEN MATERIAL OF THE PINE-APPLE. - -Fibres of the Pine-Apple--Facility of dyeing--Manner of preparing the -fibres for weaving--Easy cultivation of the plant--Thrives where no -other plant will live--Mr. Frederick Burt Zincke’s patent process of -manufacturing cloth from the fibres of this plant--Its comparative -want of strength--Silken material procured from the Papyfera--Spun -and woven into cloth--Cloth of this description manufactured -generally by the Otaheiteans, and other inhabitants of the South Sea -Islands--Great strength (supposed) of ropes made from the fibres of the -aloe--Exaggerated statements 185 - -CHAPTER XII. - -MALLOWS. - -CULTIVATION AND USE OF THE MALLOW AMONG THE ANCIENTS.--TESTIMONY OF -LATIN, GREEK, AND ATTIC WRITERS. - -The earliest mention of Mallows is to be found in Job xxx. -4.--Varieties of the Mallow--Cultivation and use of the -Mallow--Testimony of ancient authors--Papias and Isidore’s mention of -Mallow cloth--Mallow cloth common in the days of Charlemagne--Mallow -shawls--Mallow cloths mentioned in the Periplus as exported from -India to Barygaza (Baroch)--Calidāsa the Indian dramatist, who -lived in the first century B. C.--His testimony--Wallich’s (the -Indian botanist) account--Mantles of woven bark, mentioned in the -Sacontăla of Calidāsa--Valcălas, or Mantles of woven bark, -mentioned in the Ramayana, a noted poem of ancient India--Sheets made -from trees--Ctesias’ testimony--Strabo’s account--Testimony of Statius -Cæcilius and Plautus, who lived 169 B. C. and 184 B. C.--Plautus’s -laughable enumeration of the analogy of trades--Beauty of garments of -Amorgos mentioned by Eupolis--Clearchus’s testimony--Plato mentions -linen shifts--Amorgine garments first manufactured at Athens in the -time of Aristophanes 191 - -CHAPTER XIII. - -SPARTUM OR SPANISH BROOM. - -CLOTH MANUFACTURED FROM BROOM BARK, NETTLE, AND BULBOUS -PLANT.--TESTIMONY OF GREEK AND LATIN AUTHORS. - -Authority for Spanish Broom--Stipa Tenacissima--Cloth made from -Broom-bark--Albania--Italy--France--Mode of preparing the fibre for -weaving--Pliny’s account of Spartum--Bulbous plant--Its fibrous -coats--Pliny’s translation of Theophrastus--Socks and garments--Size -of the bulb--Its genus or species not sufficiently defined--Remarks of -various modern writers on this plant--Interesting communications of Dr. -Daniel Stebbins, of Northampton, Mass. to Hon. H. L. Ellsworth 202 - - -PART SECOND. - -ORIGIN AND ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE SHEEP. - -CHAPTER I. - -SHEEP’S WOOL. - -SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE -SCRIPTURES, ETC. - -The Shepherd Boy--Sheep-breeding in Scythia and Persia--Mesopotamia -and Syria--In Idumæa and Northern Arabia--In Palestine and Egypt--In -Ethiopia and Libya--In Caucasus and Coraxi--The Coraxi identified -with the modern Caratshai--In Asia Minor, Pisidia, Pamphylia, Samos, -&c.--In Caria and Ionia--Milesian wool--Sheep-breeding in Thrace, -Magnesia, Thessaly, Eubœa, and Bœotia--In Phocis, Attica, and -Megaris--In Arcadia--Worship of Pan--Pan the god of the Arcadian -Shepherds--Introduction of his worship into Attica--Extension of the -worship of Pan--His dances with the nymphs--Pan not the Egyptian -Mendes, but identical with Faunus--The philosophical explanation of Pan -rejected--Moral, social, and political state of the Arcadians--Polybius -on the cultivation of music by the Arcadians--Worship of Mercury in -connection with sheep-breeding and the wool trade--Present state -of Arcadia--Sheep-breeding in Macedonia and Epirus--Shepherds’ -dogs--Annual migration of Albanian shepherds 217 - -CHAPTER II. - -SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE -SCRIPTURES, ETC. - -Sheep-breeding in Sicily--Bucolic poetry--Sheep-breeding in -South Italy--Annual migration of the flocks--The ram employed to -aid the shepherd in conducting his flock--The ram an emblem of -authority--Bells--Ancient inscription at Sepino--Use of music by -ancient shepherds--Superior quality of Tarentine sheep--Testimony -of Columella--Distinction of the coarse and soft kinds--Names -given to sheep--Supposed effect of the water of rivers on -wool--Sheep-breeding in South Italy, Tarentum, and Apulia--Brown -and red wool--Sheep-breeding in North Italy--Wool of Parma, Modena, -Mantua, and Padua--Origin of sheep-breeding in Italy--Faunus the same -with Pan--Ancient sculptures exhibiting Faunus--Bales of wool and -the shepherd’s dress--Costume, appearance, and manner of life of the -ancient Italian shepherds 256 - -CHAPTER III. - -SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE -SCRIPTURES, ETC. - -Sheep-breeding in Germany and Gaul--In Britain--Improved by the -Belgians and Saxons--Sheep-breeding in Spain--Natural dyes of Spanish -wool--Golden hue and other natural dyes of the wool of Bætica--Native -colors of Bætic wool--Saga and chequered plaids--Sheep always bred -principally for the weaver, not for the butcher--Sheep supplied milk -for food, wool for clothing--The moth 282 - -CHAPTER IV. - -GOATS-HAIR. - -ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE GOAT--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES, ETC. - -Sheep-breeding and goats in China--Probable origin of sheep and -goats--Sheep and goats coeval with man, and always propagated -together--Habits of Grecian goat-herds--He-goat employed to lead -the flock--Cameo representing a goat-herd--Goats chiefly valued for -their milk--Use of goats’-hair for coarse clothing--Shearing of goats -in Phrygia, Cilicia, &c.--Vestes caprina, cloth of goats’-hair--Use -of goats’-hair for military and naval purposes--Curtains to -cover tents--Etymology of Sack and Shag--Symbolical uses of -sack-cloth--The Arabs weave goats’-hair--Modern uses of goats’-hair -and goats’-wool--Introduction of the Angora or Cashmere goat into -France--Success of the Project 293 - -CHAPTER V. - -BEAVERS-WOOL. - -Isidorus Hispalensis--Claudian--Beckmann--Beavers’-wool--Dispersion of -Beavers through Europe--Fossil bones of Beavers 309 - -CHAPTER VI. - -CAMELS-WOOL AND CAMELS-HAIR. - -Camels’-wool and Camels’-hair--Ctesias’s account--Testimony of modern -travellers--Arab tent of Camels’-hair--Fine cloths still made of -Camels’-wool--The use of hair of various animals in the manufacture -of beautiful stuffs by the ancient Mexicans--Hair used by the Candian -women in the manufacture of broidered stuffs--Broidered stuffs of the -negresses of Senegal--Their great beauty 312 - - -PART THIRD. - -ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. - -CHAPTER I. - -GREAT ANTIQUITY OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE IN INDIA--UNRIVALLED SKILL OF -THE INDIAN WEAVER. - -Superiority of Cotton for clothing, compared with linen, both in -hot and cold climates--Cotton characteristic of India--Account of -Cotton by Herodotus, Ctesias, Theophrastus, Aristobulus, Nearchus, -Pomponius Mela--Use of Cotton in India--Cotton known before silk -and called Carpasus, Carpasum, Carbasum, &c.--Cotton awnings -used by the Romans--Carbasus applied to linen--Last request of -Tibullus--Muslin fillet of the vestal virgin--Linen sails, &c., called -Carbasa--Valerius Flaccus introduces muslin among the elegancies -in the dress of a Phrygian from the river Rhyndacus--Prudentius’s -satire on pride--Apuleius’s testimony--Testimony of Sidonius -Apollinaris, and Avienus--Pliny and Julius Pollux--Their testimony -considered--Testimony of Tertullian and Philostratus--Of Martianus -Capella--Cotton paper mentioned by Theophylus Presbyter--Use of Cotton -by the Arabians--Cotton not common anciently in Europe--Marco Polo -and Sir John Mandeville’s testimony of the Cotton of India--Forbes’s -description of the herbaceous Cotton of Guzerat--Testimony of Malte -Brun--Beautiful Cotton textures of the ancient Mexicans--Testimony -of the Abbé Clavigero--Fishing nets made from Cotton by the -inhabitants of the West India Islands, and on the Continent of -South America--Columbus’s testimony--Cotton used for bedding by the -Brazilians 315 - -CHAPTER II. - -SPINNING AND WEAVING--MARVELLOUS SKILL DISPLAYED IN THESE ARTS. - -Unrivalled excellence of India muslins--Testimony of the two -Arabian travellers--Marco Polo, and Odoardo Barbosa’s accounts of -the beautiful Cotton textures of Bengal--Cæsar Frederick, Tavernier, -and Forbes’s testimony--Extraordinary fineness and transparency of -Decca muslins--Specimen brought by Sir Charles Wilkins; compared -with English muslins--Sir Joseph Banks’s experiments--Extraordinary -fineness of Cotton yarn spun by machinery in England--Fineness of -India Cotton yarn--Cotton textures of Soonergong--Testimony of R. -Fitch--Hamilton’s account--Decline of the manufactures of Dacca -accounted for--Orme’s testimony of the universal diffusion of the -Cotton manufacture in India--Processes of the manufacture--Rude -implements--Roller gin--Bowing. (Eli Whitney inventor of the cotton -gin--Tribute of respect paid to his memory--Immense value of Mr. -Whitney’s invention to growers and manufacturers of Cotton throughout -the world.) Spinning wheel--Spinning without a wheel--Loom--Mode of -weaving--Forbes’s description--Habits and remuneration of Spinners, -Weavers, &c.--Factories of the East India Company--Marvellous skill -of the Indian workman accounted for--Mills’s testimony--Principal -Cotton fabrics of India, and where made--Indian commerce in Cotton -goods--Alarm created in the woollen and silk manufacturing districts -of Great Britain--Extracts from publications of the day--Testimony of -Daniel De Foe (Author of _Robinson Crusoe_.)--Indian fabrics prohibited -in England, and most other countries of Europe--Petition from Calcutta -merchants--Present condition of the City of Dacca--Mode of spinning -fine yarns--Tables showing the comparative prices of Dacca and British -manufactured goods of the same quality 333 - - -PART FOURTH. - -ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE LINEN MANUFACTURE. - -CHAPTER I. - -FLAX. - -CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF FLAX BY THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF -THE SCRIPTURES, ETC. - -Earliest mention of Flax--Linen manufactures of the Egyptians--Linen -worn by the priests of Isis--Flax grown extensively in Egypt--Flax -gathering--Envelopes of Linen found on Egyptian mummies--Examination of -mummy-cloth--Proved to be Linen--Flax still grown in Egypt--Explanation -of terms--Byssus--Reply to J. R. Forster--Hebrew and Egyptian -terms--Flax in North Africa, Colchis, Babylonia--Flax cultivated in -Palestine--Terms for flax and tow--Cultivation of Flax in Palestine and -Asia Minor--In Elis, Etruria, Cisalpine Gaul, Campania, Spain--Flax of -Germany, of the Atrebates, and of the Franks--Progressive use of linen -among the Greeks and Romans 358 - -CHAPTER II. - -HEMP. - -Cultivation and Uses of Hemp by the Ancients--Its use limited--Thrace -Colchis--Caria--Etymology of Hemp 387 - -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 390 - - -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 401 - -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 -manufacturer’s--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.) 404 - -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 414 - -APPENDIX D. - -ON NETTING. - -MANUFACTURE AND USE OF NETS BY THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE -SCRIPTURES, ETC. - -Nets were made of Flax, Hemp, and Broom--General terms for nets--Nets -used for catching birds--Mode of snaring--Hunting-nets--Method -of hunting--Hunting-nets supported by forked stakes--Manner of -fixing them--Purse-net or tunnel-net--Homer’s testimony--Nets used -by the Persians in lion-hunting--Hunting with nets practised by -the ancient Egyptians--Method of hunting--Depth of nets for this -purpose--Description of the purse-net--Road-net--Hallier--Dyed -feathers used to scare the prey--Casting-net--Manner of throwing -by the Arabs--Cyrus king of Persia--His fable of the piper and the -fishes--Fishing-nets--Casting-net used by the Apostles--Landing-net -(Scap-net)--The Sean--Its length and depth--Modern use of the -Sean--Method of fishing with the Sean practised by the Arabians -and ancient Egyptians--Corks and leads--Figurative application of -the Sean--Curious method of capturing an enemy practised by the -Persians--Nets used in India to catch tortoises--Bag-nets and small -purse-nets--Novel scent-bag of Verres the Sicilian prætor 436 - - - - - LIST OF PLATES. - - - I. Frontispiece--Chinese Looms. _to face page_ - - II. Egyptian Looms, with the Processes of Spinning and Winding, 93 - - III. Silk Worm, Cocoons, Chrysalis, Moths, and Pinna 118 - - IV. Spiders, with the Processes of Spinning and Weaving 172 - - V. Indian Loom, with the Process of Winding off the Thread 315 - - VI. Egyptian Flax-gathering. Magnified Fibres of Flax and Cotton 359 - - VII. Map, showing the Divisions of the Ancient World, coloured - according to the Raw Materials principally produced in them - for Weaving 400 - - VIII. Caps worn by Cynic Philosopher, Vulcan, Dædalus, Ulysses, - and a Desultor. Caps worn by Modern Greek Boy and Fisherman. - Mysian Cap or Phrygian Bonnet. Coins in the British Museum 415 - - IX. Statue of Endymion. Hats worn by Shepherds and Athenian - Ephebi. Coins in the British Museum 434 - - X. Hunting-scenes in bas-reliefs at Ince-Blundell. Egyptians - with the Drag-Net 464 - - - - -PART FIRST. - -ANCIENT HISTORY OF SILK. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING. - - Whether Silk is mentioned in the Old Testament--Earliest - Clothing--Coats of Skin, Tunic, Simla--Progress of Invention - Chinese chronology relative to the Culture of Silk--Exaggerated - statements--Opinions of Mailla, Le Sage, M. Lavoisnè, Rev. J. - Robinson, Dr. A. Clarke, Rev. W. Hales, D.D., Mairan, Bailly, Guignes, - and Sir William Jones--Noah supposed to be the first emperor of - China--Extracts from Chinese publications--Silk Manufactures of the - island of Cos--Described by Aristotle--Testimony of Varro--Spinning - and Weaving in Egypt--Great ingenuity of Bezaleel and Aholiab in the - production of Figured Textures for the Jewish Tabernacle--Skill of the - Sidonian women in the Manufacture of Ornamental Textures--Testimony - of Homer--Great antiquity of the Distaff and Spindle--The - prophet Ezekiel’s account of the Broidered Stuffs, etc. of the - Egyptians--Beautiful eulogy on an industrious woman--Helen the - Spartan, her superior skill in the art of Embroidery--Golden Distaff - presented her by the Egyptian queen Alcandra--Spinning a domestic - occupation in Miletus--Theocritus’s complimentary verses to Theuginis - on her industry and virtue--Taste of the Roman and Grecian ladies in - the decoration of their Spinning Implements--Ovid’s testimony to the - skill of Arachne in Spinning and Weaving--Method of Spinning with the - Distaff--Described by Homer and Catullus--Use of Silk in Arabia 500 - years after the flood--Forster’s testimony. - - To please the flesh a thousand arts contend: - The miser’s heaps of gold, the figur’d vest, - The gem, the silk-worm, and the purple dye, - By toil acquir’d, promote no other end.--_Peristeph. Hymn._ x. - - -Whether silk is ever mentioned in the Old Testament cannot perhaps be -determined. - -In Ezek. xvi. 10 and 13, “silk” is used in the common English bible -for משי, which occurs no where except here, but which, as appears from -the context, certainly meant some valuable article of female dress. -Le Clerc and Rosenmüller translate it “serico;” Cocceius, Schindler, -Buxtorf, in their Lexicons, and Dr. John Taylor in his Concordance, -give the same interpretation. Augusti and De Wette in their German -translation make it signify “_a silken veil_.” Others give different -interpretations. The only ground, on which silk of any kind is supposed -to be meant, is that in the Alexandrine or Septuagint version משי is -translated τρίχαπτον, and τρίχαπτον is explained by Hesychius to mean -“the _silken_ web fitted to be placed over the hair of the head” (τὸ -βομβύκινον ὕφασμα ὑπὲρ τῶν τριχῶν τῆς κεφαλῆς ἁπτόμενον), and that -other ancient Greek lexicographers also suppose a silken garment to be -meant.[1] But the meaning of τρίχαπτον is in reality as obscure as that -of משי. Jerome could not discover it, and concluded that the word was -invented by the Greek translator. It is now extant no where else except -in a passage of the comic Pherecrates preserved in Athenæus. Schneider, -followed by Passow, supposes it to mean some garment made of hair, and -quotes to this effect the explanation of Pollux (2. 24.), πλέγμα ἐκ -τριχῶν. Although, therefore, the term in question may possibly have -denoted some elegant and costly ornament for the head, made at least -partly of silk, yet this opinion appears to rest altogether upon the -assumption, first, that the ancient lexicographers are accurate in -their use of the epithet βομβύκινον, and secondly, that the Alexandrine -version is accurate in adopting the word τρίχαπτον. - - [1] See Schleusner, Lexicon in LXX., v. Τρίχαπτον. - -In Isaiah xix. 9, according to King James’s Translators and Bishop -Lowth, mention is made of those “_that work in fine flax_,” in the -original עבדי פשתים שריקות. Rosenmüller adopts nearly the same -interpretation, which is founded upon the use of the verb שרק or סרק in -the Chaldee and Syriac dialects to denote the operation of _combing_ -flax, wool, hair, and other substances. In this sense the word has been -taken by the author of the Alexandrine Version, τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὸ -λίνον τὸ σχιστὸν; by Symmachus, who instead of σχιστὸν uses κτενιστὸν; -and by Jerome, “qui operabantur linum _pectentes_.” - -In the Targum of Jonathan and in the Syriac Version the same root is -taken to denote silk; רסריקין פלחי כתנא Targ. ܥܒܕܝ ܟܬܢܐ ܕܣܪܩܝܢ Syr. Both of -these seem to admit of the following literal translation, “_those who -make silken tunics_,” or in Latin, “_Factores tunicarum e sericis_.” - -Kimchi supposes שריקות to mean silk webs, observing that silk is called -אל שרק by the Arabs. The same opinion has been adopted by Nicholas -Fuller[2], Buxtorf, and other modern critics. Kennicott, however, -arranges the words in two lines as follows, - - ובשו עבדי פשתים - שריקות וארגים הורי - -According to this arrangement, which seems most suitable to the rules -of grammatical construction, we have three co-ordinate phrases in the -plural number, denoting three different classes of artificers. The -second, שריקות, would by its termination denote _female_ artificers, -viz. women employed in _combing_ wool, flax, or other substances. On -the whole we are inclined to adopt this explanation of the word, as it -appears to be attended with the least difficulty, either grammatical or -etymological. - - [2] Miscellanea Sacra, l. ii. c. 11. - -Silk is mentioned Prov. xxxi. 22. in King James’s Translation, i. e. -the common English version, and in the margin of Gen. xli. 42. But the -use of the word is quite unauthorized. - -After a full examination of the whole question Braunius[3] decides that -there is no mention of silk in the whole of the Old Testament, and that -it was unknown to the Hebrews in ancient times. - -“There can be no doubt,” says Professor Hurwitz, “that manufactures and -the arts must have attained a high degree of perfection at the time -when Moses wrote; and that many of them were known long before that -period, we have the evidence of Scripture. It is true that inventions -were at first few, and their progress very slow, but they were suited -to the then condition and circumstances of man, as is evident even -in the art of clothing. Placed in the salubrious and mild air of -paradise, our first parents could hardly want any other covering than -what decency required. Accordingly we find that the first and only -article of dress was the חגורה _chagora_, the belt, (not aprons, as -in the established version). The materials of which it was made were -fig leaves; (Gen. iii. 7.) the same tree that afforded them food and -shelter, furnished them likewise with materials for covering their -bodies. But when in consequence of their transgressions they were to -be ejected from their blissful abode, and forced to dwell in less -favourable regions, a more substantial covering became necessary, their -merciful Creator made them (i. e. inspired them with the thoughts of -making for themselves) כתנות עור coats of skins. (Gen. iii. 21.) The -original word is כתנת _c’thoneth_, whence the Greek χιτὼν the tunic, -a close garment that was usually worn next the skin, it reached to -the knees, and had sleeves (in after times it was made either of wool -or linen.) After man had subdued the sheep (Hebrew כבשׂ _caves_ from -כגש to subdue[4]) and learned how to make use of its wool, we find -a new article of dress, namely the שמלה _simla_, an upper garment: -it consisted of a piece of cloth about six yards long and two or -three wide, in shape not unlike our blankets. This will explain Gen. -ix. 23, ‘And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both -their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their -father.’ It served as a dress by day, as a bed by night, (Exod. xxii. -26,) ‘If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou -shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down; for that is his -covering only; it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep?’ -And sometimes burdens were carried in it, (Exod. xii. 34,) ‘And the -people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs -being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.’ - -“In the course of time various other garments came into use, as -mentioned in several other parts of Scripture. The materials of which -these garments were usually made are specified in Leviticus xiii. -47-59, ‘The garment also that the plague of the leprosy is in, whether -it be a woollen garment or a linen garment, whether it be in the _warp_ -or _woof_, of linen or of woollen; whether in a skin, or in anything -made of skin, &c.’” - - [3] De vestitu Heb. Sacerdotum, l. 1. cap. viii. § 8. - - [4] There is not the least shadow of truth in support of such a - deduction; and particularly so since the general tenor of the - Scriptures leads to a very different conclusion. We are, therefore, - not authorized to give our support to any such hypothesis. The - history of the Sheep and Goat is so interwoven with the history of - man, that those naturalists have not reasoned correctly, who have - thought it necessary to refer the first origin of either of them to - any wild stock at all. Such view is, we imagine, more in keeping - with the inferences to be drawn from Scripture History with regard - to the early domestication of the sheep. Abel, we are told, was - a keeper of sheep, and it was one of the firstlings of his flock - that he offered to the Lord, and which, proving a more acceptable - sacrifice, excited the implacable and fatal jealousy of his brother - Cain. (See Part ii. pp. 217 and 293.) - -In our search for the distant origin of any art or science, or in -looking through the long vista of ages remote even to nations extinct -before our own, we are favored with satisfactory evidence so long as we -are accompanied with authentic records: beyond, all is dark, obscure, -tradition, fable. On such ground it would be credulous or rash in the -extreme to repeat as our own, an affirmation, when that rests on the -single testimony of one party or interest, especially when that is of -a very questionable character. It is even safer, when history or well -authenticated records fail us, to appeal to philosophy, or to the well -known laws of mind, from which all arts and science spring. The former -favors us with the commanding evidence of certainty and decision; -and though the latter may only afford the testimony of analogy, yet, -is its probability more safe, at least, than what rests on misguided -calculations or on the legendary tales of artifice and fiction. - -We have, however, authentic testimony that the _inventive_ faculty -existed at a very early period. The peculiar condition of man at that -time must have afforded many imperative occasions for its exertion. -Hence we read that “Jabal was the father of such as dwell in tents” -(_i. e._ _inventor_ of tent-making); that “Jubal, his brother, was the -father” (inventor) of musical instruments: such as the _kinnor_, harp, -or stringed instruments, and the _ugab_, organ, or wind instruments; -that “Tubal-cain was the instructor of every artificer in brass -and iron, the first smith on record, or one to teach how to make -instruments and utensils out of brass and iron; and that the sister of -Tubal-cain was Naamah, whom the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel affirms -to have been the _inventrix_ of plaintive or elegiac poetry[5]. Here -is then an account of the _inventive_ faculty being in exercise 3504 -years before the Christian era; or 1156 years prior to the deluge; or -804 years before the earliest period assigned to the Chinese for the -discovery of silk. And of whatever arts or sciences existing amongst -men prior to the deluge, there is no difficulty in conceiving the -possibility of the transmission of the leading and most essential -parts, at least, to the post-diluvians, by the family of Noah. - - [5] As a proof that the inventive faculty, as to every thing truly - useful to man, originally proceeded from _the only “Giver of every - good and perfect gift,”_ consult Isa. xxviii. 24-29: and also a - beautiful comment by Dr. A. Clarke on, “And thou shalt speak unto - all that are wise hearted, _whom I have filled_ with the spirit of - wisdom.” Exod. xxviii. 3: and also on, “I have filled him with the - spirit of God in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, - and in all manner of workmanship; to devise cunning works, to work - in gold, and in silver, and in brass; and in cutting of stones, - to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of - curious workmanship.” Exod. xxxi. 3, 4, and 5. - -But instead of giving our unqualified assent to what has been -servilely copied from book to book from the most accessible account, we -shall advert to the great discrepancy relative to Chinese chronology, -amongst those who have had equal access to their records. Thus the time -of Fohi, the first emperor, has been said to be 2951 B. C., by some -2198 B. C., and by others 2057, or about 300 years after the deluge: -of Hoang-ti, 2700 B. C., by Mailla it is quoted at 2602 B. C., by Le -Sage at 2597 B. C., and by Robinson and others at 1703 B. C. Similar -disagreements might, would our limits allow, be observed concerning the -rest, and particularly of the emperors, Hiao-wenti, Chim-ti, Ming-ti, -Youen-ti, Wenti, Wou-ti, and Hiao-wou-ti. Even in more modern times, -and relative to a character so notorious as Confucius, no less than -three dates are equally affirmed to be true. As to Hoang-ti, who is -said to have begun _the culture of silk_, we are inclined to prefer the -latter account, 1703 B. C., which makes him contemporary with Joseph, -when prime minister over the land of Egypt. - -As a confirmation of this, it may be stated, that by referring to the -account given of nine[6] of the patriarchs at this period, we shall -find that the average age of human life, _before much greater_, soon -after rapidly declined. Now the average duration of the reigns of the -first three[7] Chinese emperors, including Hoang-ti, was 118 years; -of the five that immediately succeeded, only 68 years. After this, -until the Christian era, the average duration of a single reign did -not exceed 23 years, and thence until the present time not 13 years. -Since, therefore, the average duration of the reign of the first three -emperors bears an evident and fit proportion to that of the age of man -at the period specified, though not at any other before or after, being -in the former case as much too small as it would in the latter be too -great, the opinion now offered is the only one that can be consistent -with these striking facts; and, if duly considered, presents an -argument strongly corroborating this view of the subject. - - [6] Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph: - Gen. xi. 16-26; xlvii. 28; and l. 26. - - [7] Fohi, Eohi Chinun, and Hoang-ti. - -To attempt to establish any greater certainty, in a case of this -nature, the Chinese during the dynasty of Tschin, having, to conceal -the truth, destroyed everything authentic, would be in vain. It would -be even more rational to have recourse to the Vedas, or sacred books of -the Brahmins, or to records in the Sanscrit, were it not a well known -fact, that nearly all ancient nations, _except the Jews_, actuated by -the same ambition, have betrayed a wish to have their origin traced -as far back as the creation. And in the gratification of this passion -none are so notoriously pre-eminent as the Egyptians, Hindoos, and -Chinese.[8] For them the limits of the creation itself have been too -narrow, and days, weeks, and even months too short, unless multiplied -into years.[9] - - [8] See Dr. A. Clarke’s remarks: end of Gen. - - [9] See pp. 68, 74, 119 and 294. - -The chronology relative to the early culture of silk, as found in -Chinese documents, for several irrefragable objections already -assigned, is exceedingly questionable, and therefore we are by no means -pledged to affirm that either in the authenticity of the books, or in -the correctness of the dates have we any faith. M. Lavoisnè dates the -commencement of the Chinese dynasties at A. M.[10] 1816, _or 159 years -after the deluge_. The Rev. J. Robinson of Christ Col., Cam., at A. M. -1947. We have already given as strong reasons, as under the extreme -incertitude of the case, can, perhaps, be offered, for preferring the -latter; the important points may be briefly stated, thus: - - End of the deluge [11]1657 A. M. - Fohi, first emperor, began to reign 1947 A. M. - Noah died 2007 A. M. - Eohi Chinun, second emperor, began to reign 2061 A. M. - Hoang-ti, the third emperor, began to reign 2201 A. M. - Hoang-ti after establishing the silk culture, died 2301 A. M. - -Hoang-ti was therefore contemporary with Joseph when administering -the affairs of Egypt.[12] But would we know what account the Chinese -themselves give relative to the earliest introduction of the silk -culture, we shall find it in the French version of the Chinese -Treatises, by M. Stanislas Julien, or in the following words of pages -77 and 78, as translated and published in 1838, at Washington, under -the title of “Summary of the principal Chinese Treatises upon the -Culture of the Mulberry, and the rearing of Silk-worms.” - - [10] A. M. signifies _Anno Mundi_, that is in the year of the World. - The Year of Our Lord always commences on the first day of January, - the day on which Christ was circumcised, being eight days old. From - the Creation until the birth of Christ, was 4004 years. - -Tirin places the birth of Christ in the 36th year of Herod, the 40th of -Augustus, the 28th from the battle of Actium, the 749th of Rome, and -the 4th of the 193d Olympiad. - - [11] It will here not be improper to observe that the Samaritan - text and Septuagint version of the Hebrew, carry the deluge as far - back as to the year 3716 before Christ; or 1000 years before the - Chinese account of Hoang-ti. On this subject see the New Analysis - of Chronology, by the Rev. W. Hales, D.D. 4to., 3 vol. - - [12] Joseph died in the 2369th year from the Creation. - -In the book on silk-worms, we read: “The lawful wife of the emperor -Hoang-ti, named _Si-ling-chi_, began the culture of silk. It was -at that time that the emperor Hoang-ti invented the art of making -garments(!).” The same fact is mentioned more in detail in the general -history of China, by P. Maillà, in the year 2602, before our era (4447 -years ago). - -“This great prince (Hoang-ti) was desirous that Si-ling-chi, his -legitimate wife, should contribute to the happiness of his people. He -charged her to examine the silk-worms, and to test the practicability -of using the thread. Si-ling-chi had a large quantity of these insects -collected, which she fed herself, in a place prepared for that purpose, -and discovered not only the means of raising them, but also the manner -of reeling the silk, and of employing it to make garments.” - -“It is through gratitude for so great a benefit,” says the history, -entitled _Wai-ki_, “that posterity has deified Si-ling-chi, and -rendered her particular honors under the name of the goddess of -silk-worms.” (Memoirs on the Chinese, vol. 13, p. 240.) - -We have seen that the most probable account relative to the time of -Fohi, said to have been the first Chinese emperor, is that he reigned -2057 years before the Christian era, or in the year of the world 1947. -“According to the most current opinion,” says M. Lavoisnè, “China was -founded by one of the colonies formed at the dispersion of Noah’s -posterity under the conduct of Yao, who took for his colleague Chun, -afterwards his successor. But most writers consider Fohi to have been -Noah himself(!).” - -Now the deluge terminated A. M. 1657, and Noah lived after the deluge -350 years[13], and therefore died A. M. 2007; and as Fohi is said to -have reigned 114 years, before Eohi Chun or Chinun succeeded him, he -was contemporary, at least, with Noah. The ark rested on Mount Ararat, -which is generally allowed to be one of the mountains of Armenia, to -the east of the head of the Tigris. And here the same author remarks, -that “in rather less than a century and a half, after the birth of -Peleg, it is supposed that Noah, being then about his 840th year, -_wearied with the growing depravity of his descendants, retired with -a select company to a remote corner of Asia, and there began what in -after ages has been termed the Chinese monarchy_.”[14] This view of the -subject, we believe, coincides perfectly with the reputable testimonies -presented by Mairan, Bailly, Guignes, and Sir William Jones, and -demonstrates that the transit of more central aborigines, since the -deluge, to the extremes of China, was perfectly feasible,[15] and a -matter of even high probability. - - [13] Gen. ix. 28. - - [14] Clarke’s “Treatise on the Mulberry-tree, and Silk-worm,” pp. 14, - 18, 20, 21, 27, and 34. - - [15] See chap. iv. p. 67. Also Plate VII. (Map.) - -The first ancient author, who affords any evidence respecting the -use of silk, is Aristotle. He does not, however, appear to have been -accurately acquainted with the changes of the silk-worm; nor does he -say, that the animal was bred or the raw material produced in Cos. He -only says, “Pamphile, daughter of Plates, is reported to have first -woven it in Cos.” (See Chapters ii. iii. and iv. of this Part.) - -Long before the time of Aristotle a regular trade had been established -in the interior of Asia, which brought its most valuable productions, -and especially those which were most easily transported, to the shores -opposite this flourishing island. Nothing therefore is more likely -than that the raw silk from the interior of Asia was brought to Cos -and there manufactured. We shall see hereafter from the testimony of -Procopius, that it was in like manner brought some centuries later to -be woven in the Phœnician cities, Tyre and Berytus. - -The arts of spinning and weaving, which rank next in importance to -agriculture, having been found among almost all the nations of the old -and new continents, even among those little removed from barbarism, are -reasonably supposed to have been invented at a very remote period of -the world’s history[16]. They evidently existed in Egypt in the time of -Joseph (1700 years before the Christian era), as it is recorded that -Pharaoh “arrayed him in vestures of fine linen.” (Genesis xli. 42.) Two -centuries later, the Hebrews carried with them on their departure from -that ancient seat of civilization, the arts of _spinning_, _dyeing_, -_weaving_, and _embroidery_; for when Moses constructed the tabernacle -in the wilderness, “the women that were wise-hearted did spin with -their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and -of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.” (Exod. xxxv. 25.) They -also “spun goats’ hair;” and Bezaleel and Aholiab “worked all manner -of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of _the -embroiderer, in blue, and of purple, and in scarlet, and in fine linen, -and of the weaver_.” These passages contain the earliest mention of -woven clothing, which was linen, the national manufacture of Egypt. The -prolific borders of the Nile furnished from the remotest periods, as -at the present time, abundance of the finest flax[17]; and it appears, -from the testimony both of sacred and profane history, that linen -continued to be almost the only kind of clothing used in Egypt till -after the Christian era[18]. The Egyptians exported their “linen yarn,” -and “fine linen,” to the kingdom of Israel, in the days of Solomon, (2 -Chron. i. 16; Prov. vii. 16;) their “fine linen with broidered work,” -to Tyre, (Ezek. xxvii. 7.) - - [16] According to Pliny, Semiramis, the Assyrian queen, was believed - to have been the inventress of the art of weaving. Minerva is - in some of the ancient statutes represented with a distaff, to - intimate that she taught men the art of spinning; and this honor - is given by the Egyptians to Isis, by the Mohammedans to a son of - Japhet, by the Chinese to the consort of their emperor Yao, and - by the Peruvians to Mamaoella, wife to Manco-Capac, their first - sovereign. These traditions serve only to carry the invaluable arts - of spinning and weaving up to an extremely remote period, long - prior to that of authentic history. - - [17] Paintings representing the gathering and preparation of flax - have been found on the walls of the ancient sepulchres at Eleithias - and Beni Hassan, in Upper Egypt, and are described and copied by - Hamilton.--“Remarks on several parts of Turkey, and on ancient and - modern Egypt,” pp. 97 and 287, plate 23. - - [18] Herodotus, book ii. c. 37, 81. (See Plate VI.) - -The women of Sidon before the Trojan war, were especially celebrated -for the skill in embroidery: and Homer, who lived 900 years B. C., -mentions Helen _as being engaged in embroidering the combats of the -Greeks and Trojans_. - -The transition from vegetable fibre to the use of animal staples, -such as wool and hair, could not have been very difficult; indeed, as -already stated, it took place at a period of which we possess no very -authentic written record. - -The instrument used for spinning in all countries, from the earliest -times, was the distaff and spindle. This simple apparatus was put by -the Greek mythologists into the hands of Minerva and the Parcæ; Solomon -employs upon it the industry of the virtuous woman; to the present day -the distaff is used in India, Egypt, and other eastern countries. - -The ancient spindle or distaff was a very simple instrument. The late -Lady Calcott informs us, that it continued even to our own days to be -used by the Hindoos in all its primitive simplicity. “I have seen,” she -says, “the rock or distaff formed simply of the leading shoot of some -young tree, carefully peeled, it might be birch or elder, and, further -north, of fir or pine; and the spindle formed of the beautiful shrub -Euonymus, or spindle-tree.”[19] - - [19] The superior fineness of some Indian muslins, and their quality of - retaining, longer than European fabrics, an appearance of - excellence, has occasioned a belief that the cotton wool of which - they are woven is superior to any known elsewhere; this, however, - is so far from being the fact, that no cotton is to be found in - India which at all equals in quality the better kinds produced in - the United States of America. The excellence of India muslins must - be wholly ascribed to the skilfulness and patience of the workmen, - as shown in the different processes of spinning and weaving. (See - Plate v.) Their yarn is spun upon the distaff, and it is owing to - the dexterous use of the finger and thumb in forming the thread, - and to the moisture which it thus imbibes, that its fibres are more - perfectly incorporated than they can be through the employment of - any mechanical substitutes. - -Spinning among the Egyptians, as among our ancestors of no very -distant age, was a domestic occupation in which ladies of rank did not -hesitate to engage. The term “spinster” is yet applied to unmarried -ladies of every rank, and there are persons yet alive who remember to -have seen the spinning wheel an ordinary piece of furniture in domestic -economy. - -We are told that “Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt and linen -yarn; the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.” (1 -Kings, x. 28.) And the linen of Egypt was highly valued in Palestine, -for the seducer, in Proverbs, says, “I have decked my bed with -coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.” -(Prov. vii. 16.) The prophet Ezekiel also declares that the export of -the textile fabrics was an important branch of Phœnician commerce; for -in his enumeration of the articles of traffic in Tyre, he says: “Fine -linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest -forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elisha was that -which covered thee.” (Ezek. xxvii. 7.) - -It deserves to be remarked that the prophet here joins Egypt with the -isles of Elisha or Elis, that is, the districts of western Greece, -and thus confirms the ancient tradition recorded by Herodotus of some -Egyptian colonists having settled in that country, which the sceptics -of the German school of history have thought proper to deny.[20] -Spinning was wholly a female employment; it is rather singular that -we find this work frequently performed by a large number collected -together, as if the factory system had been established 3000 years ago. - - [20] The sceptical school of history, founded by Niebuhr, in Germany, - and extended by his disciples to a sweeping incredulity, far - beyond what was contemplated by the founder, has labored hard to - prove, that the Greek system of civilization was indigenous, and - that the candid confession of Herodotus, attributing to Egyptian - colonies the first introduction of the arts of life into Hellas, - was an idle tale, or a groundless tradition. But the examination of - the monuments has proved that Greek art originated in Egypt; and - that the elements of the architectural, sculptural, and pictorial - wonders which have rendered Greece and Italy illustrious, were - derived from the valley of the Nile. - -We have, however, many specimens of spinning as a domestic employment. -Indeed, attention to the spindle and distaff forms a leading feature in -king Lemuel’s description of a virtuous woman. “Who can find a virtuous -woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth -safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will -do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool and -flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchant’s -ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet -night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. -She considereth a field, and buyeth it; with the fruit of her hands -she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and -strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: -her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, -and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the -_poor_; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the _needy_. She is not -afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed -with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing -is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth -among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; -and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.” (Prov. xxxi. 10-24.) - -Hamilton and Wilkinson have already shown that many of the descriptions -of combats we meet in the Iliad appear to have been derived from -the battle pieces on the walls of the Theban palaces, which the -poet himself pretty plainly intimates that he had visited. The same -observation may be applied to most of Homer’s pictures of domestic -life. We find the lady of the mansion superintending the labors of -her servants, and using the distaff herself. Her spindle made of some -precious material, richly ornamented, her beautiful work-basket, or -rather vase, and the wool dyed of some bright hue to render it worthy -of being touched by aristocratic fingers, remind us of the appropriate -present which the Egyptian queen, Alcandra, made to the Spartan Helen; -for the beauty of that frail fair one scarcely is less celebrated than -her skill in embroidery and every species of ornamental work. After -Polybus had given his presents to Menelaus, who stopped at Egypt on his -return from Troy, - - Alcandra, consort of his high command, - A golden distaff gave to Helen’s hand; - And that rich vase, with living sculpture wrought, - Which, heap’d with wool, the beauteous Phylo brought; - The silken fleece empurpled for the loom, - Rivall’d the hyacinth in vernal bloom. - _Odyssey_, iv. - -In the hieroglyphics over persons employed with the spindle on the -Egyptian monuments, it is remarkable that the word _saht_, which -in Coptic signifies to twist, constantly occurs. The spindles were -generally of wood, and in order to increase their impetus in turning, -the circular head was occasionally of gypsum, or composition: some, -however, were of a light plaited work, made of rushes, or palm leaves, -stained of various colors, and furnished with a loop of the same -materials, for securing the twine after it was wound[21]. Sir Gardner -Wilkinson found one of these spindles at Thebes, with some of the linen -thread upon it, and is now in the Berlin Museum. - - [21] The ordinary distaff does not occur in these subjects, but we may - conclude they had it. Homer mentions one of gold, given to Helen by - “Alcandra the wife of Polybus,” who lived in Egyptian Thebes.--Od. - iv. 131. - -Theocritus has given us a very striking proof of the pleasure which the -women of Miletus took in these employments; for, when he went to visit -his friend Nicias, the Milesian physician, to whom he had previously -addressed his eleventh and thirteenth Idylls, he carried with him -an ivory distaff as a present for Theugenis, his friend’s wife. He -accompanied his gift with the following verses, which modestly commend -the matron’s industry and virtue, and, at the same time, throw an -interesting light on the domestic economy of the ladies of Miletus: - - O Distaff, friend to warp and woof, - Minerva’s gift in man’s behoof, - Whom careful housewives still retain, - And gather to their households gain; - With me repair, no vulgar prize, - Where the famed towers of Nileus rise[22], - Where Cytherea’s swayful power - Is worship’d in the reedy bower. - Thither, would Jove kind breezes send, - I steer my course to meet my friend, - Nicias, the Graces’ honor’d child, - Adorn’d with sweet persuasion mild, - That I his kindness may requite-- - May be delighted, and delight. - Thee, ivory distaff, I provide, - A present for his blooming bride; - With her thou wilt sweet toil partake - And aid her _various vests_ to make. - For Theugenis the shepherds shear - The sheep’s soft fleeces twice a year, - So dearly industry she loves - And all that wisdom points, approves, - I ne’er design’d to bear thee hence - To the dull house of Indolence; - For, in that city thou wert framed - Which Archias built, Corinthian named,-- - Fair Syracuse, Sicilia’s pride, - Where troops of famous men abide. - Dwell thou with him whose art can cure - Each dire disease that men endure; - Thee to Miletus now I give, - Where pleasure-crown’d Ionians live; - That Theugenis by thee may gain - Fair honor with the female train; - And thou renew within her breast - Remembrance of her muse-charm’d guest. - Admiring thee, each maid will call - The favor great, the present small; - For love the smallest gift commends, - All things are valued by our friends. - _Idyll_, xxviii. - - [22] Miletus was called “the towers of Nileus,” from its having been - founded by Nileus, the son of the celebrated king Codrus, who - devoted himself for the safety of Athens. Nileus was so indignant - at the abolition of royalty on his father’s death, that he migrated - to Ionia. - -The Roman and Grecian ladies displayed not less taste in the decoration -of their various spinning implements, than those of modern times in -the ornaments of their work-table. The _calathus_ or _qualus_ was -the basket in which the wool was kept for the fair spinsters. It was -usually made of wicker-work. Thus Catullus in his description of the -nuptials of Peleus and Thetis, says: - - The softest fleeces, white as driven snow, - Beside their feet in osier baskets glow. - _Poema_, lxiv. - -Homer asserts that the Egyptian queen Alcandra presented Helen with a -silver work-basket as well as a golden distaff (Odyss. iv.); and from -the paintings on ancient vases, we see that the _calathi_ of ladies -of rank were tastefully wrought and richly ornamented. From the term -_qualus_ or _quasillus_, equivalent to _calathus_, the Romans called -the female slaves employed in spinning _quasillariæ_. - -The material prepared for spinning was wrapped loosely round the -distaff, the wool being previously combed, or the flax hackled by -processes not very dissimilar to those used at the present day amongst -the peasantry in the west of Ireland. The ball thus formed on the -distaff required to be arranged with some neatness and skill, in order -that the fibres should be sufficiently loose to be drawn out by the -hand of the spinner. Ovid declares, that Arachne’s skill in this simple -process excited the wonder of the nymphs who came to see her triumphs -in the textile art, not less than the finished labors of the loom. - - Oft, to admire the niceness of her skill, - The nymphs would quit their fountain, shade, or hill: - Thither from green Tymolus they repair, - And leave the vineyards, their peculiar care; - Thither from fair Pactolus’ golden stream, - Drawn by her art, the curious Naids came. - Nor would the work, when finish’d, please so much - As while she wrought to view each graceful touch; - Whether the shapeless wool in balls she wound, - Or with quick motion turn’d the spindle round. - _Met_, vi. - -The distaff was generally about three feet in length, commonly a stick -or reed, with an expansion near the top for holding the ball. It was -sometimes, as we have shown, composed of richer materials. The distaff -was usually held under the left arm, and the fibres were drawn out -from the projecting ball, being, at the same time, spirally twisted -by the forefinger and thumb of the right hand. The thread so produced -was wound upon the spindle until the quantity was as great as it would -carry. - -The spindle was made of some light wood, or reed, and was generally -from eight to twelve inches in length. At the top of it was a slit, or -catch, to which the thread was fixed, so that the weight of the spindle -might carry the thread down to the ground as fast as it was finished. -Its lower extremity was inserted into a whorl, or wheel, made of stone, -metal, or some heavy material which both served to keep it steady and -to promote its rotation. The spinner, who, as we have said before, was -usually a female, every now and then gave the spindle a fresh gyration -by a gentle touch so as to increase the twist of the thread. Whenever -the spindle reached the ground a length was spun; the thread was then -taken out of the slit, or clasp, and wound upon the spindle; the clasp -was then closed again, and the spinning of a new thread commenced. All -these circumstances are briefly mentioned by Catullus, in a poem from -which we have already quoted:-- - - The loaded distaff, in the left hand placed, - With spongy coils of snow-white wool was graced; - From these the right hand lengthening fibres drew - Which into thread ’neath nimble fingers grew. - At intervals a gentle touch was given - By which the twirling whorl was onward driven. - Then, when the sinking spindle reach’d the ground, - The recent thread around its spire was wound, - Until the clasp within its nipping cleft - Held fast the newly-finish’d length of weft. - -In order to understand this description of Catullus, it is necessary -to bear in mind, that as the bobbin of each spindle was loaded with -thread, it was taken off from the whorl and placed in a basket until -there was a sufficient quantity for the weavers to commence their -operations. - -Homer incidentally mentions the spool or spindle on which the weft-yarn -was wound, in his description of the race at the funeral-games in honor -of Patroclus: - - Oileus led the race; - The next Ulysses, measuring pace with pace - Behind him, diligently close he sped, - As closely following as the running thread - The spindle follows, and displays the charms - Of the fair spinner’s breast, and moving arms. - _Iliad_, xxiii. - -In India women of all castes prepare the cotton thread for the weaver, -spinning it on a piece of wire, or a very thin rod of polished iron -with a ball of clay at one end; this they turn round with the left -hand, and supply the cotton with the right; the thread is then wound -upon a stick or pole, and sold to the merchants or weavers; for the -coarser thread the women make use of a wheel very similar to that of -the Irish spinster, though upon a smaller construction. (For further -information on the manufactures of India, their present state, &c., see -Part III.) - -The Reverend Mr. C. Forster of Great Britain, has lately published -a very curious work on Arabia, being the result of many years’ -untiring research in that part of the world; from which we learn the -very interesting fact, that the ancient Arabians were skilled in the -manufacture of _silken textures_, at as remote a period as within 500 -years of the flood! - -Mr. Forster has, it appears, succeeded in deciphering many very -remarkable inscriptions found on some ancient monuments near Adon on -the coast of Hadramant. These records, it is said, restore to the world -its earliest written language, and carry us back to the time of Jacob, -and within 500 years of the flood. - -The inscriptions are in three parts. The longest is of ten lines, -engraved on a smooth piece of rock forming one side of the terrace -at Hisn Ghorab. Then there are three short lines, found on a small -detached rock on the summit of the little hill. There are also two -lines found near the inscriptions, lower down the terrace. They all -relate to one transaction, an incident in Adite history. The tribe of -Ad, according to Mr. Sale, were descended from Ad the son of Aws or Uz, -the son of Aram, the son of Shem, the son of Noah. The event recorded -is the rout and entire destruction of the sons of Ac, an Arab tribe, by -the Aws or tribe of Ad, whom they invaded. In Mr. Forster’s book fac -similes are given of the inscription; the Aditie and the Hamyaritie -alphabet; and a glossary containing every word in them, its derivation, -and its explanation; with notes of copious illustration upon every -point which they involve. The first inscription of ten lines is thus -translated: - - We dwelt, living long luxuriously in the zananas of this spacious - mansion; our condition exempt from misfortune and adversity. Rolled in - through our channel. - - The sea, swelling against our castle with angry surge; our fountains - flowed with murmuring fall, above - - The lofty palms; whose keepers planted dry dates in our valley - date-grounds; they sowed the arid rice. - - We hunted the young mountain-goats and the young hares, with gins and - snares; beguiling we drew forth the fishes. - - We walked with slow, proud gait, IN NEEDLE-WORKED, MANY-COLORED SILK - VESTMENTS, IN WHOLE SILKS, IN GRASS-GREEN CHEQUERED ROBES[23]! - - Over us presided kings, far removed from baseness, and stern - chastisers of reprobate and wicked men. They noted down for us - according to the doctrine of Heber, - - Good judgments, written in books to be kept; and we proclaimed our - belief in miracles, in the _resurrection_, in the _return into the - nostrils of the breath of life_. - - Made an inroad robbers, and would do us violence; we rode forth, we - and our generous youth, with stiff and sharp-pointed spears; rushing - onward. - - Proud champions of our families and wives; fighting valiantly upon - coursers with long necks, dun-colored, iron-gray, and bright bay. - - With our swords still wounding and piercing our adversaries, until - charging home, we conquered and crushed this refuse of mankind. - - [23] Silk is the only material used for human clothing which Mohammed, - the impostor, introduces among the luxuries of Paradise. (See the - Koran, chap. 35.) - -On the subject of these inscriptions, Mr. Forster, in the dedication -of his book to the Archbishop of Canterbury, thus remarks: “What Job -(who, living in the opposite quarter of Arabia, amid the sands of the -great Northern desert, had no lasting material within reach on which to -perpetuate his thoughts,) so earnestly desired, stands here realized.” -“Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were printed in a -Book! That (like the kindred creed of the lost tribe of Ad) they were -_graven with an iron pen, and lead, in the rock forever_. (For mine -is a better and brighter revelation than theirs.) For I know that my -Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the -earth; and though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in the -flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall -behold, and not another.” - -That the Arabians should have understood the manufacture of silken -textures at as remote a period as that supposed by Mr. Forster, viz., -500 years after the flood, is, to say the least of it, exceedingly -questionable, yet it cannot be denied that we are indebted to them for -many useful inventions, and among which may be mentioned the art of -making _cotton paper_[24]. It is no less true that we first received -our cotton-wool from countries where the Arabic language was spoken. - -To the Arabs also we are indebted for that almost indispensable article -of apparel, the _shirt_, the Arabic name for which is _camees_, whence -the Italian _camiscia_, and the French _chemise_[25]. - -In the attempt here made to trace from the dark ages of antiquity -the progress of trades and manufactures so widely diffused over -the civilised world as those of cotton, linen, silk, wool, &c., -_chronological order_ is followed as closely as the nature of the -inquiry will permit. - - [24] See Appendix B. - - [25] For further information on Arabia, see Parts II. and III. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE CONTINUED TO THE FOURTH CENTURY. - - -SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING.--HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ATTAINED IN -THESE ARTS. - - Testimony of the Latin Poets of the Augustan - age--Tibullus--Propertius--Virgil--Horace--Ovid--Dyonisius - Perigetes--Strabo. Mention of silk by authors in the - first century--Seneca the Philosopher--Seneca the - Tragedian--Lucan--Pliny--Josephus--Saint John--Silius - Italicus--Statius--Plutarch--Juvenal--Martial--Pausanias--Galen--Clemens - Alexandrinus--Caution to Christian converts against the use - of silk in dress. Mention of silk by authors in the second - century--Tertullian--Apuleius--Ulpian--Julius Pollux--Justin. - Mention of silk by authors in the third century--Ælius - Lampidius--Vopiscus--Trebellius Pollio--Cyprian--Solinus--Ammianus - Marcellinus--Use of silk by the Roman emperors--Extraordinary - beauty of the textures--Use of water to detach silk from the - trees--Invectives of these authors against extravagance in - dress--The Seres described as a happy people--Their mode of traffic, - etc.--(Macpherson’s opinion of the Chinese.)--City of Dioscurias, - its vast commerce in former times.--(Colonel Syke’s account of - the Kolissura silk-worm--Dr. Roxburgh’s description of the Tusseh - silk-worm.) - -The next Authors, who make mention of silk, are the Latin poets of -the Augustan age, Tibullus and Propertius, Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. -The Parthian war, and the increased intercourse between the Roman -empire and the kingdoms of the East, had been the means of recently -introducing every kind of silken goods into more general use, although -these manufactures were still so rare as to be the objects of curiosity -and admiration, and were therefore well adapted to be brought in among -the embellishments of poetical imagery. - -The appearance of the silken flags attached to the gilt standards of -the Parthians (Florus iii. 11.) must have been a very striking sight -for the army of Crassus, contributing both to inflame their cupidity -and to alarm them with a sense of the power of their opponents. The -conflict here referred to took place in the year 54 B. C. In about 30 -years after this date the Roman empire obtained its greatest extension. -In the language of Petronius Arbiter (c. 119.), - - Th’ insatiate Roman spread his conquering arms - O’er land and sea, where’er heaven’s light extends. - -After these words he says, that among the richest productions of -distant climates the Seres sent their “new fleeces.” The remotest -countries thus contributed to increase the luxury of Rome, and we shall -now see how silk, one of the most costly and the most admired of its -recent acquisitions, was used by its poets to represent the polish -of elevated life and to adorn their language with rich and beautiful -allusions. The webs, which they mention, are either those still -obtained from Cos, or those imported from the country of the Seres. - - -TIBULLUS. - - A Coan vest for girls. - L. ii. 4. - - She may thin garments wear, which female Coan hands - Have woven, and in stripes dispos’d the golden bands. - L. ii. 6. - -The latter of these two passages is remarkable as showing that the Coan -women practised the elegant art of interweaving gold thread in their -silken webs. The gold was no doubt displayed in transverse stripes. - - -PROPERTIUS. - - Why thus, my life, display thy braided hair, - And heave beneath thin Coan webs thy bosom fair? - L. i. 2. - -In the next passage Propertius is speaking of his own Poetry, and -alludes to his frequent mention of Coan garments. - - If bright she walk in Coan vest array’d, - Through all this book will Coan be display’d. - L. ii. 1. - -ON A STATUE OF VERTUMNUS. - - My nature suits each changing form: - Turn’d into what you please, I’m fair. - Clothe me in Coan, I’m a decent lass, - Put on a toga, for a man I pass. - L. iv. 2. - - The texture of the Coan Minerva. - L. iv. 5. - - Who gives no Coan robe, but verse instead, - Artless shall be his lyre, his verses dead. - _Ibid._ - -The same poet (L. iv. 8. 23.) mentions “Serica carpenta,” chariots -with silk curtains; and the following line (L. i. 14. 22.) shows, that -couches with ornamented silk covers were then in use: - - Quid revelant variis Serica textilibus? - -Propertius also mentions silk under the name of the animal, which -produced it: - - Shines with the produce of th’ Arabian worm. - L. ii. 3. 15. - -In this line, as well as in some of those before quoted, he alludes to -the use of silk by females of indifferent character. He probably uses -the epithet _Arabian_, because the Roman merchants obtained silk from -the Arabs, who received it from Persia. - -VIRGIL. - - Soft wool from downy groves the Æthiop weaves, - And Seres comb their fleece from silken leaves. - _Georg._ ii. 120, 121.--Sotheby’s Translation. - -The poet is here enumerating the chief productions of different -countries, and therefore mentions cotton and silk. The idea, that silk -webs were manufactured from thin fleeces obtained from trees, will be -found recurring in many of the subsequent citations. It may have been -founded on reports brought by the soldiers of Crassus, or by others who -visited the interior of Asia about the same period. - -HORACE. - - Nor Coan purples, nor the blaze - Of jewels can bring back the days, - Which, fix’d by time, recorded stand, - By all, who read the Fasti, scann’d. - _Od._ _l._ iv. 13. (_ad Lycen._) 13-16. - - As if uncloth’d, she stands confess’d - In a translucent Coan vest. - _Sat._ i. 2. 101. - -These passages allude to the fineness and transparency of silken webs, -which in the time of Horace were worn at Rome only by prostitutes, -or by those women who aimed at being as attractive and luxurious as -possible in their attire. - -The former passage shows, that the silks manufactured in Cos were dyed -with the murex, “Coæ purpuræ.” - -The expression “Sericos pulvillos” (_Epod._ 8. 15.) has been supposed -to denote small cushions covered with silk. But the epithet “Sericos” -implies nothing more than that they were obtained from the Seres, who -supplied the Romans with skins as well as silk[26]; and leather seems -to have been a more proper substance than silk for making cushions. - - [26] Plin. xxxiv. cap. 24. - -OVID. - - Sive erit in Tyriis, Tyrios laudabis amictus, - Sive erit in Cois, Coa decere puta. - Aurata est: ipso tibi sit pretiosior auro; - Gausapa si sumsit, gausapa sumta proba. - _Ars Amat._ ii. 297-300. - - Whatever clothing she displays, - From Tyre or Cos, that clothing praise: - If gold shows forth the artist’s skill, - Call her than gold more precious still: - Or if she choose a coarse attire, - E’en coarseness, worn by her, admire. - -In another passage (_Amores_ i. 14. 5.) Ovid compares the thin hairs of -a lady to the silken veils of the Seres, - - Veils such as color’d Seres wear. - -We now proceed to the testimonies of authors who wrote either in Greek -or Latin at the latter part of the Augustan age, or immediately after -it. - -DYONISIUS PERIEGETES. - - Καὶ ἔθνεα βάρβαρα Σηρῶν, - Οἵτε βοὰς μὲν ἀναίνονται καὶ ἴφια μῆλα, - Αἰόλα δὲ ξαίνοντες ἐρήμης ἄνθεα γαίης, - Εἵματα τεύχουσιν πολυδαίδαλα, τιμήεντα, - Εἰδόμενα χροιῇ λειμωνίδος ἄνθεσι ποίης· - Κείνοις οὔτι κεν ἔργον ἀραχνάων ἐρίσειεν. (_l._ 755.) - - And the barbarous nations of the Seres, who renounce the care of sheep - and oxen, but comb the variously colored flowers of the desert land - to make precious figured garments, resembling in color the flowers of - the meadow, and rivalling (in fineness) the work of spiders.--Yates’s - Translation. - - -It is worthy of observation that Dyonisius speaks expressly not only of -the fineness of the thread, but of the _flowered texture_ of the silk. - -STRABO. - - Τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ Σηρικὰ, ἔκ τι νων φλοιῶν ξαινομένης βύσσου. - L. xv. 695. (v. vi. p. 40. _Tzschucke._) - -This is repeated by Eustathius on Dyonisius Periegetes[27]. The -account seems to have been taken by Strabo, perhaps inaccurately, from -Nearchus. It is doubtful, whether Σηρικὰ denoted silken webs in this -passage. But whatever Strabo meant, he supposed the raw material to be -scraped from the bark of trees[28]. - - [27] L. 1107. p. 308, Bernhardy. - - [28] Book ii. ch. 3. p. 307. - -As contemporary with the authors last quoted, Dyonisius and Strabo, -we may here mention the law passed by the Roman Senate early in -the reign of Tiberius, “Ne vestis Serica viros fœdaret.” _Taciti -Annales_, ii. 33. _Dion. Cass._ _l._ 57. p. 860. _Reim. Suidas in v._ -Τιβέριος[29]. Silk was to be worn by women only. - - [29] Dio Cassius (l. 43. p. 358. Rheim.) mentions as a report, that - Julius Cæsar employed silk curtains (παραπετάσματα Σηρικὰ) to add - to the splendor of his triumph. - -The next emperor Caligula had silk curtains to his throne (_Dion. -Cass. l._ 59. p. 915. _Reim._), and he wore silk as part of his dress, -when he appeared in public. Dio Cassius particularly mentions, that, -when he was celebrating a kind of triumph at Puteoli, he put on what -he alleged to be the _thorax_ of Alexander, and over that a silken -chlamys, dyed with the murex, and adorned with gold and precious -stones. On the following day he wore a tunic interwoven with gold[30]. -The use of shawls and tunics of silk was, however, except in the case -of the extravagances of a Caligula, still confined to the female sex. -Under the earlier emperors it is probable, that silk was obtained in -considerable quantities for the wardrobe of the empress, where it was -preserved from one reign to another, until in the year 176 Marcus -Aurelius Antoninus, the philosopher, in consequence of the exhausted -state of his treasury, sold by public auction in the Forum of Trajan -the imperial ornaments and jewels together with the golden and silken -robes of the Empress[31]. - - [30] In describing the effeminate dress of the emperor Caligula, - Suetonius tells us (_cap._ 52), that he often went into public, - wearing bracelets and long sleeves, and sometimes in a garment of - silk and a cyclas. - - [31] Jul. Capitol. c. xvii. p. 65. Bip. - -FIRST CENTURY. - -SENECA, THE PHILOSOPHER. - - Posse nos vestitos esse sine commercio Serum.--_Epist._ 91. - - We may clothe ourselves without any commerce with the Seres. - - Video Sericas vestes, si vestes vocandæ sunt, in quibus nihil est, - quo defendi aut corpus aut denique pudor possit: quibus sumtis mulier - parum liquidò nudam se non esse jurabit. Hæc ingenti summâ ab ignotis - etiam ad commercium gentibus accersunter, ut matronæ nostræ ne - adulteris quidem plus sui in cubiculo quam in publico ostendant.--_De - Beneficiis, L._ vii. _c._ 9. - - I see silken (Seric) garments, if they can be called garments, which - cannot afford any protection either for the body or for shame: on - taking which a woman will scarce with a clear conscience deny, that - she is naked. These are sent for at an enormous price from nations, - to which our commerce has not yet extended, in order that our matrons - may display their persons to the public no less than to adulterers in - their chamber!--Yates’s Translation. - -The Seres must be supposed to have dwelt somewhere in the centre of -Asia. Perhaps those geographers who represent Little Bucharia as their -country[32], are nearest the truth, and thus far neither Greeks nor -Romans had penetrated. Silk was brought to them “from nations, to which -even their commerce had not yet extended.” Hence their inaccurate ideas -respecting its origin[33]. - - [32] The position of Serica is discussed by Latreille in his paper - hereafter cited. See also Mannert. iv. 6. 6, 7. Brotier, Mém. de - l’Acad. des Inscrip. tom. 46. John Reinhold Forster (_De Bysso_, - p. 20, 21.) thinks that Little Bucharia was certainly the ancient - Serica. Sir John Barrow (_Travels in China_, p. 435-438.) thinks - the Seres were not the Chinese. - - [33] The first author who speaks of the Seres as a distinct nation, is - Mela, iii. 7. He describes them as a very honest people, who - brought what they had to sell, laid it down and went away, and - then returned for the price of it. The same account is given by - Eustathius, on Dyonisius, l. 752. p. 242, Bernhardy. - -SENECA, THE TRAGEDIAN. - - Nec Mæonià distinguit acu, - Quæ Phœbeis subditus Euris - Legit Eois Ser arboribus. - _Herc. Œtæus_, 664. - - Nor with Mæonian needle marks the web, - Gather’d by Eastern Seres from the trees. - - Seres, illustrious for their fleece. - - _Thyestes_, 378. - - Remove, ye maids, the vests, whose tissue glares - With purple and with gold; far be the red - Of Tyrian murex, and the shining thread, - Which furthest Seres gather from the boughs. - _Hyppolitus_, 386. (_Phædra loquitur._) - -At a very early period the art of dyeing had been carried to a very -great degree of perfection in Phœnicia. The method of dyeing woollen -cloths purple was, it is said, first discovered at Tyre. This color, -the most celebrated among the ancients, appears to have been brought to -a degree of excellence, of which we can form but a very faint idea: - - “In oldest times, when kings and hardy chiefs - In bleating sheep-folds met, for purest wool - Phœnicia’s hilly tracts were most renown’d, - And fertile Syria’s and Judæa’s land, - Hermon, and Seir, and Hebron’s brooky sides, - Twice with the murex, crimson hue, they ting’d - The shining fleeces--hence their gorgeous wealth; - And hence arose the walls of ancient Tyre[34].” - - [34] Old Tyre was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar in the second year after - the destruction of Jerusalem, or 584 B. C. - -LUCAN. - - Candida Sidonio perlucent pectora filo, - Quod Nilotis acus percussum pectine Serum - Solvit, et extenso laxavit stamina velo. - L. x. 141. - Her snowy breast shines through Sidonian threads, - First by the comb of distant Seres struck, - Divided then by Egypt’s skilful toil, - And with embroidery transparent made. - -The poet is describing the dress of Cleopatra. He supposes her to have -worn over her breast a piece of silk, woven by the Seres, imported -through Sidon into Egypt, and then embroidered. By the last process, -in which the Egyptians greatly excelled, the threads were in part -separated, so as to exhibit the appearance of lace, and to allow the -white breast of the queen to be visible through the texture. - - Amidst the braidings of her flowing hair, - The spoils of orient rocks and shells appear: - Like midnight stars, ten thousand diamonds deck - The comely rising of her graceful neck; - Of wondrous work, a thin transparent lawn - O’er each soft breast in decency was drawn, - Where still by turns the parting threads withdrew, - And all the panting bosom rose to view. - Her robe, her every part, her air confess - The power of female skill exhausted in her dress. - _Pharsalia_, x. - - In glowing purple rich the coverings lie, - Twice had they drunk the noblest Tyrian dye - Others, as Pharian artists have the skill - To mix the party-color’d web at will, - With winding trails of various silks were made, - Whose branching gold set off the rich brocade. - _Ibid._ - -With this description we compare that of Seneca, which represents silk -as embroidered in Asia Minor, with the “Mæonian needle.” - - -PLINY - -speaks copiously and repeatedly of the manufacture of silk. -Nevertheless we learn from him scarce anything, which we did not know -from the earlier authorities. His accounts are taken from Aristotle, -from Varro, and probably also from persons who accompanied the Parthian -expeditions, or who engaged in the trade with inner Asia. But according -to his usual manner, when he speaks of what he has not himself seen, -he confounds accounts from different witnesses, which are inconsistent -with one another. He asserts that the bombyx was a native of Cos; but -it is not probable that the women of that island would, in such case, -have recourse to the laborious operation of converting foreign finished -goods into threads for their own weaving. It is, therefore, only -reasonable to suppose that whatever manufacture was carried on from the -raw material, was, like that of Tyre or Berytus, composed of unwrought -silk imported from the East. It is mentioned both by Theophanes and -Zonares, the Byzantine historians, that before silk-worms were brought -to Constantinople in the middle of the sixth century, no person in -that capital knew that silk was produced by a worm; a tolerably strong -evidence that none were reared so near to Constantinople as Cos. - -Pliny’s account of the Coan bombyx is evidently a cloud of fable and -absurdity, in which, however, we may discern a few lines of truth, -probably derived from the accounts of the silk-worm of the Seres. - - -JOSEPHUS - -says, that the emperors Titus and Vespasian wore silk dresses[35], -when they celebrated at Rome their triumph over the Jews. - - [35] De Bello Jud. vii. 5. 4. - - -SAINT JOHN. - -Silk (Σηρικὸν) occurs but once in the New Testament, Rev. xviii. 12. -It is here mentioned in a curious enumeration of all the most valuable -articles of foreign traffic. - - -SILIUS ITALICUS. - - Seres lanigeris repetebant vellera lucis. _Punica._ vi. 4. - Seres took fleeces from the woolly groves. - - Munera rubri - Præterea Ponti, depexaque vellera ramis, - Femineus labor. _Ib._ xiv. 664. - - The produce of the Erythræan seas, - And fleeces comb’d by women from the trees[36]. - - Videre Eoi (monstrum admirabile!) Seres - Lanigeros cinere Ausonio canescere lucos. - _Ib._ xvii. 595, 596. - - The Seres’ woolly groves, O wondrous sight! - In the far East, were with Italian ashes white. - - [36] See latter part of Chapter viii. Part First. - -In the last passage Silius is describing the effects of the recent -eruption of Mount Vesuvius, A. D. 79. That its ashes should reach the -country of the Seres, whether it was in Persia or China, would indeed -have been “Monstrum admirabile!” - - -STATIUS. - - Seric (i. e. _silken_) palls. - _Sylvæ_, iii. 4. 89. - - -PLUTARCH - -dissuades the virtuous and prudent wife from wearing silk[37]. He -mentions, that webs of silk and fine linen were at the same time thin -and compact or close[38]. - - [37] Conjugailia Præcepta, tom. vi. p. 550. ed. Reiske. - - [38] De Pythiæ Orac. c. iv. p. 557. Reiske. - - -JUVENAL - -speaks of women, - - Quarum - Delicias et panniculus bombycinus urit. _Sat._ vi. 259. - Whose beauty e’en a silken veil o’erheats. - - -MARTIAL. - - Nec vaga tam tenui discursat aranea tela, - Tam leve nec bombyx pendulus urget opus. _L._ viii. 33. - - The spider traces not so thin a line, - Nor does the pendent silk-worm spin so fine. - - Fœmineum lucet sic per bombycina corpus, - Calculus in nitida sic numeratur aqua. _L._ viii. 68. - - Thus through her silk a lady’s body looks, - Thus count we pebbles in the sparkling brooks. - - De Pallatinis dominæ quod Serica prelis. - _L._ xi. 9. - -Here Martial alludes to the employment of presses (_prela_) for -preserving the garments of silk and other precious materials, belonging -to the Empress, in the same way, in which we now use presses to keep -table-linen. He says to a lady (L. ix. 38.), - - Nec dentes aliter, quam Serica, nocte reponas. - Your teeth at night, like silks, you lay aside. - -In another passage (L. xi. 27.) he speaks of silken goods (_Serica_) as -procurable in the Vicus Tuscus at Rome: and lastly in L. xiv. _Ep._ 24, -he mentions ribbons or fillets of silk as used for adorning the hair. - - Tenuia ne madidi violent bombycina crines, - Figat acus tortas, sustineatque comas. - - Lest your moist hair defile the ribbons thin, - Twist it in knots, and fix it with a pin. - - -PAUSANIAS, - -a native of Asia Minor, and an inquisitive traveller in the second -century, gives the following distinct account of Sericum according to -the ideas received among the Greeks in his time. - - The threads from which the Seres make webs, are not the produce of - bark, but are obtained in the following manner. There is an animal - in that country, which the Greeks call _Ser_, but which _they_ call - by some other name. Its size is twice that of the largest beetle. - In other respects it resembles the spiders, _which weave under the - trees_. It has also the same number of feet as the spider, namely, - eight[39]. In order to breed these creatures, the Seres have houses - adapted both for summer and winter. The produce of the animal is a - fine thread twisted about its legs. The Seres feed it four years on - “panicum.” In the fifth year they give it green reed, of which it is - so fond as to eat of it until it bursts, and after this the greatest - part of the thread is found within its body[40]. - - [39] This does not apply to the silk-worm, which has sixteen legs, in - pairs: six proper legs before, and ten holders behind. (See Figure - 1. Plate iii.) - - [40] _L._ vi. 26. p. 125. ed. Siebel. - -The most interesting circumstance, mentioned by Pausanias, is the -breeding of the silk-worms within doors in houses adapted both for -summer and winter. There seems no reason to doubt the truth of this -fact; and, if admitted, it proves, that their country, the Serica of -the ancients, lay so far North, or was so elevated, as to have a great -difference of temperature in summer and in winter. It is remarkable, -that in China the worms are now reared in small houses, and this -practice has long prevailed in that country[41]. - - [41] Barrow’s Travels in China, p. 437, &c. Résumé des Traités Chinois, - &c. traduit par Julien, p. 70-72. 77-80. The practice is here shown - to have prevailed as early as the fifth century B. C. - - -GALEN - -recommends silk thread for tying blood-vessels in surgical operations, -observing that the opulent women in many parts of the Roman empire -possessed such thread, especially in the great cities[42]. He also -mentions cloths of silk and gold in his treatise, c. 9. (_Hippocratis -et Galeni Opp. ed. Chartier_, tom. vi. p. 533.): - - [42] Methodus Medendi, l. xiii. c. 22. - - “Of this kind are the shawls _interwoven with gold_, the materials of - which are brought from afar, and which are called Seric or silk.” - - -CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS, - -dissuading the Christian convert from luxury in dress, thus speaks: - - Εἰ δὲ συμπεριφέρεσθαι χρὴ, ὀλίγον ἐνδοτέον αὐταῖς μαλακωτέροις χρῆσθαι - τοῖς ὑφάσμασιν· μόνον τὰς μεμωρημένας λεπτουργίας, καὶ τὰς ἐν ταῖς - ὑφαῖς περιέργους πλοκὰς ἐκποδὼν μεθιστάντας· νῆμα χρυσοῦ, καὶ σῆρας - Ἰνδικοὺς, καὶ τοὺς περιέργους βόμβυκας χαίρειν ἐῶντας, ὃς σκώληξ - φύεται τὸ πρῶτον· εἶτα ἐξ αὐτοῦ δασεῖα ἀναφαίνεται κάμπη. μεθ’ ἣν - εἰς τρίτην μεταμόρφωσιν νεοχμοῦται βομβύλιον· οἱ δὲ νεκύδαλον αὐτὸ - καλοῦσιν· ἐξ οὗ μακρὸς τίκτεται στήμων, καθάπερ ἐκ τῆς ἀράχνης ὁ τῆς - ἀράχνης μίτος.--_Pædag._ ii. 10. - - But, if it is necessary to accommodate ourselves to the women, let - us concede to them the use of cloths, which are a little softer, - only refusing that degree of fineness, which would imply folly, and - such webs as are _excessively labored_ and _intricate_; bidding - farewell to gold thread, and to the Indian Seres, and that industrious - bombyx, which is first a worm, then puts on the appearance of a hairy - caterpillar, and hence passes, in the third place, into a Bombylius, - or, as some call it, a Necydalus; and out of which is produced a long - thread, in the same manner as the thread of the spider. --_Yates’s - Translation._ - -The use of the epithet “Indian” in this passage may be accounted for -from the circumstance, that in the time of the writer silken goods were -brought to Alexandria and other cities of Egypt from India. Clemens has -evidently borrowed this description from Aristotle. - - -SECOND CENTURY. - - -TERTULLIAN. - -thus describes the Bombyx: - - Vermiculi genus est, qui per aërem liquando aranearum horoscopis - idoneas sedes tendit, dehinc devorat, mox alvo reddere; proinde si - necaveris, animata jam stamina volves. - - It is a kind of worm, which extends abodes like the _dials of spiders_ - by floating them through the air. It then devours them so as to - restore them to its stomach. Therefore, if you kill it, you will roll - living threads. (See chap. ix.) - -In the same treatise (_De Pallio_, c. 4.) we find the following notice: - - Such as Hercules was in the silk of Omphale. - -Soon after, the same author, speaking of Alexander the Great, says, - - Vicerat Medicam gentem, et victus est Medicâ veste:----pectus - squamarum signaculis disculptum, textu pellucido tegendo, nudavit: et - anhelum adhuc ab opere belli, ut mollius, ventilante serico extinxit. - Non erat satis animi tumens Macedo, ni illum etiam vestis inflatior - delectâsset. - - He had conquered the Medes, and was conquered by a Median garment. - When his breast exhibited the sculptured resemblances of scales, he - covered it with a pellucid texture, which rather laid it bare; panting - from the work of war, he cooled and mollified it by the use of silk, - exposing it to the wind. It was not sufficient for the Macedonian to - have a tumid mind; he required to be delighted also with an inflated - garment. - -He afterwards says of a philosopher, - - He went wearing a garment of silk, and sandals of brass. - -Again he says of a low character, “_She exposes her silk to the wind_.” - -In his treatise on Female Attire he mentions silk in relation to -Milesian wool, and he concludes that treatise in the following terms: - - Manus lanis occupate, pedes domi figite, et plus quam in auro - placebitis. Vestite vos serico probitatis, byssino sanctitatis, - purpurâ pudicitiæ. - - Employ your hands with wool; keep your feet at home. Thus will you - please more than if you were in gold. Clothe yourselves with the silk - of probity, with the fine linen of sanctity, and with the purple of - modesty. - -Lastly, this author says (_Adv. Marcionem_, _l._ i. p. 372.), - - Imitare, si potes, apis ædificia, formicæ stabula, aranei retia, - bombycis stamina. - - Imitate, if thou canst, the constructions of the bee, the retreats of - the ant, the nets of the spider, the threads of the silk-worm. - - -APULEIUS. - - Prodeunt, mitellis, et crocotis, et carbasinis, et bombycinis injecti. - * * * Deamque, serico contectam amiculo, mihi gerendam imponunt. - _Metamorphoseon_, _l._ viii. _p._ 579, 580. _ed. Oudendorpii._ - - They came forward, wearing ribbons, and cloths of a saffron color, of - cotton, and of silk, loosely thrown over them. * * * And they place on - me the Goddess covered with a small silken scarf, to be carried by me. - - Hic incinctus baltheo militem gerebat; illum succinctum chlamyde, - copides et venabula venatorem fecerant; alius soccis obauratis, - indutus serica veste, mundoque pretioso, et adtextis capite crinibus, - incessu perfluo feminam mentiebatur. _Ibid._ _l._ xi. _p._ 769. - - One performed the part of a soldier, girt with a sword; another - had his chlamys tucked up by a belt, and carried scimitars and - hunting-poles, as if engaged in the chace; another, wearing gilt - slippers, a silken tunic, precious ornaments, and artificial hair, by - his flowing attire represented a woman. - - -ULPIAN. - -Vossius, in his _Etymologicum Linguæ Latinæ_, in the learned -and copious article SERICUM, says, “Inter _sericum_ et -_bombycinum_ discrimen ponit Ulpianus, l. xxiii. de aur. arg. leg. -‘Vestimentorum sunt omnia lanea, lineaque, vel serica, vel bombycina.’” - - -JULIUS POLLUX. - - The Bombyces are worms, which emit from themselves threads, like the - spider. Some say, that the Seres collect their webs from animals of - this kind. L. vii. 76. p. 741.--_Kühn._ - - -JUSTIN - -evidently refers to the use of silken garments in his account of the -customs of the Parthians, where he says, - - They formerly dressed after their own fashion. After they became rich, - they adopted the pellucid and flowing garments of the Medes. L. xli. - c. 2. - -All doubt, whether the transparent garments, mentioned by Justin, were -of silk, must be removed by the authority of Procopius, from whom we -shall hereafter cite ample and important testimony in reference to the -time when he lived, and who in the two following passages expressly -states, that the webs, called by the Greeks in his time _Seric_, were -more anciently denominated _Median_. - -Among the valuable and curious effects of the emperor Commodus, which -after his death (A. D. 192.) were sold by his successor Pertinax, was a -garment with a woof of silk, of a bright yellow color, the appearance -of which was more beautiful than if the material had been interwoven -with threads of gold[43]. - - [43] Vestis subtegmine serico, aureis filis insignior.--Jul. Capitolini - Pertinax, c. 8. in Scrip. Hist. Augustæ. - - -THIRD CENTURY. - -The authorities now quoted supply evidence respecting the use of silk -among the Greeks and Romans down to the end of the second century. -It is rarely mentioned by any writer belonging to the following -century[44]; so far as we have discovered, only by the three historians -now to be quoted, by Cyprian, and by Solinus. But we have from these -historians some remarkable accounts of the regard paid to it by the -emperors Heliogabalus, Alexander Severus, Aurelian, Claudius II., -Tacitus, and Carinus, all of whom reigned in the third century. - - [44] Mannert (Geogr. iv. 6. 7. p. 517.) attributes the excessive - dearness of silk in the third century to the victories of the - Persians, which at that time cut off all direct communication - between Serica and the western world. - -ÆLIUS LAMPRIDIUS says (c. 26.), that the profligate and -effeminate emperor Heliogabalus was the first Roman, who wore cloth -made wholly of silk, the silk having been formerly combined with other -less valuable materials, and, in consequence of his example, the -custom of wearing silk soon became general among the wealthy citizens -of Rome. He mentions (c. 33) among the innumerable extravagances of -this emperor, that he had prepared a silken rope of purple and scarlet -colors to hang himself with. - -Of the emperor Alexander Severus he says (c. 40), that he himself had -few garments of silk, that he never wore a tunic made wholly of silk, -and that he never gave away cloth made of silk mixed with less valuable -materials. - -The following is the testimony of Flavius Vopiscus in his life of the -emperor Aurelian. - - Aurelian neither had himself in his wardrobe a garment wholly of silk, - nor gave one to be worn by another. When his own wife begged him to - allow her to have a single shawl of purple silk, he replied, Far be it - from us to permit thread to be reckoned worth its weight in gold. For - a pound of gold was then the price of a pound of silk. c. 45. - -Although the above mentioned restrictions in the use of silk may be -partly accounted for from the usual severity of Aurelian’s character, -yet the facts here stated abundantly show the rarity and high value of -this material in that age. - -Flavius Vopiscus further states, that the emperor Tacitus made it -unlawful for men to wear silk unmixed with cheaper materials. Carinus, -on the other hand, made presents of silken garments, as well as of -gold and silver, to Greek artificers, and to wrestlers, players, and -musicians. - -TREBELLIUS POLLIO, in his life of Claudius II. (c. 14 -_and_ 17.), twice mentions white garments of silk mixed with cheaper -materials, which were destined for that emperor. - - -CYPRIAN, - -Bishop of Carthage in the third century, inveighs in the following -terms against the use of silk: - - Tu licet indumenta peregrina et vestes sericas induas, nuda es. Auro - te licet et margaritis gemmisque condecores, sine Christi decore - deformis es. _De Lapsis_, _p._ 135. _ed. Fell._ - - Although thou shouldest put on a tunic of foreign silk, thou art - naked; although thou shouldest beautify thyself with gold, and pearls, - and gems, without the beauty of Christ thou art unadorned. - -Also in his treatise on the dress of Virgins he says, - - Sericum et purpuram indutæ, Christum induere non possunt: auro et - margaritis et monilibus adornatæ, ornamenta cordis et pectoris - perdiderunt. - - Those who put on silk and purple, cannot put on Christ: women, adorned - with gold and pearls and necklaces, have lost the ornaments of the - heart and of the breast. - -In the same place he gives us a translation of the well-known passage -of Isaiah enumerating the luxuries of female attire among the Jews: -“In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling -ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like -the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, -and the ornaments of the legs, and the head-bands, and the tablets, -and the ear-rings, the rings, and nose-jewels, the changeable suits of -apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, the -glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils.” Isaiah in. -18-23. - - -SOLINUS, - - Primos hominum Seres cognoscimus, qui, aquarum aspergine inundatis - frondibus, vellera arborum adminiculo depectunt liquoris, et lanuginis - teneram subtilitatem humore domant ad obsequium. Hoc illud est - sericum, in quo ostentare potius corpora quàm vestire, primò feminis, - nunc etiam viris persuasit luxuriæ libido. _Cap._ 1. - - The Seres first, having inundated the foliage with aspersions of - water, combed down fleeces from trees by the aid of a fluid, and - subdued to their purposes the tender and subtile down by the use of - moisture. The substance so prepared is silk; that material in which at - first women, but now even men, have been persuaded by the eagerness of - luxury rather to display their bodies, than to clothe them. - - -AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS. - -This historian describes the Seres as “a quiet and inoffensive people -who, avoiding all quarrels with their neighbors, are exempt from the -distresses and alarms of war, and not being under the necessity of -using offensive arms, do not even know their use, and occupy a fertile -country under a delicious and healthy climate. He represents them as -passing their happy life in the most perfect tranquillity and the most -delicious repose amidst shady thickets refreshed by pleasant zephyrs, -and where the soil furnishes so soft a wool, that after having been -sprinkled with water and combed, it forms cloths resembling silk.” - -Marcellinus proceeds to describe the Seres as being content with their -own felicitous condition, and so reserved in their intercourse with the -rest of mankind, that when foreigners venture within their boundaries -for wrought and unwrought silk, and other valuable articles, they -consider the price offered in silence, and transact their business -without exchanging a word; a mode of traffic which is still practised -in some eastern countries. - -Macpherson, in the Annals of Commerce, a very valuable work, thinks -that according to all appearances, the Seres were themselves the -authors of this story, in order to make strangers believe that their -country enjoyed all these benefits by the peculiar blessing of heaven, -and that no other nation could participate in them. - -The remarks of Solinus and Ammianus conspire to show, how much more -common silk had become about the end of the third century, being then -worn, at least with a warp of cheaper materials, by men as well as -by women, and not being confined to the noble and the wealthy. These -authors likewise dilate upon the use of showers of water to detach silk -from the trees on which it was found. According to Pliny and Solinus, -water was also employed after the silk was gathered from the trees[45]: -and probably the fact was so. Silk, as it comes from the worm, contains -a strong gum, which would be dissolved by the showers of water dashed -against the trees, and thus the cocoons, being loosened from the leaves -and twigs, would be easily collected. In the subsequent processes, -water would be further useful in enabling the women to spin the silk or -to wind it upon bobbins. - - [45] “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.” - -It may be observed that in this use of water art only follows nature. -When the moth is ready to leave its cell, it always softens the -extremity of it by emitting a drop of fluid, and thus easily obtains -for itself a passage. In the third volume of the Transactions of the -Royal Asiatic Society (p. 543.), Colonel Sykes gives the following -account of the process by which the moth of the Kolisurra silk-worm -liberates itself from confinement. “It discharges from its mouth a -liquor, which dissolves or loosens that part of the cocoon adjoining to -the cord which attaches it to the branch, causing a hole, and admitting -of the passage of the moth. The solvent property of this liquid is very -remarkable; for that part of the cocoon, against which it is directed, -although previously as hard as a piece of wood, becomes soft and -pervious as wetted brown paper.” - -In the seventh volume of the Linnæan Transactions, is an account -by Dr. Roxburgh of the Tusseh silk-worm. Both species are natives -of Bengal. The cocoons require to be immersed in cold water before -the silk can be obtained from them. In the latter species it is too -delicate to be wound from the cocoons, and is therefore spun like -cotton. Thus manufactured it is so durable, that the life of one person -is seldom sufficient to wear out a garment made of it, and the same -piece descends from mother to daughter. (See Chap. VIII. of this Part.) - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE FROM THE THIRD TO THE SIXTH CENTURY. - - -SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING.--HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ATTAINED IN -THESE ARTS. - - Fourth century--Curious account of silk found in the Edict of - Diocletian--Extravagance of the Consul Furius Placidus--Transparent - silk shifts--Ausonius describes silk as the produce of - trees--Quintus Aur Symmachus, and Claudian’s testimony of silk - and golden textures--Their extraordinary beauty--Pisander’s - description--Periplus Maris Erythræi--Dido of Sidon. Mention - of silk in the laws of Manu--Rufus Festus Avinus--Silk - shawls--Marciannus Capella--Inscription by M. N. Proculus, silk - manufacturer--Extraordinary spiders’ webs--Bombyces compared to - spiders--Wild silk-worms of Tsouen--Kien and Tiao-Kien--M. Bertin’s - account--Further remarks on wild silk-worms. Christian authors of the - fourth century--Arnobius--Gregorius Nazienzenus--Basil--Illustration - of the doctrine of the resurrection--Ambrose--Georgius - Pisida--Macarius--Jerome--Chrysostom--Heliodorus--Salmasius--Extraordinary - beauty of the silk and golden textures described by these - authors--Their invectives against Christians wearing - silk. Mention of silk by Christian authors in the fifth - century--Prudentius--Palladius--Theodosian Code--Appollinaris - Sidonius--Alcimus Avitus. Sixth century--Boethius. (Manufactures of - Tyre and Sidon--Purple--Its great durability--Incredible value of - purple stuffs found in the treasury of the King of Persia.) - - -FOURTH CENTURY. - -Some curious evidence respecting the use of silk, both unmixed with -linen and with the warp of linen, or some inferior material, is found -in the EDICT OF DIOCLETIAN, which was published A. D. 303 for -the purpose of fixing a maximum of prices for all articles in common -use throughout the Roman Empire[46]. The passage pertaining to our -present subject, is as follows: - -Sarcinatori in veste soubtili replicat(u)ræ * sex -Eidem aperturæ cum subsutura olosericræ * quinquaginta -Eidem aperturæ cum subsutura su(b)sericæ * triginta -(Sub)suturæ in veste grossiori * quattuor. - - Denarii[47]. -To the Tailor for lining a fine vest 6 -To the same for an opening and an edging with silk 50 -To the same for an opening and an edging with stuff - made of a mixed tissue of silk and flax 30 -For an edging on a coarser vest 4 - _Colonel Leake’s translation._ - - [46] It was edited A. D. 1826, by Colonel Leake, as a sequel to his - Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor, and is also published in Tr. of - the Royal Society of Literature, vol. i. p. 181. - - [47] A Roman coin of the value of about sixteen or seventeen cents, - called Denarii from the letter X upon it; which denoted _ten_. - -This document proves, in exact conformity with the passages quoted -from Solinus and Ammianus, that silk had come into general use at -the commencement of the fourth century. It is also manifest from -this extract, that silk was employed in giving to garments a greater -proportion of intricacy and ornament than had been in use before. - -The authors who make mention of silk in the fourth and following -centuries are very numerous. We shall first take the heathen authors, -and then the Christian writers, whose observations often have some -moral application, which gives them an additional interest. - -The unknown author of the Panegyric on the emperor Constantine, -pronounced A. D. 317, thus mentions silk as characterizing oriental -refinement. - - Facile est vincere timidos et imbelles, quales amœna Græcia et deliciæ - Orientis educunt, vix leve pallium et sericos sinus vitando sole - tolerantes. - - It is easy to vanquish the timid and those unused to war, the - offspring of pleasant Greece and the delightful East, who, whilst they - avoid the heat of the sun, can scarcely bear even a light shawl and - folds of silk. - -The testimony of the Roman historian FLAVIUS VOPISCUS, in -reference to the practice of the emperor Aurelian and the dearness of -silk during his reign, has already been produced. This author, in his -life of the same emperor, makes the following remarks on a display of -silk which he had himself recently witnessed. - - We have lately seen the Consulate of Furius Placidus celebrated in - the Circus with so great eagerness for popularity, that he seemed to - give not prizes, but patrimonies, presenting tunics of linen and silk, - borders of linen, and even horses, to the great scandal of all good - men. - -The exact period here referred to is no doubt the Consulship of -Placidus and Romulus, A. D. 343. - -In the Epistles of ALCIPHRON (i. 39.) Myrrhine, a courtesan, -loosens her girdle, which probably fastened her upper garment or shawl. -Her _shift_ was silk, and so transparent as to show the _color_ of her -skin. - - -AUSONIUS - -satirizes a rich man of mean extraction, who nevertheless made lofty -pretensions to nobility of birth, pretending to be descended from -Mars, Romulus, and Remus, and who therefore caused their images to be -embossed upon his plate and _woven_ in a silken shawl.--Epig. 26. - -In the following line, he alludes to the production of silk in the -usual terms: - - Vellera depectit nemoralia vestifluus Ser. - _Idyll._ 12. - - The Ser remote, in flowing garments drest, - Combs down the fleeces, which the trees invest. - - -QUINTUS AUR SYMMACHUS. - -This distinguished officer, in a letter to the Consul Stilicho, -apologizes in the following terms for his delay in sending a -contribution of Holoseric pieces, that is, webs wholly made of silk, to -the public exhibitions. - - Others have deferred supplying the water for the theatre and the - Holoseric pieces, so that I have examples in my favor.--_Epist._ _l._ - iv. 8. - -In a letter to Magnillus (_l._ v. 20.) he speaks of Subseric pieces, -webs made only in part of silk, as presents; - - At your instigation the Subseric pieces have been supplied, which - my men kept back after the price had been settled; and likewise - everything else pertaining to the prizes which were to be given. - - -CLAUDIAN - -mentions silk in numerous passages. This poet, in describing the -consular robes of the two brothers Probinus and Olybrius (A. D. 395.), -represents the Gabine Cincture, by which the toga was girt over the -breast, as made of silk. - -In the following passage he represents the two brothers, Honorius -and Arcadius, as dividing the empire of the world between them and -receiving tributes of its productions from the most distant regions: - - Vestri juris erit, quicquid complectitur axis. - Vobis rubra dabunt pretiosas æquora conchas, - Indus ebur, ramos Panchaia, vellera Seres. - _De III. Cons. Honorii_, _l._ 209-211. - - To you the world its various wealth shall send: - Their precious shells the Erythrean seas; - India its iv’ry, Araby its boughs, - The distant Seres fleeces from the trees. - -In a poem, which immediately succeeds this in the order of time, -Claudian describes a magnificent toga, worn by Honorius on being -appointed a fourth time consul, by saying, that it received its color -(_the Tyrian purple_) from the Phœnicians; its woof (_of silk forming -stripes or figures_) from the Seres; and its weight (_produced by -Indian gems_) from the river Hydaspes[48]. Again, in his poem on the -approaching marriage of Honorius and Maria, he mentions yellow silk -curtains (_l._ 211.) as a decoration of the nuptial chamber. - - [48] De IV. Cons. Honorii, i. 600, 601. - -Again he says (_in Eutrop._ _l._ i. _v._ 225, 226. 304. _l._ ii. _v._ -337.): - - Te grandibus India gemmis, - Te foliis Arabes ditent, te vellere Seres. - - Let India with her gems thy wealth increase, - The Arabs with their leaves, the Seres with their fleece. - -He also mentions with delight the use of gold in dress, as well as -of silk. The following passage represents the manner in which Proba, -a Roman matron, near the end of the fourth century, expressed her -affectionate congratulations on the elevation of her two sons to the -Consulship, by preparing robes _interwoven with gold_ for the ceremony -of their installation. - - With joy elated at this proud success, - Their venerable mother now prepares - The golden trabeas, and the cinctures bright - With Seric fibres shorn from woolly trees: - Her well-train’d thumb protracts the length’ning gold, - And makes the metal to the threads adhere. - _In Probini et Olybrii Consulatum_, _l._ 177-182. - -From these verses we learn that Proba had herself acquired the art of -_covering the thread with gold_, and that she then used her gold thread -in the _woof_ to form the stripes or other ornaments of the consular -trabeæ. These are afterwards called stiff togas (_togæ rigentes_, _l._ -205.), on account of the rigidity imparted to them by the gold thread. - -The same poet gives an elaborate description of a Trabea which he -supposes to have been woven by the Goddess Rome with the aid of Minerva -for the use of the Consul Stilicho. Five different scenes are said to -have been _woven_ in this admirable robe (_regentia dona, graves auro -trabeas_), and certain parts of them were wrought in gold[49]. - - [49] In I. Cons. Stilichonis, L. ii. 330-359. - -Again, Claudian supposes Thetis to have woven scarfs of gold and purple -for her son Achilles: - - Ipsa manu chlamydes ostro texebat et auro. (_Ep._ 35.) - -The epigram in which this line occurs, seems to imply that Serena, -mother-in-law of the Emperor Honorius, wove garments of the same kind -for him. - -Maria, the daughter of the above-mentioned Stilicho, was bestowed -by him upon Honorius, but died shortly after, about A. D. 400. In -February, 1544, the marble coffin, containing her remains, was -discovered at Rome. In it were preserved a garment and a pall, -which, on being burnt, yielded 36 _pounds of gold_. There were also -found a great number of glass vessels, jewels, and ornaments of all -kinds, which Stilicho had given as a dowry to his daughter[50]. We -may conclude, that the garments discovered in the tomb of Maria -were _woven_ by the hands of her mother Serena, since the epigram -of Claudian proves that she wove robes of a similar description for -Honorius, and probably on the same occasion. Anastasius Bibliothecarius -says, that when Pope Paschal was intent on finding the body of St. -Cæcilia, having performed mass with a view to obtain the favor of a -revelation on the subject, he was directed A. D. 821 to a cemetery on -the Appian Way near Rome, and there found the body enveloped in cloth -of gold[51]. Although there is _no_ reason to believe, that the body -found by Paschal was the body of the saint pretended, yet it may have -been the body of a Roman lady who had lived some centuries before, and -probably about the time of Honorius and Maria. - - [50] Surii Comment. Rerum Gest. ab anno 1500, &c. - - [51] “Aureis vestitum indumentis.” DE VITIS ROM. Pontificum Mogunt. - 1602, p. 222. - -Pisander, who belonged to the same period (900 B. C.) with Homer, -speaks of the _Lydians_ as _wearing tunics adorned with gold_. Lydus -observes, that the Lydians were supplied with gold from the sands of -the Pactolus and the Hermus[52]. - - [52] De Magistratibus Rom. L. iii. § 64. - -Virgil also represents the use of gold in weaving, as if it had existed -in Trojan times. One of the garments so adorned was manufactured by -_Dido_, the _Sidonian_, one by Andromache, and another was in the -possession of Anchises[53]. In all these instances the reference is to -the habits of Phœnice, Lycia, or other parts of Asia. - - [53] Æn. iii. 483.; iv. 264.; viii. 167.; xi. 75. - -He describes an ape ludicrously attired in a silk jacket; and, -inveighing against the progress of luxury, he speaks of some to whom -even silk garments were a burthen. In elaborate descriptions of the -figured consular robes (the Trabeæ) of Honorius and Stilicho, he -mentions the _reins and other trappings of horses_, as being wrought in -silk[54]. - - [54] Rubra Serica, De VI. Cons. Honor. I. 577. Serica Fræna. In I. - Cons. Stilichonis 1. ii. V. 350. - -The frequent allusions to silk in the complimentary poems of Claudian, -receive illustration from various imperial laws, which were promulgated -in the same century, and in part by the very emperors to whom his -flattery is addressed, and which are preserved in the CODE OF -JUSTINIAN. Their object was not to encourage the silk manufacture, -but, on a principle very opposite to that of modern times, to make -it an imperial monopoly. The admiration excited by the splendor and -elegance of silk attire was the ground, on which it was forbidden that -any individual of the _male sex_ should wear even a silken border upon -his tunic or pallium, with the exception of the emperor, his officers -and servants. To confine the enjoyment of these luxuries more entirely -to the imperial family and court, all private persons were strictly -forbidden engaging in the manufacture, gold and silken borders were to -be made only in the imperial Gynæcea[55]. - - [55] See the Corpus Juris Civilis, Lugduni 1627, folio, tom. v. Codex - Justiniani, l. x. tit. vii. p. 131. 134. - - -THE PERIPLUS MARIS ERYTHRÆI. - -In this important document on ancient geography and commerce, we find -repeated mention of silk in its raw state, in that of thread, and -woven[56]. These articles were conveyed down the Indus to the coast -of the Erythrean Sea. They were also brought to the great mart of -Barygaza, which was on the Gulf of Cambay near the modern Surat, and -to the coast of Lymirica, which was still more remote. The author of -the Periplus states, that they were carried by land through Bactria to -Barygaza from a great city called _Thina_, lying far towards the North -in the interior of Asia. He of course refers to some part of Serica. -It is remarkable, that he makes no mention of silk as the native -production of India. - - [56] Arriani Opp., vol. ii. Blancardi, pp. 164. 170. 173. 177. - -Silk is mentioned in two passages of the laws of Manu, viz. XI. v. -168, and XII. v. 64. It is, however, observed by Heeren, who quotes -passages of the Ramayana that make mention of silk, that garments of -this material are there represented as worn only on festive occasions, -and that they were undoubtedly Seric or Chinese productions[57]. Indeed -it appears that the cloth made from the thread of the native worms of -Hindostan, although highly valued for strength and durability, is not -remarkable for fineness, beauty, or splendor. - - [57] Ideen über die Politik, &c. der alten Welt, i. 2. pp. 647. 648. - 665-668. 677. 3rd edition. Göttingen, 1815. - - -RUFUS FESTUS AVIENUS. - -This author, adopting the common notion of his time, supposes the Seres -to spin thread from fleeces which were produced upon the trees. He -also mentions silk shawls (_Serica pallia_, _l._ 1008.) as worn by the -female Bacchantes of Ionia in their processions in honor of Bacchus; -and it is worthy of remark, that they are not mentioned in the original -passage of Dionysius, the author whom Avienus translates, so that we -may reasonably infer, that the use of them on these occasions was -introduced between the time of Dionysius (about 30 B. C.) and that of -Avienus (A. D. 400). - - -MARTIANUS CAPELLA. - - Beyond these (_the Anthropophagi_) are the Seres, who asperse their - trees with water to obtain the down, which produces silk. - L. vi. _p._ 223. _ed. Grotii_, 1599. - -The following Inscription is given in Gruter, Tom. iii. p. -DCXLV. It was found at Tivoli, and expresses that M. N. -Proculus, _silk-manufacturer_, erected a monument to Valeria Chrysis, -his excellent and deserving wife. - - D. M. - VALERIAE. CHRYSIDI. - M. NVMIVS. PROCVLVS. - SERICARIVS. - CONJVGI. SVAE. - OPTIMÆ. BENEM. - FECIT. - -Before proceeding to the Christian writers of the 4th and following -centuries we may now introduce the remarks of Servius on the passage -formerly quoted from Virgil. He is supposed to have written about A. D. -400. - - Among the Indians and Seres there are on the trees certain worms, - called Bombyces, which draw out very fine threads after the manner of - spiders; and these threads constitute silk. - -It will be seen hereafter, that these “Indian Seres” were the -inhabitants of Khotan in Little Bucharia. - -The frequent comparison of Bombyces to spiders by the ancients suggests -the inquiry whether they employed the thread of any kind of spider -to make cloth, as was attempted in France by M. Bon. The failure of -his attempt is sufficient, as it appears, to show, that the extensive -manufacture of garments from this material must have been scarcely -possible in ancient times. It is also to be observed, that the -ancients, when they compare the silk-worm to the spider, refer to the -spider’s _web_, whereas M. Bon, not finding the web strong enough, made -his cloth from the thread with which the spider envelopes its eggs[58]. - - [58] The most extraordinary account of a spider’s web, which we have - ever seen, is that given by Lieutenant W. Smyth. He says, “We - saw here (_viz._ at Pachiza, on the river Huayabamba in Peru) a - gigantic spider’s web suspended to the trees: it was about 25 _feet - in height_, and near 50 _in length_; the threads were very strong, - and it had the empty sloughs of thousands of insects hanging on it. - It appeared to be the habitation of a great number of spiders of a - larger size than we ever saw in England.” Narrative of a Journey - from Lima to Para, London, 1836, p. 141. - - For some interesting notices of the great spider of Brazil the - reader is referred to Caldcleugh’s Travels in South America, London - 1825, vol. i. ch. 2. p. 41; and to the Rev. R. Walsh’s Notices - of Brazil, London 1830, vol. ii. p. 300, 301. Mr. Caldcleugh - “_assisted in liberating from a spider’s net a bird of the size of - a swallow, quite exhausted with struggling, and ready to fall a - prey to its indefatigable enemies_.” Mr. Walsh had his light straw - hat removed from his head by a similar web extending from tree - to tree in an opening through which he had occasion to pass. He - wound upon a card several of the threads composing the web; and he - observes, that, as these spiders are gregarious, the difficulties - experienced by M. Bon from the ferocity of the solitary European - spiders in killing and devouring one another, would not exist if - the attempt were made to obtain clothing from the former. - - In the forests of Java Sir George Staunton “found webs of spiders, - woven with threads of so strong a texture as not easily to be - divided without a cutting instrument.”--Account of Lord Macartney’s - Embassy to China, London 1797, vol. i. ch. 7. p. 302. (See Chap. - IX.) - -But, although we have no reason to believe, that the web of any spider -was anciently employed to make cloth, yet these accounts may have -referred to worms, possibly varieties of the silk-worm, which spun long -threads floating in the air. The common silk-worm spins and suspends -itself by its thread, long before it begins its cocoon. It appears -probable, therefore, that there may have been wild varieties of this -creature, or perhaps other species of the same genus, which in the -earlier stages of their existence spun threads long enough for use. We -ground this conjecture partly on the following passage from Du Halde’s -History of China[59]. - - [59] Vol. ii. p. 359, 360, 8vo. edition, London, 1736. - - “The province of Chan-tong produces a particular sort of silk, which - is found in great quantities on the trees and in the fields. It is - spun and made into a stuff called _Kien-tcheou_. This silk is made - by little insects that are much like caterpillars. They do not spin - an oval or round cocoon, like the silk-worms, but very long threads. - These threads, as they are driven about by the winds, hang upon the - trees and bushes, and are gathered to make a sort of silk, which is - coarser than that made of the silk spun in houses. But these worms are - wild, and eat indifferently the leaves of mulberry and other trees. - Those who do not understand this silk would take it for unbleached - cloth, or a coarse sort of drugget. - - “The worms, which spin this silk, are of two kinds: the first, - much larger and blacker than the common silk-worms, are called - _Tsouen-kien_; the second, being smaller, are named _Tiao-kien_. The - silk of the former is of a reddish gray, that of the latter darker. - The stuff made of these materials is between both colors, it is very - close, does not _fret_, is very lasting, washes like linen, and, when - it is good, receives no damage by spots, even though oil were to be - shed on it. - - “This stuff is much valued by the Chinese, and it is sometimes as - dear as satin or the finest silks. As the Chinese are very skilful at - counterfeiting, they make a false sort of _Kien-tcheou_ with the waste - of the Tche-kiang silk, which without due inspection might easily be - taken for the genuine article.” - -This account affords a remarkable illustration of many of the -expressions of the ancient writers, such as “Bombyx pendulus urget -opus,” _Martial_; “Per aerem liquando aranearum horoscopis idoneas -sedes tendit,” _Tertullian_; “In aranearum morem tenuissima fila -deducunt,” _Servius_. - -In further illustration of the subject, and as tending to show -that the _Kien-tcheou_ is manufactured from the thread of a -silk-worm, modified in its habits and perhaps in its organization by -circumstances, we shall now quote a few passages from a work having the -following title: “_China; its costume, arts, manufactures, &c., edited -from the originals in the cabinet of M. Bertin, with observations by M. -Breton. Translated from the French. London, 1812._” _Vol._ iv. _p._ 55, -_&c._ - - “The wild silk-worms are found in the hottest provinces of China, - especially near Canton. They live indifferently on all sorts of - leaves, particularly on those of the ash, the oak, and the fagara, and - spin a greyish and rarely white silk. The coarse cloth manufactured - from it is called _Kien-tcheou_, will bear washing, and on that - account persons of quality do not disdain to wear clothes of it. With - this silk also the strings of musical instruments are made, because it - is stronger and more sonorous. - - “Entomologists treat but very superficially of the habits of the wild - silk-worms, while they dwell in minute detail on the method of rearing - them in Provence. - - “It is between the nineteenth and twenty-second day of their - existence, that they undertake the great work of spinning their - cocoon. They curve a leaf into a kind of cup, and then form a cocoon - as large and nearly as hard as a hen’s egg! This cocoon has one end - open like a reversed funnel; it is a passage for the butterfly, which - is to come out. - - “The oak-worms are slower in making their cocoon than those of the - fagara and ash, and they set about it differently. Instead of bending - a single leaf, they roll themselves in two or three and spin their - cocoon. It is larger, but the silk is inferior in quality, and of - course not so valuable. - - “The cocoons of wild silk-worms are so strong and compact, that the - insects encounter great difficulty in extricating themselves, and - therefore remain inclosed from the end of the summer, to the spring - of the following year. These butterflies, unlike the domestic insect, - fly very well.--The domestic silk-worm is but a variety of the wild - species. It is fed on the leaves of the mulberry tree.” (See chap. - VIII.) - -The circumstance that the worms were sometimes fed with oak-leaves is -mentioned in Du Halde’s History of China, vol. ii. p. 363. - -Here then we have a justification of the ancients in asserting, both -that the silk-worms produced _long threads and webs floating in the -air like those of spiders_, and that they fed upon the leaves of the -oak, the ash, and many other trees. It may be recollected, that Pliny -expressly mentions both the oak (_quercus_) and the ash (_fraxinus_). - -Until very lately the use of silk among the ancients was investigated -only by philologists. Within a few years M. Latreille, an entomologist -of the highest distinction, has directed his attention to the subject -and has examined particularly the above-cited passages of Aristotle, -Pliny, and Pausanias[60]. He never supposes the ancient Sericum to -have been the produce of anything except the silk-worm. But of this -there are several varieties, partly perhaps natural, and partly the -result of domestication. He endeavors to explain some parts of Pliny’s -description by showing their seeming correspondence with some of the -practices actually observed by the Orientals in the management of -silk-worms. - - [60] M. Latreille’s paper is published in the Annales des Sciences - Naturelles, tome xxiii. pp. 58-84. - -An account of the wild silk-worms of China is to be found in the -“Mémoires concernant l’Histoire, les Sciences, les Arts, &c., des -Chinois,” compiled by the missionaries of Peking[61]. This account is -principally derived from the information of Father D’Incarville, one -of the missionaries. It coincides generally with the accounts already -quoted from Du Halde and Breton. We extract the following particulars -as conveying some further information: - - [61] Tome ii. pp. 579-601. Paris, 1777, 4to. This Memoir is reprinted - with abridgments as an Appendix to Stanislas Julien’s Translation - of the Chinese Treatise on the Breeding of Silk-worms, Paris, 1837, - 8vo. - - “The Chinese annals from the year 150 B. C. to A. D. 638 make frequent - mention of the great quantity of silk produced by the wild worms, and - observe that their cocoons were as large as eggs or apricots.” - -The following passage is also deserving of attention: “Le papillon de -ces vers sauvages, dit le Père d’Incarville, est à ailes vitrées.” This -information, if correct, would prove that there was at least one kind -of wild silk-worms in China, which was a different species from the -Phalæna Mori; for that has no transparent membranes in its wings, and -would not be likely to receive them in consequence of any change in its -mode of life. - -We now proceed to take the Christian authors of the fourth and -following centuries in the order of time. - - -ARNOBIUS (A. D. 306.) - -thus speaks of the heathen gods: - - They want the covering of a garment: the Tritonian virgin must spin a - thread of extraordinary fineness, and according to circumstances put - on a tunic either of mail, or silk[62]. - - [62] Adv. Gentes, l. iii. p. 580, ed. Erasmi. - - -GREGORIUS NAZIENZENUS, CL., A. D. 370. - -The following passage contains, we believe, the earliest allusion to -the use of silk in the services of the Christian Church. - - Ἄλλοι μὲν χρυσόν τε καὶ ἄργυρον, οἱ δὲ τὰ Σηρῶν - Δῶρα φέρουσι θεῷ νήματα λεπταλέα. - Καὶ Χριστῷ θυσίην τὶς ἁγνὴν ἀνέθηκεν ἑαυτον· - Καὶ σπένδει δακρύων ἄλλος ἁγνὰς λιβάδας. - - _Ad Hellenium pro Monachis Carmen._ - _tom._ ii. _p._ 106. _ed. Par._ 1630. - - Silver and gold some bring to God - Or the fine threads by Seres spun: - Others to Christ themselves devote, - A chaste and holy sacrifice, - And make libations of their tears. - Yates’s Translation. - - -BASIL, CL., A. D. 370. - -Although this celebrated author was a native of Asia Minor, and had -studied in Syria and Palestine, he appears to have known the silk-worm -only from books and by report. His description of it in the following -passage, in which we first find the beautiful illustration of the -doctrine of a _resurrection_ from the change of the chrysalis, is -chiefly copied from Aristotle’s account as formerly quoted. - - Τί φάτε οἱ ἀπιστοῦντες τῷ Παύλῳ περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν - ἀλλοιώσεως, ὁρῶντες πολλὰ τῶν ἀερίων τὰς μορφὰς μεταβάλλοντα; ὁποῖα - καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰνδικοῦ σκώληκος ἱστορεῖται τοῦ κερασφόρου· ὃς εἰς κάμπην - τὰ πρῶτα μεταβαλὼν, εἶτα προϊὼν βομβυλιὸς γίνεται, καὶ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ ταύτης - ἵσταται τῆς μορφῆς, ἀλλὰ χαύνοις καὶ πλατέσι πετάλοις ὑποπτεροῦται. - Ὅταν οὖν καθέζησθε τὴν τούτων ἐργασίαν ἀναπηνιζόμεναι αἱ γυναῖκες, - τὰ νήματα λέγω, ἃ πέμπουσιν ὑμῖν οἱ Σῆρες πρὸς τὴν τῶν μαλακῶν - ἐνδυμάτων κατασκευὴν, μεμνημέναι τῆς κατὰ τὸ ζῶον τοῦτο μεταβολῆς, - ἐναργῆ λαμβάνετε τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἔννοιαν, καὶ μὴ ἀπιστεῖτε τῇ ἀλλαγῇ, - ἣν Παῦλος ἅπασι κατεπαγγέλλεται.--_Hexahemeron_, _p._ 79. _A. Ed. - Benedict._ - - What have you to say, who disbelieve the assertion of the Apostle - Paul concerning the change at the resurrection, when you see many - of the inhabitants of the air changing their forms? Consider, for - example, the account of the horned worm of India, which (i. e. the - silk-worm) having first changed into a caterpillar (_eruca_, or - _veruca_), then in process of time becomes a cocoon (_bombylius_, or - _bombulio_), and does not continue even in this form, but assumes - light and expanded wings. Ye women, who sit winding upon bobbins - the produce of these animals, namely the threads, which the Seres - send to you for the manufacture of fine garments, bear in mind the - change of form in this creature; derive from it a clear conception of - the resurrection; and discredit not that transformation which Paul - announces to us all.--Yates’s Translation. - -When St. Basil says of the new-born moth, that “it assumes light -and expanded wings,” the beauty of the comparison in illustrating -the Christian doctrine of the resurrection is enhanced, when we -consider that in its _wild_ state the moth flies very well, although, -when domesticated, its flight is weak and its wings small and -shrivelled[63]: but still more beautiful does the figure become, if we -suppose a reference to those larger and more splendid Phalænæ which -produce the coarser kinds of silk in India, and probably in China also. - - [63] The Phalæna Atlas, apparently a native of China, measures eight - inches across the wings from tip to tip. - -Basil is the _first_ writer, who distinctly mentions the change of -the silk-worm from a Chrysalis to a moth. In his application of that -fact he addresses himself to his countrywomen in Asia Minor, and his -language represents them sitting and winding on bobbins the raw silk -obtained from the Seres and designed to be afterwards woven into cloth. - -Between these two authors, Aristotle and Basil, we observe a difference -of phraseology which appears deserving of notice. While they both -describe the women, not as spinning the silk, but as _winding it on -bobbins_, they designate the material so wound by two different names. -Basil uses the term νήματα, which might be meant to imply that the silk -came from the Seres in skeins as it comes to us from China: Aristotle, -on the contrary, uses the term βομβύκια, which can only refer to the -state of silk before it is wound into skeins. As it might appear -impossible to convey it in this state to Cos, we shall here insert from -the authorities already quoted, the Chinese Missionaries, an account of -the process by which the cocoons are prepared for winding, and it will -then be seen, that the cocoons might have been transported to any part -of the world. - -“To prepare the cocoons of the wild silk-worms, the Chinese cut the -extremities of them with a pair of scissors. They are then put into a -canvass bag, and immersed for an hour or more in a kettle of boiling -lye, which dissolves the gum. When this is effected, they are taken -from the kettle; pressed to expel the lye, and then laid out to dry. -Whilst they are still moist, the chrysalises are extracted; each -cocoon is then turned inside out, so as to make a sort of cowl. It is -necessary only, to put them again into lukewarm water, after which ten -or twelve of them are capped one upon another like so many thimbles, to -insert a small distaff through them, when the silk may be reeled off.” - -Basil, in one of his Homilies, (_Opp. tom._ ii. _p._ 53. 55. _ed. -Benedict._) inveighs against the ladies of Cæsarea, who employed -themselves in weaving gold; and he is no less indignant at their -husbands who adorned even their horses with cloths of gold and scarlet -as if they were bridegrooms. - -The author of a Treatise “De disciplinâ et bono pudicitiæ,” which is -usually published with Cyprian, and which may be referred to the fourth -or fifth century, thus speaks (_Cypriani Opera, ed. Erasmi, p._ 499.): - - To weave gold in cloth is, as it were, to adopt an expensive method of - spoiling it. Why do they interpose stiff metals between the delicate - threads of the warp? - -The same censure is implied in the following address of Alcimus Avitus -to his sister. - - Non tibi gemmato posuere nonilia collo, - Nec te contexit, neto quæ fulguratauro - Vestis, ductilibus concludens fila talentis: - Nec te Sidonium bis coeti muricis ostrum - Induit, aut rutilo perlucens purpura succo, - Mollia vel tactu quæ mittunt vellera Seres: - Nec tibi transfossis fixerunt auribus aurum. - - No threaded gems have pressed thy sparkling neck: - No cloth, with lines incased in ductile gold, - Or twice with the Sidonian murex dyed, - Has glittered on thee: thou hast never worn - The fleeces soft which distant Seres send: - Nor are thy ears transfixed for pendent gold. - -The effect of such exhortations as the preceding, was to induce -piously disposed persons to apply pieces of gold cloth to _public_ -and _sacred_, instead of private purposes. After this period we find -continual instances of their use in the decoration of churches and in -the robes of the priesthood. - - -AMBROSE, CL. A. D. 374. - - Sericæ vestes, et auro intexta velamina, quibus divitis corpus - ambitur, damna viventium, non subsidia defunctorum sunt.--_De Nabutho - Jezraelitâ_, _cap._ i. _tom._ i. _p._ 566. _Ed. Bened._ - - Silken garments, and veils interwoven with gold, with which the body - of the rich man is encompassed, are a loss to the living, and no gain - to the dead. - -Here we think it not out of place to introduce the account of the -silk-worm by Georgius Pisida, who flourished about A. D. 640, although -he lived at Constantinople after the breeding of silk-worms had been -introduced there. According to him the silk-worm pines or moulders -almost to nothing in its tomb, and then returns to its former shape. -The verses are however deserving of attention for their elegance, and -for the repetition of Basil’s idea, which Ambrose has left out, of the -analogy between the restoration of the silk-worm and the resurrection -of man. - - Ποῖος δὲ καὶ σκωλήκα Σηρικὸν νόμος - Πείθει τὰ λαμπρόκλωστα νήματα πλέκειν, - Ἃ, τῇ βαφῇ χρωσθέντα τῆς ἁλουργίδος, - Χαυνοῖ τὸν ὄγκον τῶν κρατούντων ἐμφρόνως; - Μνήμη γὰρ αὐτοὺς εὐλαβῶς ὑποτρέχει, - Ὅτι πρὸ αὐτῶν τῆς στολῆς ἡ λαμπρότης - Σκώληκος ἦν ἔνδυμα καὶ φθαρτὴ σκέπη, - Ὃς, τῇ καθ’ ἡμᾶς μαρτυρῶν ἀναστάσει, - Θνῆσκει μὲν ἔνδον τῶν ἑαυτοῦ νημάτων, - Τὸν αὐτὸν οἶκον καὶ ταφὴν δεδεγμένος, - Σχεδὸν δὲ παντὸς τοῦ κατ’ αὐτὸν σαρκίου - Σαπέντος ἢ ῥυέντος ἢ τετηγμένου, - Χρονόυ καλοῦντος ἐκ φθορᾶς ὑποστρέφει, - Καὶ τὴν πάλαι μόρφωσιν ἀῤῥήτως φύει - Ἐν τῷ περιττεύσαντι μικρῷ λειψάνῳ, - Πρὸς τὴν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς σωματούμενος πλάσιν. - _l._ 1265-1282. - - What law persuades the Seric worm to spin - Those shining threads, which, dyed with purple hue, - Inflate, yet check the pride of mighty men? - For, whilst they blaze in grand attire, the thought - Steals on,--This splendid robe once cloth’d a worm: - Type of our resurrection from the grave, - It dies within the tomb itself has spun, - That perishing abode, which is at once - Its house and tomb; in which it rots away, - Till at the call of time it gladly leaves - Corruption, and its ancient shape resumes. - A little remnant of its mould’ring flesh, - By processes unspeakable and dark, - Restores the wonders of its earliest form. - Yates’s Translation. - - -MACARIUS, CL., A. D. 373. - -This author gives us an additional proof (_Homil._ 17, § 9,) that the -use of silken clothing was characteristic of dissolute women. - - -JEROME, CL., A. D. 378. - -This great author mentions silk in numerous passages. - -In his translation of Ezekiel xxvii. he has supposed silk (_sericum_) -to be an article of Syrian and Phœnician traffic as early as the time -of that prophet. - -In his beautiful and interesting Epistle to Læta on the Education of -her Daughter (_Opp. Paris_, 1546, _tom._ i. _p._ 20. C.), he says: - - Let her learn also to spin wool, to hold the distaff, to place the - basket in her bosom, to twirl the spindle, to draw the threads with - her thumb. Let her despise the webs of silk-worms, the fleeces of the - Seres, and gold beaten into threads. Let her prepare such garments as - may dispel cold, not expose the body naked, even when it is clothed. - Instead of gems and silk, let her love the sacred books, &c. - - Because we do not use garments of silk, we are reckoned monks; because - we are not drunken, and do not convulse ourselves with laughter, - we are called restrained and sad: if our tunic is not white, we - immediately hear the proverb, He is an impostor and a Greek.--_Epist. - ad Marcellum, De Ægrotatione Blesillæ, tom._ i. _p._ 156, _ed. - Erasmi_, 1526. - - You formerly went with naked feet; now you not only use shoes, but - even ornamented ones. You then wore a poor tunic and a _black_ shirt - under it, dirty and pale, and having your hand callous with labor; now - you go adorned with linen and silk, and with vestments obtained from - the Atrebates and from Laodicea.--_Adv. Jovinianum, l._ ii. _Opp. ed. - Paris_, 1546, _tom._ ii. _p._ 29. - -In the following he further condemns the practice of wrapping the -bodies of the dead in cloth of gold: - - Why do you wrap your dead in garments of gold? Why does not ambition - cease amidst wailings and tears? Cannot the bodies of the rich go to - corruption except in silk?--_Epist._ L. ii. - - You cannot but be offended yourself, when you admire garments of silk - and gold in others.--_Epist._ L. ii. No. 9, _p._ 138, _ed. Par._ 1613, - _12mo._ - - -CHRYSOSTOM, CL., A. D. 398. - - Ἀλλὰ σηρικὰ τὰ ἱμάτια; ἀλλὰ ῥακίων γέμουσα ἡ ψυχή. - _Comment. in Psalm 48. tom._ v. _p._ 517. _ed. Ben._ - - Does the rich man wear silken shawls? His soul however is full of - tatters. - - Καλὰ τὰ σηρικὰ ἱμάτια, ἀλλὰ σκωλήκων ἐστὶν ὕφασμα. - (_Quoted by Vossius, Etym. Lat. p._ 466.) - - Silken shawls are beautiful, but the production of worms. - -Chrysostom also inveighs against the practice of embroidering shoes -with silk thread, observing that it was a shame even to wear it woven -in shawls. Such is the change of circumstances, that now even the -poorest persons of both sexes, if decently attired, have silk in their -shoes. - - -HELIODORUS, CL., A. D. 390. - -This author, describing the ceremonies at the nuptials of Theagenes -and Chariclea, says, “The ambassadors of the Seres came, bringing the -thread and webs of their spiders, one of the webs dyed _purple_ (!), -the other white.” _Æthiopica, lib._ x. _p._ 494. _Commelini._ - -Salmasius (_in Tertullianum de Pallio, p._ 242.) quotes the following -passage from _an uncertain author_. - - Ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ παρόντος βίου τερπνότης Ἰνδικῷ σκωληκιῷ, ὅπερ τῷ - φυλλῷ τοῦ δένδρου συντυλιχθὲν, καὶ τῇ τροφῇ ἀσχοληθὲν, συνεπνίγη ἐν - αὐτῷ τοῦ μεταξίου κουκουλίῳ. - - The pleasure of the present life is like the Indian worm, which, - having involved itself in the leaf of the tree and having been - satisfied with food, chokes itself in the cocoon of its own - thread.--Yates’s Translation. - -This writer, whoever he was, appears to have had a correct idea of the -manner in which the silk-worm wraps itself in a leaf of the tree, on -which it feeds, and spins its tomb within[64]. - - [64] In the Royal Museum of Natural History at Leyden are eight or ten - cocoons of the Phalæna Atlas from Java. They consist of a strong - silk, and are formed upon the leaves of a kind of Ficus. The first - layer of the cocoon covers the whole of a leaf, and receives the - exact impress of its form. Then two or three other layers are - distinctly perceptible. Two or three leaves are joined together to - form the cocoon. In regard to the looseness of the layers these - cocoons do not correspond to M. Breton’s description of the cocoons - of the wild silk-worms of China, which are very strong and compact, - and therefore more resemble those of the Phalæna Paphia. - - -FIFTH CENTURY. - - -PRUDENTIUS, CL., A. D. 405. - -The following sentence occurs in a speech of St. Lawrence at his -martyrdom: - - Hunc, qui superbit serico, - Quem currus inflatum vehit; - Hydrops aquosus lucido - Tendit veneno intrinsecus. - _Peristeph. Hymn._ ii. _l._ 237-240. - - See him, attir’d in silken pride, - Inflated in his chariot ride; - The lucid poison works within, - Dropsy distends his swollen skin. - -In another Hymn to the honor of St. Romanus we find the following lines: - - Aurum regestum nonne carni adquiritur? - Inlusa vestis, gemma, bombyx, purpura, - In carnis usum mille quæruntur dolis. - _Peristeph. Hymn._ x. - - To please the flesh a thousand arts contend: - The miser’s heaps of gold, the figur’d vest, - The gem, the silk-worm, and the purple dye, - By toil acquir’d, promote no other end. - -In the same Hymn (_l._ 1015.) Prudentius describes a heathen priest -sacrificing a bull, and dressed _in a silken toga_ which is held up by -the Gabine cincture (_Cinctu Gabino Sericam fultus togam_). Perhaps, -however, we ought here to understand that the cincture only, not the -whole toga, was of silk. It was used to fasten and support the toga by -being drawn over the breast. - -In two other passages this poet censures the progress of luxury in -dress, and especially when adopted by men. - - Sericaque in fractis fluitent ut pallia membris - _Psychomachia, l._ 365. - - The silken scarfs float o’er their weaken’d limbs. - - Sed pudet esse viros: quærunt vanissima quæque - Quîs niteant: genuina leves ut robora solvant, - Vellere non ovium, sed Eoo ex orbe petitis - Ramorum spoliis fluitantes sumere amictus, - Gaudent, et durum scutulis perfundere corpus. - Additur ars, ut fila herbis saturata recoctis - Inludant varias distincto stamine formas. - Ut quæque est lanugo feræ mollissima tactu, - Pectitur. Hunc videas lascivas præpete cursu - Venantem tunicas, avium quoque versicolorum - Indumenta novis texentem plumea telis: - Ilium pigmentis redolentibus, et peregrino - Pulvere femineas spargentem turpitur auras. - _Hamartigenia, l._ 286-298. - - They blush to be call’d men: they seek to shine - In ev’ry vainest garb. Their native strength - To soften and impair, they gaily choose - A flowing scarf, not made of wool from sheep, - But of those fleeces from the Eastern world, - The spoil of trees. Their hardy frame they deck - All o’er with tesselated spots: and art - Is added, that the threads, twice dyed with herbs, - May sportively intwine their various hues - And mimic forms, within the yielding warp. - Whatever creature wears the softest down, - They comb its fleece. This man with headlong course - Hunts motley tunics which inflame desire, - _Invents new looms_, and weaves a feather’d vest, - Which with the plumage of the birds compares: - That, scented with cosmetics, basely sheds - Effeminate foreign powder all around. - - -PALLADIUS. - -A work remains under the name of Palladius on “The Nations of India -and the Brachmans.” Whether it is by the same Palladius, who wrote the -Historia Lausiaca, is disputed. But, as we see no reason to doubt, that -it may have been written as early as his time, we introduce here the -passages, which have been found in it, relating to the present subject. -The author represents the Bramins as saying to Alexander the Great, -“You envelope yourselves in soft clothing, like the silk-worms.” (_p._ -17. _ed. Bissœi._) It is also asserted, that Alexander did not pass -the Ganges, but went as far as Serica, where the silk-worms produce -raw-silk (p. 2.). - -In the London edition this tract is followed by one in Latin, bearing -the name of St. Ambrose and entitled DE MORIBUS BRACHMANORUM. -It contains nearly the same matter with the preceding. The writer -professes to have obtained his information from “Musæus Dolenorum -Episcopus,” meaning, as it appears from the Greek tract, Moses, Bishop -of Adule, of whom he says, - - Sericam ferè universam regionem peragravit: in quâ refert arbores - esse, quæ non solum folia, sed lanam quoque proferunt tenuissimam, ex - quâ vestimenta con ficiuntur, quæ Serica nuncupantur. _p._ 58. - - He travelled through nearly all the country of the Seres, in which, he - says, that there are trees producing not only leaves, but the finest - wool, from which are made the garments called Serica. - -These notices are not devoid of value as indicating what were the first -steps to intercourse with the original silk country. It may however -be doubted, whether the last account here quoted is a modification of -the ideas previously current among the Greeks and Romans, or whether -it arose from the mistakes of Moses himself, or of other Christian -travellers into the interior of Asia, _who confounded the production of -silk with that of cotton_. - - -THE THEODOSIAN CODE, - -published A. D. 438, mentions silk (_sericam et metaxam_) in various -passages. - - -APOLLINARIS SIDONIUS, CL., A. D. 472. - -Describing the products of different countries, this learned author -says (_Carmen._ v. _l._ 42-50), - - Fert - Assyrius gemmas, Ser vellera, thura Sabæus. - - Th’ Assyrian brings his gems, the Ser - His fleeces, the Sabean frankincense. - -In a passage (_Carmen._ xv.), he mentions a pall, - - Cujus bis coctus aheno - Serica Sidonius fucabat stamina murex. - - The Tyrian murex, twice i’ th’ cauldron boil’d, - Had dyed its silken threads. - -The expression here used, indicates that the silk thread was brought -from the country of the Seres to be dyed in Phœnice. In Horace we have -already noticed the “Coæ purpuræ.” - -A passage from the Burgus Pontii Leontii (_Carmen._ xxii.), shows that -the same article (_Serica fila_) was imported into Gaul. - -In the same author (_l._ ii. _Epist. ad Serranum_) we meet with -“Sericatum toreuma.” The latter word probably denoted a carved sofa or -couch. The epithet “sericatum” may have referred to its silken cover. - -The same author describes Prince Sigismer, who was about to be married, -going in a splendid procession and thus clothed: - - Ipse medius incessit, flammeus cocco, rutilus auro, lacteus serico. - - _L._ iv. _Epist. p._ 107. _ed. Elmenhorstii_. - - He himself marched in the midst, his attire flaming with coccus, - glittering with gold, and of milky whiteness with silk. - -Describing the heat of the weather, he says: - - One man perspires in cotton, another in silk. - - _L._ ii. _Epist._ 2. - -Lastly, in the following lines he alludes to the practice of giving -silk to the successful charioteers at the Circensian games: - - The Emp’ror, just as powerful, ordains - That silks with palms be given, crowns with chains: - Thus marks high merit, and inferior praise - In brilliant _carpets_ to the rest conveys. - _Carmen._ xxiii. _l._ 423-427. - - -ALCIMUS AVITUS, CL., A. D. 490. - -Describing the rich man in the parable of Lazarus, this author says: - - Ipse cothurnatus gemmis et fulgidus auro - Serica bis coctis mutabat tegmina blattis. - _L._ iii. 222. - - In jewell’d buskins and a blaze of gold, - Silk shawls, or twice in scarlet dipt, he wore. - -Avitus also mentions “the soft fleeces sent by the Seres.” - - -SIXTH CENTURY. - - -BOETHIUS, CL., A. D. 510 - - Nor honey into wine they pour’d, nor mix’d - Bright Seric fleeces with the Tyrian dye. - _De Consol. Philos._ ii. - -The Tyrians are chiefly known to us in commercial history for their -skill in dyeing; the Tyrian purple formed one of the most general and -principal articles of luxury in antiquity: but dyeing could scarcely -have existed without weaving, and though we have no direct information -respecting the Tyrian and Sidonian looms, we possess several ancient -references to their excellence, the less suspicious because they are -incidental. Homer, for instance, when Hecuba, on the recommendation -of the heroic Hector, resolves to make a rich offering to Minerva, -describes her as selecting one of Sidonian manufacture as the finest -which could be obtained. - - The Phrygian queen to her rich wardrobe went - Where treasured odors breathed a costly scent; - There lay the vestures of no vulgar art-- - Sidonian maids embroider’d every part, - Whom from soft Sidon youthful Paris bore - With Helen, touching on the Tyrian shore. - Here, as the queen revolved with careful eyes - The various textures and the various dyes, - She chose a veil that shone superior far, - And glow’d refulgent as the morning star. - _Iliad_, vi. - -Tyre appears to have been the only city of antiquity which made dyeing -its chief occupation, and the staple of its commerce. There is little -doubt that purple, the sacred symbol of royal and sacerdotal dignity, -was a color discovered in that city; and, that it contributed to its -opulence and grandeur. It is related that a shepherd’s dog, instigated -by hunger, having broken a shell on the sea shore, his mouth became -stained with a color, which excited the admiration of all who saw it, -and that the same color was afterwards applied with great success -to the dyeing of wool. According to some of the ancient writers, -this discovery is placed in the reign of Phœnix, second King of Tyre -(five hundred years before the Christian era); others fix it in that -of Minos, who reigned 939 years earlier or, 1439 B. C. The honor of -the invention of dyeing purple, is however, generally awarded to the -Tyrian Hercules, who presented his discovery to the king of Phœnicia; -and the latter was so jealous of the beauties of this new color, that -he forbade the use of it to all his subjects, reserving it for the -garments of royalty alone. Some authors relate the story differently: -Hercules’ dog having stained his mouth with a shell, which he had -broken on the seashore, Tysus, a nymph of whom Hercules was enamored, -was so charmed with the beauty of the color, that she declared she -would see her lover no more until he had brought garments dyed of the -same. Hercules, in order to gratify his mistress, collected a great -number of the shells, and succeeded in staining a robe of the color -she had demanded. “Colored dresses,” says Pliny[65], “were known in -the time of Homer (900 B. C.), from which the robes of triumph were -borrowed.” Purple habits are mentioned among the presents made to -Gideon, by the Israelites, from the spoils of the kings of Midan. -Ovid, in his description of the contest in weaving between Minerva and -Arachne, dwells not only on the beauty of the figures which the rivals -wove, but also mentions the delicacy of shading by which the various -colors were made to harmonize together: - - [65] Plin. viii. 48. - - Then both their mantles button’d to their breast, - Their skilful fingers ply with willing haste, - And work with pleasure, while they cheer the eye - With glowing purple of the Tyrian dye: - Or justly intermixing shades with light, - Their colorings insensibly unite - As when a shower, transpierced with sunny rays, - Its mighty arch along the heaven displays; - From whence a thousand different colors rise - Whose fine transition cheats the clearest eyes; - So like the intermingled shading seems - And only differs in the last extremes. - Their threads of gold both artfully dispose, - And, as each part in just proportion rose, - Some antic fable in their work disclose.--_Metam._ vi. - -The Tyrian purple was communicated by means of several species of -univalve shell-fish. Pliny gives us an account of two kinds of -shell-fish from which the purple was obtained. The first of these was -called _buccinum_, the other _purpura_[66]. A single drop of the liquid -dye was obtained from a small vessel or sac, in their throats, to the -amount of only _one drop_ from _each_ animal! A certain quantity of the -juice thus collected being heated with sea salt, was allowed to ripen -for three days, after which it was diluted with five times its bulk of -water, kept at a moderate heat for six days more, occasionally skimmed, -to separate the animal membranes, and when thus clarified, was applied -directly as a dye to white wool, previously prepared for this purpose, -by the action of lime-water, or of a species of lichen called fucus. -Two operations were requisite to communicate the finest Tyrian purple; -the first consisted in plunging the wool into the juice of the purpura, -the second into that of the buccinum. Fifty drachms of wool required -one hundred of the former liquor, and two hundred of the latter. -Sometimes a preliminary tint was given with cocus, the kermes of the -present day, and the cloth received merely a finish from the precious -animal juice. The color appears to have been very durable; for Plutarch -observes in his life of Alexander[67], that, at the taking of Susa, -the Greeks found in the royal treasury of Darius a quantity of purple -stuffs of the value of five thousand talents, which still retained its -beauty, though it had lain there for one hundred and ninety years[68]. - - [66] Plin. Lib. vi. c. 36. - - [67] Plutarch, chap. 36. - - [68] The true value of the talent cannot well be ascertained, but it is - known that it was different among different nations. The Attic - talent, the weight, contained 60 Attic minæ, or 6000 Attic drachmæ, - equal to 56 pounds, 11 ounces, English troy weight. The mina being - reckoned equal to £3 4_s._ 7_d._ sterling, or $14 33 cents; the - talent was of the value of £193 15_s._ sterling, about $861. Other - computations make it £225 sterling. - - The Romans had the great talent and the little talent; the great - talent is computed to be equal to £99 6_s._ 8_d._ sterling, and the - little talent to £75 sterling. - - 2. _Talent_, among the Hebrews, was also a gold coin, the same - with a shekel of gold; called also stater, and weighing only four - drachmas. But the Hebrew talent of silver, called _cicar_, was - equivalent to three thousand shekels, or one hundred and thirteen - pounds, ten ounces, and a fraction, troy weight.--_Arbuthnot._ - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE CONTINUED FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF - SILK-WORMS INTO EUROPE, A.D. 530, TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. - - A. D. 530.--Introduction of silk-worms into Europe--Mode by which - it was effected--The Serinda of Procopius the same with the modern - Khotan--The silk-worm never bred in Sir-hind--Silk shawls of Tyre - and Berytus--Tyrannical conduct of Justinian--Ruin of the silk - manufactures--Oppressive conduct of Peter Barsames--Menander - Protector--Surprise of Maniak the Sogdian ambassador--Conduct of - Chosroes, king of Persia--Union of the Chinese and Persians against - the Turks--The Turks in self-defence seek an alliance with the - Romans--Mortification of the Turkish ambassador--Reception of the - Byzantine ambassador by Disabul, king of the Sogdiani--Display of silk - textures--Paul the Silentiary’s account of silk--Isidorus Hispalensis. - Mention of silk by authors in the seventh century--Dorotheus, - Archimandrite of Palestine--Introduction of silk-worms into Chubdan, - or Khotan--Theophylactus Simocatta--Silk manufactures of Turfan--Silk - known in England in this century--First worn by Ethelbert, king of - Kent--Use of by the French kings--Aldhelmus’s beautiful description of - the silk-worm--Simile between weaving and virtue. Silk in the eighth - century--Bede. In the tenth century--Use of silk by the English, - Welsh, and Scotch kings. Twelfth century--Theodorus Prodromus--Figured - shawls of the Seres--Ingulphus describes vestments of silk - interwoven with eagles and flowers of gold--Great value of silk - about this time--Silk manufactures of Sicily--Its introduction into - Spain. Fourteenth century--Nicholas Tegrini--Extension of the Silk - manufacture through Europe, illustrated by etymology--Extraordinary - beauty of silk and golden textures used in the decoration of churches - in the middle ages--Silk rarely mentioned in the ninth, eleventh, or - thirteenth centuries. - - -We now come to the very interesting account of the first introduction -of silk-worms into Europe, which is given by Procopius in the following -terms. (_De Bello Gothico_, iv. 17.) - -“About this time (A. D. 530.) two monks, having arrived from India, -and learnt that Justinian was desirous that his subjects should no -longer purchase raw silk from the Persians, went to him and offered -to contrive means, by which the Romans would no longer be under the -necessity of importing this article from their enemies the Persians or -any other nation. They said, that they had long resided in the country -called Serinda, one of those inhabited by the various Indian nations, -and had accurately informed themselves how raw silk might be produced -in the country of the Romans. In reply to the repeated and minute -inquiries of this Emperor, they stated, that the raw silk is made by -worms, which nature instructs and continually prompts to this labor; -but that to bring the worms alive to Byzantium would be impossible; -that the breeding of them is quite easy; that each parent animal -produces numberless eggs, which long after their birth are covered with -manure by persons who have the care of them, and being thus warmed a -sufficient time, are hatched. The Emperor having promised the monks a -handsome reward, if they would put in execution what they had proposed, -they returned to India and brought the eggs to Byzantium, where, having -hatched them in the manner described, they fed them with the leaves of -the _Black Mulberry_, and thus enabled the Romans thenceforth to obtain -raw silk in their own country.” - -The same narrative, abridged from Procopius, is found in Manuel Glycas -(_Annal. l._ iv. _p._ 209.), and Zonares (_Annal. l._ xiv. _p._ 69. -_ed. Du Cange._). In the abstract given by Photius (_Biblioth. p._ 80. -_ed. Rotham_) of the history of Theophanes Byzantinus, who was a writer -of nearly the same age with Procopius, we find a narrative, in which -the only variation is, that a Persian brought the eggs to Byzantium in -the hollow stem of a plant. The method now practised in transporting -the eggs from country to country is to place them in a bottle not more -than half full, so that by being tossed about, they may be kept cool -and fresh. If too close, they would probably be heated and hatch on the -journey[69]. - - [69] Transactions of the Society for encouraging Arts, Manufactures, - &c., vol. xliii. p. 236. - -The authors who have hitherto treated of the history of the silk-worm, -have supposed the Serinda of Procopius to be the modern Sir-hind, a -city of Circar in the North of Hindostan[70]. Notwithstanding the -striking similarity of names, we think it more likely that Serinda was -adopted by Procopius as another name for Khotan in Little Bucharia. The -ancients included Khotan among the Indian nations[71]: and that they -were right in so doing is established from the facts, that Sanscrit -was the ancient language of the inhabitants of Khotan; that their -alphabetical characters, their laws, and their literature resembled -those of the Hindoos; and that they had a tradition of being Indian -in their origin[72]. Since, therefore, Khotan was also included in -the ancient Serica, a term probably of wide and rather indefinite -extent[73]; the name _Serinda_ would exactly denote the origin and -connexions of the race which occupied Khotan. - - [70] In this they have followed D’Anville, Antiquité Géographique de - l’Inde, Paris, 1775, p. 63. - - [71] In proof of this we refer to Heeren, Ideen, i. l. p. 358-387, on - the Indian tribes which constituted one of the Persian Satrapies, - and in which the inhabitants of Khotan appear to have been - included; and also to Cellarii Antiqui Orbis Notitia, l. iii. c. - 23. § 2. - - [72] Rémusat, Hist. de la Ville de Khotan, p. 32. Note 1. and p. 37. - - [73] De Guignes (Hist. Gen. des Huns, tome i. p. v.) expresses his - opinion, that Serica, besides the North of China, included the - countries towards the West, which were conquered by the Chinese, - viz. Hami, Turfan, and other neighboring territories. Rennell (Mem. - of a map of Hindostan) agrees with D’Anville, _that Serica was at - the Northwest angle of the present empire of China_. Heeren decides - in favor of the same opinion, supposing Serica to be identical with - the modern Tongut. Comment. Soc. Reg. Scient. Gottingensis, vol. - xi. p. 106. 111. Gottingæ, 1793. - - Pausanias observes that the Seres, in order to breed the insects - which produced silk, had houses adapted both for summer and winter, - which implies that there was a vast difference between the summer - and winter temperature of their country. A late oriental traveller - says of the climate of Khotan, “In the summer, when melons ripen, - it is very hot in these countries; but, during winter, extremely - cold.”--Wathen’s Memoir on Chinese Tartary and Khotan, in Journal - of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, December 1835, p. 659. - - On referring to the map, Plate VII., the reader will see the - position of Serica indicated at its Eastern extremity. As that map - is limited to the _Orbis Veteribus Cognitus_, only a small space on - its border is marked as the country of silk indicated by the yellow - color. It is, nevertheless, pretty certain that silk may be justly - placed next in order to wool. - -On the other hand, although Sir-hind is termed “an ancient city” by -Major Rennell[74], we cannot find any evidence that the silk-worm was -ever bred there. So far is this from being the case, that it appears to -be a country very ill adapted for the production of silk[75]. It may -indeed be true, as stated by Latreille, that Sir-hind was colonized -from Khotan, and it may be mentioned as a remarkable circumstance in -confirmation of this supposition, that there is a town called Kotana a -little way to the North East of the City of Sir-hind. But, supposing -this account to be correct, it is highly probable that the settlement -of Sir-hind as a colony of Khotan did not take place till after the -year 530, when the breeding of silk-worms was according to Procopius -introduced into Europe from “Serinda.” Rather more than 120 years -before this time India was visited by the Chinese traveller, Fa Hian, -who on his way passed some months with great delight and admiration in -Khotan; and the special object of whose journey was to see and describe -all the cities of India where Buddhism was professed. The inhabitants -of Khotan being wholly devoted to that delusion, the same system must -have been established in its colony; and, since this zealous pilgrim -crossed India at no great distance from the spot where Sir-hind -afterwards stood, we cannot doubt that he would have mentioned it, if -it had existed in his age. He says not a word about it; and the time is -comparatively so short between his visit to India and the date of the -introduction of silk-worms into Europe, that we can scarcely suppose -Sir-hind, the colony of Khotan and consequently the seat of Buddhism, -to have been in existence either at the former or latter period[76]. - - [74] Memoir of a Map of Hindostan. - - [75] “The S. W. portion of the Circar Sir-hind is extremely barren, - being covered with low scrubby wood, and in many places destitute - of water. About A. D. 1357 Feroze the Third cut several canals from - the Jumna and the Sutlege in order to fertilize this naturally arid - country.”--Walter Hamilton’s Description of Hindostan, vol. i. p. - 465. - - [76]Foĕ Kouĕ Ki, ou Relation des royaumes bouddhiques: Voyage dans la - Tartarie, dans l’Afghanistan, et dans l’Inde; traduit du Chinois et - commenté par Rémusat, Klaproth, et Landresse. Paris, 1836, 4to. - -In another passage of his history (_Bell. Pers._ 1. 20.) Procopius -throws some light upon our subject by stating that in consequence -of the monopoly of the trade in raw silk by the Persians, Justinian -attempted to obtain it through the Æthiopians of Arabia, but found this -to be impracticable, as the Persian merchants frequented the ports to -which the Indians resorted, and from them purchased all their cargoes. - -Procopius further states (_Hist. Arcana, c._ 25.), that _silk shawls_ -had long been manufactured in the Phœnician cities Tyre and Berytus (to -which all who were concerned in the silk trade, either as merchants -or manufacturers, consequently resorted, and from whence goods were -carried to every part of the earth); but that in the reign of Justinian -the manufacturers in Byzantium and other Greek cities raised the -prices of their goods, alleging that the Persians had also advanced -theirs, while the imposts were increased among the Romans. Justinian, -pretending to be much concerned at the high prices, forbade any one -in his dominions to sell silk for more than eight _aurei_ per pound, -threatening confiscation of goods against any one who transgressed -the law. To comply was impossible, since they were required to sell -their goods at a price lower than that for which they bought them. -They therefore abandoned the trade, and secretly sold the remnant -of their goods for what they could get. The Empress Theodora, on -being apprised of this, immediately seized the goods and fined the -proprietors a hundred _aurei_ besides. It was then determined, that the -silk manufacture should be carried on solely by the Imperial Treasurer. -PETER BARSAMES held the office, and conducted himself in -relation to this business in the most unjust and oppressive manner, so -that the silk-trade was ruined not only in Byzantium but also at Tyre -and Berytus, while the Emperor, Empress and their Treasurer amassed -great wealth by the monopoly. - - -MENANDER PROTECTOR, A. D. 560-570. - -In an account of an embassy sent to Constantinople by the Avars of -Sarmatia, this author states, that the Emperor Justinian endeavored to -excite their admiration by a display of splendid couches, gold chains, -and garments of silk[77]. - - [77] Corp. Hist. Byzant. ed. 1729. tom. i. p. 67. - -The establishment of the Turkish power in Asia, about the middle of the -sixth century, together with subsequent wars, had greatly interrupted -the caravan trade between China and Persia. On the return of peace, -the Sogdians, an Asiatic people, who had the greatest interest in the -revival of the trade, persuaded the Turkish sovereign, whose subjects -they were become, to send an embassy to Chosroes, king of Persia, to -open a negotiation for this purpose. Maniak, a Sogdian prince, who was -ambassador, being instructed to request that the Sogdians might be -allowed to supply the Persians with silk; presented himself before the -Persian monarch in the double character of merchant and envoy, carrying -with him many bales of silken merchandise, for which he hoped to find -purchasers among the Persians. But Chosroes, who thought the conveyance -by sea to the Persian Gulf more advantageous to his subjects than this -proposed traffic, was not disposed to lend a favorable ear to the -legation, and rather uncourteously showed his contempt for the Sogdian -traders. He bought up all the silk which the ambassador had carried -with him, and immediately burned it before them; thus giving the most -convincing proof of the little value which it had in his estimation. - -After this the Persians and Chinese united against the Turks, who, -to strengthen themselves, sought an alliance with the Emperor Justin. -Maniak was again appointed ambassador, and sent to negotiate the terms -of the alliance; but disappointment, though from a dissimilar cause, -attended this his second embassy. The sight of silk-worms, and the -establishment for manufacturing their produce, in Constantinople, -were to him as unwelcome as unexpected; he however concealed -his mortification, and, with perhaps an overstrained civility, -acknowledged, that the Romans were already become as expert as the -Chinese in both the management of silk-worms and manufacture of their -silk[78]; and when in the fourth year of Justin II. (_i. e._ A. D. -569.) they went on the same mission to Byzantium, they found that here -also there was no demand, since silk-worms were bred there already. -Soon after this we learn· that the Byzantines sent an embassy to -Disabul, King of the Sogdiani, who received the ambassadors in tents -covered with variously-colored silks. - - [78] Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. xlii. - -PAUL, THE SILENTIARY, A. D. 562, - -mentions silk thread, used in adorning the vestments in the church of -St. Sophia at Constantinople. (P. ii. l. 368.) The note of the Editor, -Du Cange, on the description of the pall, (577.), contains various -quotations from ecclesiastical writers, which mention “vela rubea -Serica;” “vela alba holoserica rasata;” “vela serica de blattin.” These -quotations show, that silk had been introduced into general use for the -churches. - - -ISIDORUS HISPALENSIS, CL., A. D. 575. - -The etymological work of Isidore of Seville may be regarded as a kind -of encyclopedia, exhibiting the general state of knowledge and art at -the time when he wrote. Hence the following descriptive extracts are -well deserving of attention. - - Bombyx frondium vermis, ex cujus texturâ Bombycinum conficitur. - Appellatur autem hoc nomine ab eo quod evacuetur dum fila generat, et - aer solus in eo remanet.--_Origin. l._ xii. _c._ 5. - - Bombyx, a worm which lives upon the leaves of trees, and from whose - web silk is made. It is called Bombyx, because it empties itself in - producing threads, and nothing but air remains within it. - - The cloth called _Bombycina_, derives its name from the silk-worm - (_Bombyx_), which emits very long threads; the web woven from them is - called Bombycinum, and is made in the island of Cos. - - That called _Serica_ derives its name from silk (_sericum_), or from - the circumstance, that is was first obtained from the Seres. - - _Holoserica_ is all of silk: for _Holon_ means _all_. - - _Tramoserica_ has a warp of linen; and a woof (_trama_) of silk.--L. - xix. c. 22. - -Touching these extracts we would remark, that the testimony of Isidore -must not be considered as proving, that the silk manufacture still -existed in Cos. His statement was no doubt merely copied from Varro or -Pliny, or founded upon the authority of other writers long anterior to -his own age. It is indeed probable that silk-worms had by this time -been brought into Greece, but that he was ignorant of the fact. - - -SEVENTH CENTURY. - - -DOROTHEUS, ARCHIMANDRITE OF PALESTINE, A. D. 601. - - Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐνδεδυμένος ὁλοσήρικον.--_Doctr._ 2, _as quoted in Cod. - Theodos. Gothofredi. L. Bat._ 1665. - - For as a man wearing a tunic entirely of silk. - - -THEOPHYLACTUS SIMOCATTA, A. D. 629. - -This author, in his Universal History (_l._ vii. c. 9.), informs us -that the silk manufacture was carried on at Chubdan, with the greatest -skill and activity, which was probably the same as Khotan, or, as it -was called in his time, Ku-tan[79]. - - [79] Itinéraire de Hiuan Thsang, Appendice ii. à Foe Koue Ki, p. 399. - -We have, moreover, the following account of the origin of the growth -and manufacture of silk in that country (p. 55, 56.). - -“The monastery of Lou-che (_occupied by Buddhists_) is to the -south-west of the royal city. Formerly the inhabitants of this kingdom -had neither mulberries nor silk-worms. They heard of them in the -East country, and sent an embassy to ask for them. The King of the -East refused the request, and issued the strictest injunctions to -prevent either mulberries or silk-worms’ eggs from being conveyed -across the border. Then the King of Kiu-sa-tan-na (_i. e._ _Koustana_, -or _Khotan_) asked of him a princess in marriage. This having been -granted, the king charged the officer of his court who went to escort -her, to say, that in his country there were neither mulberry-trees -nor cocoons, and that she must introduce them, _or be without silk -dresses_. The princess, having received this information, obtained the -seed both of mulberries, and silk-worms, which she concealed in her -head-dress. On arriving at the frontier, the officers searched every -where, but dare not touch the turban of the princess. Having arrived -at the spot, where the monastery of Lou-che was afterwards erected, -she deposited the seed both of the mulberries and worms. The trees -were planted in the spring, and she afterwards went herself to assist -in gathering the leaves. At first the worms were fed upon the leaves -of other plants, and a law was enacted, that no worms were to be -destroyed or sacrificed until their quantity was sufficiently great. -The monastery was founded to commemorate so great a benefit, and some -trunks of the original mulberry-trees can yet be seen there[80].” - - [80] It may be observed, that the folds of the turban are not - unfrequently used in the East to convey articles of value. See - Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor, by Charles Fellows, London, 1839, - p. 216. - -In the following passage (_Règne Animal, par Cuvier, tom._ v. _p._ -402.,) Latreille mentions Turfan as an important city as far as it -affected the early silk-trade. In other respects his account coincides -with that already given. - - “La ville de Turfan, dans la petite Bucharie, fut long-temps le - rendez-vous des caravanes venant de l’Ouest, et l’entrepôt principal - des soieries de la Chine. Elle était la métropole des Sères de l’Asie - supérieure, ou de la Sérique de Ptolémée. Expulsés de leurs pays par - les Huns, les Sères s’établirent dans la grande Bucharie et dans - l’Inde. C’est d’une de leurs colonies, du Ser-hend (_Ser-indi_), que - des missionaires Grecs transportèrent, du temps - de Justinien, les œufs du ver à soie à Constantinople.” - - The City of Turfan in Little Bucharia was for a long time the - rendezvous of the caravans coming from the West, and the principal - market for Chinese silks. It was the metropolis of the Seres of Upper - Asia, or the Serica of Ptolemy. The Seres having been expelled their - country by the Huns, established themselves in Great Bucharia and - in India. It is from one of their colonies (of Ser-indi), that the - Grecian Missionaries, in the time of Justinian, brought the eggs of - the silk-worm to Constantinople. - -A diploma of ETHELBERT, King of Kent, mentions “Armilausia -holoserica,” proving that silk was known in England at the end of the -sixth century[81]. The usual dress of the earliest French kings seems -to have been a linen shirt and drawers of the same material next to the -skin; over these a tunic, probably of fine wool, which had a border -of silk, ornamented sometimes with gold or precious stones; and upon -this a sagum, which was fastened with a fibula on the right shoulder. -Eginhart informs us, that Charlemagne wore a tunic, or vest, with a -silken border (_limbo serico_)[82]. - - [81] Dugdale’s Monasticon, vol. i. p. 24. Adelung’s Glossarium Manuale, - v. Armilausia. - - [82] Examples of it may be seen, I. in the two figures of Charlemagne, - executed in mosaic during his life-time, one of which is preserved - in the Penitentiary of St. John Lateran at Rome, and both of these - are described by Spon in his Miscellanea Eruditæ Antiquitatus (p. - 284.); II. in the figure of Charles the Bald, the grandson of - Charlemagne, which is in the splendid copy of the Latin Gospels - made for his use, now preserved in the library at Munich, and - which may be seen engraved in Sanft’s Dissertation on that MS. (p. - 42.); III. in the figure of an early French king engraved from a - MS. by Baluzius in his Capitularia Regum Francorum (tom. ii. p. - 1308.); and IV. in the first volume of Montfaucon’s Monumens de la - Monarchie Française. - - -ALDHELMUS, CL., A. D. 680. - -This author, who died Abbot of Sherburn, was among the most learned men -of his age. In his Ænigmas, which are written in tetrastics, we find -the following description of the silk-worm. As it is scarcely possible -that he could have seen this creature, we have cause to admire both the -ingenuity and general accuracy of his lines. The ascending to the tops -of thorns or shrubs, such as “genistæ,” to which the animal may attach -its cocoon (_globulum_), has not been noticed by any earlier author. - - De Bombycibus. - - Annua dum redeunt texendi tempora telas, - Lurida setigeris replentur viscera filis; - Moxque genistarum frondosa cacumina scando, - Ut globulus fabricans cum fati sorte quiescam. - _Maxima Bibl. Vet. Patrum, tom._ xiii. _p._ 25. - - Soon as the year brings round the time to spin, - My entrails dark with hairy threads are fill’d: - Then to the leafy lops of shrubs I climb, - Make my cocoon, and rest by fate’s decree. - -In a book written by this author, in praise of virginity, he observes, -That chastity alone did not form an amiable and perfect character, -but required to be accompanied and adorned by many other virtues; and -this observation he further illustrates by the following simile taken -from the art of weaving: “As it is not a web of one uniform color and -texture, without any variety of figures, that pleaseth the eye and -appears beautiful, _but one that is woven by shuttles, filled with -threads of purple, and many other colors, flying from side to side, and -forming a variety of figures and images_, in different compartments, -with admirable art.”--_Bibliotheca Patrum, tom._ xiii. - - -EIGHTH CENTURY. - - -BEDE, CL., A. D. 701. - - Joseph autem mercatus est sindonem, et deponens eum involvit sindone. - (_Marc._ xv. 46.)--Et ex simplici sepultura domini ambitio divitum - condemnatur, qui ne in tumulis quidem possunt carere divitiis. - Possumus autem juxta intelligentiam spiritalem hoc sentire, quod - corpus domini non auro, non gemmis et serico, sed linteamine puro - obvolvendum sit, quanquam et hoc significet, quod ille in sindone - munda involvat Jesum, qui pura eum mente susceperit. Hinc ecclesiæ mos - obtinuit, ut sacrificium altaris non in serico, neque in panno tincto, - sed in lino terreno celebretur, sicut corpus est domini in sindone - munda sepultum, juxta quod in gestis pontificalibus a beato Papâ - Silvestro legimus esse statutum.--_Expos. in Marcum, tom._ v. _p._ - 207. _Col. Agrip._ 1688. - - But Joseph bought a linen cloth, and, taking him down, wrapped him - in the linen cloth. (Mark xv. 46.)--The simple burial of our Lord - condemns the ambition of rich men, who cannot be without wealth even - in their tombs. That his body is to be wrapped not in gold, not in - silk and precious stones, but in pure linen, may be understood by us - spiritually. It also intimates, that he incloses Jesus in a clean - linen cloth, who receives him with a pure mind. Hence the custom of - the church has obtained, to celebrate the sacrifice of the altar, - not in silk, nor in dyed cloth, but in earthy flax, as the body of - our Lord was buried in a clean linen cloth; for so we read in the - pontifical acts, that it was decreed by the blessed Pope Silvester. - -The latter portion of this extract, wherein we are informed of the -origin of the practice, universally adopted, of covering the Eucharist -with a white linen cloth, must be a _later_ addition. Pope Silvester -lived, as the reader will perceive, long _after_ the time of Bede. - -Bede, in his History of the Abbots of Wearmouth, states that the first -abbot and founder of the monastery, Biscop, surnamed Benedict, went a -fifth time to Rome for ornaments and books to enrich it, and on this -occasion (A. D. 685.) brought two _scarfs_, or palls, of incomparable -workmanship, composed entirely of silk, with which he afterwards -purchased the land of three families situated at the mouth of the -Wear[83]. This shows the high value of silken articles at that period. - - [83] Bedæ Hist. Eccles. &c. cura Jo. Smith. Cantab. 1722. p. 297. - Mr. Sharon Turner, speaking of Bede, says, “His own remains were - inclosed in silk. Mag. Bib. xvi. p. 88. It often adorned the altars - of the church; and we read of a present to a West-Saxon bishop of a - casula, not entirely of silk, but mixed with goat’s wool.” Ibid. p. - 50. He refers to p. 97. of the same volume, as mentioning “pallia - holoserica.”--History of the Anglo-Saxons, vol. iii. book vii. - chap. 4. p. 48, 49. - - -TENTH CENTURY. - -About the year 970 Kenneth, king of Scotland, paid a visit in London -to Edgar, king of England. The latter sovereign, to evince at once his -friendship and munificence, bestowed upon his illustrious guest silks, -rings, and gems, together with one hundred ounces of pure gold[84]. - - [84] Lingard’s Hist. of England, vol. i. 241. London, 1819, 4to. - -Perhaps we may refer to the same date the composition of the “Lady of -the Fountain,” a Welsh tale, recently translated by Lady Charlotte -Guest[85]. At the opening of this poem King Arthur is represented -sitting in his chamber at Caer-leon upon Usk. It is said, - - In the centre of the chamber, King Arthur sat upon a seat of green - rushes, over which was spread a covering of flame-colored satin, and a - cushion covered with the same material was under his elbow. - -The mention of silk and satin is frequent in this tale. - - [85] The Mabinogion, from the Llyfr Coch o Hergest and other ancient - Welsh manuscripts; with an English translation and notes. By Lady - Charlotte Guest. Part I. The Lady of the Fountain. Llandovery, 1838. - -GERBERT, CL., A. D. 970. - -This author, who became Pope Silvester, mentions garments of silk -(sericas vestes) in a passage which has been already quoted (see Part -II. chap. V.). - - -TWELFTH CENTURY. - - -THEODORUS PRODROMUS, - -a romance writer in the twelfth century, mentions the _figured shawls_ -(πέπλα) manufactured by the Seres. - -The breeding of silk-worms in Europe appears to have been confined -to Greece from the time of the Emperor Justinian until the middle of -the twelfth century. The manufacture of silk was also very rare in -other parts of Europe, being probably practised only as a recreation -and accomplishment for ladies. But in the year 1148 Roger I., King of -Sicily, having taken the cities of Corinth, Thebes, and Athens, thus -got into his power a great number of silk-weavers, took them away -with the implements and materials necessary for the exercise of their -art, and forced them to reside at Palermo[86]. Nicetas Choniates[87], -referring to the same event, speaks of these artisans as of both sexes, -and remarks that in his time those who went to Sicily might see the -sons of Thebans and Corinthians employed in weaving velvet stoles -_interwoven with gold_, and serving like the Eretrians of old among the -Persians[88]. - - [86] Otto Frisingen, Hist. Imp. Freder. l. i. c. 33. in Muratori, Rerum - Italicarum Scriptores, tom. vi. p. 668. - - [87] In Manuel Comnenus, l. ii. c. 8., tom. xii. of the Scriptores - Hist. Byzantinæ, p. 51. ed. Ven. - - [88] Hugo Falcandus, who visited this manufactory A. D. 1169, - represents it as being then in the most flourishing condition, - producing great quantities of silks, both plain and figured, of - many different colors, and enriched with gold. - -We find in the writings of Ingulphus several curious accounts of -vestments of silk, interwoven with eagles and flowers of gold. This -author, in his history, mentions that among other gifts made by Witlaf, -king of Mercia, to the abbey of Croyland, he presented _a golden -curtain, embroidered with the siege of Troy_, to be hung up in the -church on his birth-day[89]. At a later period, 1155, a pair of richly -worked sandals, and three mitres, the work of Christina, abbess of -Markgate, were among the valuable souvenirs presented by Robert, abbot -of St. Albans, to Pope Adrian IV.[90]. - - [89] Ingulphus, p. 487, edit. 1596. - - [90] Adrian IV., was the only Englishman that ever sat in St. Peters - chair. His name was Nicolas Breakspear: he was born of poor parents - at Langley, near St. Albans. Henry II., on his promotion to the - papal chair, sent a deputation of an abbot and three bishops to - congratulate him on his election; upon which occasion he granted - considerable privileges to the abbey of St. Albans. With the - exception of the presents named above, he refused all the other - valuable ones which were offered him, saying jocosely,--“I will - not accept your gifts, because when I wished to take the habit of - your monastery you refused me.” To which the abbot pertinently - and smartly replied,--“It was not for us to oppose the will of - Providence, which had destined you for greater things.” - -Without digressing from our subject to question the right of the royal -marauder thus tyrannously to sever these unoffending artisans from -the ties of country and of kindred, we may yet be allowed to express -some satisfaction at the consequences of his cruelty. It is well -for the interests of humanity that blessings, although unsought and -remote, do sometimes follow in the train of conquest; that wars are not -always limited in their results to the exaltation of one individual, -the downfall of another, the slaughter of thousands, and misery of -millions, but occasionally prove the harbingers of peaceful arts, -heralds of science, and in short deliverers from the yoke of slavery or -superstition. - -In twenty years from this forcible establishment of the manufacture, -the silks of Sicily are described as having attained a decided -excellence; as being of diversified patterns and colors; some -fancifully interwoven with gold tastefully embellished with figures; -and others richly adorned with pearls. The industry and ingenuity thus -called forth, could not fail to exercise a beneficial influence over -the character and condition of the Sicilians. - -From Palermo the manufacture of silk extended itself through all parts -of Italy and into Spain. We learn from Roger de Hoveden, that the -manufacture flourished at Almeria in Grenada about A. D. 1190[91]. - - [91] “Deinde per nobilem civitatem, quæ dicitur Almaria, ubi fit nobile - sericum et delicatum, quod dicitur sericum de Almaria.” Scriptores - post Bedam, p. 671. - - -FOURTEENTH CENTURY. - -According to Nicholas Tegrini[92], the silk manufacture afterwards -flourished in Lucca; and the weavers, having been ejected from that -city in the earlier part of the fourteenth century, carried their art -to Venice, Florence, Milan, Bologna, and even to Germany, France, and -Britain. - - [92] Vita Castruccii, in Muratori, Rer. Ital. Scriptores, t. xi. p. - 1320. - -We have seen from different historical testimonies, that silk was -known to the inhabitants of France and England as early as the sixth -century. The fact of its introduction into all parts of the North of -Europe is manifest from the use of words for silk in several northern -languages. These words appear, according to the inquiries of the -learned orientalists, Klaproth and Abel Rémusat[93], to -have been derived from those Asiatic countries, in which silk was -originally produced. In the language of Corea silk is called _Sir_; in -Chinese _Se_, which may have been produced by the usual omission of -the final _r_. In the Mongol language silk is called _Sirkek_, in the -Mandchou _Sirghè_. In the Armenian the silk-worm is called _Chèram_. In -Arabic, Chaldee, and Syriac, silk was called Seric[94]. From the same -source we have in Greek and Latin Σηρικὸν, Sericum. - - [93] Journal Asiatique, 1823, tom. ii. p. 246. Julius Klaproth (Tableau - Historique de l’Asie, Paris, 1826, p. 57, 58.) says, that in - the year 165 B. C. the inhabitants of the country called by us - Tangut, who constituted a powerful kingdom, were attacked by the - Hioung Nou, and driven to the West, where they fixed themselves - in Transoxiana, and that these events led to an uninterrupted - communication with Persia and India, especially in regard to the - silk trade. Klaproth considers that the Seres of the ancients were - the Chinese; but he appears to include under that term all the - nations which were brought into subjection to the Chinese. - - Professor Karl Ritter (Erdkunde, Asien, Band iv. 2 te Auflage, - Berlin, 1835, p. 437.) observes, in allusion to the authority just - quoted, that all the names of the silk-worm and its products are to - be accounted for on the supposition (which he considers the true - one) that they were first known and cultivated in China, and from - thence extended through central Asia into Europe. - - [94] See Schindler’s Pentaglott, p. 1951, D. - -In the more modern European languages we find two sets of terms for -silk, the first evidently derived from the oriental Seric, but with the -common substitution of _l_ for _r_, the second of an uncertain origin. -To the first set belong, - - _Chelk_, silk, in Slavonian. - _Silke_, ---- in Suio-Gothic and Icelandic[95]. - _Silcke_, ---- in Danish. - Siolc or Seolc, ---- in Anglo-Saxon. Also Siolcen or Seolcen, - silken; Eal, reolcen, _Holosericus_; - Seolcpynm, silk-worm[96]. - _Silk_, ---- in English[97] - _Sirig_, ---- in Welsh[98]. - - To the second set belong, - - _Seda_, silk, in the Latin of the middle ages. - _Seta_, ---- in Italian. - _Seide_, ---- in German. - _Side_, ---- in Anglo-Saxon. - Also Sidene, silken, Ælfric as quoted by - Lye; Sidpypm, silk-worm, Junius, l. c. - _Sidan_, ---- in Welsh. - _Satin_, ---- in French and English[99]. - - [95] _Silki trojo ermalausa_, a silk tunic without sleeves. Knitlynga - Saga, p. 114, as quoted by Ihre, Glossar. Suio-Goth. v. Armalausa. - - [96] Ælfric’s Glossary (made in the tenth century), p. 68. Appendix to - Sumner’s Dictionary. - - [97] Nicholas Fuller (Miscellanea, p. 248.) justly observes, Vocabulum - Anglicanum Selk non nisi Sericum authorem generis sui agnoscit. - Selk enim nuncupatum est quasi Selik pro Serik, literæ r in l - facili commutatione factâ. - - Minshew and Skinner give the same etymology. - - [98] Junius, Etymologicum, v. _Silk_. It appears doubtful, however, - whether Junius is here to be depended on. - - [99] Ménage, Diction. Etym. de la Langue Française, tom. ii. p. 457, - ed. Joult. - -According to Abel Rémusat (_Journal Asiat. l. c._) the merchandise -of Eastern Asia passed through Slavonia to the North of Europe in -the middle ages, even without the mediation of Greece or Italy. This -may account for the use of the terms of the first class, while it is -possible that those of the second have been derived from the South of -Europe, from whence we have seen that silken commodities were also -occasionally transported to the North. - -To the evidence now produced from _authors_ and _printed documents_ -respecting the history of silk from the earliest times to the period -of its universal extension throughout Europe, another species of proof -may be added, viz. that afforded by Relics preserved in churches, and -by other remains of the antiquities of the middle ages. As examples of -this method for illustrating the subject, the following articles may be -enumerated. - -I. The relics of St. Regnobert, Bishop of Bayeux in the seventh -century. These consist of a _Casula_, or _Chasuble_, a _Stole_, and a -_Maniple_. They are yet preserved in the cathedral of Bayeux, and worn -by the Bishop on certain annual festivals. They are of silk _interwoven -with gold_, and _adorned with pearls_[100]. - - [100] See John Spencer Smythe’s Description de la Chasuble de Saint - Regnobert, in the Procès Verbal de l’Académie Royale des Sciences, - Arts, et Belles Lettres, de la Ville de Caen, Séance d’Avril 14, - 1820. - -II. Portions of garments of the same description with those of St. -Regnobert were discovered A. D. 1827 on opening the tomb of St. -Cuthbert in the Cathedral of Durham. They are preserved in the library -of that church, and accurately described by the Rev. James Raine, the -librarian, in a quarto volume. - -III. The scull-cap of St. Simon, said to have been made in the tenth -century, and now preserved in the Cathedral of Treves. Its border is -_interwoven with gold_. - -In regard to these interesting relics, they may with confidence be -looked upon as specimens of the manufacture of silk from the _seventh_ -to the _twelfth_ century. - -IV. In the Cathedral at Hereford is a charter of one of the Popes with -the bull (the leaden seal), attached to it by silken threads. Silk was -early used for this purpose in the South of Europe[101]. The Danish -kings began to use silk to append the waxen seals to their charters -about the year 1000[102]. - - [101] Mabillon, de Re Diplomaticâ, l. ii. cap. 19. § 6. - - [102] Diplomatarium Arna-Magnæanum, a Thorkelin, tom. i. p. xliv. - -V. Silk, in the form of velvet, may be seen on some of the ancient -armor in the Tower of London. - -VI. The binding of ancient manuscripts affords specimens of silk. A -French translation of Ludolphus Saxo’s Life of Christ in four folio -volumes, among Dr. William Hunter’s MSS. at Glasgow, still has its -original binding covered with red velvet, which is probably as old as -the _fourteenth_ century. A curious source of information on the art -of book-binding at that period is the Inventory, or Catalogue of the -library collected by that ardent lover of books, Charles V. of France. -As this catalogue particularly describes the bindings of about 1200 -volumes, many of which were very elaborate and splendid, it enables us -to judge of the use made of all the most valuable stuffs and materials -which could be employed for this purpose, and under the head of silk we -find the following: “soie,” silk; “veluyau,” velvet; “satanin,” satin; -“damas,” damask; “taffetas,” taffetas; “camocas;” “cendal;” and “drap -d’or,” cloth of gold, having probably a basis or ground of silk[103]. - -From the few examples of ancient Catholic vestments that have escaped -destruction, the generality of persons are but little acquainted with -the extreme beauty of the embroidery worked for ecclesiastical purposes -during the Middle Ages. The countenances of the images were executed -with perfect expression, like miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. -Every parochial church, previous to the Reformation, was furnished with -complete sets of frontals and hangings for the altars. One of the great -beauties of the ancient embroidery was its appropriate design; each -flower, leaf, and device having a significant meaning with reference -to the festival to which the vestment belonged. Such was the extreme -beauty of the English vestments in the reign of Henry III., that -Innocent IV. forwarded bulls to many English bishops, enjoining them to -send a certain quantity of embroidered vestments to Rome, for the use -of the clergy[104]. - - [103] See Inventaire de l’Ancienne Bibliothèque du - Louvre, fait en l’année 1373. Paris, 1836, 8vo. - - [104] The art of embroidery seems to have attained a higher degree of - perfection in France, than any other country in Europe;--it is not, - however, so much practised now. Embroiderers formerly composed - a great portion of the working population of the largest towns; - laws were specially framed for their protection, some of which - would astonish the working people of the present day. They were - formed into a company as early as 1272, by Etienne Boileau, Prévot - de Paris, under their respective names of “Brodeurs, Découpeurs, - Egratigneurs, and Chasubliers.” - - In the last and preceding centuries, when embroidery, as an - article of dress both for men and women, was an object of - considerable importance, the Germans, and more particularly those - of Vienna, disputed the palm of excellence with the French. At - the same period, Milan and Venice were also celebrated for their - embroidery; but the prices were so extravagantly high, that - according to Lamarre, its use was forbidden by sumptuary laws. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -SILK AND GOLDEN TEXTURES OF THE ANCIENTS. - -HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ATTAINED IN THIS MANUFACTURE. - - Manufacture of golden textures in the time of Moses--Homer--Golden - tunics of the Lydians--Their use by the Indians and - Arabians--Extraordinary display of scarlet robes, purple, striped with - silver, golden textures, &c., by Darius, king of Persia--Purple and - scarlet cloths interwoven with gold--Tunics and shawls variegated with - gold--Purple garments with borders of gold--Golden chlamys--Attalus, - king of Pergamus, _not_ the inventor of gold thread--Bostick--Golden - robe worn by Agrippina--Caligula and Heliogabalus--Sheets interwoven - with gold used at the obsequies of Nero--Babylonian shawls intermixed - with gold--Silk shawls interwoven with gold--Figured cloths of gold - and Tyrean purple--Use of gold in the manufacture of shawls by the - Greeks--4,000,000 sesterces (about $150,000) paid by the Emperor Nero - for a Babylonish coverlet--Portrait of Constantius II.--Magnificence - of Babylonian carpets, mantles, &c.--Median sindones. - -The use of gold in _weaving_ may be traced to the earliest times, but -seems to be particularly characteristic of oriental manners. - -It was employed in connexion with woollen and linen thread of the -finest colors to enrich the ephod, girdle, and breast-plate of -Aaron[105]. The sacred historian goes so far as to describe the mode -of preparing the gold to be used in weaving: “And they did beat the -gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, -and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with -cunning work.”--Ex. xxxix. 2-8. The historian certainly does not intend -to describe the process of wire-drawing, nor probably the art of -making gold thread. It seems likely, that neither of these ingenious -manufactures were invented in his time. The queen described in Ps. -xiv., wears “clothing of wrought gold[106].” Homer mentions a golden - girdle, (Od. ε. 232. κ. 543.). He also describes an upper garment, - which Penelope made for Ulysses before going to Illium. On the front - part of it a beautiful hunting piece was wrought in gold. It is thus - described. “A dog holds a fawn with its fore feet, looking at it as it - pants with fear and strives to make its escape.” This, he says, was - the subject of universal admiration[107]. - - [105] “And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and - fine linen. And they shall make the ephod _of gold_, _of blue_, and - _of purple_, _of scarlet_, and _fine twined linen_, with _cunning - work_. It shall have the two shoulder-pieces thereof joined at the - two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. And the - curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the - same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and - purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And thou shalt take two - onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: - six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the - rest on the other stone, according to their birth. With the work of - an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet shalt thou - engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: - thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. And thou shalt - put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of - memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their - names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. And - thou shalt make ouches of gold; and two chains of pure gold at - the ends; of _wreathen work_ shalt thou make them, and fasten the - wreathen chains to the ouches. And thou shalt make the breast-plate - of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod shalt - thou make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and - of fine twined linen shalt thou make it.”--Ex. xxviii. 5-15. - - [106] “The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of - wrought gold.”--Ps. xlv. 13. - - [107] Od. τ. 225-235. - -Pisander, who probably lived at the same period with Homer, speaks -of the Lydians as wearing tunics adorned with gold. Lydus, who has -preserved this expression of the ancient cyclic poet, observes that the -Lydians were supplied with gold from the sands of the Pactolus and the -Hermus[108]. - - [108] De Magistratibus Rom. L. iii. § 64. - -Virgil also represents the use of gold in weaving, as if it had existed -in Trojan times. One of the garments so adorned was made by Dido, the -Sidonian, another by Andromache, and a third was in the possession of -Anchises[109]. In all these instances the reference is to the habits of -Phœnice, Lycia, or other parts of Asia. - - [109] Æin. iii. 483.; iv. 264.; viii. 167.; xi. 75. - -Among all the Asiatics, none were more remarkable than the Persians -for the display of textures of gold, as well as every other kind of -luxury in dress. A tiara interwoven with gold was one of the presents -which Xerxes gave as an expression of his gratitude to the citizens of -Abdera (_Herod._ viii. 120.). The Indians also employed the same kind -of ornament (_Strabo_, L. xv. _c._ i. § 69.); and the Periegesis (_l._ -881.) of Priscian attributes the use of it to the Arabians[110]. - - [110] In Europe the nearest approach to oriental habits in regard - to dress was made by the Gauls. Their principal men wore collars, - armlets, and bracelets of gold, and clothes enriched with the same - metal.--_Strabo_, L. iv. cap. 4. § 5. - -The history of Alexander the Great affords frequent traces of the use -of cloth _interwoven with gold_ in Persia. Garments made of such cloth -were among the most splendid of the spoils of Persepolis[111]. - - [111] _Diod. Sic._ L. xvii. 70. _p._ 214. _Wessel._ - -Justin (L. xii.) says that Alexander, to avoid offending the Persians, -ordered his principal attendants to adopt for their dress “longam -vestem auream purpureamque.” The dress prescribed was therefore of fine -woollen cloth, or probably of silk, dyed purple, and _interwoven with -gold_. Among the vast multitudes which preceded the King of Persia -when he advanced to oppose Alexander, was the band of ten thousand -called the Immortals, whose dress was carried to the ‘ne plus ultra’ -of barbaric splendor, some wearing golden collars, others “cloth -variegated with gold.” Some idea of the extravagance and pomp of the -Persians on this occasion may be formed from the following passage, -taken from Rollin’s “Ancient History.” - - “The order Darius observed in his march was as follows. Before the - army were carried silver altars, on which burned the fire, called by - them sacred and eternal; and these were followed by the magi, singing - hymns, and 365 youths _in scarlet robes_. After these proceeded a - consecrated car, drawn by white horses and followed by one of an - extraordinary size, which they called “The horse of the sun.” The - equerries were dressed in white, each bearing in his hand a golden - rod. Next appeared ten sumptuous chariots, enriched with curious - sculptures in gold and silver; and then the vanguard of the horse, - composed of twelve different nations, in various armor. This body - was succeeded by those of the Persians, called “The Immortals,” - amounting to 10,000, who surpassed the rest of the barbarians in the - extravagant richness and splendor of their dress; for they all wore - _collars of gold_, and were clothed in robes _of gold tissue_, having - large sleeves, garnished with precious stones. About thirty paces from - them came the king’s relations or cousins, to the number of 15,000, - apparelled like women, and more remarkable for the pomp of their - dress than the glitter of their arms; and after these Darius attended - by his guards, seated on a chariot, as on a throne. The chariot was - enriched, on both sides, with images of the gods in gold and silver; - and from the middle of the yoke, which was covered with jewels, rose - two statues, a cubit in height; the one representing War, the other - Peace, having between them a golden eagle with wings extended. The - king was attired in _a garment of purple striped with silver_; over - which was a long robe, glittering with gold and precious stones, and - whereon two falcons were represented as if rushing from the clouds at - each other. Around his waist he wore _a golden girdle_, from whence - hung scimitar, the scabbard of which was covered with gems. On each - side of Darius walked 200 of his nearest relations, followed by 10,000 - horsemen, whose lances were plated with silver, and tipped with gold. - After these marched 30,000 foot, the rear of the army, and, lastly, - 400 horses belonging to the king. - - “About 100 paces from the royal divisions of the army came Sisygambis, - the mother of Darius, seated on a chariot, and his consort on another, - with female attendants of both queens riding on horseback. Afterwards - came fifteen chariots, in which were the king’s children, and their - tutors. Next to these were the royal concubines, to the number of 360, - all attired like so many queens. These were followed by 600 mules, - and 300 camels, carrying the king’s treasure, and guarded by a body - of bowmen. After these came the wives of the crown officers, and the - lords of the court; then the suttlers, servants; and, lastly, a body - of light armed troops, with their commanders.” - -At the nuptials of Alexander purple and scarlet cloths, _interwoven -with gold_, were expanded over the guests: and a pall of the same -description covered the golden sarcophagus made to contain his body. -Among the splendid ornaments of the tent erected not long after at -Alexandria by Ptolemy Philadelphus, there were tunics interwoven with -gold: and in the procession on the same occasion, the colossal statues -of Bacchus and his nurse Nysa were attired; the former in a shawl; the -latter in a tunic variegated with gold. Probably we may refer to the -same country and age the “golden tunic” mentioned in one of the Arundle -marbles (No. xxii. 2.). Also the tent pitched by Arsace with hangings -of gold and purple tissues, and the robe of similar materials worn by -Arsace herself, as described by Heliodorus (_Æthiop._ vii.), relate to -the customs of the same country. - -Another of the successors of Alexander, viz. Demetrius Poliorcetes, -wore purple garments with _borders of gold_[112]. - - [112] Plutarch, Demet. 41. - -Themistius describes a portrait of one of the kings of Persia, who -wore, together with the tiara and the collar or necklace, _a purple -shawl interwoven with gold_ (_Orat._ 24. _p._ 369. _ed._ Dindorf.). - -During the periods to which the preceding evidence has allusion, it is -not probable that cloth of gold was in use among the Greeks and Romans -except to a very limited extent. Nevertheless it does not appear to -have escaped the avidity for every species of excellence, which in -early times distinguished the inhabitants of Magna Græcia. For, when -Pythagoras became a teacher of wisdom and philosophy at Crotona, among -other lessons of frugality he persuaded the matrons to put off their -“golden garments” with other fashionable ornaments, and deposit them -in the temple of Juno as offerings to the goddess[113]. In a passage -attributed to Menander we meet with the mention of a “golden or purple -chlamys” as a suitable offering to the gods[114]. Hedylus of Samos, -a writer of the same age, describes a woman of loose morals, by name -Niconoe, as wearing a tunic striped with gold (_Brunck’s Analecta_, i. -483.). - - [113] Justin, L. XX. c. 4. - - [114] Menandri Reliquiæ, à Meineke, p. 306. Böckh, Gr. Trag. Principes, - p. 157. - -Attalus, king of Pergamus, is said by Pliny (L. viii. cap. 48.) to have -invented the art of embroidering with gold thread[115]. Nevertheless -we have seen, that gold was thus used long before the time of Attalus. -But there can be no doubt, that he established and maintained a great -manufacture of these stuffs at Pergamus; thus contributing greatly to -improve the art, and bring these cloths into more general use. - - [115] See Appendix A. - -The next passage is from Dr. Bostock’s translation of the 33rd Book, -ch. xix. “Gold may be spun or woven like wool, without the latter being -mixed with it. We are informed by Verrius, that Tarquinius Priscus rode -in triumph in a tunic of gold; and we have seen Agrippina, the wife -of the Emperor Claudius, when he exhibited the spectacle of a naval -combat, sitting by him covered with a robe made _entirely_ of _woven -gold_. In what are called the Attalic stuffs, the gold is woven with -some other substance. This art was the invention of one of the kings of -Asia.” - -In Book xxxv. c. 36. Pliny says that Zeuxis, to display his wealth at -Olympia, caused his name to be woven _in gold_ in the compartments of -his outer garment. - -Caligula once wore a tunic interwoven with gold. Heliogabalus was -far more profuse in regard to this kind of splendor. White sheets, -_interwoven with gold_, were used at the funeral obsequies of -Nero[116]. We may here observe, that the use of gold in dress almost -invariably accompanied that of silk. The same Emperors who took delight -in the one, indulged themselves with the other also. On the contrary, -Alexander Severus, as we shall show when treating of linen in Part IV., -was economical in both these respects. - - [116] Suetonius, Nero, 50. - -In Chapters II. and III., we quoted several passages which make mention -of cloth of gold, from Tibullus, Ovid, Seneca the Tragedian, Lucan, Dio -Cassius, Claudian, Virgil, Gregorius Nazienzenus, and Basil, all of -which speak of cloth of gold. Ovid mentions purple garments variously -colored and interwoven with gold, as belonging to Bacchus.--_Met._ iii. -556. - -Publius Syrus was a writer of the same period. In the following -fragment preserved by Petronius Arbiter, he compares the train of the -peacock to Babylonian stuffs enriched with gold and various colors: - - Thy food the peacock, which displays his spotted train, - As shines a Babylonian shawl with feather’d gold! - -Shawls, interwoven with gold, are mentioned by Galen[117], and by -Valerius Flaccus[118]; also by Lucan in the following passage, where he -is describing the furniture of Cleopatra’s palace (x. 125, 126.): - - Part shines with feather’d gold, part sheds a blaze - Of scarlet, _intermixed_ by _Pharian looms_! - - [117] Quoted in Chapter II. - - [118] Auro depicta chlamys. - -The following passages also contain evidence on the same subject. - - -SENECA, THE PHILOSOPHER. - - As yet figured cloths did not exist: gold was not woven, it was not - even extracted from the ground.--_Epist._ 91. - - -LUCIAN - -describes the tragic actors, when they performed the part of kings, as -wearing a chlamys interwoven with gold[119]. - - [119] Somnium, vol. ii. p. 742. ed. Hemsterhusii. - -APULEIUS. - - They carefully spread over the couches, cloths figured with gold and - Tyrian purple.--_Met._ - - -PHILOSTRATUS - -depicts Midas wearing a golden robe[120]. - - [120] Imag. i. 22. - -NEMESIANUS. - - In thy scarf’s woof much sportive gold display.--_Cyneg._ 91. - -The poet is addressing Diana and describing her attire. - - -AUSONIUS. - - Weave flexile gold within thy shawls, O Greece[121]. - -This is the _first_ passage since the time of Homer, which mentions -Greece as concerned in weaving with gold. But Ausonius probably alluded -to the Greeks of Asia Minor, as, besides the evidence produced from -Basil, we have seen that Pergamus was one of the most noted places -for these productions, which were on that account called “Attalicæ -vestes[122].” - -When Ausonius was appointed Consul at Rome A. D. 379, his friend -and former pupil, the Emperor Gratian, sent him as a present a toga -in which was inserted a figure of Constantius II., _wrought in -gold_.--Ausonii Gratiarum Actio, § 53. - - [121] Epigram 37. - - [122] “I find evidence that kings wore the _striped toga_; 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 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_ (the - polymita were damask cloths), was _first_ taught in Alexandria; to - divide by squares (_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 (about - $30,000), although the emperor Nero lately gave for them no less - than 4,000,000 sesterces (about $150,000). The _prætextæ_ 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 moths during - the space of 560 years.”--_Plin. H. N._ viii. 64. (See Appendix A.) - - -CLAUDIAN - -mentions with delight the use of gold in dress as well as of silk. His -testimony has been given in chapter III. of this Part. - - -SIDONIUS APOLLINARIS - -mentions the gold in the dress of Prince Sigismer. His testimony is -also given in chapter III. - - -CORIPPUS, - -describing the accession of Justin II. to the Empire (A. D. 565), -mentions (L. ii.) his tunic enriched with gold as part of his imperial -costume. - - -PAULINUS. - - Misceturque ostro mollitum in fila metellum. - _De Vita Martini_, L. iii. - -We find the following law in the Codex Justinianus: - - Nemo vir auratas in tunicis aut in lincis habeat paragaudas: nisi hi - tantummodo, quibus hoc propter Imperiale ministerium concessum est. - _Corpus Juris Civilis_, tom. v. tit. viii. leg. 2. - -The “aurata paragauda” was a border of gold lace or thread. It -appears that ladies might wear it on their tunics, while men were -only permitted to use it in token of their official character as -being in the service of the emperor. In allusion to these or similar -regulations, Ælius Lampridius (34) says of the emperor Alexander -Severus, - - Auratam vestem ministerium nullus vel in publico convivio habuit. - -The testimony of Ambrose, Jerome, and Basil has been given in Chapter -III., which see. - -From the book of Joshua we learn that the woven stuffs of Babylon were -not confined to domestic use, but exported into foreign countries. The -two chief productions of Babylonian looms were _carpets_ and _shawls_. -One of the principal objects of luxury in Asia from the remotest ages, -were nowhere so finely woven, and in such rich colors as at Babylon. -On the Babylonian carpets were woven or depicted representations of -those fabulous animals the dragon and griffin, together with other -unnatural combinations of form, probably originating in India, and with -which we have become acquainted by the ruins of Persepolis. It was -by means of the Babylonian manufactures, that the knowledge of these -fanciful and imaginary beings, was conveyed to the Western world, and -from them transferred to the Greek vases. “A mantle of Shinar,” or as -our translators have rendered it, “A Babylonish garment,” was secreted -by Achan from the spoils of Jericho; and the delinquent speaks of this -as being the most valuable part of his plunder[123]. Next to carpets -and shawls, the Babylonian garments called _Sindones_ were held in the -highest estimation. The most costly _Sindones_, were so much valued for -their fineness of texture and brilliancy of color, as to be compared to -those of Media, and set apart for royal use; they were even to be found -at the tomb of Cyrus, which was profusely decorated with every species -of furniture in use among the Persian monarchs during their lives. - - [123] “When I saw among the spoils _a goodly Babylonish garment_, and - two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels - weight, then I coveted them, and took them, and behold, they are - hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under - it.”--Joshua vii. 21. - - -[Illustration: - -_Plate II_ - - _From Champollion_ - -EGYPTIAN LOOMS, - -with the processes of Spinning and Winding.] - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -SILVER TEXTURES, &c., OF THE ANCIENTS. - - -EXTREME BEAUTY OF THESE MANUFACTURES. - - Magnificent dress worn by Herod Agrippa, mentioned in Acts xii. - 21--Josephus’s account of this dress, and dreadful death of - Herod--Discovery of ancient Piece-goods--Beautiful manuscript - of Theodolphus, Bishop of Orleans, who lived in the ninth - century--Extraordinary beauty of Indian, Chinese, Egyptian, and other - manufactured goods preserved in this manuscript--Egyptian arts--Wise - regulations of the Egyptians in relation to the arts--Late discoveries - in Egypt by the Prussian hierologist, Dr. Lepsius--Cloth of glass. - -The Evangelist Luke, in Acts xii. 21. speaks of the “royal apparel,” -in which Herod Agrippa, king of Judea, was arrayed when he received -the ambassadors of Tyre and Sidon, sitting in great state upon his -throne at Cæsarea. “And upon a set day, Herod arrayed in royal apparel, -sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people -gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And -immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God -the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.” - -Josephus describes the same garment, which was a tunic, as “all made -of _silver_, and wonderful in its texture.” He adds, that the king -appeared in this dress at break of day in the theatre, and that the -silver, illuminated by the first rays of the sun, glittered in such a -manner as to terrify the beholders, so that his flatterers began to -call out aloud, saluting him as a god. _He was then seized with the -painful and loathsome distemper, of which he soon after died[124]._ - - [124] _Ant. Jud._ L. xix. _cap._ 8. § 2. p. 871. _Hudson_. - -We extract the following curious account of the discovery of Ancient -Piece-goods and manufactured stuffs from a late number of an English -publication called the “Mining Review.” - -Discovery of ancient Piece-goods and manufactured stuffs.--“It is -more than a thousand years since Theodolphus, Bishop of Orleans, gave -to Notre Dame du Puy en Velay a beautiful manuscript, containing the -ancient Testament, the chronography of St. Isidor, and other pieces, -the whole distributed into 138 articles; which he presented in token -of gratitude for his deliverance from the prison of Angers, where he -was confined in the year 835. It was on Palm Sunday that year, while -Louis Le Debonnaire was passing, that he began to sing a well-known -Canticle, which the Catholic church _has since then_ introduced into -its ceremonies. This precious manuscript, in a state of perfect -preservation, is to be seen in the archives of the Bishopric of the Puy -en Velay, department of the Haute Loire. A portion of the manuscript -is written on leaves of common parchment, in letters of red and black, -with a few of gold intermixed. The other portion is inscribed on -leaves of parchment, dyed purple, with _letters of gold_ and _silver_, -among which are observed, ornaments of different kinds and colors, -designated the “_Byzantine style_.” The manuscript, remarkable for its -beauty and preservation, is still more valuable for the manufactured -stuffs which it contains. When Theodolphus composed his manuscript, -with the intention of preserving from contact and friction the gold -and silver characters (which, in time, would have tended to displace -and obliterate them), he placed between each page a portion of the -manufactured tissues peculiar to the era in which he lived. These -specimens of the silk, and other pieces of goods of the time are thus -curiously preserved[125]. Till lately, little attention was paid to -these tissues, which are principally of India manufacture, bearing -scarcely _any analogy_ to the products of the _modern loom_. Some are -CASHMERE SHAWLS of those patterns, which the French call _broucha_ -and _espouline_, and are made in the Indian fashion, but with this -difference, that they are limited to _four_ colors, and demonstrate -the greatest antiquity by the primitive simplicity of their colors -and design. Others are CRAPES and GAUZES, against the luxury of -whose transparent tissues, the fathers of the church at that time so -perseveringly fulminated their censures. The rest consist of _muslins_ -and _China-crape of exquisite beauty_. The components of the majority -of these tissues are of goats’ or camels’ hair of exceeding delicacy -and fineness. Like the manufactured stuffs of ancient Egypt, painted on -the walls of its palaces and tombs, or substantially preserved amidst -the envelopes of mummies, the designs are limited to four colors, which -are in fact the _four sacred ones of China_, _India_, _Egypt_, and the -_Hebrew Tabernacle_. Nevertheless, the Egyptian designs, _identical -with those of India_, are many of them of exquisite beauty. The -consummate skill of the silk and cotton manufacturers of ancient Egypt, -4000 years ago, _the beauty and richness of their fabrics_--the little -alteration which has taken place in the economy or machinery of the -factories, as well as in their product, has been recently demonstrated -in the great work of Champollion. All the details of the silk and -cotton factories of Egypt, under the Pharaohs of the 18th dynasty -(which then monopolized the commerce of the world, and sent a colony -of weavers, from the overburthened population of Lower Egypt, to found -Athens, and the subsequent civilization of Europe), are laid open with -vivid accuracy in that splendid work[126], and brought with all their -startling analogies before the eye of the modern reader by drawings -from the temples, palaces, and tombs which it contains. It proves, -indeed, that there is ”_nothing new under the sun_.” - - [125] A shred of gold cloth is preserved in the Museum of Antiquities - at Leyden, which is supposed to have been discovered in one of the - ancient tombs at Tarquinia in Etruria. In this tissue the gold - forms a compact covering over bright yellow silk. - - [126] See Plate II. - -That the Egyptians excelled in science and art is evident from their -monuments, paintings, and sculptures, whereon they are depicted. It is -also proved by Scripture, which speaks of the “wisdom of Egypt” with -reference to art; and from the fact that Egypt was deemed by other -nations the fountain of arts and sciences, and that their philosophers -were wont to resort thither to collect some of the “droppings of -Egyptian wisdom.” According to Diodorus, all trades vied with each -other in improving their own particular branch, no pains being spared -to bring each to perfection. To promote the more effectually this -object, it was enacted that no artisan should follow any trade or -employment but that defined bylaw, and _pursued by his ancestors_. No -tradesman was permitted to meddle with political affairs, or hold any -civil office in the state, _lest his thoughts should be distracted by -the inconsistency of his pursuits_, or the jealousy and displeasure of -the master in whose service he was employed. They foresaw that without -such a law constant interruptions would take place, in consequence of -the necessity or desire of becoming conspicuous in a public station; -that their proper occupations would be neglected, and many would be -led by _vanity_ and _self-sufficiency_ to interfere in matters which -were out of their sphere. They considered, moreover, that to pursue -more than one avocation would be detrimental to their own interests, -and those of the community at large; and that, when men, from a motive -of avarice, engage in numerous branches of art, the general result -is, that they are unable to excel in any. If any artisan interfered -in political matters, or engaged in any employment other than the one -to which he had been brought up, a severe punishment was immediately -inflicted upon him. - -The eminent German hierologist, Dr. Lepsius, now employed in Egypt by -the Prussian government, after mentioning, in a recent letter, the many -discoveries he had made of ancient ruins, tombs, &c., writes as follows: - -“With the exception of about twelve, which belong to a later period, -all these tombs were erected contemporaneously with, or soon after, -the building of the great pyramid, and consequently their dates throw -an invaluable light on the study of human civilization in the most -remote period of antiquity. The _sculptures_ in relief are surprisingly -numerous, representing whole figures, some the size of life, and others -of various dimensions. The _paintings_ are on back grounds of the -finest chalk. They are numerous and beautiful beyond conception--_as -fresh and perfect as if finished yesterday_! The pictures and -sculptures on the walls of the tombs, represent, for the most part, -scenes in the lives of the deceased persons, whose wealth in cattle, -fish-boats, servants, &c., is ostentatiously displayed before the eye -of the spectator. All this gives an insight into the details of private -life among the ancient Egyptians. By the help of these inscriptions I -think I could, without difficulty, make a “Court Calendar” of the reign -of King Cheops[127]. In some instances I have traced the graves of -father, son, grandson, and even great-grandson--all that now remains of -the distinguished families, which five thousand years ago, formed the -nobility of the land.” - - [127] We do not find in these researches, that the ancients were - acquainted with the arts of spinning and weaving glass, or of - giving it any required shade of color. This invention, therefore, - must be considered as belonging to the nineteenth century, and the - honor of the discovery is due to M. Dubus Bonnel, an ingenious - Frenchman, a native of Lille, and for which he obtained patents in - Great Britain, and various countries of the European continent in - 1837. - - “When we figure to ourselves an apartment decorated with cloth of - glass, and resplendent with lights, we must be convinced that it - will equal in brilliancy all that the imagination can conceive; and - realise, in a word, the wonders of the enchanted palaces mentioned - in the Arabian tales. The lights flashing from the polished - surface of the glass, to which any color or shade may be given, - will make the room have the appearance of an apartment composed of - pearls, mother-of-pearl, diamonds, garnets, sapphires, topazes, - rubies, emeralds, or amethysts, &c., or, in short, of all those - precious stones united and combined in a thousand ways, and formed - into stars, rosettes, boquets, garlands, festoons, and graceful - undulations, varied almost ad infinitum.”--L’Echo du Monde Savant, - &c. No. 58, Feb. 15, 1837.--_Translated from the French._ - - The warp is composed of silk, forming the body and groundwork on - which the pattern in glass appears, as effected by the weft. The - requisite flexibility of glass thread for manufacturing purposes - is to be ascribed to its extreme fineness; as not less than from - fifty to sixty of the original threads (spun by steam engine power) - are required to form one thread of the weft. The process is slow; - for no more than a yard of cloth can be produced in twelve hours. - The work, however, is extremely beautiful and comparatively cheap, - inasmuch as no similar stuff, where bullion is really introduced, - can be purchased for anything like the price for which this is - sold; added to this, it is, as far as the glass is concerned, - imperishable. Glass is more durable than either gold or silver, - and, besides, possesses the advantage of never tarnishing. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -DESCRIPTION OF THE SILK-WORM, &c. - - Preliminary observations--The silk-worm--Various changes of the - silk-worm--Its superiority above other worms--Beautiful verses on the - May-fly, illustrative of the shortness of human life--Transformations - of the silk-worm--Its small desire of locomotion--First sickness - of the worm--Manner of casting its Exuviæ--Sometimes cannot be - fully accomplished--Consequent death of the insect--Second, third, - and fourth sickness of the worm--Its disgust for food--Material of - which silk is formed--Mode of its secretion--Manner of unwinding the - filaments--Floss-silk--Cocoon--Its imperviousness to moisture--Effect - of the filaments breaking during the formation of the cocoon--Mr. - Robinet’s curious calculation on the movements made by a silk-worm - in the formation of a cocoon--Cowper’s beautiful lines on the - silk-worm--Periods in which its various progressions are effected - in different climates--Effects of sudden transitions from heat to - cold--The worm’s appetite sharpened by increased temperature--Shortens - its existence--Various experiments in artificial heating--Modes of - artificial heating--Singular estimate of Count Dandolo--Astonishing - increase of the worm--Its brief existence in the moth state--Formation - of silk--The silken filament formed in the worm before its - expulsion--Erroneous opinions entertained by writers on this - subject--The silk-worm’s Will. - - -It can never be too strongly impressed upon a mind anxious for the -acquisition of knowledge, that the commonest things by which we are -surrounded are deserving of minute and careful attention. The most -profound investigations of Philosophy are necessarily connected -with the ordinary circumstances of our being, and of the world in -which our every-day life is spent. With regard to our own existence, -the pulsation of the heart, the act of respiration, the voluntary -movement of our limbs, the condition of sleep, are among the most -ordinary operations of our nature; and yet how long were the wisest -of men struggling with dark and bewildering speculations before they -could offer anything like a satisfactory solution of these phenomena, -and how far are we still from an accurate and complete knowledge of -them! The science of Meteorology, which attempts to explain to us the -philosophy of matters constantly before our eyes, as dew, mist, and -rain, is dependent for its illustrations upon a knowledge of the most -complicated facts, such as the influence of heat and electricity upon -the air; and this knowledge is at present so imperfect, that even these -common occurrences of the weather, which men have been observing and -reasoning upon for ages, are by no means satisfactorily explained, or -reduced to the precision that every science should aspire to. Yet, -however difficult it may be entirely to comprehend the phenomena we -daily witness, everything in nature is full of instruction. Thus the -humblest flower of the field, although, to one whose curiosity has -not been excited, and whose understanding has, therefore, remained -uninformed, it may appear worthless and contemptible, is valuable to -the botanist, not only with regard to its place in the arrangement of -this portion of the Creator’s works, but as it leads his mind forward -to the consideration of those beautiful provisions for the support of -vegetable life, which it is the part of the physiologist to study and -admire[128]. - - [128] “Insect Architecture,” vol. i. p. 9. London: Charles Knight & - Co., Ludgate St. 1845. - -This train of reasoning is peculiarly applicable to the economy of -insects. They constitute a very large and interesting part of the -animal kingdom. They are everywhere about us. The _spider_ weaves his -curious web in our houses; the _caterpillar_ constructs his silken cell -in our gardens; the _wasp_ that hovers over our food has a nest not -far removed from us, which she has assisted to build with the nicest -art; the _beetle_ that crawls across our path is also an ingenious and -laborious mechanic, and has some curious instincts to exhibit to those -who will feel an interest in watching his movements; and the _moth_ -that eats into our clothes has something to plead for our pity, for he -came, like us, naked into the world, and he has destroyed our garments, -not in malice or wantonness, but that he may clothe himself with the -same wool which we have stripped from the sheep. An observation of -the habits of these little creatures is full of valuable lessons, -which the abundance of the examples has no tendency to diminish. The -more such observations are multiplied, the more we are led forward to -the freshest and the most delightful parts of knowledge; the more do -we learn to estimate rightly the extraordinary provisions and most -abundant resources of a creative Providence; and the better do we -appreciate our own relations with all the infinite varieties of Nature, -and our dependence, in common with the _ephemeron_ that flutters its -little hour in the summer sun, upon that Being in whose scheme of -existence the humblest as well as the highest creature has its destined -purposes. “If you speak of a _stone_,” says St. Basil, “if you speak -of a _fly_, a _gnat_, or a _bee_, your conversation will be a sort of -demonstration of his power whose hand formed them, for the wisdom of -the workman is commonly perceived in that which is of little size. He -who has stretched out the Heavens, and dug up the bottom of the sea, is -also He who has pierced a passage through the sting of the bee for the -ejection of its poison.” - -If it be granted that making discoveries is one of the most -satisfactory of human pleasures, then we may without hesitation affirm, -that the study of insects is one of the most delightful branches of -natural history, for it affords peculiar facilities for its pursuit. -These facilities are found in the almost inexhaustible variety which -insects present to the curious observer. - -There is, perhaps, no situation in which the lover of nature and the -observer of animal life may not find opportunities for increasing -his store of facts. It is told of a state prisoner under a cruel and -rigorous despotism, that when he was excluded from all commerce with -mankind, and was shut out from books, he took an interest and found -consolation in the visits of a _spider_; and there is no improbability -in the story. The operations of that persecuted creature are among the -most extraordinary exhibitions of mechanical ingenuity; and a daily -watching of the workings of its instinct would beget admiration in -a rightly constituted mind. The poor prisoner had abundant leisure -for the speculations in which the spider’s web would enchain his -understanding. We have all of us, at one period or other of our lives, -been struck with some singular evidence of contrivance in the economy -of insects, which we have seen with our own eyes. Want of leisure, and -probably want of knowledge, have prevented us from following up the -curiosity which for a moment was excited. And yet some such accident -has made men Naturalists, in the highest meaning of the term. Bonnet, -evidently speaking of himself, says, “I knew a naturalist, who, when -he was seventeen years of age, having heard of the operations of the -ant-lion, began by doubting them. He had no rest till he had examined -into them; and he verified them, he admired them, he discovered new -facts, and soon became the disciple and the friend of the Pliny of -France[129]” (Réaumur). It is not the happy -fortune of many to be able to devote themselves exclusively to -the study of nature, unquestionably the most fascinating of human -employments; but almost every one may acquire sufficient knowledge to -be able to derive a high gratification from beholding the more common -operations of animal life. His materials for contemplation are always -before him. - - [129] Contemplation de la Nature, part ii. ch. 42. - -The silk-worm is a species of caterpillar which, like all other -insects of the same class, undergoes a variety of changes during -the short period of its life; assuming, in each of three successive -transformations, _a form wholly dissimilar to that with which it was -previously invested_. - -Among the great variety of caterpillars, the descriptions of which are -to be found in the records of natural history, the silk-worm occupies -a place far above the rest. Not only is our attention called to the -examination of its various transformations, by the desire of satisfying -our curiosity as entomologists, but our artificial wants incite us -likewise to the study of its nature and habits, that we may best and -most profitably apply its instinctive industry to our own advantage. - -It has been well observed by Pullein, a writer on this subject, that -“there is scarcely anything among the various wonders which the animal -creation affords, more admirable than the variety of changes which the -silk-worm undergoes;” but the curious texture of that silken covering -with which it surrounds itself when it arrives at the perfection of -its animal life, vastly surpasses what is made by other animals of -this class. All the caterpillar kind do, indeed, pass through changes -like those of the silk-worm, and the beauty of many in their butterfly -state greatly exceeds it; but the covering which they put on before -this mutation is poor and mean, when compared to that golden tissue in -which the silk-worm wraps itself. They, indeed, come forth in a variety -of colors, their wings bedropped with gold and scarlet, yet are they -but the beings of a summer’s day; both their life and beauty quickly -vanish, and they leave no remembrance after them; but the silk-worm -leaves behind it such beautiful, such beneficial monuments, as at once -to record both the wisdom of their Creator and his bounty to man.” - -We may without impropriety, here introduce the following truly -beautiful comparison of the shortness of human life, as well as in -illustration of this part of our subject, as evidenced in the May-fly. - - “The angler’s May-fly, the most short-lived in its perfect state of - any of the insect race, emerges from the water, where it passes its - _aurelia_ state, about six in the evening, and dies about eleven at - night.”--WHITE’S _Selborne_. - - The sun of the eve was warm and bright - When the May-fly burst his shell, - And he wanton’d awhile in that fair light - O’er the river’s gentle swell; - And the deepening tints of the crimson sky - Still gleam’d on the wing of the glad May-fly. - - The colors of sunset pass’d away, - The crimson and yellow green, - And the evening-star’s first twinkling ray - In the waveless stream was seen; - Till the deep repose of the stillest night - Was hushing about his giddy flight. - - The noon of the night is nearly come-- - There’s a crescent in the sky;-- - The silence still hears the myriad hum - Of the insect revelry. - The hum has ceas’d--the quiet wave - Is now the sportive May-fly’s grave. - - Oh! thine was a blessed lot--to spring - In thy lustihood to air, - And sail about, on untiring wing, - Through a world most rich and fair, - To drop at once in thy watery bed, - Like a leaf that the willow branch has shed. - - And who shall say that his thread of years - Is a life more blest than thine! - Has his feverish dream of doubts and fears - Such joys as those which shine - In the constant pleasures of thy way, - Most happy child of the happy May? - - For thou wert born when the earth was clad - With her robe of buds and flowers, - And didst float about with a soul as glad - As a bird in the sunny showers; - And the hour of thy death had a sweet repose, - Like a melody, sweetest at its close. - - Nor too brief the date of thy cheerful race-- - ’Tis its use that measures time-- - And the mighty Spirit that fills all space - With His life and His will sublime, - May see that the May-fly and the Man - Each flutter out the same small span; - - And the fly that is born with the sinking sun, - To die ere the midnight hour, - May have deeper joy, ere his course be run, - Than man in his pride and power; - And the insect’s minutes be spared the fears - And the anxious doubts of our threescore years. - - The years and the minutes are as one-- - The fly drops in his twilight mirth, - And the man, when his long day’s work is done, - Crawls to the self-same earth. - Great Father of each! may _our_ mortal day - Be the prelude to an endless May[130]! - - [130] “See,” exclaims Linnæus, “the large, elegant painted wings of - the butterfly, four in number, covered with delicate feathery - scales! With these it sustains itself in the air a whole day, - rivalling the flight of birds and the brilliancy of the peacock. - Consider this insect through the wonderful progress of its - life,--how different is the first period of its being from the - second, and both from the parent insect! Its changes are an - inexplicable enigma to us: we see a green caterpillar, furnished - with sixteen feet, feeding upon the leaves of a plant; this is - changed into a chrysalis, smooth, of golden lustre, hanging - suspended to a fixed point, without feet, and subsisting without - food; this insect again undergoes another transformation, acquires - wings, and six feet, and becomes a gay butterfly, sporting in - the air, and living by suction upon the honey of plants. What - has Nature produced more worthy of our admiration than such an - animal coming upon the stage of the world, and playing its part - there under so many different masks?” The ancients were so struck - with the transformations of the butterfly, and its revival from - a seeming temporary death, as to have considered it an emblem of - the soul, the Greek word _psyche_ signifying both the soul and a - butterfly; and it is for this reason that we find the butterfly - introduced into their allegorical sculptures as an emblem of - immortality. Trifling, therefore, and perhaps contemptible, as - to the unthinking may seem the study of a butterfly, yet when - we consider the art and mechanism displayed in so minute a - structure,--the fluids circulating in vessels so small as almost - to escape the sight--the beauty of the wings and covering--and - the manner in which each part is adapted for its peculiar - functions,--we cannot but be struck with wonder and admiration, and - allow, with Paley, that “the production of beauty was as much in - the Creator’s mind in painting a butterfly as in giving symmetry to - the human form.” - -Silk-worms proceed from eggs which are deposited during the summer by a -grayish kind of moth, of the genus palæna. These eggs are about equal -in size to a grain of mustard seed: their color when first laid is -yellow; but in three or four days after, they acquire a bluish cast. -In temperate climates, and by using proper precautions, these eggs may -be preserved during the winter and spring, without risk of premature -hatching. The period of their animation may be accelerated or retarded -by artificial means, so as to agree with the time when the natural food -of the insect shall appear in ample abundance for its support. - -All the curious changes and labors which accompany and characterize -the life of the silk-worm are performed within the space of a very -few weeks. This period varies, indeed, according to the climate or -temperature in which its life is passed; all its vital functions being -quickened, and their duration proportionally abridged, by warmth. With -this sole variance, its progressions are alike in all climates, and the -same mutations accompany its course. - -The three successive states of being put on by this insect are, that -of the worm or caterpillar, of the chrysalis or aurelia, and moth. In -addition to these more decided transformations, the progress of the -silk-worm in its _caterpillar state_ is marked by _five distinct stages -of being_. - -When first hatched, it appears as a small black worm about a quarter -of an inch in length. Its first indication of animation is the desire -which it evinces for obtaining food, in search of which, if not -immediately supplied, it will exhibit more power of locomotion than -characterizes it at any other period. So small is the desire of change -on the part of these insects, that of the generality it may be said, -their own spontaneous will seldom leads them to travel over a greater -space than three feet throughout the whole duration of their lives. -Even when hungry, the worm still clings to the skeleton of the leaf -from which its nourishment was last derived. If, by the continued -cravings of its appetite, it should be at length incited to the effort -necessary for changing its position, it will sometimes wander as far -as the edge of the tray wherein it is confined, and some few have been -found sufficiently adventurous to cling to its rim; but the smell of -fresh leaves will instantly allure them back. It would add incalculably -to the labors and cares of their attendants, if silk-worms were endowed -with a more rambling disposition. So useful is this peculiarity of -their nature, that one is irresistibly tempted to consider it the -result of design, and a part of that beautiful system of the fitness of -things, which the student of natural history has so many opportunities -of contemplating with delight and admiration. - -In about eight days from its being hatched, its head becomes -perceptibly larger, and the worm is attacked by its first sickness. -This lasts for three days; during which time it refuses food, and -remains motionless as in a kind of lethargy. Some have thought this -to be sleep, but the fatal termination which so frequently attends -these sicknesses seems to afford a denial to this hypothesis. The -silk-worm increases its size so considerably, and in so short a space -of time,--its weight being multiplied many thousand fold in the course -of one month,--that if only one skin had been assigned to it, which -should serve for its whole caterpillar state, it would with difficulty -have distended itself sufficiently to keep pace with the insect’s -growth. The economy of nature has therefore admirably provided the -embryos of other skins, destined to be successively called into use; -and this sickness of the worm, and its disinclination for food, may -very probably be occasioned by the pressure of the skin, now become too -small for the body which it encases. - -At the end of the third day from its first refusal of food, the -animal appears, on that account, much wasted in its bodily frame; a -circumstance which materially assists in the painful operation of -casting its skin: this it now proceeds to accomplish. To facilitate -this moulting, a sort of humor is thrown off by the worm, which, -spreading between its body and the skin about to be abandoned, -lubricates their surfaces, and causes them to separate the more -readily. The insect also emits from its body silken traces, which, -adhering to the spot where it rests, serves to confine the skin to -its then existing position. These preliminary steps seem to call for -some considerable exertion, as after them the worm remains quiet for a -short space of time, to recover from its fatigue. It then proceeds, by -rubbing its head among the leafy fibres surrounding it, to disencumber -itself of the scaly covering. Its next effort is to break through the -skin nearest to the head, which, as it is there the smallest, calls for -the greatest exertion; and no sooner is this accomplished and the two -front legs are disengaged, than the remainder of the body is quickly -drawn forth, the skin being still fastened to the spot in the manner -already described. - -This moulting is so complete, _that not only is the whole covering of -the body cast off, but that of the feet, the entire skull, and even -the jaws, including the teeth_. These several parts may be discerned -by the unassisted eye; but become very apparent when viewed through a -magnifying lens of moderate power. - -In two or three minutes from the beginning of its efforts the worm is -wholly freed, and again puts on the appearance of health and vigor; -feeding with recruited appetite upon its leafy banquet. It sometimes -happens that the outer skin refuses to detach itself wholly, but breaks -and leaves an annular portion adhering to the extremity of its body, -from which all the struggles of the insect cannot wholly disengage it. -The pressure thus occasioned induces swelling and inflammation in other -parts of the body; and, after efforts of greater or less duration, -death generally terminates its sufferings. - -Worms newly freed from their exuviæ are easily distinguished from -others by the pale color and wrinkled appearance of their new skin. -This latter quality, however, soon disappears, through the repletion -and growth of the insect, which continues to feed during five days. -At this time its length will be increased to half an inch; when it -is attacked by a second sickness, followed by a second moulting, the -manner of performing which is exactly similar to the former. Its -appetite then again returns, and is indulged during other five days, in -the course of which time its length increases to three quarters of an -inch: it then undergoes its third sickness and moulting. These being -past in all respects like the former, and five more days of feeding -having followed, it is seized by its fourth sickness, and casts its -skin for the last time in the caterpillar state. The worm is now about -one and a half or two inches long. This last change being finished, the -worm devours its food most voraciously, and increases rapidly in size -during ten days. - -The silk-worm has now attained to its full growth, and is a slender -caterpillar from two and a half to three inches in length (See Figure -1. Plate III.). The peculiarities of its structure may be better -examined now than in its earlier stages. It can readily be seen that -the worm has twelve membranous rings round its body, parallel to each -other; and which, answering to the movements of the animal, mutually -contract and elongate. It has sixteen legs, in pairs: six in front, -which are covered with a sort of shell or scale, and are placed under -the three first rings, and cannot be either sensibly lengthened, or -their position altered. The other ten legs are called holders: these -are membranous, flexible, and attached to the body under the rings, -being furnished with little hooks, which assist the insect in climbing. -The skull is inclosed in a scaly substance, similar to the covering of -the first six legs. The jaws are indented or serrated like the teeth of -a saw, and their strength is great considering the size of the insect. -Its mouth is peculiar, having a vertical instead of an horizontal -aperture; and the worm is furnished with eighteen breathing holes, -placed at equal distances down the body, nine on each side. Each of -these holes is supposed to be the termination of a particular organ of -respiration. On either side of the head, near to the mouth, seven small -eyes may be discerned. The two broad appearances higher upon the head, -which are frequently mistaken for eyes, are bones of the skull. The two -apertures through which the worm draws its silken filament are placed -just beneath the jaw, and close to each other; these being exceedingly -minute. - -At the period above-mentioned the desire of the worm for food begins -to abate: the first symptom of this is the appearance of the leaves -nibbled into small portions and wasted. It soon after entirely ceases -even to touch the leaves; appears restless and uneasy; erects it head; -and moves about from side to side, with a circular motion, in quest of -a place wherein it can commence its labor of spinning. Its color is now -light green, with some mixture of a darker hue. In twenty-four hours -from the time of its abstaining from food, the material for forming -its silk will be digested in its reservoirs; its green color will -disappear; its body will have acquired a degree of glossiness, and have -become partially transparent towards its neck. Before the worm is quite -prepared to spin, its body will have acquired greater firmness, and be -in a trifling measure lessened in size. - -“The substance,” says Mr. Porter, “of which the silk is composed, _is -secreted in the form of a fine yellow transparent gum in two separate -vessels of slender dimensions, wound, as it were, on two spindles in -the stomach; and if unfolded, these vessels would be about ten inches -in length_[131].” This statement is proved to be erroneous, as the -reader will perceive, at the conclusion of this chapter. - - [131] Porter’s “Treatise on the Silk Manufacture,” p. 111. - -When the worm has fixed upon some angle, or hollow place, whose -dimensions agree with the size of its intended silken ball or cocoon, -it begins its labor by throwing forth thin and irregular threads, see -Figure 2. Plate III., which are intended to support its future dwelling. - -During the first day, the insect forms upon these a loose structure of -an oval shape, which is called floss silk, and within which covering, -in the three following days, it forms the firm and consistent yellow -ball; the laborer, of course, always remaining on the inside of the -sphere which it is forming[132]. - - [132] If at this time any of the threads intended for the support of - the cocoon should be broken, the worm will find, in the progress - of its work, that the ball, not being properly poised, becomes - unsteady, so that the insect is unable properly to go forward - with its labors. Under these circumstances the worm pierces - and altogether quits the unfinished cocoon, and throws out its - remaining threads at random wherever it passes; by which means the - silk is wholly lost, and the worm, finding no place wherein to - prepare for its change, dies without having effected it. It may - sometimes happen, but such a thing is of unfrequent occurrence, - that the preparatory threads before mentioned are broken by another - worm working in the neighborhood, when the same unsatisfactory - result will be experienced.--_Obs. on the Culture of Silk_, _by_ A. - STEPHENSON. - -The silken filament, which when drawn out appears to be one thread, -is composed of two fibres, unwound through the two orifices before -described; and these fibres are brought together by means of two hooks, -placed within the silk-worm’s mouth for the purpose. The worm rests on -its lower extremity throughout the unwinding operation, and employs -its mouth and front legs in the task of directing and uniting the two -filaments. The filament is not wound in regular concentric circles -round the interior surface of the ball, but in spots, going backwards -and forwards with a sort of wavy motion. This apparently irregular -manner of proceeding is plainly perceptible when the silk is being -reeled off the ball; which does not make more than one or two entire -revolutions while ten or twelve yards of silk are being transferred to -the reel[133]. - - [133] Mr. Robinet, of Paris, made the following curious calculation - on the movements a silk-worm must make in forming a cocoon supposed - to contain a thread of 1500 metres. It is known, says Mr. Robinet, - that the silk-worm, in forming his cocoon, does not _spin_ the - silken filament in concentric circles round the interior surface of - the ball, but in a zigzag manner. This it effects by the motions of - its head. Now if each one of these motions gives half a centimetre - of the silken filament; it follows that the worm must make 300,000 - motions of its head to form it; and if the labor requires 72 hours - in the performance, the creature makes 100,000 motions every 24 - hours, 4,166 per hour, 69 per minute, and a little more than one in - a second! - -At the end of the third or fourth day, the worm will have completed -its task; and we have then a _silk cocoon_ (See Figure 3. Plate III.), -with the worm imprisoned in its centre; the cocoon being from an inch -to an inch and a half long, and of a yellow or orange color. - -When the insect has finished its labor of unwinding, it smears the -entire internal surface of the cocoon with a peculiar kind of gum, very -similar in its nature to the matter which forms the silk itself; and -this is no doubt designed as a shield against rain or the humidity of -the atmosphere, for the chrysalis in its natural state; when of course -it would be subject to all varieties of weather. The silken filament -of which the ball is made up, is likewise accompanied, throughout its -entire length, by a portion of gum, which serves to give firmness and -consistency to its texture; and assists in rendering the dwelling of -the chrysalis impervious to moisture. This office it performs so well, -that when, for the purpose of reeling the silk with greater facility, -the balls are thrown into basins of hot water, they swim on the top -with all the buoyancy of bladders; nor, unless the ball be imperfectly -formed, does the water penetrate within until the silk is nearly all -unwound. In figure 4, plate III., the cocoons are drawn two-thirds -of the usual size, and are shown with part of the outward floss silk -removed. - -The continual emission of the silken material during the formation of -its envelope, together with its natural evaporation, uncompensated -by food, causes the worm gradually to contract in bulk; it becomes -wrinkled, and the rings of its body approach nearer to each other and -appear more decidedly marked. When the ball is finished, the insect -rests awhile from its toil, and then throws off its caterpillar garb. -If the cocoon be now opened, its inhabitant will appear in the form of -a chrysalis or aurelia, in shape somewhat resembling a kidney-bean (See -Figure 5. plate III.), but pointed at one end, having a smooth brown -skin. Its former covering, so dissimilar to the one now assumed, will -be found lying beside it. - -The account which has been given of the progressions of the silk-worm -shows, that, in its various modifications, _the animal organization of -the insect has been always tending towards its simplification_. Count -Dandolo, writing upon this subject, observes, “Thus the caterpillar -is in the first instance composed of animal, silky, and excremental -particles; this forms the state of the _growing caterpillar_: in the -next stage it is composed of animal and silky particles; it is then the -_mature caterpillar_: and lastly, it is reduced to the animal particles -alone; and is termed in this state the _chrysalis_. The poet Cowper, in -the following lines, beautifully illustrates this subject: - - The beams of April, ere it goes, - A worm, scarce visible, disclose; - All winter long content to dwell - The tenant of his native shell. - The same prolific season gives - The sustenance by which he lives, - The mulberry leaf, a simple store, - That serves him--till he needs no more! - For, his dimensions once complete, - Thenceforth none ever sees him eat; - Though till his growing time be past - Scarce ever is he seen to fast. - That hour arrived, his work begins. - He spins and weaves, and weaves and spins; - Till circle upon circle, wound - Careless around him and around, - Conceals him with a veil though slight, - Impervious to the keenest sight. - Thus self-inclosed, as in a cask, - At length he finishes his task: - And, though a worm when he was lost, - Or caterpillar at the most, - When next we see him, wings he wears, - And in papilio pomp appears; - Becomes oviparous; supplies - With future worms and future flies - The next ensuing year--and dies! - Well were it for the world if all - Who creep about this earthly ball, - Though shorter-lived than most he be, - Were useful in their kind as he. - -It has been already noticed that the progressions of the insects are -accelerated by an increase of temperature; and some variation will -equally be experienced where different modes of treatment are followed; -and, in particular, where different periods of the year are chosen in -which to produce and rear the worm. Malpighius, in his “Anatomy of the -Silk-worm,” says, that worms which he hatched in May were eleven days -old ere they were attacked by their first sickness; others hatched in -July were ten days, and those brought forth in August nine days, before -they refused their food, preparatory to their first moulting. Eight -days appear to be the most usual term for their first attack; and by -his judicious treatment count Dandolo shortened even this term by two -days. In Europe, except where recourse is had to artificial aid, the -term of the caterpillar state is usually that which has been already -mentioned. - -Sudden transitions from cold to heat, or vice versa, are highly -injurious to the silk-worm; but it can bear a very high degree of heat, -if uniformly maintained, without sustaining injury. Count Dandolo -observed, that “the greater the degree of heat in which it is reared, -the more acute are its wants, the more rapid its pleasures, and the -shorter its existence.” Monsieur Boissier de Sauvagues made many -experiments on this point. One year, when by the early appearance of -the mulberry leaves, which were developed by the end of April, he was -forced to hurry forward the operations of his filature, he raised the -heat of the apartment in which the newly-hatched worms were placed to -100°; gradually diminishing this during their first and second ages -to 95°. In consequence of the animal excitement thus induced, there -elapsed only nine days between the hatching and the second moulting -inclusively. It was the general opinion of those cultivators who -witnessed the experiment, that the insects would not be able to exist -in so intensely heated an atmosphere. The walls of the apartment, and -the wicker hurdles on which the worms were placed, could scarcely be -touched from the great heat, and yet all the changes and progressions -went forward perfectly well, and a most abundant crop of silk was the -result. - -The same gentleman, on a subsequent occasion, exposed his brood to the -temperature of 93° to 95° during their first age; of 89° to 91° in the -second age; and remarked that the attendant circumstances were the same -as in his former experiment, the changes of the worm being performed -in the same space of time; whence he came to the conclusion, that -it is not practicable to accelerate their progress beyond a certain -point by any superadditions of heat. In both of these experiments the -quantity of food consumed, was as great as is usually given during -the longer period employed in the common manner of rearing. After the -second moulting had taken place in the last experiment, the temperature -was lowered to 82°; and it is remarkable that the worms occupied only -five days in completing their third and fourth changes, although -others which had been accustomed to this lower degree from their birth -occupied seven or eight days for each of these moultings. It would -therefore seem that the constitution of the insects can be affected, -and an impetus given to their functions at the period of their first -animation, which accompanies them through their after stages. So far -from this forcing system proving injurious to the health of silk-worms, -M. de Sauvagues found that his broods were unusually healthy; and that -while the labors of cultivation were abridged in their duration, much -of the attendant anxiety was removed. - -Like other caterpillars, the silk-worm is not a warm-blooded -animal, and its temperature is therefore always equal to that of the -atmosphere in which it is placed. In the silk-producing countries, -where modes of artificial heating have not been studied practically -and scientifically, the difficulty and expense that must attend -the prosecution of this heating system, form abundant reasons why -it cannot be generally adopted. The great susceptibility of the -insect to atmospheric influences would also in a great degree render -unsuitable the more common arrangements for the purpose. The plan -of warming apartments by means of stoves, in its passage through -which the air becomes highly heated before it mixes with and raises -the general temperature of the air in the chamber, is liable to -this inconvenience,--that the portion so introduced, having its -vital property impaired by the burning heat through which it has -passed, injures, proportionably, the respirable quality of the whole -atmosphere; an effect which is easily perceptible by those who inhale -it. A better plan of heating has lately been suggested, and is rapidly -coming into practice, viz., of warming buildings by a current of hot -water (an American invention), which is, by a very simple process, kept -constantly flowing in close channels through the apartment, where it -continually gives off its heat by radiation; and the degree of this -being far below the point which is injurious to the vital quality of -air, the evil before alluded to is avoided. If the expense of fuel -be not too great, as compared with that of the labor which would be -saved by this invention, the adoption in silk countries of such a -mode of raising and regulating the temperature might, probably, prove -advantageous. - -The silk-worm remains in the form of a chrysalis, for periods which, -according to the climate or the temperature wherein it may be placed, -vary from fifteen to thirty days. In India, the time is much shorter -(See Chapter VIII.); in Spain and Italy, eighteen to twenty days. In -France three weeks; and in the climate of England, when unaccelerated -by artificial means, thirty days will elapse from the time the insect -begins to spin until it emerges in its last and perfect form. It then -throws off the shroud which had confined it in _seeming lifelessness_, -and appears as a large moth of a grayish-white color, furnished with -four wings, two eyes, and two black horns or antlers which present a -feathery appearance (See Figure 6. plate III.). - -If left until this period within the cocoon, the moth takes immediate -measures for its extrication: ejecting from its mouth a liquor with -which it moistens and lessens the adhesiveness of the gum wherewith -it had lined the interior surface of its dwelling, and the insect is -enabled, by frequent motions of its head, to loosen, without breaking, -the texture of the ball; then using its hooked feet, it pushes aside -the filaments and makes a passage for itself into light and freedom. -It is erroneously said that the moth recovers its liberty by gnawing -the silken threads; but it is found, on the contrary, that if carefully -unwound, their continuity is by this means rarely broken. - -One of the most remarkable circumstances connected with the natural -history of silk-worms, is the degree in which their bulk and weight -is increased, and the limited time wherein that increase is attained. -Count Dandolo, who appears to have neglected nothing that could tend -to the right understanding of the subject, and to the consequent -improvement of the processes employed, had patience enough to count -and weigh many hundred thousand eggs, as well as follow out to the -ultimate result his inquiries respecting their produce. He found that -on an average sixty-eight sound silk-worm’s eggs weighed one grain. -One ounce[134], therefore, comprised, 39,168 eggs. But one twelfth -part of this weight evaporates previous to hatching, and the shells -are equal to one fifth more. If, therefore, from one ounce, composed -of 576 grains, 48 grains be deducted for evaporation, and 115 for the -shells, 413 grains will remain equal to the weight of 39,168 young -worms; and, at this rate, 54,526 of the insects when newly hatched, are -required to make up the ounce. After the first casting of the skin, -3840 worms are found to have this weight, so that the bulk and weight -of the insects have in a few days been multiplied more than _fourteen -times_. After the second change 610 worms weigh an ounce, their weight -being increased in the intermediate time six fold. In the week passed -between the second and third ages, the number of insects required to -make up the same weight, decreases from 610 to 144, their weight being -therefore more than quadrupled. During the fourth age, a similar rate -of increase is maintained: thirty-five worms now weigh an ounce. The -fifth age of the caterpillar comprises nearly a third part of its brief -existence, and has been described, by an enthusiastic writer on the -subject, as the happiest period of its life, during which it rapidly -increases in size, preparing and secreting the material it is about to -spin. When the silk-worms are fully grown, and have arrived at their -period of finally rejecting food, six of them make up the weight of an -ounce. They have, therefore, since their last change, again added to -their weight _six fold_. - - [134] This ounce contains 576 grains; 8.5325 of these grains equal - seven grains troy. One ounce avoirdupoise is therefore equal to - about 533 grains, and between 11-12 and 11-13 ounce avoirdupoise - equals one of the above ounces. - -It is thus seen that, in a few short weeks, the insect has multiplied -its weight more than _nine thousand fold_! From this period, and during -the whole of its two succeeding states of being, the worm imbibes no -nourishment, and gradually diminishes in weight; being supported by its -own substance, and appearing to find sufficient occupation in forming -its silken web, and providing successors for our service, without -indulging that grosser appetite which forms the beginning and the end -of their desires during their caterpillar existence. - -The moth enjoys its liberty for only a very brief space. Its first -employment is to seek its mate; after which the female deposits her -eggs; and both in the course of two or three days after, end their -being. - -Formation of Silk. By M. H. Straus, of Durckheim.--“It is generally -admitted by naturalists that the thread of the caterpillar is -produced by a simple emission of liquid matter through the orifice of -the spinner, and that it acquires solidity at once from the drying -influence of the air. It was easy to entertain such an hypothesis, -for nothing is more simple than the formation of a very fine thread -by such a process. But a little reflection will soon show us, even _à -priori_, that it is not possible; for how can we comprehend that so -fine a fibre, liquid at the instant of its issue from the aperture, -should _instantly_ acquire such a consistence as to bear the weight of -the animal suspended by it, and at the same time that it is rapidly -produced? Though the fluid, holding the silk in solution, should be -quickly volatilised, it must still be a matter of conjecture, how the -animal suspended by this thread could be able to arrest its issue, -holding on only by the thread itself, for it cannot pinch the thread, -seeing that it is only in a liquid state inside, and the thread cannot -be glued to the edge of the opening, as its rapid adhesion would -prevent its issue while the animal is spinning. A little examination -would satisfy us that silk cannot be produced in this manner, but that -it is secreted in the _form of silk_ in the silk vessels, and that -the spinning apparatus _only winds it_. The thread is produced in the -slender posterior part of the vessel, the inflated portion of which -consists of the reservoir of ready formed silk, where it is found in -the form of a skein; each thread being rolled up so as to occupy in the -silk-worm (_Bombex mori_) a space of only about a sixth part of the -real length of the skein. The fact is shown by the following experiment -I made for the purpose of ascertaining whether the silk is formed in -the body of the caterpillars. - -‘_Take one of the animals when about to form its cocoon, clean it in -common vinegar, in which it may remain from four to six hours, open it -on the back and extract the silk vessels, there being one on each side -of the alimentary canal. Take them up by the hinder end, just where -they begin to swell (further back the silk is not solid enough), and -draw them out. The membrane forming the vessel is easily torn open, -and the contents expand to six or seven times its original length. -The skein having attained its full length by the letting out of its -gathers, we obtain a cord perfectly equal in size throughout, except -at the end, where it is attenuated._ This cord resembles a large -horse-hair, and constitutes what fishermen call “_Florence hair_.” I -ought to add that in simply drawing out the silk vessel, the Florence -hair is found enveloped in a golden yellow gummy matter, forming the -glutinous portion by which the worm fastens its thread. This must be -got rid of by drawing the cord through the fold formed on the inside of -the joint of the left fore finger, converted into a canal by applying -to it the end of the thumb. The glutinous substance and the membranes -being thus separated, we have the _naked hair_. In this state, before -the silk becomes dry and hard, not only will it be indefinitely divided -longitudinally, which proves its fibrous structure, but in trying to -split it by drawing it transversely, _the little filaments of silk -which form it are perfectly separated_, making _a bundle of extremely -fine fibrils_.’ - -We cannot better conclude this interesting portion of our subject, than -by quoting the following beautiful lines by Miss H. F. Gould:-- - - -THE SILK-WORM’S WILL. - - On a plain rush hurdle a silk-worm lay, - When a proud young princess came that way: - The haughty child of a human king, - Threw a sidelong glance at the humble thing, - That took, with a silent gratitude, - From the mulberry leaf, her simple food; - And shrunk, half scorn and half disgust, - Away from her sister child of dust-- - Declaring she never yet could see - Why a reptile form like this should be, - And that she was not made with nerves so firm, - As calmly to stand by a “crawling worm!” - - With mute forbearance the silk-worm took - The taunting words, and the spurning look: - Alike a stranger to self and pride, - She’d no disquiet from aught beside-- - And lived of a meekness and peace possessed, - Which these debar from the human breast. - She only wished, for the harsh abuse, - To find some way to become of use - To the haughty daughter of lordly man; - And thus did she lay a noble plan, - To teach her wisdom, and make it plain, - That the humble worm was not made in vain; - A plan so generous, deep and high, - That, to carry it out, she must even die! - - “No more,” said she, “will I drink or eat! - I’ll spin and weave me a winding-sheet, - To wrap me up from the sun’s clear light, - And hide my form from her wounded sight. - In secret then, till my end draws nigh, - I’ll toil for her; and when I die, - I’ll leave behind, as a farewell boon, - To the proud young princess, my whole cocoon, - To be reeled and wove to a shining lace, - And hung in a veil o’er her scornful face! - And when she can calmly draw her breath - Through the very threads that have caused my death; - - When she finds, at length, she has nerves so firm - As to wear the shroud of a crawling worm, - May she bear in mind, that she walks with pride - In the winding-sheet where the silk-worm died!” - -[Illustration: - -_Plate III_ - -Silk-Worm, Cocoons, Chrysalis, Moths and Pinna.] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHINESE MODE OF REARING SILK-WORMS, &c. - - Great antiquity of the silk-manufacture in China--Time and mode - of pruning the Mulberry-tree--Not allowed to exceed a certain - height--Mode of planting--Situation of rearing-rooms, and their - construction--Effect of noise on the silk-worm--Precautions observed - in preserving cleanliness--Isan-mon, mother of the worms--Manner - of feeding--Space allotted to the worms--Destruction of the - Chrysalides--Great skill of the Chinese in weaving--American writers - on the Mulberry-tree--Silk-worms sometimes reared on trees--(M. - Marteloy’s experiments in 1764, in rearing silk-worms on trees in - France)--Produce inferior to that of worms reared in houses--Mode of - delaying the hatching of the eggs--Method of hatching--Necessity for - preventing damp--Number of meals--Mode of stimulating the appetite of - the worms--Effect of this upon the quantity of silk produced--Darkness - injurious to the silk-worm--Its effect on the Mulberry-leaves--Mode - of preparing the cocoons for the reeling process--Wild silk-worms of - India--Mode of hatching, &c.--(Observations on the cultivation of silk - by Dr. Stebbins--Dr. Bowring’s admirable illustration of the mutual - dependence of the arts upon each other.) - - -In China, the tradition of the silk culture is, as already shown, -carried back into the mythological periods, and dates with the origin -of agriculture itself. These two pursuits or avocations, namely, -husbandry and the silk-manufacture, form the subject of one of the -sixteen discourses to the people. It is there observed, that “from -ancient times the Son of Heaven directed the plough: the Empress -planted the mulberry-tree. Thus have these exalted personages, not -_above_ the practice of labor and exertion, set an example to all men, -with a view to leading the millions of their subjects to attend to -their essential interests.” - -In the work published by Imperial authority, entitled “Illustrations of -Husbandry and Weaving[135],” there are numerous wood-cuts, accompanied -by letter-press explanatory of the different processes of farming and -the silk-manufacture. The former head is confined to the production -of rice, the staple article of food, and proceeds from the ploughing -of the land to the packing of the grain; the latter details all the -operations connected with planting the mulberry and gathering its -leaves, up to the final weaving of the silk. - - [135] The drawing, plate I. (Frontispiece) is a faithful copy of a loom - represented in this curious work. For this representation of - a Chinese weaving engine, as well as several translations, - explanatory of the silk-manufacture, &c., we are indebted to Walter - Lowry, Esq., Sec. to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in - this city; who kindly permitted us to copy it from the original - plate, forming a part of the interesting work above referred - to, which is composed of seventy-five volumes, and was, as we - understand, presented to the Board by a New York merchant. Many of - the illustrations are extremely beautiful, reflecting the highest - credit upon the artisans of the “Celestial Empire.” - -The mulberry-tree is chiefly cultivated in Chĕ-kiang, which -province, together with the only three others that produce fine -silk, namely, Kiang-nân, Woo-pĕ, and Sze-chuen, is crossed by the -_thirtieth_ parallel of latitude. Chĕ-kiang is a country highly -alluvial, intersected by numerous rivers and canals, with a climate -that corresponds pretty nearly to the same latitude as that in the -United States of America. The soil is manured with mud, dug from the -rivers, assisted with ashes or dung; and the spaces between the trees -are generally filled with millet, pulse, or other articles of food. The -time for pruning the young trees, so as to produce fine leafy shoots, -is at the commencement of the year. About four eyes are left on every -shoot, and care is taken that the branches be properly thinned, with -a view to giving plenty of light and air to the leaves. In gathering -these, they make use of steps, as the young trees could not support -a ladder, and would besides be injured in their branches by the use -of one. The trees, with their foliage, are carefully watched, and the -mischiefs of insects prevented by the use of various applications, -among which are some essential oils. - -The young trees of course suffer by being stripped of their leaves, -which are the _lungs_ of plants, and this is an additional reason for -renewing them after a certain time. They endeavor in part to counteract -the evil effect, by pruning and lopping the tree, so as to diminish the -wood when the leaves have been gathered. It is surprising, however, to -observe how soon a tree in those climates will recover its leaves in -the summer or autumn, after having been entirely stripped of them by a -typhoon or hurricane. Fresh plants are procured by cuttings or layers, -and sometimes from seed. When the trees grow too old for the production -of the finest leaves, and show a greater tendency to fruiting, they are -either removed or so cut and managed as to produce young branches. - -The principal object, in the cultivation of the mulberry, is to produce -the greatest quantity of young and healthy leaves without fruit. For -this reason the trees are not allowed to exceed a certain age and -height. They are planted on the plan of a quincunx[136], and said to be -in perfection in about three years. - - [136] In _gardening_, the _quincunx_ order is a plantation of trees - disposed in a square, consisting of five trees, one at each corner - and a fifth in the centre, which order repeated indefinitely, - forms a regular grove or wood, viewed by an angle of the square or - parallelogram, presents equal or parallel alleys. - -Mr. Barrow, who observed the management of the trees and silk-worms -in Chĕ-kiang, confirms the usual Chinese accounts, by saying that -“the houses in which the worms are reared are placed generally in the -centre of each plantation, in order that they may be removed as far -as possible from every kind of noise; experience having taught them -that a sudden shout, or the bark of a dog, is destructive of the young -worms. A whole brood has sometimes perished from the effects of a -thunder-storm.” - -Some notion of the extent of the care required in the management of the -worms may be formed from the following extract, taken from the Chinese -work referred to at the beginning of this chapter. - -“The place where their habitation is built must be retired, free from -noise, smells, and disturbances of every kind. The least fright, makes -great impressions on these sensitive creatures; even the barking of -dogs, &c., is capable of throwing them into the utmost disorder. - -For the purpose of paying them every attention an affectionate mother -is provided, who is careful to supply their wants; she is called -_Isan-mon_, ‘mother of the worms.’ She takes possession of the chamber, -but not before she has washed herself and put on clean clothes, which -have not the least repulsive smell; she must not have eaten anything -immediately before, or handled any wild succory, the smell of which is -very prejudicial. She must be clothed in a plain habit, without any -lining, that she may be more sensible of the warmth of the place, and -accordingly increase or lessen the fire. She must also carefully avoid -making a smoke or raising a dust, which would also be offensive.” - -Silk-worms require to be carefully humored before the time of casting -their slough. Every day is to them a year, having in a manner, the four -seasons; the morning being the Spring; the middle of the day: Summer; -the evening: Autumn; and the night, Winter. - -The chambers are so contrived as to admit of the use of artificial heat -when necessary. Great care is taken of the sheets of paper on which the -eggs have been laid; and the hatching is either retarded or advanced, -by the application of cold or heat according to circumstances, so as -to time the simultaneous exit of the young worms exactly to the period -when the tender spring-leaves of the mulberry are most fit for their -nourishment. - -They proportion the food very exactly to the young worms by weighing -the leaves, which in the first instance are cut, but as the insects -become larger, are given to them whole. The greatest precautions being -observed in regulating the temperature of the apartments. The worms -are fed upon a species of small hurdles of basket-work, strewed with -leaves, which are constantly shifted for the sake of cleanliness, the -insects readily moving off to a fresh hurdle with new leaves, as the -scent attracts them. In proportion to their growth, room is afforded -to them by increasing the number of these hurdles, the worms of one -being shifted to three, then to six, and so on until they attain their -greatest size. When they have cast their several skins, reached their -greatest size, and assumed a transparent yellowish color, they are -removed to places divided into compartments, preparatory to casting -forth their silken filaments. - -In the course of a week after the commencement of this operation, the -cocoons are complete, and it now becomes necessary to take them in -hand before the pupæ turn into _moths_, which would immediately bore -their way out, and spoil the cocoons. When a certain number, therefore, -have been laid aside for the sake of future eggs, the chrysalides are -killed by being placed in jars under layers of salt and leaves, with a -complete exclusion of air. They are subsequently placed in moderately -warm water, which dissolves the glutinous substance that binds the -silk together, and the filament is wound off upon reels. This is put -up in bundles of a certain size and weight, and either becomes an -article of merchandise under the name of “raw silk,” or is subjected -to the loom, and manufactured into various stuffs, for home or foreign -consumption. The Chinese notwithstanding the simplicity of their looms -(see frontispiece), will imitate _exactly_ the newest and most elegant -patterns from France. They particularly excel in the production of -_damasks_, _figured-satins_, and _embroidery_. Their crape has never -yet been perfectly imitated; and they make a species of washing silk, -called at Canton “ponge,” which, the longer it is used, the softer it -becomes. - -The Chinese have from time immemorial been celebrated for the beauty of -their embroideries; indeed, it has been doubted whether the art was not -originally introduced into Europe by them, through the Persians. - -From what has been said, it is evident that the raising of the -_mulberry-tree_ should first engage the attention of the cultivator, -since its leaves form the almost exclusive nourishment of the -silk-worm. It is scarcely necessary that we should in a work of this -description enter more fully into the cultivation of the mulberry-tree. -This has already been so ably done by Jonathan Cobb, Esq. of Dedham, -Mass., Dr. Pascalis of New York, Judge Comstock of Hartford, Conn., and -E. P. Roberts, Esq. of Baltimore, as to leave no stone unturned, or any -want upon the subject. - -In such parts of the Chinese empire where the climate is favorable -to the practice, and where alone, most probably, the silk-worm is -indigenous, it remains at liberty, feeding on the leaves of its -native mulberry-tree, and going through all its mutations among the -branches, uncontrolled by the hand and unassisted by the cares of man. -As soon, however, as the silken balls have been constructed, they are -appropriated by the universal usurper, who spares only the few required -to reproduce their numbers, and thus furnish him with successive -harvests[137]. - - [137] Mons. Marteloy of Montpelier, who made many experiments upon - the rearing of silk-worms, presented a memorial upon the subject - to the French minister, in compliance with whose recommendation, a - few silk growers of Languedoc caused an experiment to be publicly - made in the open air, in the garden belonging to the Jesuits’ - college at Montpelier. The whole was placed under the direction of - Mons. Marteloy, who had 1200 livres assigned to him to defray the - necessary expenses. The experiment succeeded perfectly. This was - in 1764. In the following year a second trial was made, and 1800 - livres were set apart for the expenses. Owing, however, to the - unfavorable nature of the season, this experiment failed entirely, - the heavy and incessant rains making it impossible to keep the food - of the worms in a sufficiently dry state. The rearing of silk-worms - in the open air was not again attempted in that quarter; but the - partial success led to the adoption among cultivators of a better - system of ventilation, and the production of silk was about this - time very much extended throughout Languedoc.--_Obs. on the Culture - of Silk_, _by_ A. STEPHENSON. - -This silk, the spontaneous offering of nature, is not, however, -equal in fineness to that produced by worms under shelter, and whose -progressions are influenced by careful management. Much attention -is, therefore, bestowed by the Chinese in the artificial rearing of -silk-worms. One of their principal cares, is to prevent the too early -hatching of the eggs, to which the nature of the climate so strongly -disposes them. The mode of insuring the requisite delay, is, to -cause the moth to deposit her eggs on large sheets of paper: these, -immediately upon their production, are suspended from a beam in the -room, while the windows are opened to expose them to the air. In a few -days the papers are taken down and rolled loosely up with the eggs -inside, in which form they are again hung during the remainder of the -summer and autumn. Towards the end of the year they are immersed in -cold water wherein a small portion of salt has been dissolved. In this -state the eggs are left during two days; and on being taken from the -salt and water are first hung to dry, and then rolled up rather more -tightly than before, each sheet of paper being thereafter inclosed in a -separate earthen vessel. Some persons, who are exceedingly particular -in their processes, use a lye made of mulberry-tree ashes, and place -the eggs likewise, during some minutes, on snow-water. - -These processes appear efficacious for checking the hatching, -until the expanding leaves of the mulberry-tree give notice to the -silk-worm-rearer that he may take measures for bringing forth his -brood. For this purpose the rolls of paper are taken from the earthen -vessels, and hung up towards the sun, the side to which the eggs adhere -being turned from its rays, by being placed inside, and thus allowing -the heat to be transmitted to them through the paper. In the evening -the sheets are rolled closely up and placed in a warm situation. -The same proceeding is repeated on the following day, when the eggs -assume a grayish color. On the evening of the third day, after a -similar exposure, they are found to be of a much darker color, nearly -approaching to black; and the following morning, on the paper being -unrolled, they are covered with worms. In the higher latitudes the -Chinese have recourse to the heat of stoves, in order to promote the -simultaneous hatching of the eggs. - -The apartments in which the worms are kept stand in dry situations, in -a pure atmosphere, and apart from all noise, which is thought to be -annoying to the worms, especially when they are young. The rooms are -made very close, but adequate means of ventilation provided: the doors -being open to the south. Each chamber is provided with nine or ten rows -of frames, placed one above the other. On these frames, rush hurdles -are ranged; upon which the worms are fed through their five ages. A -uniform degree of heat is constantly preserved, either by means of -stoves placed in the corners of the apartments, or by chafing-dishes -which from time to time are carried up and down the room. Flame and -smoke being always carefully avoided: cow-dung dried in the sun is -preferred by the Chinese to all other kinds of fuel for this purpose. - -The most unremitting attention is paid to the wants of the worms, -which are fed night and day. On their being hatched they are furnished -with forty meals for the first day, thirty are given on the second -day, and fewer on and after the third. The Chinese believe that the -growth of silk-worms is accelerated, and their success promoted -by the abundance of their food, and therefore, in cloudy and damp -weather, when the insects are injuriously affected by the state of the -atmosphere, their appetites are stimulated by a wisp of very dry straw -being lighted and held over them, thus causing the cold and damp air to -be dissipated. - -The Chinese calculate that the same number of insects which would, if -they had attained the full size in twenty-three or twenty-four days, -produce twenty-five ounces of silk, would give only twenty ounces if -their growth occupied twenty-eight days, and only ten ounces if forty -days. In order, therefore, to accelerate their growth, they supply -them with fresh food every half-hour during the first day of their -existence, and then gradually reduce the number of meals as the worms -grow older. It deserves to be remarked as a fact unnoticed in Natural -Theology, that the substance on which this valuable caterpillar feeds, -is the leaf of the mulberry-tree; and Providence, as if to ensure the -continuance of this useful species, has so ordained it that no other -insect will partake of the same food; thus ensuring a certain supply -for the little spinster. - -Many persons believe that light is injurious to silk-worms; but, so far -from this opinion being correct, the opposite belief would probably -be nearer to the truth. In its native state, the insect is of course -exposed to light, and suffers no inconvenience on that account; and -it has been observed by one who gave much attention to the subject -(Count Dandolo), that in his establishment, “on the side on which the -sun shone directly on the hurdles, the silk-worms were stronger and -more numerous than in those places where the edge of the wicker hurdle -formed a shade.” The obscurity wherein the apartments are usually kept -has a very pernicious influence on the air: the food of the worms emits -in light oxygen, or vital air, while in darkness it exhales carbonic -acid gas, unfit for respiration. This well-known fact occurs alike -with all leaves similarly circumstanced[138]. To the bad effects thus -arising from the exclusion of the sun’s rays, another evil is added -by the nature of the artificial lights employed, being such as still -further to vitiate the air. - - [138] “There is in the order of nature a certain, and very surprising - fact; when the leaves of vegetables are struck by the sun’s rays, - they exhale an immense quantity of vital air necessary to the life - of animals, and which they consume by respiration. - - “These same leaves in the shade as well as in darkness exhale an - immense quantity of mephitic or fixed air, which cannot be inhaled - without destruction of life. - - “This influence of the sun does not cease even when the leaf has - been recently gathered; on the contrary, in darkness, gathered - leaves will exhale a still greater quantity of mephitic air. - - “Place one ounce of fresh mulberry leaves in a wide-necked bottle - of the size of a Paris pint, containing two pounds of liquid; - expose this bottle to the sun; about an hour afterwards, according - to the intensity of the sun, reverse the bottle and introduce a - lighted taper in it; this done, the light will become brighter, - whiter, and larger, which proves that the vital air contained in - the bottle has increased by that which has disengaged itself from - the leaves: to demonstrate this phenomenon more clearly, a taper - may be put in a similar bottle, that only contains the air which - has entered into it by its being uncorked. Shortly after the first - experiment, water will be found in the bottle which contained - the mulberry leaves; this water, evaporating from the leaves by - means of the heat, hangs on the sides, and runs to the bottom when - cooling; the leaves appear more or less withered and dry according - to the liquid they have lost. In another similar bottle place an - ounce of leaves, and cork it exactly like the former; place it - in obscurity, either in a box, or wrap it in cloths, in short, - so as totally to exclude light; about two hours after, open the - bottle, and put either a lighted taper or a small bird into it; the - candle will go out, and the bird will perish, as if they had been - plunged into water, which demonstrates that in darkness the leaves - have exhaled mephitic air, while in the sun they exhaled vital - air”.--COUNT DANDOLO’S _Treatise on the Art of Rearing Silk-worms_, - _p._ 144. - -An almost incredible quantity of fluid is constantly disengaged by -evaporation from the bodies of the insects; and if means be not taken -to disperse this as it is produced, another cause of unwholesomeness -in the air arises. Noticing this, Count Dandolo observes, “This series -of causes of the deterioration of the air which the worms must inhale, -may be termed a continual conspiracy against their health and life; -and their resisting it, and living throughout shows them to have great -strength of constitution.” - -In seven days from the commencement of the cocoons they are collected -in heaps; those which are designed to continue the breed being first -selected and set apart on hurdles, in a dry and airy situation. The -next care, is to destroy the vitality of the chrysalides in those balls -which are to be reeled. The most approved method of performing this, -is to fill large earthen vessels with cocoons, in layers, throwing in -one-fortieth part of their weight of salt upon each layer, covering the -whole with large dry leaves resembling those of the water-lilly, and -then closely stopping the mouths of the vessels. In reeling their silk -the Chinese separate the thick and dark from the long and glittering -white cocoons, as the produce of the former is inferior. - -We are indebted to Dr. Ure for the two following articles (_extracted -from the Journal of the Asiatic Society, for January, 1837_), on wild -silk-worms. The first article is from the pen of Thomas Hugon, a -resident of Nowgong, and relates to wild silk-worms of Assam. - -“The Assamese select for breeding, such cocoons only as have been -begun to be formed in the largest number on the same day, usually the -second or third after the commencement; those which contain males -being distinguishable by a more pointed end. They are put in a closed -basket suspended from the roof; the moths, as they come forth, having -room to move about, at the expiration of a day, the females (known -only by their large body) are taken out, and tied to small wisps of -thatching-straw, selected always from over the hearth, its darkened -color being thought more acceptable to the insect. If out of a batch, -there should be but few males; the wisps with the females tied to -them are exposed outside at night; and the males thrown away in the -neighborhood, find their way to them. These wisps are hung upon a -string tied across the roof, to keep them from vermin. The eggs laid -after the first three days, are said to produce weak worms. The wisps -are taken out morning and evening, and exposed to the sun, and in ten -days after being laid, a few of them are hatched. The wisps being then -hung up to the tree, the young worms find their way to the leaves. The -ant, whose bite is fatal to the worm in its early stages, is destroyed -by rubbing the trunk of the tree with molasses, and tying dead fish -and toads to it, to attract these rapacious insects in large numbers, -when they are destroyed with fire; a process which needs to be repeated -several times. The ground under the trees is also well cleared, to -render it easy to pick up and replace the worms which fall down. They -are prevented from coming to the ground, by tying fresh plantain-leaves -round the trunk, over whose slippery surface they cannot crawl; and -then transferred from exhausted trees to fresh ones, on bamboo platters -tied to long poles. The worms require to be constantly watched and -protected from the depredations of both day and night birds, as well -as rats and other vermin. During their moultings, they remain on -the branches; but when about beginning to spin, they come down the -trunk, and being stopped by the plantain-leaves, are there collected -in baskets, which are afterwards put under bunches of dry leaves, -suspended from the roof, into which the worms crawl, and form their -cocoons--several being clustered together: this accident, owing to the -practice of crowding the worms, which is most injudicious, rendering -it impossible to wind off their silk in continuous threads, as in the -filatures of Italy, France, and even Bengal. The silk is, therefore, -spun like flax, instead of being unwound in single filaments. After -four days the proper cocoons are selected for the next breed, and the -rest are reeled. The total duration of a breed varies from sixty to -seventy days; divided into the following periods:-- - - Four moultings, with one day’s illness attending each, 20 - From fourth moulting to beginning of cocoon, 10 - In the cocoon 20, as a moth 6, hatching of eggs 10, 36 - -- - 66 - -“On being tapped with the finger, the body renders a hollow sound; the -quality of which shows whether they have come down for want of leaves -on the tree, or from their having ceased feeding. - -“As the chrysalis is not soon killed by exposure to the sun, the -cocoons are put on stages, covered with leaves, and exposed to the hot -air from grass burned under them; they are next boiled for about an -hour in a solution of the potash, made from incinerated rice-stalks; -then taken out and put on a cloth folded over them to keep them warm. -The floss being removed by hand, they are then thrown into a basin of -hot water to be unwound; which is done in a very rude and wasteful way. - -“The plantations for the mooga silk-worm in Lower Assam, amount to 5000 -acres, besides what the forests contain; and yield 1500 maunds of 84 -lbs. each per annum. Upper Assam is more productive. - -“The cocoon of the _Koutkuri mooga_ is of the size of a fowl’s egg. It -is a wild species, and affords filaments much valued for fishing-lines. - -“The _Arrindy_, or _Eria_ worm, and moth, is reared over a great part -of Hindostan, but entirely within doors. It is fed principally on -the _Hera_, or _Palma christi_ leaves, and gives sometimes 12 broods -of spun silk in the course of a year. It affords a fibre which looks -rough at first; but when woven, becomes soft and silky, after repeated -washings. The poorest people are clothed with stuff made of it, which -is so durable as to descend from mother to daughter. The cocoons are -put in a close basket, and hung up in the house, out of reach of rats -and insects. When the moths come forth, they are allowed to move about -in the basket for twenty-four hours; after which the females are tied -to long reeds or canes, twenty or twenty-five to each, and then hung -up in the house. Of the eggs that are laid the first three days, about -200, only are kept; then tied up for seed. When a few of the worms -are hatched, the cloths are put on small bamboo platters hung up in -the house, in which they are fed with tender leaves. After the second -moulting, they are removed to bunches of leaves suspended above the -ground, beneath which a mat is laid to receive them when they fall. -When they cease to feed, they are thrown into baskets full of dry -leaves, among which they form their cocoons, two or three being often -discovered joined together. - -“The _Saturnia trifenestrata_ has a yellow cocoon of a remarkably -silky lustre. It lives on the soom-tree in Assam, but seems not to be -much used.” - -The second article is from the pen of Dr. Helfer, upon those wild -silk-worms which are indigenous to India. Besides the _Bombyx -mori_, the Doctor enumerates the following seven species, formerly -unknown:--1. “The wild silk-worm of the central provinces, a moth not -larger than the _Bombyx mori_.” 2. “The Joree silk-worm of Assam, -_Bombyx religiosæ_, which spins a cocoon of a fine filament, with much -lustre. It lives upon the pipul tree (_Ficus religiosa_), which abounds -in India, and ought therefore to be turned to account in breeding this -valuable moth.” 3. “_Saturnia silhetica_, which inhabits the cassia -mountains in Silhet and Dacca, where its large cocoons are spun into -silk.” 4. “A still larger _Saturnia_, one of the greatest moths in -existence, measuring _ten inches_ from the _one end of the wing to the -other_[139]; observed by Mr. Grant, in _Chirra punjee_”. 5. “_Saturnia -paphia_, or the Tusseh silk-worm, is the most common of the native -species, and furnishes the cloth usually worn by Europeans in India. -It has not hitherto been domesticated, but millions of its cocoons are -annually collected in the jungles, and brought to the silk factories -near Calcutta and Bhagelpur. It feeds most commonly on the hair-tree -(_Zizyphus jujuba_), but it prefers the _Terminalia alata_, or Assam -tree, and the _Bombax heptaphyllum_. It is called _Koutkuri mooga_, in -Assam.” 6. “Another _Saturnia_, from the neighborhood of Comercolly.” -7. “_Saturnia assamensis_, with a cocoon of a yellow-brown color, -different from all others, called _mooga_, in Assam; which, although -it can be reared in houses, thrives best in the open air upon trees, -of which seven different kinds afford it food. The _Mazankoory mooga_, -which feeds on the Adakoory tree, produces a fine silk, which is nearly -white, and fetches 50 per cent. more than the fawn colored. The trees -of the first year’s growth produce by far the most valuable cocoons. -The mooga which inhabits the soom-tree, is found principally in the -forests of the plains, and in the villages. The tree grows to a large -size, and yields three crops of leaves in the year. The silk is of a -light fawn color, and ranks next in value to the Mazankoory. There are -generally five breeds of mooga worms in the year; 1. In January and -February; 2. In May and June; 3. In June and July; 4. In August and -September; 5. In October and November; the first and last being the -most valuable.” - - [139] See p. 40. Also p. 54. footnote [63] - -Dr. Anderson informs us, that in Madras the silk-worm goes through -all its evolutions in the short space of twenty-two days. It appears, -however, that the saving of time, and consequently labor, is the only -economy resulting from the acceleration; as the insects consume as -much food during their shorter period of life, as is assigned to the -longer-lived silk-worms of Europe. - -We extract the following paper, with slight emendations, from -Ellsworth’s Report of the Patent Office for the year 1844, being a -communication from Dr. Stebbins of Northampton, Mass[140]., to the -Editor of the American Agriculturalist, as having some bearing upon the -present subject. - - [140] See Chapter XIII. p. 211. - - “As requested, I forward you a sketch of Mr. Gill’s cradle for feeding - silk-worms, (It is not necessary for us to give a drawing of it in - a work like the present, which is chiefly intended for the general - reader, and besides, this machine is already sufficiently known to - silk culturists.) I have five patches of mulberry, (in all, ten or - twelve acres,) two parcels of which you have seen. The one adjoining my - garden, by estimation, may furnish foliage sufficient for a million and - a half of worms. The mulberries consist of the white, black, alpine, - broosa, moretta, alata, multicaulis, Asiatic, and large-leaf Canton. - The two latter I prefer for my own use--the Canton for early feeding - with foliage, and the Asiastic for branch feeding. The Canton is highly - approved of for producing heavy and firm cocoons, which, by competent - testimony and experiments, have been found in favor of the Canton feed - as five to eight, and is the true species used by the Chinese, as - testified by a resident Missionary, the Rev. E. C. Bridgman, and more - recently by Dr. Parker, while on his late visit to the United States. - I consider the peanut variety of worms the best for producing the most - silk of a good quality. - - “From an elevated plat near my cocoonery, you had a view of our - extensive meadows spread out at the foot of Mount Holyoke. My cocoonery - you have examined, with its fixtures for feeding silk-worms--the mode - of open feeding, ventilator, and ventilating cradles. Since you left, - the whole has been completed, with hammocks suspended over the cradles, - easily put in motion, and so constructed that no offal can drop into - the cradles beneath, nor interfere with the rocking motion or winding; - the arrangement is much admired, and estimated to accommodate half a - million of worms, or more, to be fed simultaneously. About half of - the cocoonery has hurdles of lattice work, covered in part with gauze - netting four feet wide and the same number of tiers in height. The - cocoonery is supposed to be sufficiently open on the sides, ends, and - roof, to admit a free circulation of pure air. The flooring is the - natural earth. - - “The past winter has been uncommonly severe on grape-vines and fruit; - forest and mulberry trees; the Asiatic I found the most hardy of any - other, and the Canton the earliest in foliage. On the 21st and 22d - of May there were severe frosts, destroying garden vegetables, and - injuring some early mulberry foliage; added to this, ice was formed - in many places. The accounts from Vermont and New Hampshire are so - disastrous as to delay early feeding; while in Northampton, June 14, at - one of my plantations, you saw silk-worms in the act of winding, and - others in a good state of forwardness. On the day of your departure, - I received a letter from a distant silk grower, a staunch promoter - of the _one early_ and _open_ crop system, that, on account of the - unpropitious season and condition of his trees, he would delay fetching - out his worms until the last of June, and then make his great effort - upon one crop. - - “To provide against premature hatching of silk-worms, or the disaster - of an early frost, it is advisable to have foliage gathered and dried - the year preceding; which, being pulverized and moistened with water, - may be given to the worms until new foliage appears; and they will eat - it freely. - - “To obtain the most and best foliage of the mulberry, it will be - necessary every Spring to cut or head them down within three or four - inches of the ground, and preserve the stalks for _bark-silk_. I have - a quantity of them saved with bark peeled from the large Asiatics - to be used for making _bark-silk_, in addition to a quantity of - mulberry-leaves preserved for making paper. The whole process, although - not carried out, as yet, in this country, with either, has been - successfully accomplished in France, from proof shown by M. Frassinet. - I am endeavoring to have it tested here, by subjecting both stalk - and peeled bark to the operation of steaming with soap and water, to - facilitate the separation of the bark from the wood, and the outside - cuticle from the fibrous substance of the bark, before trying the - operation of the brake for dressing, carding, spinning, &c. Should it - prove successful, it will be made public (See Mr. Zinke’s process, - Chapter XI.). Hopes are entertained that what has been done may be done - again; that Yankee ingenuity and perseverance may prove a match for - foreign cheap labor(?). - - “The present time has been called the age of invention and improvement. - But if ”there is nothing new under the sun” (a pretty fair illustration - of this assertion of the wise man--Vide Ecclesiastes i. 9, 10.--will be - found in this work.); and if what is, has been and may be again, then - may we hope to be benefitted by the reproduction of astonishing results - in all coming time; and even now, while there has been anxious inquiry - for some easy mode to separate the bark of the mulberry from the wood, - an _historical fact_ has been recently communicated(?); by which, - some two hundred and forty years ago, in the year 1600, an accident - occurred, which resulted in the manufacture of a handsome fabric from - the fibrous bark of the mulberry, with the inference that the bark had - been previously used for the manufacture of cordage, on account of the - superior strength of the fibrous bark over that of other materials used - for cordage[141]. - - “Under date of June 6, 1844, I have been favored with a letter from - the president of one of the most eminent literary institutions of our - country, who expresses his opinion of the progress of silk culture as - follows: - - ‘I am gratified to find a renewed and more general interest excited - at the present time. If this awaking up to a scientific and practical - consideration of the subject is not soon crowned with signal success, - I am satisfied it will not be for want of enterprize or skill in our - countrymen, but merely from the high price of labor, compared with - the scanty wages given in other silk-growing countries. Even this - consideration (though it may retard for a while the complete success - of this department of productive industry), will not prevent its - ultimate triumph.’ - - “The above is the opinion of one of the most scientific men of the age, - who, in early life, was himself a silk grower. His opinion accords with - that of many others of high consideration in the United States. - - “While viewing the flourishing condition of one of my mulberry patches, - you asked with what it had been manured? and received for answer, - _ashes_, and the _deciduous foliage_. The foliage, you thought, could - be gathered for making _paper_, and answered, that there would be - sufficient defective foliage left to manure the land; the foliage - is richer than any stable manure, and stable manure should never be - applied to the mulberry. I have not had occasion the last five or six - years to use even ashes as a manure, but keep the land in good tilth - by frequent hoeing. If you found these mulberries more flourishing - than others you had seen, it may be attributed, in a great measure, to - frequent hoeing, and dressing with the decayed mulberry foliage. - - “The soil is a light sandy loam; and, previous to its being stocked - with mulberry, would not yield the value of $10 in any crop; and now, - my feeder says, if his worms do well, he hopes to get $800 for the - crop! A part of this lot being stocked with alpine, broosa, and Asiatic - mulberry, of 6 to 10 feet in height, in rows 3 feet apart; and having - grown so vigorously as to shade each other, and liable to have spotted - leaves. I have, in order to avoid this, and procure more, larger, - and better foliage, cut away or headed down every other row, within - three or four inches of the ground; and from the stumps have sprung - up a multitude of thrifty sprouts, now fit for use, and the leaves - three times larger than those on the standard trees, are so fresh and - tender, that in some measure it is hoped, they may answer the purpose - of seedling foliage, so highly recommended by M. Frassinet, who has - the following encomium on _seedling_ foliage: ‘that 100 pounds of - such foliage is worth near 200 pounds of old leaves to make the same - quantity of cocoons; or in fact, equivalent in value to nearly double - the stock of other foliage.’ I have caused considerable bark to be - stripped from the Asiatic trees cut away for manufacturing purposes; - and M. Rouviere, of Lyons, has proved that the bark of young shoots, - submitted to the same process as hemp, yields abundant silk-fibre - to make beautiful tissues (noticed at the close of Chapter XI.). I - should advise silk growers to preserve the shoots, have them barked in - the best way, and the silky fibre rotted, carded, spun, and wove. M. - Rouviere asserts that it will be not only fine and strong, but take - the most beautiful colors. Of the bark, ropes and nets are made in the - Morea, and may be applied to great advantage in the manufacture of - paper, together with the foliage. - - “The Canton and Asiatic seed sown this year are in a flourishing - condition for plantation use, exclusive of several mulberry plantations - which will be for rent, or growing silk on shares, next spring. Up to - the first of July, worms have been uncommonly healthy--the probable - effect of more open ventilation than in former years. - - “Mr. Dabney, consul at Fayal, (now in Boston) has two millions of worms - at present on feed. S. Whitmarsh, at Jamaica, has 360 of what he calls - _creolized native_ eggs, in constant feed, which go through the whole - course to the cocoon in 24 days. The eggs hatch in 10 days after being - laid. He has received the silk report, and made such improvement as to - save, in all, nine-tenths of the usual labor. The silk cause at Jamaica - occasions great interest in England for its prosperity and success.” - - D. Stebbins. - - Northampton, Mass., _July_, 1844. - - [141] We have abundant testimony that the most beautiful fabrics, - comprising _mantles_, &c., as well as cordage, was produced from - the bark of trees, as early as the year 412 B. C. So that Mr. - Stebbins’s “_historical fact_” is anticipated by 2012 years! (See - Chapters XII. and XIII. of this Part.) - -We will now conclude this Chapter with Dr. Bowling’s admirable -illustration, of the mutual dependence of the arts upon each other:-- - - “Let us fancy that some thousand years ago, a mortal, wandering - through an oriental wood, saw a worm falling from a fruit-bearing - tree--that he found this little creature had reached the end of one - of its stages of existence, and was laboriously engaged in shrouding - itself in an unknown substance, like a fine thread of gold, out of - which it constructed its tomb; that, attracted by the circumstance, - he found this shroud to consist of a thread hundreds of yards long, - which a very little attention enabled him to detach; he found he - could strengthen the threads by uniting them together, and they - could be applied to various purposes of usefulness; he thought of - winding off the thread; the reel lends him the first assistance, - but he could not make the reel without the co-operation of a knife, - or some such instrument with a sharp edge. Thus the aid of art--of - the produce of art--is already called in. With this rude instrument - he makes a machine which enables him to reel off the thread coffin - of the curious animal. In process of time, he finds that this fine - filament can be applied to the making of garments--garments alike - useful and ornamental. Now trace the progress of things by which, - from the narrow sphere of his observation and experiment, his - success spreads through the districts he inhabits, and from them - to other lands, and becomes an object of importance to communicate - with the whole family of man. By and by the cocoon, or its produce, - finds its way to foreign countries, probably more enlightened than - his own, again to be operated on by a higher intelligence and more - practised skill. This associates the thread of the silk-worm with a - ship, with ship-building, and all its marvellous combinations.--Some - wandering merchant probably conveyed the raw material to Persia; some - adventurous mariner to Greece or Italy, or other regions where it gave - a new impulse to science and to thought. But consider for a moment, - before the ship was launched upon the water, how many elements were - necessary for its production; think of how multitudinous and various - the materials which that ship required for its construction, before - the products of that remote country are brought to their ultimate - markets for manufacture. I refer to this particular topic, because - it is associated with the prosperity of the districts in which we - are, and I wished to carry back your thoughts to the germ whence - that prosperity sprung.”--BOWRING’S _Lecture at the Poplar - Institution_. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE SPIDER. - - -ATTEMPTS TO PROCURE SILKEN FILAMENTS FROM SPIDERS. - - Structures of spiders--Spiders not properly insects, and - why--Apparatus for spinning--Extraordinary number of - spinnerules--Great number of filaments composing one thread--Réaumur - and Leeuwenhoeck’s laughable estimates--Attachment of the thread - against a wall or stick--Shooting of the lines of spiders--1. - Opinions of Redi, Swammerdam, and Kirby--2. Lister, Kirby, and - White--3. La Pluche and Bingley--4. D’Isjonval, Murray, and - Bowman--5. Experiments of Mr. Blackwall--His account of the - ascent of gossamer--6. Experiments by Rennie--Thread supposed - to go off double--Subsequent experiments--Nests, Webs, and Nets - of Spiders--Elastic satin nest of a spider--Evelyn’s account of - hunting spiders--Labyrinthic spider’s nest--Erroneous account - of the House Spider--Geometric Spiders--Attempts to procure - silken filaments from Spiders bags--Experiments of M. Bon--Silken - material--Manner of its preparations--M. Bon’s enthusiasm--His - spider establishment--Spider-silk not poisonous--Its usefulness - in healing wounds--Investigation of M. Bon’s establishment by M. - Réaumur--His objections--Swift’s satire against speculators and - projectors--Ewbank’s interesting observations on the ingenuity of - spiders--Mason-spiders--Ingenious door with a hinge--Nest from - the West Indies with spring hinge--Raft-building Spider--Diving - Water-Spider--Rev. Mr. Kirby’s beautiful description of - it--Observations of M. Clerck--Cleanliness of Spiders--Structure of - their claws--Fanciful account of them patting their webs--Proceedings - of a spider in a steamboat--Addison--His suggestions on the - compilation of a “History of Insects.” - -Of spiders there are many species; most of them extend their labors no -farther than merely to make a web to ensnare and detain their food. But -others are known to go beyond this, and spin a bag in the form of a -cocoon, for the protection of their eggs, nearly similar to that of the -silk-worm.[142] - - [142] Don Luis Nee observed on certain trees growing in Chilpancingo, - Tixtala in South America, ovate nests of caterpillars, eight - inches long, which the inhabitants manufacture into stockings and - handkerchiefs.--Annals of Botany, 2d, p. 104. - -Modern naturalists do not rank spiders among insects, because they -have no antennæ, and no division between the head and shoulders. They -breathe by leaf-shaped gills, situated under the belly, instead of -spiracles in the sides; and have a heart connected with these. But as -spiders are popularly considered insects, it will sufficiently suit our -purpose to introduce them here as such. - -Spiders are usually classed according to their difference of color, -whether black, brown, yellow, &c., or sometimes by the number and -arrangement of their eyes: of these organs some possess no fewer than -ten, others eight, and others again six[143]. - - [143] Porter’s “Treatise on the Silk Manufacture,” p. 168. - -Some species of spiders are known to possess the power of not merely -forming a web, but also of spinning, for the protection of their -eggs, a bag somewhat similar in form and substance to the cocoon of -the silk-worm. The apparatus by which they construct their ingenious -fabrics, is much more complicated than that which is common to the -various species of caterpillars. Caterpillars have only two reservoirs -for the materials of their silk; but the spider spins minute fibres -from fine papillæ, or small nipples placed in the hinder part of its -body. These papillæ serve the office of so many wire-drawing machines, -from which the silken threadlets are ejected. Spiders, according to the -dissections of M. Treviranus, have four principal vessels, two larger -and two smaller, with a number of minute ones at their base. Several -small tubes branch towards the reservoirs, for carrying to them, no -doubt, a supply of the secreted material. Swammerdam describes them as -twisted into many coils of an agate color[144]. We do not find them -coiled, but nearly straight, and of a deep yellow color. From these, -when broken, threads can be drawn out like those spun by the spider, -though we cannot draw them so fine by many degrees. - - [144] Hill’s Swammerdam, part i. p. 23. - -From these little flasks or bags of gum, situated near the apex of the -abdomen, and not at the mouth as in caterpillars, a tube originates, -and terminates in the external spinnerets, which may be seen by the -naked eye in the form of five little teats surrounded by a small -circle, as represented in Fig. 8. Plate IV.; this figure shows the -garden spider (_Epeira diadema_) suspended by a thread proceeding from -its spinneret. - -We have seen that the thread of the silk-worm is composed of two -filaments united, but the spider’s thread would appear, from the first -view of its five spinnerets, to be quintuple, and in some species -which have six teats, so many times more. It is not safe, however, -in our interpretations of nature to proceed upon conjecture, however -plausible, nor to take anything for granted which we have not actually -seen; since our inferences in such cases are almost certain to be -erroneous. If Aristotle, for example, had ever looked narrowly at a -spider when spinning, he could not have fancied, as he does, that the -materials which it uses are nothing but wool stripped from its body. -On looking, then, with a strong magnifying glass, at the teat-shaped -spinnerets of a spider, we perceive them studded with regular rows -of minute bristle-like points, about a thousand to each teat, making -in all from five to six thousand. These are minute tubes which we -may appropriately term _spinnerules_, as each is connected with the -internal reservoirs, and emits a thread of inconceivable fineness. Fig. -9. represents this wonderful apparatus as it appears in the microscope. - -We do not recollect that naturalists have ventured to assign any cause -for this very remarkable multiplicity of the spinnerules of spiders, -so different from the simple spinneret of caterpillars. To us it -appears an admirable provision for their mode of life. Caterpillars -neither require such strong materials, nor that their thread should -dry as quickly. It is well known in our manufactures, particularly -in rope-spinning, that in cords of equal thickness, those which are -composed of many smaller ones united are stronger than those spun at -once. In the instance of the spider’s thread, this principle must -hold still more strikingly, inasmuch as it is composed of fluid -materials that require to be dried rapidly, and this drying must be -greatly facilitated by exposing so many to the air separately before -their union, which is effected at about the tenth of an inch from -the spinnerets. In Fig. 10. Plate IV. each of the threads shown is -represented to contain one hundred minute threads, the whole forming -only one of the spider’s common threads. In the figure the threads are, -of course, greatly magnified, so that, for the small space represented, -the lines are shown as parallel. The threadlets, or filaments as they -come from the papillæ, are too fine to be counted with any degree of -accuracy, but it is evident that very many are sent forth from each -of the larger papillæ. This fact tends to explain the power possessed -by the spider of producing threads having different degrees of -tenuity. By applying more or less of these papillæ against the place -whence it begins its web, the spider joins into one thread the almost -imperceptible individual filaments which it draws from its body; the -size of this thread being dependent on the number of nipples employed, -and regulated by that instinct which teaches the creature to make -choice of the degree of exility most appropriate to the work wherein it -is about to engage. - -Réaumur relates that he has often counted as many as seventy or -eighty fibres through a microscope, and perceived that there were yet -infinitely more than he could reckon; so that he believed himself to be -far within the limit of truth in computing that the tip of _each_ of -the five papillæ furnished 1000 separate fibres: thus supposing that -one slender filament of a spider’s web is made up of 5000 fibres! - -Leeuwenhoeck, in one of his extraordinary microscopical observations -on a young spider, not bigger than a grain of sand, upon enumerating -the threadlets in one of its threads, calculated that it would require -_four millions_ of them to be as thick as a hair of his head! - -Another important advantage derived by the spider from the -multiplicity of its threadlets is, that the thread affords a much more -secure attachment to a wall, a branch of a tree, or any other object, -than if it were simple; for, upon pressing the spinneret against the -object, as spiders always do when they fix a thread, the spinnerules -are extended over an area of some diameter, from every hair’s breadth -of which a strand, as rope-makers term it, is extended to compound -the main cord. Fig. 11. Plate IV. exhibits, magnified, this ingenious -contrivance. Those who may be curious to examine it, will see it best -when the line is attached to any black object, for the threads, being -whitish, are, in otherwise, not so easily perceived. - -SHOOTING OF THE LINES.--It has long been considered a curious -though difficult investigation, to determine in what manner spiders, -seeing that they are destitute of wings, transport themselves from tree -to tree, across brooks, and frequently through the air itself, without -any apparent starting point. On looking into the authors who have -treated upon this subject, it is surprising how little there is to be -met with that is new, even in the most recent. Their conclusions, or -rather their conjectural opinions, are, however, worthy of notice; _for -by unlearning error, we the more firmly establish truth_. - -1. One of the earliest notions upon this subject is that of Blancanus, -the commentator on Aristotle, which is partly adopted by Redi, by -Henricus Regius of Utrecht, by Swammerdam[145], by Lehmann, as well as -by Kirby and Spence[146]. “The spider’s thread,” says Swammerdam, “is -generally made up of two or more parts, and after descending by such a -thread, it ascends by one only, and is thus enabled to waft itself from -one height or tree to another, even across running waters; the thread -it leaves loose behind it being driven about by the wind, and so fixed -to some other body.” “I placed,” says Kirby, “the large garden spider -(_Epeira diadema_) upon a stick about a foot long, set upright in a -vessel containing water.... It let itself drop, not by a single thread, -but by _two_, each distant from the other about the twelfth of an inch, -guided, as usual, by one of its hind feet, and that one apparently -smaller than the other. When it had suffered itself to descend nearly -to the surface of the water, it stopped short, and by some means, which -I could not distinctly see, broke off, close to the spinners, the -smallest thread, which still adhering by the other end to the top of -the stick, floated in the air, and was so light as to be carried about -by the slightest breath. On approaching a pencil to the loose end of -this line, it did not adhere from mere contact. I, therefore, twisted -it once or twice round the pencil, and then drew it tight. The spider, -which had previously climbed to the top of the stick, immediately -pulled at it with one of its feet, and finding it sufficiently tense, -crept along it, strengthening it as it proceeded by another thread, and -thus reached the pencil.” - - [145] Swammerdam, part i. p. 24. - - [146] Intr. vol. i. p. 415. - -1. “We have repeatedly witnessed this occurrence,” says Mr. Rennie, -“in the fields, and when spiders were placed for experiment, as Kirby -has described; but we very much doubt that the thread broken is ever -intended as a bridge cable, or that it would have been so used in that -instance, had it not been artificially fixed and again accidentally -found by the spider. According to our observations, a spider never for -an instant, abandons, the thread which she dispatches in quest of an -attachment, but uniformly keeps trying it with her feet, in order to -ascertain its success. We are, therefore, persuaded, that when a thread -is broken in the manner above described, it is because it has been spun -too weak, and spiders may often be seen breaking such threads in the -process of netting their webs.” - -The plan, besides, as explained by these distinguished writers, would -more frequently prove abortive than successful, from the cut thread -not being sufficiently long. They admit, indeed, that spiders’ lines -are often found “a yard or two long, fastened to twigs of grass not a -foot in height.... Here, therefore, some other process must have been -used[147].” - - [147] Kirby and Spence, vol. i. Intr. p. 416. - -2. The celebrated English naturalist, Dr. Lister, whose treatise -upon the native spiders of that country, has been the basis of every -subsequent work on the subject, maintains that “some spiders shoot out -their threads in the same manner that porcupines do their quills[148]; -that whereas the quills of the latter are entirely separated from -their bodies, when thus shot out, the threads of the former remain -fixed to their anus, as the sun’s rays to its body[149].” A French -periodical writer goes a little farther, and says, that spiders have -the power of shooting out threads, _and directing them at pleasure -towards a determined point_, judging of the distance and position -of the object by some sense of which we are ignorant[150]. Kirby -also says, that he once observed a small garden spider (_Aranea -reticulata_) “standing midway on a long perpendicular fixed thread, and -an appearance caught” his “eye, of what seemed to be the emission of -threads.” “I,” therefore, he adds, “moved my arm in the direction in -which they apparently proceeded, and, as I had suspected, a floating -thread attached itself to my coat, along which the spider crept. As -this was connected with the spinners of the spider, it could not have -been formed” by breaking a “secondary thread[151].” Again, in speaking -of the gossamer-spider, he says, “it first extends its thigh, shank, -and foot, into a right line, and then, elevating its abdomen till it -becomes vertical, _shoots its thread_ into the air, and flies off from -its station[152].” - - [148] Porcupines do not shoot out their quills, as was once generally - believed. - - [149] Lister, Hist. Animalia Angliæ, 4to. p. 7. - - [150] Phil. Mag. ii. p. 275. - - [151] Vol. i. Intr. p. 417. - - [152] Ibid. ii. p. 339. - -Another distinguished naturalist, Mr. White of Selborne, in speaking -of the gossamer-spider, says, “Every day in fine weather in autumn do -I see these spiders shooting out their webs, and mounting aloft: they -will go off from the finger, if you take them into your hand. Last -summer, one alighted on my book as I was reading in the parlor; ran -to the top of the page, and _shooting out a web_, took its departure -from thence. But what I most wondered at, was, that it went off with -considerable velocity in a place where no air was stirring; and I am -sure I did not assist it with my breath[153].” - - [153] Nat. Hist. of Selborne, vol. i. p. 327. - -“Having so often witnessed,” says Mr. Rennie, “the thread set afloat -in the air by spiders, we can readily conceive the way in which -those eminent naturalists were led to suppose it to be ejected by -some animal force acting like a syringe; but as the statement can be -completely disproved by experiment, we shall only at present ask, in -the words of Swammerdam--‘how can it be possible that a thread so fine -and slender should be shot out with force enough to divide and pass -through the air?--is it not rather probable that the air would stop -its progress, and so entangle it and fit it to perplex the spider’s -operations[154]?’” The opinion, indeed, is equally improbable with -another suggested by Dr. Lister, that the spider can retract her thread -within the abdomen, after it has been emitted[155]. De Geer[156] very -justly joins Swammerdam in rejecting both of these fancies, which, -in our own earlier observations upon spiders, certainly struck us as -plausible and true. There can be no doubt, indeed, that the animal has -a voluntary power of permitting the material to escape, or stopping it -at pleasure, but this is not projectile. - - [154] Book of Nature, part i. p. 25. - - [155] Hist. Anim. Anglæ, 4to. - - [156] Mémoires, vol. vii. p. 189. - -3. “There are many people,” says the Abbé de la Pluche, “who believe -that the spider flies when they see her pass from branch to branch, -and even from one high tree to another; but she transports herself -in this manner; and places herself upon the end of a branch, or some -projecting body, and there fastens her thread; after which, with her -two hind feet, she squeezes her dugs (_spinnerets_), and presses out -one or more threads of two or three ells in length, which she leaves -to float in the air till it be fixed to some particular place[157].” -Without pretending to have observed this, Swammerdam says, “I can -easily comprehend how spiders, without giving themselves any motion, -may, by only compressing their spinnerets, force out a thread, which -being driven by the wind, may serve to waft them from place to -place[158].” Others, proceeding upon a similar notion, give a rather -different account of the matter. “The spider,” says Bingley, “fixes one -end of a thread to the place where she stands, and then with her hind -paws _draws out_ several other threads from the nipples, which, being -lengthened out and driven by the wind to some neighboring tree or other -object, are by their natural clamminess fixed to it[159].” - - [157] Spectacle de la Nature, vol. i. - - [158] Book of Nature, pt. i. p. 25. - - [159] Animal Biography, vol. iii. p. 475, 3d edition. - -Observation gives some plausibility to the latter opinion, as the -spider always actively uses her legs, though not to draw out the -thread, but ascertain whether it has caught upon any object. The notion -of her pressing the spinneret with her feet must be a mere fancy; at -least it is not countenanced by anything which we have observed. - -4. An opinion much more recondite is mentioned, if it was not started, -by M. D’Isjonval, that the floating of the spider’s thread is -electrical. “Frogs, cats, and other animals,” he says, “are affected -by natural electricity, and feel the change of weather; but no other -animal more than myself and spiders.” In wet and windy weather he -accordingly found that they spun very short lines, “_but when a spider -spins a long thread, there is a certainty of fine weather for at least -ten or twelve days afterwards_[160].” A periodical writer, who signs -himself Carolan[161], fancies that in darting out her thread the spider -emits a stream of air, or some subtle electric fluid, by which she -guides it as if by magic. - - [160] Brez, Flore des Insectophiles. Notes, Supp. p. 134. - - [161] Thomson’s Ann. of Philosophy, vol. iii. p. 306. - -A living writer (Mr. John Murray) whose learning and skill in -conducting experiments give no little weight to his opinions, has -carried these views considerably farther. “The aëronautic spider,” he -says, “can propel its thread both horizontally and vertically, and at -all relative angles, _in motionless air_ and in an _atmosphere agitated -by winds_; nay more, the aërial traveller can even dart its thread, to -use a nautical phrase, in the ‘wind’s eye.’ My opinion and observations -are based on many hundred experiments.... The entire phenomena are -electrical. When a thread is propelled in a vertical plane, it remains -perpendicular to the horizontal plane always upright, and when others -are projected at angles more or less inclined, their direction is -invariably preserved; the threads never intermingle, and when a pencil -of threads is propelled, it ever presents the appearance of a divergent -brush. These are electrical phenomena, and cannot be explained but on -electrical principles.” - -“In clear, fine weather, the air is invariably positive; and it is -precisely in such weather that the aëronautic spider makes its ascent -most easily and rapidly, whether it be in summer or winter.” “When the -air is weakly positive, the ascent of the spider will be difficult, and -its altitude extremely limited, and the threads propelled will be but -little elevated above the horizontal plane. When negative electricity -prevails, as in cloudy weather, or on the approach of rain, and the -index of De Saussure’s hygrometer rapidly advancing towards humidity, -the spider is unable to ascend[162].” - - [162] Loudon’s Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 322. - -Mr. Murray tells us, that “when a stick of excited sealing-wax is -brought near the thread of suspension, it is evidently repelled; -consequently, the electricity of the thread is of a negative -character,” while “an excited glass tube brought near, seemed to -attract the thread, and with it the aëronautic spider[163].” His -friend, Mr. Bowman, further describes the aërial spider as “shooting -out four or five, often six or eight, extremely fine webs several -yards long, which waved in the breeze, diverging from each other like -a pencil of rays.” One of them “had two distinct and widely diverging -fasciculi of webs,” and “a line uniting them would have been at right -angles to the direction of the breeze[164].” - - [163] Experim. Researches in Nat. Hist., p. 136. - - [164] Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 324. - -“Such is the chief evidence in support of the electrical theory,” says -Mr. Rennie; “but though we have tried these experiments, we have not -succeeded in verifying any one of them. The following statements of Mr. -Blackwall come nearer our own observations. - -5. ‘Having procured a small branched twig,’ says Mr. Blackwall, ‘I -fixed it upright in an earthen vessel containing water, its base being -immersed in the liquid, and upon it I placed several of the spiders -which produce gossamer. Whenever the insects thus circumstanced were -exposed to a current of air, either naturally or artificially produced, -they directly turned the thorax towards the quarter whence it came, -even when it was so slight as scarcely to be perceptible, and elevating -the abdomen, they emitted from their spinners a small portion of -glutinous matter, which was instantly carried out in a line, consisting -of four finer ones, with a velocity equal, or nearly so, to that with -which the air moved, as was apparent from observations made on the -motion of detached lines similarly exposed. The spiders, in the next -place, carefully ascertained whether their lines had become firmly -attached to any object or not, by pulling at them with the front pair -of legs; and if the result was satisfactory, after tightening them -sufficiently, they made them pass to the twig; then discharging from -their spinners, which they applied to the spot where they stood, a -little more of their liquid gum, and committing themselves to these -bridges of their own constructing, they passed over them in safety, -drawing a second line after them, as a security in case the first gave -way, and so effected their escape. - -‘Such was invariably the result when spiders were placed where the air -was liable to be sensibly agitated: I resolved, therefore, to put a -bell-glass over them; and in this situation they remained seventeen -days, evidently unable to produce a single line by which they could -quit the branch they occupied, without encountering the water at its -base; though, on the removal of the glass, they regained their liberty -with as much celerity as in the instances already recorded. - -‘This experiment, which, from want of due precaution, has misled so -many distinguished naturalists, I have tried with several geometric -spiders, and always with the same success[165].’” - - [165] Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 456. - -Mr. Blackwall, from subsequent experiments, says he is “confident -in affirming, that in motionless air, spiders have not the power of -darting their threads even through the space of half an inch[166].” -The following details are given in confirmation of this opinion. Mr. -Blackwall observed, the 1st of Oct., 1826, a little before noon, with -the sun shining brightly, no wind stirring, and the thermometer in the -shade ranging from 55°.5 to 64°, a profusion of shining lines crossing -each other at every angle, forming a confused net-work, covering the -fields and hedges, and thickly coating his feet and ankles, as he -walked across a pasture. He was more struck with the phenomenon because -on the previous day a strong gale of wind had blown from the south, -and as gossamer is only seen in calm weather, it must have been all -produced within a very short time. - - [166] Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 397. - -“What more particularly arrested my attention,” says Mr. Blackwall, -“_was the ascent of an amazing quantity of webs of an irregular, -complicated structure, resembling ravelled silk of the finest quality, -and clearest white; they were of various shapes and dimensions, some of -the largest measuring upwards of a yard in length, and several inches -in breadth in the widest part; while others were almost as broad as -long, presenting an area of a few square inches only_. - -“These webs, it was quickly perceived, were not formed in the air, -as is generally believed, _but at the earth’s surface_. The lines of -which they were composed, being brought into contact by the mechanical -action of gentle airs, adhered together, till, by continual additions, -they were accumulated into flakes or masses of considerable magnitude, -on which the ascending current, occasioned by the rarefaction of the -air contiguous to the heated ground, acted with so much force as to -separate them from the objects to which they were attached, raising -them in the atmosphere to a perpendicular height of at least several -hundred feet. I collected a number of these webs about mid-day, as they -rose; and again in the afternoon, when the upward current had ceased, -and they were falling; but scarcely one in twenty contained a spider: -though, on minute inspection, I found small winged insects, chiefly -_aphides_, entangled in most of them. - -“From contemplating this unusual display of gossamer, my thoughts were -naturally directed to the animals which produced it, and the countless -myriads in which they swarmed almost created as much surprise as the -singular occupation that engrossed them. Apparently actuated by the -same impulse, all were intent upon traversing the regions of air; -_accordingly, after gaining the summits of various objects, as blades -of grass, stubble, rails, gates, &c., by the slow and laborious process -of climbing, they raised themselves still higher by strengthening -their limbs; and elevating the abdomen, by bringing it from the usual -horizontal position into one almost perpendicular, they emitted from -their spinning apparatus a small quantity of the glutinous secretion -with which they construct their webs_. This viscous substance being -drawn out by the ascending current of rarefied air into fine lines -several feet in length, was carried upward, until the spiders, feeling -themselves acted upon with sufficient force in that direction, quitted -their hold of the objects on which they stood, and commenced their -journey by mounting aloft. - -“Whenever the lines became inadequate to the purpose for which they -were intended, by adhering to any fixed body, they were immediately -detached from the spinners and so converted into terrestrial gossamer, -by means of the last pair of legs, and the proceedings just described -were repeated; which plainly proves that these operations result from -a strong desire felt by the insects to effect an ascent[167].” Mr. -Blackwall has recently read a paper (still unpublished) in the Linnæan -Society, confirmatory of his opinions. - - [167] Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 453. - -6. “Without going into the particulars,” says Mr. Rennie, “of what -agrees or disagrees in the above experiments with our own observations, -we shall give a brief account of what we have actually seen in our -researches. So far as we have determined, then, all the various species -of spiders, how different soever the form of their webs may be, proceed -in the circumstance of shooting their lines precisely alike; but those -which we have found the most manageable in experimenting, are the -small gossamer spider (_Aranea obtextrix_, BECHSTEIN), known -by its shining blackish-brown body and reddish-brown semi-transparent -legs; but particularly the long-bodied spider (_Tetragnatha extensa_, -LATR.), which varies in color from green to brownish or -grey--but has always a black line along the belly, with a silvery white -or yellowish one on each side. The latter is chiefly recommended by -being a very industrious and persevering spinner, while its movements -are easily seen, from the long cylindrical form of its body and the -length of its legs. - -“We placed the above two species with five or six others, including -the garden, the domestic, and the labyrinthic spiders, in empty -wine-glasses, set in tea-saucers filled with water, to prevent their -escape. When they discovered, by repeated descents from the brims of -the glasses, that they were thus surrounded by a wet ditch, they all -set themselves to the task of throwing their silken bridges across. For -this purpose they first endeavored to ascertain in what direction the -wind blew, or rather (as the experiment was made in our study) which -way any current of air set,--by elevating their arms _as we have seen -sailors do in a dead calm_. But, as it may prove more interesting to -keep to one individual, we shall first watch the proceedings of the -gossamer spider. - -“Finding no current of air on any quarter of the brim of the glass, it -seemed to give up all hopes of constructing its bridge of escape, and -placed itself in the attitude of repose; _but no sooner did we produce -a stream of air, by blowing gently towards its position, than, fixing -a thread to the glass, and laying hold of it with one of its feet, by -way of security, it placed its body in a vertical position, with its -spinnerets extended outwards; and immediately we had the pleasure of -seeing a thread streaming out from them several feet in length, on -which the little aëronaut sprung up into the air_. We were convinced, -from what we thus observed, that it was the double or bend of the -thread which was blown into the air; and we assigned as a reason for -her previously attaching and drawing out a thread from the glass, the -wish to give the wind a _point d’appui_--something upon which it might -have a _purchase_, as a mechanic would say of a lever. The bend of the -thread, then, on this view of the matter, would be carried out by the -wind,--would form the point of impulsion,--and, of course, the escape -bridge would be an ordinary line doubled.” - -Such is the opinion of Mr. Rennie, which is strongly corroborated -by what has been said by M. Latreille--than whom no higher authority -could be given. “When the animal,” says he, “desires to cross a brook, -she fixes to a tree or some other object one of the ends of her first -threads, in order that the wind or a current of air may carry the other -beyond the obstacle[168];” and as one end is always attached to the -spinnerets, he must mean that the double of the thread flies off. In -his previous publications, however, Latreille had contented himself -with copying the statement of Dr. Lister. “In order to ascertain the -fact,” says Mr. Rennie, “and put an end to all doubts, we watched, with -great care and minuteness, the proceedings of the long-bodied spider -above mentioned, by producing a stream of air in the same manner, as -it perambulated the brim of the glass. It immediately, as the other -had done, attached a thread and raised its body perpendicularly, like -a tumbler standing on his hands with his head downwards; but we looked -in vain for this thread bending, as we had at first supposed, and -going off double. Instead of this it remained tight, while another -thread, or what appeared to be so, streamed off from the spinners, -similar to smoke issuing through a pin-hole, sometimes in a line, and -sometimes at a considerable angle, with the first, according to the -current of the air,--the first thread, extended from the glass to -the spinnerets, remaining all the while tight drawn in a right line. -It further appeared to us, that the first thread proceeded from the -pair of spinnerets nearest the head, while the floating thread came -from the outer pair,--though it is possible in such minute objects -we may have been deceived. That the first was continuous with the -second, without any perceptible joining, we ascertained in numerous -instances, by catching the floating line and pulling it tight, in -which case the spider glides along without attaching another line to -the glass; but if she have to coil up the floating line to lighten -it, as usually happens, she gathers it into a packet and glues the -two ends tight together. Her body, while the floating line streamed -out, remained quite motionless, but we distinctly saw the spinnerets -not only projected, as is always done when a spider spins, but moved -in the same way as an infant moves its lips when sucking. We cannot -doubt, therefore, that this motion is intended to emit (if eject -or project be deemed words too strong), the liquid material of the -thread; at the same time, we are quite certain that it cannot throw -out a single inch of thread _without the aid of a current of air_. A -long-bodied spider will thus throw out in succession as many threads -as we please, by simply blowing towards it; but not one where there is -no current, as under a bell-glass, where it may be kept till it die, -without being able to construct a bridge over water of an inch long. We -never observed more than one floating thread produced at the same time; -though other observers mention several. - - [168] ----“L’un des bouts de ces premiers fils, afin que le vent ou - un courant d’air pousse l’autre extrémité de l’un d’eux au delà de - l’obstacle.”--Dict. Classique d’Hist. Nat., vol. i. p. 510. - -“The probable commencement, we think, of the floating line, is by the -emission of little globules of the glutinous material to the points of -the spinnerules--perhaps it may be dropped from them, if not ejected, -and the globules being carried off by the current of air, drawn out -into a thread. But we give this as only a conjecture, for we could not -bring a glass of sufficient power to bear upon the spinnerules at the -commencement of the floating line. - -“In subsequent experiments we found, that it was not indispensable for -the spider to rest upon a solid body when producing a line, as she -can do so while she is suspended in the air by another line. When the -current of air also is strong, she will sometimes commit herself to it -by swinging from the end of the line. We have even remarked this when -there was scarcely a breath of air. - -“We tried another experiment. We pressed pretty firmly upon the base -of the spinnerets, so as not to injure the spider, blowing obliquely -over them; but no floating line appeared. We then touched them with a -pencil and drew out several lines an inch or two in length, upon which -we blew in order to extend them, but in this also we were unsuccessful, -as they did not lengthen more than a quarter of an inch. We next -traced out the reservoirs of a garden-spider (_Epeira diadema_), and -immediately taking a drop of the matter from one of them on the point -of a fine needle, we directed upon it a strong current of air, and -succeeded in blowing out a thick yellow line, as we might have done -with gum-water, of about an inch and a half long. - -“When we observed our long-bodied spider eager to throw a line by -raising up its body, we brought within three inches of its spinnerets -an excited stick of sealing-wax, of which it took no notice, nor did -any thread extend to it, not even when brought almost to touch the -spinnerets. We experienced the same want of success with an excited -glass rod; and indeed had not anticipated any other result, as we have -never observed that either these attract or repel the floating threads, -as Mr. Murray has seen them do; nor have we ever noticed the end of a -floating thread separated into its component threadlets and diverging -like a brush, as he and Mr. Bowman describe (See Fig. 11.). It may -be proper to mention that Mr. Murray, in conformity with his theory, -explains the shooting of lines in a current of air by the electric -state produced by motion in consequence of the mutual friction of the -gaseous particles. But this view of the matter does not seem to affect -our statements.” - -NESTS, WEBS, AND NETS OF SPIDERS.--“The neatest,” says -Mr. Rennie, “though the smallest spider’s nest which we have seen, -was constructed in the chink of a garden-post, which we had cut out -the previous summer in getting at the cells of a carpenter-bee. The -architect was one of the larger hunting-spiders, erroneously said by -some naturalists to be incapable of spinning. The nest in question was -about two inches high, composed of a very close satin-like texture. -There were two parallel chambers placed perpendicularly, in which -position also the inhabitant reposed there during the day, going, -as we presume, only abroad to prey during the night. But the most -remarkable circumstance was, that the openings (two above and two -below) were so elastic, that they shut closely together. We observed -this spider for several months, but at last it disappeared, and we took -the nest out under the notion that it might contain eggs; but found -none, and therefore concluded that it was only used as a day retreat.” -The account which Evelyn has given of these hunting spiders is so -interesting that we must transcribe it. - -“Of all sorts of insects,” says he, “none have afforded me more -divertisement than the _venatores_ (hunters), which are a sort of -_lupi_ (wolves) that have their dens in rugged walls and crevices of -our houses; a small brown and delicately-spotted kind of spiders, whose -hinder legs are longer than the rest. Such I did frequently observe -at Rome, which, espying a fly at three or four yards distance, upon -the balcony where I stood, would not make directly to her, _but crawl -under the rail, till being arrived to the antipodes, it would steal -up, seldom missing its aim; but if it chanced to want anything of -being perfectly opposite, would, at first peep, immediately slide down -again,--till taking better notice, it would come the next time exactly -upon the fly’s back: but if this happened not to be within a competent -leap, then would this insect move so softly, as the very shadow of the -gnomon seemed not to be more imperceptible, unless the fly moved; and -then would the spider move also in the same proportion, keeping that -just time with her motion, as if the same soul had animated both these -little bodies; and whether it were forwards, backwards, or to either -side, without at all turning her body, like a well-managed horse: but -if the capricious fly took wing and pitched upon another place behind -our huntress, then would the spider whirl its body so nimbly about, as -nothing could be imagined more swift: by which means she always kept -the head towards her prey, though, to appearance, as immoveable as if -it had been a nail driven into the wood, till by that indiscernible -progress (being arrived within the sphere of her reach) she made a -fatal leap, swift as lightning, upon the fly, catching him in the pole, -where she never quitted hold till her belly was full, and then carried -the remainder home_.” - -One feels a little sceptical, however, when he adds, “I have beheld -them _instructing their young ones how to hunt_, which they would -sometimes discipline for not well observing; but when any of the old -ones did (as sometimes) miss a leap, _they would run out of the field -and hide themselves in their crannies, as ashamed, and haply not to -be seen abroad for four or five hours after_; for so long have I -watched the nature of this strange insect, the contemplation of whose -so wonderful sagacity and address has amazed me; nor do I find in any -chase whatsoever more cunning and stratagem observed. I have found some -of these spiders in my garden, when the weather, towards spring, was -very hot, but they are not so eager in hunting as in Italy[169].” - - [169] Evelyn’s Travels in Italy. - -We have only to add to this lively narrative, that the hunting-spider, -when he leaps, takes good care to provide against accidental falls by -always swinging himself from a good strong cable of silk, as Swammerdam -correctly states[170], and which anybody may recognise, as one of the -small hunters (_Salticus scenicus_), known by its back striped with -black and white like a zebra. - - [170] Book of Nature, part i. p. 24. - -Mr. Weston, the editor of “Bloomfield’s Remains,” falls into a -very singular mistake about hunting-spiders, imagining them to be -web-weaving ones which have exhausted their materials, and are -therefore compelled to hunt. In proof of this he gives an instance -which came under his own observation[171]! - -“As a contrast,” says Mr. Rennie, “to the little elastic satin -nest of the hunter, we may mention the largest with which we are -acquainted,--that of the labyrinthic spider (_Agelena labyrinthica_, -WALCKENAER). Our readers must often have seen this nest spread -out like a broad sheet in hedges, furze, and other low bushes, and -sometimes on the ground. The middle of this sheet, which is of a close -texture, is swung like a sailor’s hammock, by _silken_ ropes extended -all around to the higher branches; but the whole curves upwards and -backwards, sloping down to a long funnel-shaped gallery which is nearly -horizontal at the entrance, but soon winds obliquely till it becomes -quite perpendicular. This curved gallery is about a quarter of an inch -in diameter, is much more closely woven than the sheet part of the web, -and sometimes descends into a hole in the ground, though oftener into -a group of crowded twigs, or a tuft of grass. Here the spider dwells -secure, frequently resting with her legs extended from the entrance of -the gallery, ready to spring out upon whatever insect may fall into her -sheet net. She herself can only be caught by getting behind her and -forcing her out into the web; but though we have often endeavored to -make her construct a nest under our eye, we have been as unsuccesful -as in similar experiments with the common house spider (_Aranea -domestica_). - -“The house spider’s proceedings were long ago described by Homberg, -and the account has been copied, as usual, by almost every subsequent -writer. Goldsmith has, indeed, given some strange mis-statements from -his own observations, and Bingley has added the original remark, that, -after fixing its first thread, creeping along the wall, and joining -it as it proceeds, it ‘_darts itself to the opposite side_, where the -other end is to be fastened[172]!’ Homberg’s spider took the more -circuitous route of travelling to the opposite wall, carrying in one -of its claws the end of the thread previously fixed, lest it should -stick in the wrong place. This we believe to be the correct statement, -for as the web is always horizontal, it would seldom answer to commit -a floating thread to the wind, as is done by other species. Homberg’s -spider, after stretching as many lines by way of _warp_ as it deemed -sufficient between the two walls of the corner which it had chosen, -proceeded to cross this in the way our weavers do in adding the _woof_, -with this difference, that the spider’s threads were only laid on, and -not interlaced[173]. The domestic spiders, however, in these modern -days, must have forgot this mode of weaving, for none of their webs -will be found thus regularly constructed!” - - [171] Bloomfield’s Remains, vol. ii. p. 64, _note_. - - [172] Animal Biography, iii. 470, 471. - - [173] Mem. de l’Acad. des Sciences, pour 1707, p. 339. - -The geometric, or net-working spiders (See Fig. 12. Plate IV.) are as -well known as any of the preceding; almost every bush and tree in our -gardens and hedge-rows having one or more of their nests stretched out -in a vertical position between adjacent branches. The common garden -spider (_Epeira diadema_), and the long-bodied spider (_Tetragnatha -extensa_), are the best known of this order. - -“The chief care of a spider of this sort,” says Mr. Rennie, “is, to -form a cable of sufficient strength to bear the net she means to hang -upon it; and after throwing out a floating line as above described, -when it catches properly, she doubles and redoubles it with additional -threads. On trying its strength she is not contented with the test of -pulling it with her legs, but drops herself down several feet from -various points of it, as we have often seen, swinging and bobbing with -the whole weight of her body. She proceeds in a similar manner with the -rest of the frame of her wheel-shaped net; and it may be remarked that -some of the ends of these lines are not simple, but in form of a Y, -giving her the additional security of two attachments instead of one.” - -In constructing the body of the nest, the most remarkable circumstance -is the using of her limbs as a measure, to regulate the distances of -her _radii_ or wheel-spokes (See Fig. 12. Plate IV., which represents -the geometric net of the “_Epeira diadema_”), and the circular meshes -interwoven into them. These are consequently always proportional to -the size of the spider. She often takes up her station in the centre, -but not always, though it is so said by inaccurate writers; but she -as frequently lurks in a little chamber constructed under a leaf -or other shelter at the corner of her web, ready to dart down upon -whatever prey may be entangled in her net. The centre of the net is -said also to be composed of more viscid materials than its suspensory -lines,--a circumstance alleged to be proved by the former appearing -under the microscrope studded with globules of gum[174]. “We have not -been able,” says Mr. Rennie, “to verify this distinction, having seen -the suspensory lines as often studded in this manner as those in the -centre.” - - [174] Kirby and Spence, Intr. i. 419. - -At the commencement of the last century a method was discovered in -France by Monsieur Bon, of procuring silk from spiders’ bags, and its -use was attempted in the manufacture of several articles. Mr. Bon has, -however, noticed only _two_ kinds of silk-making spiders, and these he -has distinguished from each other as having either long or short legs, -the last variety producing the finest quality of raw silk. According to -this ingenious observer, the silk formed by these insects is equally -beautiful, strong, and glossy with that formed by the silk-worm. -When first formed, the color of these spiders’ bags is gray, but, by -exposure to the air, they soon acquire a blackish hue. Other spider -bags might probably be found of different colors, and affording silk -of better quality, but their scarcity would render any experiment with -them difficult of accomplishment; for which reason M. Bon confined his -attention to the bags of the common sort of the short-legged kind. - -These always form their bags in some place sheltered from the wind -and rain, such as the hollow trunks of trees, the corners of windows -or vaults, or under the eaves of houses. A quantity of the bags was -collected from which a new kind of silk was made, said to be in no -respect inferior to the produce of the silk-worm. It took readily all -kinds of dyes, and might have been wrought into any description of -silken fabric. Mr. Bon had stockings and gloves made from it, some -of which he presented to the Royal Academy of Paris, and others he -transmitted to the Royal Society of London. - -This silk was prepared in the following manner:--Twelve or thirteen -ounces of the bags were beaten with a stick, until they became entirely -freed from dust. They were next washed in warm water, which was -continually changed, until it no longer became clouded or discolored -by the bags under process. After this they were steeped in a large -quantity of water wherein soap, saltpetre, and gum-arabic had been -dissolved. The whole was then gently boiled during three hours, after -which the bags were rinsed in clear warm water to discharge the -soap. They were finally set out to dry, previous to the operation of -carding, which was then performed with cards differing from those -usually employed with silk, being much finer. By these means silk of -a peculiar ash color was obtained, which was spun without difficulty. -Mr. Bon affirmed that the thread was both stronger and finer than -common silk, and that therefore fabrics similar to those made with the -latter material might be manufactured from this, there being no reason -for doubting that it would stand any trials of the loom, after having -undergone those of the stocking frame. - -The only obstacle, therefore, which appeared to prevent the -establishing of any considerable manufacture from these spider bags -was the difficulty of obtaining them in sufficient abundance. Mr. Bon -fancied that this objection could soon be overcome, and that the art -of domesticating and rearing spiders, as practised with silk-worms, -was to be attained. Carried away by the enthusiasm of one who, having -made a discovery, pursues it with ardor undismayed by difficulties, he -met every objection by comparisons, which perhaps were not wholly and -strictly founded on fact. Contrasted with the spider, and to favor his -arguments, the silk-worm in his hands made a very despicable figure. He -affirmed that the female spider produces 600 or 700 eggs; while of the -100, to which number he limited the silk-worm, not more than one-half -were reared to produce balls. That the spiders hatched spontaneously, -without any care, in the months of August and September; that the old -spiders dying soon after they have laid their eggs, the young ones -live for ten or twelve months without food, and continue in their bags -without growing, until the hot weather, by putting their viscid juices -in motion, induces them to come forth, spin, and run about in search of -food. - -Mr. Bon’s spider establishment, was managed in the following -manner:--having ordered all the short-legged spiders which could be -collected by persons employed for the purpose, to be brought to him, -he inclosed them in paper coffins and pots; these were covered with -papers, which, as well as the coffins, were pricked over their surface -with pin-holes to admit air to the prisoners. The insects were duly -fed with flies, and after some time it was found on inspection that -the greater part of them had formed their bags. This advocate for the -rearing of spiders contended that spiders’ bags afforded much more silk -in proportion to their weight than those of the silk-worm; in proof -of which he observed, that thirteen ounces yield nearly four ounces -of pure silk, two ounces of which were sufficient to make a pair of -stockings; whereas stockings made of common silk were said by him to -weigh seven or eight ounces. - -It was objected by some of Mr. Bon’s contemporaries, that spiders were -venomous; and this is so far true that a bite from some of the species -is very painful, producing as much swelling as the smart sting of a -nettle. Mr. Bon, however, asserted that he was several times bitten, -without experiencing any inconvenience; if so, he was more fortunate -or less sensitive than any of the spider-tamers with whom we have been -acquainted. It was further asserted, that this venom extended itself -to the silk which the spider produced; but this assertion was utterly -absurd, as any one who has ever applied a cobweb to stop the bleeding -from a cut ought to have known. Mr. Bon declared with perfect truth, -that the silk, so far from being pernicious, was useful in staunching -and healing wounds, its natural gluten acting as a kind of balsam. - -The honest enthusiasm of the projector, and the singularity of a -regular establishment being formed for rearing and working spiders, -excited a considerable share of public attention. It was, indeed, an -age of strange speculations, for nearly at the same time a German -gentleman broached a scheme for turning tame squirrels and mice to -account in spinning; and companies were formed in England, with large -nominal capitals to carry out schemes still more preposterous. So -important did Mr. Bon’s project appear to the French Academy, that they -deputed the eminent naturalist, M. Réaumur, to investigate the merits -of this new silk-filament. - -After a long and patient examination M. Réaumur stated the following -objections to Mr. Bon’s plan for raising spider-silk, which have ever -since been regarded as insurmountable. - -1. The natural fierceness of spiders renders them unfit to be bred -together. On distributing four or five thousand of these insects into -cells or companies of from fifty to one or two hundred, it was found -that the larger spiders quickly _killed and ate the smaller_, so that -in a short space of time the cells were depopulated, scarcely more than -one or two being found in each cell. - -2. The silk of the spider is inferior to that of the silk-worm both -in lustre and strength; and produces less material in proportion, than -can be made available for the purposes of the manufacture. The filament -of the spider’s-bag can support a weight of only thirty-six grains, -while that of the silk-worm will sustain a weight of one hundred and -fifty grains. Thus four or five threads of the spider must be brought -together to equal one thread of the silk-worm, and as it is impossible -that these should be applied so accurately over each other as not to -leave little vacant spaces between them, the light is not equally -reflected, and the lustre of the material is consequently inferior to -that in which a solid thread is used. - -3. A great disadvantage of the spider’s silk is, that it cannot be -wound off the ball like that of the silk-worm, but must necessarily -be carded. By this latter process, its evenness, which contributes so -materially to its lustre, is destroyed. - -The ferociousness and pugnacity of the spiders are not exaggerated; -they fight like furies. Their voracity, too, is almost incredible, -and it is very questionable whether the mere collection of flies -sufficient to feed a large number of the spiders would not involve an -amount of expense fatal to the project as a lucrative undertaking. -The strength of the spiders’ filament is, if anything, overstated by -Réaumur. Deficiency of lustre arising from the carding of the filaments -is common to the spider-fabric and to spun silk; this objection would, -perhaps, not be of very great weight but for the decisive calculation -by which Réaumur showed the comparative amount of production between -the spider and the silk-worm. - -The largest cocoons weigh four, and the smaller three grains each; -spider-bags do not weigh above one grain each; and, after being cleared -of their dust, have lost two-thirds of this weight; therefore the _work -of twelve spiders_ equals that of _only one silk-worm_; and a pound of -spider-silk would require for its production 27,648 insects. But as the -bags are wholly the work of the females, who spin them as a deposit for -their eggs, it follows that 55,296 spiders must be reared to yield one -pound of silk: yet this will be obtained only from the best spiders; -those large ones ordinarily seen in gardens, &c., yielding not more -than a twelfth part of the silk of the others. The work of 280 of these -would therefore not yield more silk than the produce of one industrious -silk-worm, and 663,552 of them would furnish only one pound of silk! - -Although Réaumur’s report completely extinguished Mr. Bon’s project -in France, it was revived in England two or three times in the early -part of the last century. Swift has not neglected to make it a portion -of his unrivalled satire against speculators and projectors, in his -account of Gulliver’s visit to the Academy of Lagado: - - “I went into another room, says he, where the walls and ceilings were - all hung round with cobwebs, except a narrow passage for the artist to - go in and out. At my entrance he called out to me not to disturb his - webs. He lamented the fatal mistake the world had been so long in, of - using silk-worms, while we had such plenty of domestic insects, who - infinitely excelled the former, because they understood how to weave - as well as spin. And he proposed further, that, by employing spiders, - the charge of dyeing silk should be wholly saved; whereof I was fully - convinced, when he showed me a vast number of flies most beautifully - colored, wherewith he fed his spiders, assuring us that the webs would - take a tincture from them, and as he had them of all hues, he hoped - to suit every body’s fancy, as soon as he could find proper food for - the flies, of certain gums, oils, and other glutinous matter to give a - strength and consistency to the threads.” - - -THE INGENUITY OF SPIDERS.--Mr. Thomas Ewbank of New York, -in a letter to the Editor of the Journal of the Franklin Institute, -bearing date September 20th, 1842, gives us the following interesting -description of the ingenuity of the Spider. - -“The resources of the lower animals have often excited admiration, and -though no comprehensive and systematic series of observations have yet -been made upon them(?), the time is, I believe, not distant when the -task will be undertaken--perhaps within the next century. But whenever -and by whomsoever accomplished, the mechanism of animals will then form -the subject of one of the most interesting and _useful_ volumes in the -archives of man. - -“Among insects, spiders have repeatedly been observed to modify -and change their contrivances for _ensnaring their prey_. Those -that live in fields and gardens often fabricate their nets or webs -vertically. This sometimes occurs in locations where there is no object -sufficiently near to which the lower edge or extremity of the web can -properly be braced; and unless this be done, light puffs or breezes of -wind are apt to blow it into an entangled mass. Instead of being spread -out, like the sail of a ship, to the wind, it would become clewed over -the upper line, or edge, like a sail when furled up. Now how would a -human engineer act under similar circumstances? But ere the reader -begins to reflect(!), he should bear in mind that it would not do to -brace the web by running rigging from it to some _fixed_ or immovable -object below--by no means;--for were this done, it could not yield to -impulses of wind; the rigging would be snapped by the first blast, and -the whole structure probably destroyed. - -“Whatever contrivances human sagacity might suggest, they could hardly -excel those which these despised engineers sometimes adopt. Having -formed a web, under circumstances similar to those to which we have -referred, a spider has been known to descend from it to the ground by -means of a thread spun for the purpose, and after selecting a minute -pebble, or piece of stone, has coiled the end of the thread round it. -Having done this, the ingenious artist ascended, and fixing himself on -the lower part of the web, hoisted up the pebble until it swung several -inches clear of the ground. The cord to which the weight was suspended -was then secured by additional ones, running from it to different parts -of the web, which thus acquired the requisite tension, and was allowed, -at the same time, to yield to sudden puffs of wind without danger of -being rent asunder. - -“A similar instance came under my notice a few days ago. A large -spider had constructed his web, in nearly a vertical position, about -six feet from the ground, in a corner of my yard. The upper edge was -formed by a strong thread, secured at one end to a vine leaf, and the -other to a clothes line. One part of the lower edge was attached to a -Penyan sun-flower, and another to a trellis fence, four or five feet -distant. Between these there was no object nearer than the ground, to -which an additional brace line could be carried; but two threads, a -foot asunder, descended from this part of the web, and, eight or ten -inches below it, were united at a point. From this point, a single -line, four or five inches long, was suspended, and to its lower -extremity was the weight, a _living one_, viz. a worm, _three inches -long_, and _one-eighth of an inch thick_. The cord was fastened around -the middle of the victim’s body, and as no object was within reach, all -its writhings and efforts to escape were fruitless. Its weight answered -the same purpose as a piece of inanimate matter, while its sufferings -seemed not in the least to disturb the unconcerned murderer, who lay -waiting for his prey above. - -“Whether the owner of the web found it a more easy task to capture this -unlucky worm and raise it, than to elevate a stone of the same weight, -may be a question(?). Perhaps in seeking for the latter, the former -fell in his way, and was seized as the first suitable object that came -to hand--like the human tyrant, (Domitian) who, to show his skill in -archery, planted his arrows in the heads of men or cattle, in the -absence of other targets. It may be, however, that a piece of stone, -earth, or wood, of a suitable weight, was not in the vicinity of the -web. - -“To observe the effect of this weight, I separated, with a pair of -scissors, the thread by which it was suspended, and instantly the web -sunk to half its previous dimensions--the lower part became loose, and -with the slightest current kept shaking like a sail shivering in the -wind. A fresh weight was not supplied by the next morning; but instead -of it two long brace lines extended from the lower part of the web to -two vine tendrils, a considerable distance off. These I cut away to -see what device would be next adopted, but on going to examine it the -following day, I found the clothes line removed, and with it all relics -of the insect’s labors had disappeared.” - -MASON-SPIDERS.--A no less wonderful structure is composed -by a sort of spiders, natives of the tropics and the south of Europe, -which have been justly called mason-spiders by M. Latreille. One of -these (_Mygale nidulans_, WALCKN.), found in the West Indies, -“digs a hole in the earth obliquely downwards, about three inches in -length, and one in diameter. This cavity she lines with a tough thick -web, which, when taken out, resembles a leathern purse; but what is -most curious, this house has a door with hinges, like the operculum of -some sea-shells, and herself and family, who tenant this nest, open and -shut the door whenever they pass and repass. This history was told me,” -says Darwin, “and the nest, with its door, shown me by the late Dr. -Butt, of Bath, who was some years physician in Jamaica[175].” - - [175] Darwin’s Zoonomia, i. 253, 8vo. ed. - -“The nest of a mason-spider, similar to this,” says Mr. Rennie, “has -been obligingly put into our hands by Mr. Riddle of Blackheath. It came -from the West Indies, and is probably that of Latreille’s clay-kneader -(_Mygale cratiens_), and one of the smallest of the genus. We have -since seen a pair of these spiders in possession of Mr. William Mello, -of Blackheath. The nest is composed of very hard argillaceous clay, -deeply tinged with brown oxide of iron. It is in form of a tube, about -one inch in diameter, between six and seven inches long, and slightly -bent towards the lower extremity--appearing to have been mined into -the clay rather than built. The interior of the tube is lined _with -a uniform tapestry of silken web, of an orange-white color_, with a -texture intermediate between India paper and very fine glove leather. -But the most wonderful part of this nest is its entrance, which we look -upon as the perfection of insect architecture. A circular door, about -the size of a crown piece, slightly concave on the outside and convex -within, is formed of more than a dozen layers of the same web which -lines the interior, closely laid upon one another, and shaped so that -the inner layers are the broadest, the outer being gradually less in -diameter, except towards the hinge, which is about an inch long; and in -consequence of all the layers being united there, and prolonged into -the tube, it becomes the thickest and strongest part of the structure. -The elasticity of the materials, also, gives to this hinge the -remarkable peculiarity of acting like a spring, and shutting the door -of the nest spontaneously. It is, besides, made to fit so accurately to -the aperture, which is composed of similar concentric layers of web, -that it is almost impossible to distinguish the joining by the most -careful inspection. To gratify curiosity, the door has been opened and -shut hundreds of times, without in the least destroying the power of -the spring. When the door is shut, it resembles some of the lichens -(_Lecidea_), or the leathery fungi, such as _Polyporus versicolor_ -(MICHELI), or, nearer still, the upper valve of a young -oyster-shell. The door of the nest, the only part seen above ground, -being of a blackish-brown color, it must be very difficult to discover.” - -Another mason-spider (_Mygale cœmentaria_, LATR.), found in the south -of France, usually selects for her nest a place bare of grass, sloping -in such a manner as to carry off the water, and of a firm soil, without -rocks or small stones. She digs a gallery a foot or two in depth, and -of a diameter (equal throughout) sufficient to admit of her easily -passing. She lines this _with a tapestry of silk glued to the walls_. -The door, which is circular, is constructed of many layers of earth -kneaded, and bound together with _silk_. Externally, it is flat and -rough, corresponding to the earth around the entrance, for the purpose, -no doubt, of concealment: on the inside it is convex, _and tapestried -thickly with a web of fine silk_. The threads of this door-tapestry are -prolonged, and strongly attached to the upper side of the entrance, -forming an excellent hinge, which, when pushed open by the spider, -shuts again by its own weight, without the aid of spring hinges. When -the spider is at home, and her door forcibly opened by an intruder, she -pulls it strongly inwards, and even where half-opened often snatches it -out of the hand; but when she is foiled in this, she retreats to the -bottom of her den, as her last resource[176]. The nest of this spider -(the mason spider) is represented in Plate IV. Fig. 14., and shows the -nest shut. Fig. 15., represents it open. Fig. 16. the spider (_Mygale -cœmentaria_). Fig. 17. the eyes magnified. Figures 18 and 19 parts of -the foot and claw magnified. Rossi ascertained that the female of an -allied species (_Mygale sauvagesii_, LATR.), found in Corsica, lived in -one of these nests, with a numerous posterity. He destroyed one of the -doors to observe whether a new one would be made, which it was; but it -was fixed immoveably, without a hinge; the spider, no doubt, fortifying -herself in this manner till she thought she might re-open it without -danger[177]. - - [176] Mém. Soc. d’Hist. Nat. de Paris, An. vii. - - [177] Mém. Soc. d’Hist. Nat. de Paris, An. vii. p. 125, and Latreille, - Hist. Nat. Génér. viii. p. 163. - -“The Rev. Revett Shepherd has often noticed, in the fen ditches of -Norfolk, a very large spider (the species not yet determined) which -actually forms a _raft_ for the purpose of obtaining its prey with more -facility. Keeping its station upon a ball of weeds about three inches -in diameter, probably held together by slight silken cords, it is -wafted along the surface of the water upon this floating island, which -it quits the moment it sees a drowning insect. The booty thus seized it -devours at leisure upon its raft, under which it retires when alarmed -by any danger[178].” In the spring of 1830, Mr. Rennie found a spider -on some reeds in the Croydon Canal, which agreed in appearance with Mr. -Shepherd’s. - - [178] Kirby and Spence, Intr. i. 425. - -Among our native spiders there are several, which, not contented with a -web like the rest of their congeners, take advantage of other materials -to construct cells where, “_hushed in grim repose_,” they “expect their -insect prey.” The most simple of those spider cells is constructed by -a longish-bodied spider (_Aranea holosericea_, LINN.), which -is a little larger than the common hunting spider. It rolls up a leaf -of the lilac or poplar, precisely in the same manner as is done by the -leaf-rolling caterpillars, upon whose cells it sometimes seizes to -save itself trouble, having first expelled, or perhaps devoured, the -rightful owner. The spider, however, is not satisfied with the tapestry -of the caterpillar, _but always weaves a fresh set of her own_, more -close and substantial. - -Another spider, common in woods and copses (_Epeira quadrata?_) weaves -together a great number of leaves to form a dwelling for herself, and -in front of it she spreads her toils for entrapping the unwary insects -which stray thither. These, as soon as caught, are dragged into her -den, and stored up for a time of scarcity. Here also her eggs are -deposited and hatched in safety. When the cold weather approaches, and -the leaves of her edifice wither, she abandons it for the more secure -shelter of a hollow tree, where she soon dies; but the continuation of -the species depends upon eggs, deposited in the nest before winter, and -remaining to be hatched with the warmth of the ensuing summer. - -The spider’s den of united leaves, however, which has just been -described, is not always useless when withered and deserted; for the -dormouse usually selects it as a ready-made roof for its nest of dried -grass. That those old spiders’ dens are not accidentally chosen by the -mouse, appears from the fact, that out of about a dozen mouse-nests of -this sort found during winter in a copse between Lewisham and Bromley, -Kent (England), every second or third one was furnished with such a -roof. - -THE WATER SPIDER.--We extract the following exquisitely -beautiful and interesting fact in nature, _connected with diving -operations_, from the Rev. Mr. Kirby’s Bridgewater Treatise:-- - -“The Water Spider is one of the most remarkable upon whom that office -(diving) is developed by her Creator. To this end, her instinct -instructs her to fabricate a kind of _diving-bell_ in the bosom of that -element. She usually selects still waters for this purpose. Her house -is an _oval cocoon_, filled with air, and lined with _silk_, from which -threads issue in every direction, and are fastened to the surrounding -plants; in this cocoon, which is open below, she watches for her prey, -and even appears to pass the winter, when she closes the opening. It is -most commonly, yet not always, entirely under water; but its inhabitant -has filled it with air for her respiration, which enables her to live -in it. She conveys the air to it in the following manner: she usually -swims upon her back, when her abdomen is enveloped in a bubble of air, -and appears like a globe of quicksilver[179]; with this she enters her -cocoon, and displacing an equal mass of water, again ascends for a -second lading, till she has sufficiently filled her house with it, so -as to expel all the water. - -“The males construct similar habitations by the same manœuvres. How -these little animals can envelope their abdomen with an air-bubble, -and retain it till they enter their cells, is still one of Nature’s -mysteries that have not been explained. - -“We, however, cannot help admiring, and adoring, the wisdom, power, and -goodness manifested in this singular provision, enabling an animal that -breathes the atmospheric air, to fill her house with it under water, -and which has instructed her in a secret art, _by which she can clothe -part of her body with air as a garment_, and which she can put off when -it answers her purpose. - - “This is a kind of attraction and repulsion which mocks all our - inquiries.” - - [179] Her singular economy was first, we believe, described by Clerck - (Aranei Suecici, Stockholm, 1757.), L. M. de Lignac (Mém. des - Araign. Aquat., 12mo. Paris, 1799.), and De Geer. - - “The shining appearance,” says Clerck, “proceeds either from an - inflated globule surrounding the abdomen, or from the space between - the body and the water. The spider, when wishing to inhale the air, - rises to the surface, with its body still submersed, and only the - part containing the spinneret rising just to the surface, when it - briskly opens and moves its four teats. A thick coat of hair keeps - the water from approaching or wetting the abdomen. It comes up for - air about four times an hour or oftener, though I have good reason - to suppose it can continue without it for several days together. - - “I found in the middle of May one male and ten females, which I - put into a glass filled with water, where they lived together very - quietly for eight days. I put some duck-weed (_Lemna_) into the - glass to afford them shelter, and the females began to stretch - diagonal threads in a confused manner from it to the sides of the - glass about half way down. Each of the females afterwards fixed - a close bag to the edge of the glass, from which the water was - expelled by the air from the spinneret, and thus a cell was formed - capable of containing the whole animal. Here they remained quietly, - with their abdomens in their cells, and their bodies still plunged - in the water; and in a short time brimstone-colored bags of eggs - appeared in each cell, filling it about a fourth part. On the 7th - of July several young ones swam out from one of the bags. All this - time the old ones had nothing to eat, _and yet they never attacked - one another_, as other spiders would have been apt to do (Clerck, - Aranei Suecici, cap. viii.).” - - “These spiders,” says De Geer, “spin in the water a cell of strong, - _closely woven, white silk_ in the form of half the shell of a - pigeon’s egg, or like a diving bell. This is sometimes left partly - above water, but at others is entirely submersed, and is always - attached to the objects near it by a great number of irregular - threads. It is closed all round, but has a large opening below, - which, however, I found closed on the 15th of December, and the - spider living quietly within, with her head downwards. I made a - rent in this cell, and expelled the air, upon which the spider - came out; yet though she appeared to have been laid up for three - months in her winter quarters, she greedily seized upon an insect - and sucked it. I also found that the male as well as the female - constructs a similar subaqueous cell, and during summer no less - than in winter (De Geer, Mém. des Insectes, vii. 312.).” “We have - recently kept one of these spiders,” says Mr. Rennie, “for several - months in a glass of water, where it built a cell half under water, - in which it laid its eggs.” - -Thus it appears, that by the successive descents of the little -water-spider under the impulsion of its instinct, produce effects -in its subaqueous pavilion equivalent to those produced in the -diving-bell, or diving helmet, by the successive strokes of the -condensing air-pump of scientific man! - -In the language of the book of Psalms, this insect “LAYETH THE BEAMS -OF” her “CHAMBERS IN THE WATERS,” and there secures her subaqueous -chambers in the manner described. - -CLEANLINESS OF SPIDERS.--“When we look at the viscid -material,” says Mr. Rennie, “with which spiders construct their lines -and webs, and at the rough, hairy covering (with a few exceptions) of -their bodies, we might conclude, that they would be always stuck over -with fragments of the minute fibres which they produce. This, indeed, -must often happen, did they not take careful precautions to avoid it; -for we have observed that they seldom, if ever, leave a thread to float -at random, except when they wish to form a bridge. When a spider drops -along a line, for instance, in order to ascertain the strength of her -web, or the nature of the place below her, she invariably, when she -re-ascends, coils it up into a little ball, and throws it away. Her -claws are admirably adapted for this purpose, as well as for walking -along the lines, as may be readily seen by a magnifying glass. Fig. -13. Plate IV. shows the triple-clawed foot of a spider, magnified, -the others being toothed like a comb, for gliding along the lines. -This structure, however, unfits it to walk, as flies can do, upon -any upright polished surface like glass; although the contrary[180] -is erroneously asserted by the Abbé de la Pluche. Before she can do -so, she is obliged to construct a ladder of ropes, as Mr. Blackwall -remarks[181], by elevating her spinneret as high as she can, and laying -down a step upon which she stands to form a second; and so on, as any -one may try by placing a spider at the bottom of a very clean wine -glass. - -“The hairs of the legs, however, are always catching bits of web and -particles of dust; but these are not suffered to remain long. Most -people may have remarked that the house-fly is ever and anon brushing -its feet upon one another to rub off the dust, though we have not seen -it remarked in authors that spiders are equally assiduous in keeping -themselves clean. They have, besides, a very efficient instrument in -their mandibles or jaws, which, like their claws, are furnished with -teeth; and a spider which appears to a careless observer as resting -idly, in nine cases out of ten will be found _slowly combing her -legs with her mandibles, beginning as high as possible on the thigh, -and passing down to the claws_. The flue which she thus combs off is -regularly tossed away. - -“With respect to the house-spider (_A. domestica_), we are told in -books, that ‘she from time to time clears away the dust from her -web, and sweeps the whole by giving it a shake with her paw, so -nicely proportioning the force of her blow, that she never breaks -any thing[182].’ That spiders may be seen shaking their webs in this -manner, we readily admit; though it is not, we imagine, to clear them -of dust, but to ascertain whether they are sufficiently sound and -strong. - -“We recently witnessed a more laborious process of cleaning a web -than merely shaking it. On coming down the Maine by the steam-boat -from Frankfort, in August 1829, we observed the geometric-net of a -conic spider (_Epeira conica_, WALCK.) on the framework of -the deck, and as it was covered with flakes of soot from the smoke of -the engine, we were surprised to see a spider at work on it; for, in -order to be useful, this sort of net must be clean. Upon observing it -a little closely, however, we perceived that she was not constructing -a net, but dressing up an old one; though not, we must think, to save -trouble, so much as an expenditure of material. Some of the lines she -dexterously stripped of the flakes of soot adhering to them; but in -the greater number, finding that she could not get them sufficiently -clean, she broke them quite off, bundled them up, and tossed them over. -We counted five of these packets of rubbish which she thus threw away, -though there must have been many more, as it was some time before -we discovered the manœuvre, the packets being so small as not to be -readily perceived, except when placed between the eye and the light. -When she had cleared off all the sooted lines, she began to replace -them in the usual way; but the arrival of the boat at Mentz put an -end to our observations.” Bloomfield, the poet, having observed the -disappearance of these bits of ravelled web, says that he observed a -garden spider moisten the pellets before swallowing them! Dr. Lister, -as we have already seen, thought the spider retracted the threads -within the abdomen. - - [180] Spectacle de la Nature, i. 58. - - [181] Linn. Trans. vol. xv. - - [182] Spectacle de la Nature, i. p. 61. - - “I could wish,” says Addison, in ‘The Spectator,’ “our Royal Society - would compile a body of natural history, the best that could be - gathered together from books and observations. If the several - writers among them took each his particular species, and gave us a - distinct account of its original, birth, and education; its policies, - hostilities, and alliances; with the frame and texture of its inward - and outward parts,--and particularly those which distinguish it from - all other animals,--with their aptitudes for the state of being in - which Providence has placed them; it would be one of the best services - their studies could do mankind, and not a little redound to the glory - of the All-wise Creator.”--‘Spectator,’ No. iii. - - Although we do not consider Addison as a naturalist, in any of the - usual meanings of the term, yet it would be no easy task, even for - those who have devoted their undivided attention to the subject, - to improve upon the admirable plan of study here laid down. It is, - moreover, so especially applicable to the investigation of insects, - that it may be more or less put in practice by any person who chooses, - in whatever station or circumstances he happens to be placed. Nay, - we will go farther; for since it agrees with experience and many - recorded instances that individuals have been enabled to investigate - and elucidate particular facts, who were quite unacquainted with - systematic natural history, we hold it to be undeniable, that _any - person of moderate penetration, though altogether unacquainted with - what is called “Natural History_,” who will take the trouble to - observe particular facts and endeavor to trace them to their causes, - has every chance to be successful in adding to his own knowledge, and - frequently in making discoveries of what was previously unknown. It - is related of M. Pélissan, while a prisoner in the Bastille, that he - tamed a spider by means of music. This in conjunction with Evelyn’s - observations on hunting-spiders is strong proof of our position, - and show that though books are often of high value to guide us in - our observations, they are by no means indispensable to the study - of nature, inasmuch as the varied scene of creation itself forms an - inexhaustible book, which “even he who runneth may read.” - - “It will be of the utmost importance, in the study here recommended, - to bear in mind that an insect can never be found in any situation, - nor make any movement, without some motive, originating in the - instinct imparted to it by Providence. This principle alone, when it - is made the basis of inquiry into such motives or instincts, will - be found productive of many interesting discoveries, which, without - it, might never be made. With this, indeed, exclusively in view, - during an excursion, and with a little attention and perseverance, - every walk--nay, every step--may lead to delightful and interesting - knowledge.”--“INSECT ARCHITECTURE,” p. 219. - -[Illustration: - -_Plate IV._ - -Spiders, with the processes of Spinning and Weaving.] - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -FIBRES OR SILKEN MATERIAL OF THE PINNA. - - The Pinna--Description of--Delicacy of its threads--Réaumur’s - observations--Mode of forming the filament or thread--Power of - continually producing new threads--Experiments to ascertain - this fact--The Pinna and its Cancer Friend--Nature of their - alliance--Beautiful phenomenon--Aristotle and Pliny’s account--The - Greek poet Oppianus’s lines on the Pinna, and its Cancer - friend--Manner of procuring the Pinna--Poli’s description--Specimens - of the Pinna in the British Museum--Pearls found in the Pinna--Pliny - and Athenæus’s account--Manner of preparing the fibres of the Pinna - for weaving--Scarceness of this material--No proof that the ancients - were acquainted with the art of knitting--Tertullian the first ancient - writer who makes mention of the manufacture of cloth from the fibres - of the Pinna--Procopius mentions a chlamys made of the fibres of - the Pinna, and a silken tunic adorned with sprigs or feathers of - gold--Boots of red leather worn only by Emperors--Golden fleece of the - Pinna--St. Basil’s account--Fibres of the Pinna not manufactured into - cloth at Tarentum in ancient times, but in India--Diving for the Pinna - at Colchi--Arrian’s account. - - -In the preceding chapter we have confined our remarks, principally, to -the various attempts made to obtain a silken or filamentous material -from the spider, and although those efforts have not been crowned with -that degree of success which would render a speculation of the kind -worthy of our attention in a pecuniary point of view, yet, it must be -conceded, that the subject is scarcely the less interesting; and Mr. -Bon, the gentleman who first undertook the training of spiders, has at -least given us matter for further interesting speculation. It is now -about 104 years since Mr. Bon commenced his experiments. - -In this chapter, we shall proceed to describe the Pinna of the -ancients, and upon which human ingenuity has been more successfully -exercised in seeking, many feet below the surface of the Ocean, for -the slender filaments, the produce of an animal in almost a vegetative -state of existence. - -The Pinna is a bivalve[183] shell-fish, which, when full grown, is 18 -inches long, and 6 wide at its broad end. It is found near the shores -of South Italy, Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia; also in the Bay of -Smyrna, and in the Indian Ocean. It does not fasten itself to rocks -in the same position as the muscle, but sticks its sharp end into the -mud or sand, while the rest of the shell is at liberty to open in -the water. In common with the muscle, it has the power of spinning a -viscid matter from its body, conformably with that of the spider and -caterpillar. Although the pinna is vastly larger than the muscle, -its shell being sometimes found two feet long, the threads which it -produces are more delicate and slender than those of the muscle, being -in fineness and beauty scarcely inferior to the single filament of -the comparatively minute silk-worm. Threads so delicately thin, as -may readily be imagined, do not singly possess much strength; but -the little power of each is made up by the aggregate of the almost -infinite number which each fish puts forth to secure itself in a fixed -situation, and preserve it against the rolling of the waves. The -threads are, however, similar in their nature to those of the muscle, -differing only in their superior fineness and greater length. These -fish have, therefore, been distinguished by some naturalists, the one -as the silk-worm, the other as caterpillar of the sea. - - [183] An animal having two valves, or a shell consisting of two parts - which open and shut. - -It has been from a very remote period well known, that muscles have -the power of affixing themselves either to rocks or the shells of one -another, in a very firm manner; yet their method of effecting this -was not understood until explained by the accurate observations of -M. Réaumur, the _first_ naturalist who ascertained that if, by any -accident, the animals were torn from their hold, they possessed the -power of substituting other threads for those which had been broken -or injured. It was found by him, that if muscles, detached from each -other, were placed in any kind of vessel and then plunged into the sea, -they contrived in a very short time to fasten themselves both to the -vessel’s side and one another’s shells: in this process, the extremity -of each thread seemed to perform the office of a hand in seizing upon -the body to which it would attach itself. - -The threads issue from the shell at that part where it naturally -opens, and in affixing themselves to any substance, form numerous -minute cables, by which the fish steadies itself in the water. Each -animal is provided with an organ, which it is difficult to designate -by any name, since it performs the office of so many members, and is -the only indicator of the existence of vital powers in the creature. It -is by turns a tongue, an arm, and sometimes a leg. Its shape resembles -that of a tongue, and is, therefore, most frequently called by that -name. Whenever the fish requires to change its place, this member -serves to drag its body forward, together with its cumbrous habitation: -in performing a journey, the extremity of this organ, which may then be -styled a leg, is fixed to some solid body, and being then contracted -in length, the whole fish is necessarily drawn towards the spot where -it intends to station itself; and by a repetition of these movements, -the animal arrives at its destination. It is not often that the organ -is put to this use, as the pinna is but little addicted to locomotion: -some naturalists indeed affirm that it is always stable. The purpose to -which the tongue is most frequently applied, is that of spinning the -threads. Although this body is flat, and in form similar to a tongue -through the greater part of its length, it becomes cylindrical about -the base or root, where it is much smaller than in any other part: at -this lower end are several ligatures of a muscular nature, which keep -the tongue firmly fixed against the middle of the shell; four of these -cords are very apparent, and serve to move the tongue in any direction -according to the wants of the fish. Through the entire length of this -member there runs a slit, which pierces so deeply into its surface, -as almost to divide it into two longitudinal sections; this performs -the office of a canal for the liquor of which the threads are formed, -and serves to mould them into their proper form: the canal appears -externally like a small crack, being almost covered by the flesh -from either side, but internally it is much wider, and surrounded by -circular fibres. The channel thus formed extends regularly from the -tip to the base of the tongue, where it partakes of the form of the -member and becomes cylindric, producing there a tube or pipe in which -the canal terminates. The viscid substance is moulded in this tube into -the shape of a cord, similar to the threads produced from it, though -much thicker, and from which all the minute fibres issue and disperse. -The internal surface of the tube, wherein the large cord is formed, -is furnished with glands for the secretion of the peculiar substance -employed in its production, and which is always in great abundance in -this animal as well as in muscles. - -Réaumur observed, “that although the workmanship of the land and sea -animals when completed is alike, the manner of its production is very -different. Spiders, caterpillars, &c., form threads of any required -length, by making the viscous liquor of which the filament is formed -pass through fine perforations in the organ appointed for spinning. -But the way in which muscles form their thread is widely opposite; as -the former resembles the work of the wire-drawer[184], so does the -latter that of the founder who casts metals in a mould.” The canal of -the organ destined for the muscle’s spinning is the mould in which its -thread is cast, and gives to it its determinate length. - - [184] This remark of M. Réaumur confirms the observations of M. H. - Straus, quoted in Chapter VII. that the thread of the silk-worm - is not produced by a simple emission of liquid matter through the - orifices of the spinner, or that it acquires solidity at once from - the drying influence of the air. Indeed, silk cannot be produced - in this manner, but is _secreted in the form of silk in silk - vessels_, and the spinning apparatus, so called, only unwinds it. - Mr. Straus’s observations on this head admit of no argument. The - discovery reduces all that has been heretofore written upon the - subject to the character of old lumber. - -Réaumur learned the manner of the muscle performing the operation of -swimming by actually placing some of these fish under his constant -inspection. He kept them in his apartment in a vessel filled with -sea water, and distinctly saw them open their shells and put forth -their tongues. They extended and contracted this organ several times, -obtruding it in every direction, as if seeking the fittest place -whereon to fix their threads. After repeated trials of this kind, -the tongue of one was observed to remain for some time on the spot -chosen, and being then drawn back with great quickness, a thread was -very easily discerned, fastened to the place: this operation was again -resumed, until all the threads were in sufficient number: one fibre -being produced at each movement of the tongue. - -The old threads were found to differ materially from those newly spun, -the latter being whiter, more glossy, and transparent than the former, -and it was thence discovered that it was not the office of the tongue -to transfer the old threads one by one to the new spots where they were -fixed, which course M. Réaumur had thought was pursued. The old threads -once severed from the spot to which they had been originally fixed were -seen to be useless, and that every fibre employed by the fish to secure -itself in a new position was produced at the time required; and, in -short, that nature had endowed some fish, as well as land insects, with -the power of spinning threads, as their natural wants and instincts -demanded. This fact was incontrovertibly established by cutting away, -as close to the body as they could with safety be separated, the old -threads, which were always replaced by others in a space of time as -short as was employed by other muscles not so deprived. - -“The pinna and its cancer friend” have on more than one occasion been -made subjects for poetry. There is doubtless some foundation for the -fact of the mutual alliance between these aquatic friends which has -been thus celebrated; yet some slight coloring may have been borrowed -from the regions of fancy wherewith to adorn the verse, and even the -prose history of their attachment may be exposed to a similar objection. - -The scuttle-fish, a native of the same seas with the pinna, is its -deadly foe, and would quickly destroy it, were it not for its faithful -ally. In common with all the same species, the pinna is destitute of -the organs of sight, and could not, therefore, unassisted, be aware -of the vicinity of its dangerous enemy. A small animal of the crab -kind, itself deprived of a covering, but extremely quick-sighted, -takes refuge in the shell of the pinna, whose strong calcareous -valves affords a shelter to her guest, _while he makes a return for -this protection by going forth in search of prey_. At these intervals -the pinna opens her valves to afford him egress and ingress: if the -watchful scuttle-fish now approach, the crab returns instanter with -notice of the danger to her hostess; who, timely warned, shuts her door -and keeps out the enemy. When the crab has, unmolested, succeeded in -loading itself with provisions, _it gives a signal by a gentle noise -at the opening of the shell_, and when admitted, the two friends feast -together on the fruit of its industry. It would appear an arduous, -nay, a task almost impossible for the defenceless and diminutive crab, -not merely to elude its enemies and return home, but likewise obtain -a supply of provender sufficient to satisfy the wants of its larger -companion. The following different account of the nature of this -alliance is more credible:-- - -Whenever the pinna ventures to open its shell, it is immediately -exposed to the attacks of various of the smaller kinds of fish, which, -meeting with no resistance to their first assaults, acquire boldness -and venture in. The vigilant guard, by a gentle bite, gives notice of -this to his companion, who, upon such a hint, closes her shell, and -having thus shut them in makes a prey of those who had come to prey -upon her: when thus supplied with food, she never fails to share her -booty with so useful an ally. - -We are told that the sagacious observer, Dr. Hasselquist, in his -voyage, (about the middle of the last century,) to Palestine, which -he undertook for objects connected with the study of natural history, -beheld this curious phenomenon, which, although well known to the -ancients, had escaped the attention of the moderns. - -It is related by Aristotle[185] that the pinna keeps a guard to watch -for her, which grows to her mouth, and serves as her caterer: this he -calls pinnophylax, and describes as a little fish with claws like a -crab. Pliny observes[186], that the smallest species of crab is called -the pinnotores, and being from its diminutive size liable to injury, -has the prudence to conceal itself in the shells of oysters. In another -place he describes the pinna as of the genus of shell-fish, with the -further particulars that it is found in muddy waters, always erect, -and never without a companion, called by some pinnatores, by others -pinnophylax; this being sometimes a small squill, and at others a crab, -which remains with the pinna for the sake of food. - - [185] Hist. lib. v. c. 15. - - [186] Lib. ix. 51. 66. - -The description of the pinna by the Greek poet Oppianus, who flourished -in the second century, has been thus given in English verse:-- - - The pinna and the crab together dwell, - For mutual succor in one common shell; - They both to gain a livelihood combine, - That takes the prey, when this has given the sign; - From hence this crab, above his fellows famed, - By ancient Greeks was Pinnotores named. - -It is said that the pinna fastens itself so strongly to the rocks, that -the men employed in fishing for it are obliged to use considerable -force to break the tuft of threads by which it is secured fifteen, -twenty, and sometimes even thirty feet below the surface of the sea. - -It is fished up in the Gulf of Tarentum by the _Pernonico_, which -consists of two semicircular bars of iron fastened together at the -ends, at one of which is a wooden pole, at the other a ring and cord. -The fishermen conduct their boat over the place, where the pinna is -seen through the clear water, let down the Pernonico, and, having -loosened the pinna by embracing it with the iron bars and twisting it -round, draw it up to the boat. The pinna is also obtained by diving. -Poli, in his splendid work on the Sicilian Testacea (_Parma_, 1795, -_folio_,) gives beautiful representations of the several species and -especially of the Pinna Nobilis[187]. The following description of -submarine scenery and operations, is so vivid and pleasing that we -quote it at length. - - [187] The figure (Fig. 7.) of the Pinna Nobilis, Plate III., is reduced - from Plate XXXIV. in vol. ii. - - Pinnis hujusmodi abundant præ cæteris litus Trinacriæ, sinus - Tarentinus, oraque maritima Crateris Neapolitani, potissimum ultra - Promontorium Pausilypi. Equidem persummâ adficimur animi jucunditate, - quoties illarum piscationis recordamur, quam vere jam inchoato - inibi facere iterum iterumque consuevimus. Est ad Insulam Nisitæ, - quâ illa ad septentrionem vergit, respicitque contra Pausilypi - Promontorium, amœnissimi maris plaga, quoddam maris ocium. Ibi inter - ingentes, pulcherrimosque marinarum stirpium saltus, quibus plaga - illa undique virescit, oculosque animumque recreat, Pinnarum greges - sponte gignuntur; quæ mari tranquillo, umbrisque ab insulæ summitate - cadentibus, ab iis qui cymbis insistunt, ad triginta fermè pedum - altitudinem, subrectæ, inque fundo arenoso defixæ perspicuè cerni - possunt. Urinatores igitur, sese mari submergentes, illis arripiendis - destinantur. Quoniam vero, ne reiteratis quidem ictibus, ab arenâ, - ubi consitæ sunt, educi queunt; arena etenim, et pondere suo et - altissimâ aquarum mole sibi incumbente fortiter stipata, urinatorum - conatibus validè resistit; hi maris fundum nacti, ibique veluti in - solo sedentes, arenam Pinnæ circumjectam manibus averrunt, Pinnamque - deinceps ambabus manibus comprehensam divellere conantur. Et si - diutius, quam par est, spiritum cohibere nequeunt, ad summa æquorum - ascendunt, suberibusque aquæ innatantibus inibi de industriâ positis - innituntur, donec tandem aëris haustu recreati, maris fundum iterum - petant, operamque penitus absolvant. _v._ ii. _p._ 230, 231. - - This species of Pinna is especially abundant on the shores of Sicily, - in the Gulf of Taranto, and in the Bay of Naples, particularly beyond - the Cape of Posilipo. It always fills my mind with the greatest - delight to recollect the manner of fishing for it, in which I have - often taken a part at that spot in the commencement of spring. On the - northern shore of the Isle of Nisida opposite Posilipo, is a most - agreeable expanse of water, where the sea appears to be ever at rest. - Here, amidst those vast and most beauteous submarine forests, with - which the coast is decorated in every direction so as at once to charm - the mind and refresh the eye, the Pinna grows spontaneously in large - groups, and in calm water, when the shadows fall from the summit of - the island, is clearly seen by persons in boats growing nearly upright - and fixed in the sandy bottom at the depth of about thirty feet. There - are divers, whose business it is to bring it up. But, since it cannot - be loosened even by repeated blows, (for the sand firmly resists the - attempts of the diver, being supported by its own weight and by the - super-incumbent water,) in these circumstances he sits down at the - bottom of the sea, brushes away with his fingers the earth which - encompasses the shell, and then endeavors to pull it up by seizing it - with both hands. If he is thus likely to be detained at the bottom for - a longer time than he can hold his breath, he ascends to the surface, - supports himself _upon corks_, which are in readiness for him, and, - when he has sufficiently recovered himself by breathing, he again - dives to the bottom to complete his task. - -The specimens of Pinna in the British Museum show not only the tuft, -but also the pearls and the mother of pearl. Poli found in one specimen -of the Pinna Nobilis no less than twenty pearls, of which he has given -figures in his splendid work. Pliny (l. ix. c. 35.) mentions the -practice of diving for the Pinna in the Mediterranean Sea in order -to obtain pearls from it: and Athenæus (l. iii. p. 93 Casaub.) has -preserved extracts from two historical writers, one of whom accompanied -Alexander on his Indian expedition, and who informs us, that the Pinna -was procured in the Indian seas, by diving and for the sake of the -pearls. - -The Italians call the fibres _Lana Pesce_ or _Lana Penna_, i. e. _Fish -Wool_, or _Pinna Wool_. It is not equally good in all places. When the -bottom of the sea is sandy, the shell with its bunch of fibres may be -easily extracted, and they are silky and of a fine color. But in rushy -and muddy bottoms so fast do they stick as to be generally broken in -drawing up, and are of a blackish color without gloss. - -The Lana Penna is twice washed in tepid water, once in soap and water, -and again in tepid water, then spread on a table to dry: while yet -moist, it is rubbed and separated with the hand, and again spread on -the table. When quite dry, it is drawn through a wide comb of bone, and -then through a narrow one. That which is destined for very fine works -is also drawn through iron combs, called _scarde_ (_cards_). It is then -spun with a distaff and spindle. - -As it is impossible to procure much of this material of a good quality, -the manufacture is very limited, and the articles produced, stockings -and gloves, are expensive. They are esteemed excellent preservatives -against cold and damp, are soft and very warm, and the finest of a -brown cinnamon, or glossy gold color. The manufacture is chiefly -carried on at Taranto, the ancient _Tarentum_[188]. - - [188] Riedesel’s Travels through Sicily and Græcia Magna, translated - by J. R. Forster, London, 1773, p. 178-180. De Salis, Travels in - the Kingdom of Naples. Keppel Craven, Tour through the Southern - Provinces of the Kingdom of Naples, p. 185. D’Argenville, Lithol. - et Conchologie, p. 183, and Plate 25. - -The _Lana Penna_, having been spun, is now almost universally knit. -But, as it does not appear that the ancients were acquainted with this -process prior to the second century, whatever garments they made of -this material must have been woven. - -The first proof we possess of its use among them is in Tertullian, who -lived in the second century (_De Pallio_, iii. _p._ 115, _Rigaltii_). -Speaking of the materials for weaving, he says, - - Nec fuit satis tunicam pangere et serere, ni etiam piscari vestitum - contigisset nam et de mari vellera, quo mucosæ lanusitatis plautiores - conchæ comant. - - Nor was it enough to comb and to sow the materials for a tunic. It was - necessary also to fish for one’s dress. For fleeces are obtained from - the sea, where shells of extraordinary size are furnished with tufts - of mossy hair[189]. (See Fig. 7, Plate II.) - - [189] In this passage _piscari_ is rather fancifully opposed to - _pangere_ and _serere_. The former of these two terms (_pangere_) - refers to tunics of wool, which was _pacta_ or _pexa_; the latter - to tunics of cotton and flax, which were _sata_. The epithet - _plautiores_, (etymologically allied to _latiores_, and to πλατὺς,) - well describes the large size and expanded form of the Pinna. - -Procopius informs us (_De Edif. lib._ iii. _c._ 1.), that Armenia was -governed by five hereditary satraps, who received their _insignia_ from -the Roman Emperor. Among these was a Chlamys made of the fibres of the -Pinna. (Χλαμὺς ἡ ἐξ ἐρίων πεποιημένη, οὐχ οἷα τῶν προβατίων ἐκπέφυκεν, -ἀλλ’ ἐκ θαλάσσης συνειλεγμένων· πίννους τὰ ζῶα καλεῖν νενομίκασι, ἐν -οἷς ἡ τῶν ἐρίων ἔκφυσις γίνεται.) This chlamys was fastened with a -fibula of gold, in which a precious stone was set, and three hyacinths -were suspended from it by golden chains (χρυσαῖς τε καὶ χαλαραῖς -ἀλύσεσιν.) The chlamys was accompanied by a silken tunic, adorned with -sprigs or “_feathers_” of gold. It is thus described: - - Χιτὼν ἐκ μετάξης, ἐγκαλλωπίσμασι χρυσοῖς πανταχόθεν ὡραΐσμενος, ἃ δὴ - νενομίκασι πλούμμια καλεῖν. - -With the chlamys and tunic were worn boots of red leather, such as only -the emperors of Rome and Persia were allowed to wear. - -St. Basil mentions with admiration “the golden fleece” of the Pinna, -which no artificial dye could imitate. Πόθεν τὸ χρυσοῦν ἔριον αἱ πίνναι -τρέφουσιν, ὅπερ οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀνθοβάφων ἐμιμήσατο.--_Hexaem._ vii. - -Whether the tuft of the Pinna was used for weaving before the time of -the authors, who have now been cited, seems doubtful. As the Pinna is -frequently mentioned by earlier writers, both Greek and Latin[190], but -without any reference to the use of its tuft, it may be regarded as -probable, that this kind of cloth was not invented before the time of -Tertullian. - - [190] The passages are collected in Stephani Thesaurus L. Græcæ, ed. - Valpy, p. 7579. - -It is a no less curious question, Whence did the ancients obtain the -fibres of the Pinna, _and where was the manufacture of them carried on_? - -It has been commonly said at _Tarentum_, but apparently for no -other reason than that the Pinna is obtained and the manufacture -principally carried on at _Taranto_ in modern times. By referring to -the authorities above quoted, it will be seen that none of them makes -any allusion to Tarentum. Consequently we have no direct evidence, that -this was the seat of the ancient manufacture. On the contrary, we have -testimony, that fine cloths of this substance were made in _India_, and -thence imported into Greece and other countries. - -The author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, a document of an age -at least as late as the time of Tertullian, states that the business -of diving for the wool of the Pinna was prosecuted near the city -called _Colchi_ in the south of India. Different species of Pinna -with tufts of fine silk are now no less abundant in the Indian than -the Mediterranean Sea. The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea presents a -sufficient proof, that this beautiful substance was spun and woven -by the Indians, whereas we can only suppose from analogy that the -manufacture was carried on in ancient times by the Tarentines. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -FIBRES, OR SILKEN MATERIAL OF THE PINE-APPLE. - - Fibres of the Pine-Apple--Facility of dyeing--Manner of preparing the - fibres for weaving--Easy cultivation of the plant--Thrives where no - other plant will live--Mr. Frederick Burt Zincke’s patent process of - manufacturing cloth from the fibres of this plant--Its comparative - want of strength--Silken material procured from the Papyfera--Spun - and woven into cloth--Cloth of this description manufactured - generally by the Otaheiteans, and other inhabitants of the South Sea - Islands--Great strength (supposed) of ropes made from the fibres of - the aloe--Exaggerated statements. - - -This plant, which has hitherto been valued solely as ministering to the -luxuries of the table, has lately had a new interest attached to it -from the discovery of a fibre contained in its leaves, possessing such -valuable properties, that it will, in all probability, soon form a new -and important article of commerce. - -The fibres of the pine-apple plant are disposed in fasciculi, each -apparent fibre being an assemblage of fibres adhering together, of -such exceeding delicacy, as only to measure from 1/5000th to 1/7000th -part of an inch in diameter; viewed under the microscope, they bear -considerable resemblance to silk, from their glossy, even, and -smooth texture. They appear altogether destitute of joints, or other -irregularities, and are remarkably transparent, particularly when -viewed in water: they are very elastic, of considerable strength, -and readily receive the most delicate dyes. This last fact appears -singular, when we bear in mind the resistance, if we may be allowed -the expression, which flax offers to dyes. With much trouble, and by -long processes, flax will receive a few dark dingy colors: all light -and brilliant ones it wholly resists; they do not enter the fibre, -but merely dry upon it externally, and afterwards easily peel, or rub -off,--in short, it may be said to be _painted_, and not dyed. - -The preparation of the pine-fibre is exceedingly simple. If a leaf of -this plant be examined, it will be found to consist of an assemblage -of fibres running parallel from one extremity of the leaf to the -other, embedded in the soft pabulum. All the process necessary is to -pass the leaf under a “tilt hammer,” the rapid action of which, in a -few seconds, completely crushes it, without in the slightest degree -injuring the fibre, which remains in a large skein, and then requires -to be rinsed out in soft water, to cleanse it from impurities, and be -afterwards dried in the shade. So simple and rapid is the process, that -a leaf, in a quarter of an hour after being cut from the plant, may -be in a state fit for the purposes of the manufacturer, as a glossy, -white fibre, with its strength unimpaired by any process of maceration, -which, by inducing partial putrefaction, not only materially injures -the strength of flax, but also renders it of a dingy color. - -The pine-plant abounds both in the East and West Indies, and may be -easily propagated from the crown; offsets from round the base of the -fruit, which often amount to upwards of twenty in number; and from -the young plants which spring from the parent stem; its cultivation -requires but little care or expense, and is of such hardy growth, as -to be almost independent of those casualties of weather, which often -prove so detrimental to more delicate crops--it is one of those plants -which Nature has scattered so profusely through tropical regions, -whose leaves are thick and fleshy, to contain a large supply of -nourishment, and covered by a thick, glazed cuticle; admitting of so -little evaporation, that many of them will thrive upon a barren rock, -where no other plant would live. Also from the large portion of oxalic -acid which the leaves contain, no animal will touch them, and are, -therefore, exempt from the trespasses of cattle, &c. Indeed no greater -proof of the hardiness of the plant can be given, than the fact, -that in many places where lands have been under tillage,--afterwards -abandoned, and allowed to return to a state of nature, the pine-apple -plant exhibits the only trace of former cultivation; every other -cultivated plant has died away before the encroachments of the -surrounding wood, while they alone remained increasing from year to -year, and spread into large beds. - -Mr. Frederick Burt Zincke obtained a patent in England, bearing date -December 9, 1836, for the following mode of preparing the filaments -of this plant, the “_Bromelia ananas_.” We give the patentee’s own -description (with slight emendations), as received from the patent -office, London, and which is as follows. - -“I (the said Frederick Burt Zincke) do hereby declare that the nature -of my said invention consists--Firstly, in preparing or manufacturing -the leaf of the plant, commonly called the pine-apple, by bruising, -beating, washing, and drying the same, in such manner as to separate -the long fibrous parts from the cuticle pabulum, and other matter -comprising the said leaf. Secondly, in the application of the fibrous -substance, so prepared to various manufactures and purposes, for which -silk, flax, cotton, hemp, wool, and other fibrous materials are now -used. And further, I describe the manner in which my said invention -is to be performed by the following statement: For the purpose of -preparing the fibre, I cut the leaves from the pine-apple plant, at any -period from the time of their obtaining their full growth, till the -ripening of the fruit, for I find that if the leaves are taken before -they are full grown, the fibre is less strong, and if suffered to -remain on the plant, after the ripening of the fruit, the fibre becomes -harsh, and is more difficult to divest of the extraneous matter. The -small thorns having been trimmed from the edge of the leaves, with -a sharp knife, the leaves should be crushed, so as to disengage the -fibre from the other matter composing the leaf, for which purpose the -employment of a mallet upon a block of wood, will fully answer the -intended purpose. This process of crushing is to be continued until -the fibre appears in an assemblage of long silky filaments, with more -or less of the pulpy and other matter of the leaf adhering to them; -to cleanse them from which they are to be well rinsed in soft water, -_immediately after having been crushed_ or beaten, and then the water -should forthwith be squeezed out of them, by drawing them between the -edges of two pieces of wood, placed parallel to each other, so as to -admit of the fibres being drawn out rather lightly between them, for if -the green matter is allowed to dry on the fibre, it of course becomes -more difficult to cleanse. The washing must be carefully performed, -so as to prevent the fibre from becoming tangled or knotted. The -operation of washing or rinsing must be repeated until the fibre be -thoroughly cleansed. If it be found difficult to clean the fibre from -the extraneous matter, in consequence of not collecting the leaves from -the plant sufficiently early, or from any other cause, the operation -will be facilitated by boiling the fibre, after it has been beaten, -and partially purified in a solution of soap in soft water. For this -purpose the fibre must be regularly disposed in any suitable vessel, so -as to prevent its becoming tangled, with sufficient water to cover it, -in which soap has been dissolved, in the proportion of about 5 lbs. to -50 lbs. of fibre, a light weight being then placed upon it, to keep the -fibre beneath the surface of the liquor; the whole is then to be boiled -for the space of three or four hours, and after boiling, to be well -rinsed out in soft water, and squeezed as before directed. The fibre -having been cleansed by these processes, is to be _gradually dried in -the shade_, and occasionally shaken out, so as to prevent the too close -adhesion of the filament in drying, which would otherwise take place. -The fibre may be obtained free from the extraneous matter of the leaf -by other modes; but I prefer that which I have above described. As to -the second part of my said invention, it is only necessary to observe -that from the _superiority of this fibre in several respects over those -now in common use_(?), it is adapted to a vast number of purposes, -in which fibrous materials are now employed; it is of a glossy white -color, it receives dyes with facility, it possesses great strength, and -is divisible to an exceeding degree of fineness, for upon examination -each filament that appears a single fibre, is, in fact, a bundle -of very delicate fibres, adhering more or less strongly together. -These qualities render it applicable to the manufacture of _shawls_, -_drills_, _damask-linens_, _plushes_, _carpets_, _rugs_, _lace_, -_bonnets_, _paper_; as a material for _rope_, _twine_, or _thread_, and -a variety of other purposes to which silk, cotton, flax hemp, wool, and -other fibrous materials are now applied. As a material for spinning in -the ordinary method in which flax is now spun through hot water, this -fibre requires to undergo the process generally in use for bleaching -flax. I find the period at which the bleaching can be most conveniently -performed, is when the fibre is in the state called technically “a -roving;” for the coarser yarns the first stages of the bleaching -process will be sufficient, but this operation must be carried further, -in proportion to the fineness of the yarn intended to be spun. The -effect of the bleaching upon the fibre is, to disengage part of the -adhesive matter, which connects the fine filaments together, and render -the yarn susceptible of longation, between the receiving and delivering -rollers in spinning, after it has passed through the hot water; I -therefore claim as my invention, the preparing and manufacturing into -the fibres hereinbefore particularly described; the leaf of the plant -commonly called the pine-apple, by any mode or modes of preparation, -and also the application of the said fibres, when prepared and -manufactured, to the several purposes hereinbefore also particularly -specified, the same being to the best of my knowledge (information, -remembrance, and belief), now and not heretofore practised.” - -M. de la Rouverie affirms, that he procured a beautiful vegetable silk -from the Papyfera or paper mulberry; cutting the bark while the tree -was in sap, beating it with mallets, and steeping it in water; he -obtained a thread from the fibres, almost equal to silk in quality; and -this was woven into a cloth the texture of which appeared as if formed -of that material. The finest sort of cloth among the inhabitants of -Otaheite, and other of the South Sea Islands, is made of the bark of -this tree. - -According to M. Chevremont, Engineer of Mines, “ropes made of aloes -have _four times the resistance_ of those of hemp of the same diameter, -and made by the same process(?). The fibres of the aloe contain -a resinous substance which protects the ropes from the action of -moisture: even at sea, and renders the tarring of them unnecessary. -They are lighter than hempen ropes, and lose nothing of their strength -by being wet(?). When plunged into water, they are shortened only two -per cent., so that they become less rigid than ropes made of hemp(?).” - -There appears to be a good deal of exaggeration in regard to the -great superiority of the fibres of these plants over cotton, flax, &c. -This is particularly the case in regard to Mr. Zincke, for although -he succeeded in producing some very beautiful specimens of fabric, -in conformity with the foregoing specification, yet, the manufacture -does not appear to make much progress, chiefly on account of the -_inferiority in point of strength of the cloth_, more especially when -bleached. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -MALLOWS. - -CULTIVATION AND USE OF THE MALLOW AMONG THE ANCIENTS.--TESTIMONY OF -LATIN, GREEK, AND ATTIC WRITERS. - - The earliest mention of Mallows is to be found in Job xxx. - 4.--Varieties of the Mallow--Cultivation and use of the - Mallow--Testimony of ancient authors--Papias and Isidore’s mention of - Mallow cloth--Mallow cloth common in the days of Charlemagne--Mallow - shawls--Mallow cloths mentioned in the Periplus as exported from - India to Barygaza (Baroch)--Calidāsa the Indian dramatist, who - lived in the first century B. C.--His testimony--Wallich’s (the - Indian botanist) account--Mantles of woven bark, mentioned in the - Sacontăla of Calidāsa--Valcălas or Mantles of woven bark, - mentioned in the Ramayana, a noted poem of ancient India--Sheets made - from trees--Ctesias’ testimony--Strabo’s account--Testimony of Statius - Cæcilius and Plautus, who lived 169 B. C. and 184 B. C.--Plautus’s - laughable enumeration of the analogy of trades--Beauty of garments of - Amorgos mentioned by Eupolis--Clearchus’s testimony--Plato mentions - linen shifts--Amorgine garments first manufactured at Athens in the - time of Aristophanes. - - -The earliest mention of mallows is that given in the book of Job, in -the following words: “For want and famine they were solitary: fleeing -into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. Who cut up -_mallows_ by the bushes, and _juniper-roots_ for their meat.”--Job xxx. -4. - -We find in ancient authors of a more modern date, distinct mention of -three species of malvaceous plants, which are still common in the South -of Europe. These are, the Common Mallow, _Malva Silvestris_, Linn.; the -Marsh Mallow, _Althæa Officinalis_, Linn.; and the Hempleaved Mallow, -_Althæa Cannabina_, Linn. - -The Common Mallow is called by the Latin writers _Malva_, by the Greek -Μαλάχη, or Μολόχη. - -This plant was used for food from the earliest times. Hesiod represents -living on Mallows and asphodel as the sign of moderation, contentment, -and simplicity of manners. - - Νήπιοι, οὐδ’ ἴσασιν ὅσῳ πλέον ἥμισυ παντὸς, - Οὐδ’ ὅσον ἐν μαλάχῃ τε καὶ ἀσφοδέλῳ μέγ’ ὄνειαρ.--_Op. et Dies_, 41. - - Fools! not to know how much more the half is than the whole, and how - much benefit there is in mallows and asphodel. - -A dish of these vegetables was probably the cheapest of all kinds -of food; they grew wild in the meadow and by the wayside, and were -gathered and dressed without any labor or trouble. - -Various authors however mention the cultivation of the Common Mallow in -gardens. See Virgil, _Moretum_, 73. Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ l. xix. c. 22 -and 31. Isidori _Orig._ l. xvii. c. 10. Papiæ _Vocabular._ v. _Malva. -Geoponica_, xii. l. Palladuis, iii. 24. xi. ll. - -Dioscorides (_l._ ii. c. III.) calls it the Garden Mallow. Aristophanes -(_Plutus_ 544.) mentions eating the shoots of mallows instead of -bread, intending by this to represent a vile and destitute kind of -living. Plutarch (_Septem Sapientum Convivium_) says, “The mallow is -good for food, and the Anthericus is sweet.” According to Le Clerc -ὁ ἀνθέρικος (_Anthericus_) means the scapus of the asphodel: if he -is right, this plant was eaten as we now eat asparagus. It is also -remarkable that on this supposition Plutarch mentions the same two -plants, which are also mentioned together by Hesiod. - -According to Theophrastus (_Hist. Plant._ vii. 7. 2.) the mallow -was not eaten raw, as in a salad, but required to be cooked. Cicero -(_Epist. ad Fam._ vii. 26.) mentions the highly-seasoned vegetables at -a dinner given by his friend Lentulus. Having been made ill by them, -he says, that he, “who easily abstained from oysters and lampreys, had -been deceived by beet and mallows.” Probably the leaves of the mallow -were on this occasion boiled, chopped, and seasoned, much in the same -way as spinach is now prepared in France. - -Moschus in the following well-known lines refers to the common mallow -together with other culinary vegetables: - - Αἲ, αἲ, ταὶ μαλάχαι μὲν, ἐπὰν κατὰ κᾶπον ὄλωνται, - Ἠδὲ τὰ χλωρὰ σέλινα, τό τ’ εὐθαλὲς οὖλον ἄνηθον, - Ὕστερον αὖ ζώοντι, καὶ εἰς ἔτος ἄλλο φυόντι. - - Mallows, alas! die down, and parsley, and flourishing fennel; - Then they spring up afresh, and live next year in the garden. - -This is accurately true of the common mallow, the root of which is -perennial, so that the stems grow up and die down again every year. -Accordingly Theophrastus brings it as an example of a plant _with -annual stems_[191]. - - [191] Hist. Plant. l. vii. c. 8. p. 142. Heinsii. 240. Schneider. - -Horace in two passages signifies his partiality to mallows, calling -them “_leves_,” _light to digest_. - - Let olives be my food, endive, and mallows light. - _Od._ _l._ i. 31. _v._ 16. - - Mallows, salubrious to a frame o’er-filled. - Epod. 2. 57. - -Martial recommends this vegetable on account of its laxative effect: - - Utere lactucis, et mollibus utere malvis. (iii. 47.) - - Exoneratarus ventrem mihi villica malvas - Attulit, et varias, quas habet hortus, opes. (x. 48.) - -Diphilus of Siphnos (_as quoted by Athenæus_, _l._ ii. _p._ 58. E. -_Casaub._), after enumerating the medical virtues of the Common Mallow, -says, that “the wild was better than the cultivated kind.” - -Without quoting other classical authorities, the ancient practice may -be illustrated by the observations of modern travellers, who mention -that the Common Mallow is still an article of consumption in the same -parts of the world. - -Biddulph, who visited Syria about the year 1600, says, he “saw near -Aleppo many poor people gathering mallows, and three-leaved grass, and -asked them what they did with it, and they answered, that it was all -their food, and that they boiled it, and did eat it.” (_Collection of -Voyages and Travels from the Library of the E. of Oxford_, _p._ 807.) - -Dr. Sibthorp states, that the _Malva Silvestris_ grows wild in Cyprus, -and is called Μόλωχα. He also says, “The wild mallow is very common -about Athens: the leaves are boiled and eaten as a pot-herb, and an -ingredient in the Dolma.” (_Memoirs relating to European and Asiatic -Turkey_, _edited by Walpole_, _p._ 245.) Dr. Holland mentions both -_Malva Silvestris_ and _Althæa Officinalis_ among the officinal -plants, which he found in Cephalonia. (_Travels in Greece_, _p._ 543, -_4to._). - -The _Althæa Officinalis_, or Marsh Mallow, is called by the Greek -authors Ἀλθαία, by the Latin, Hibiscus. Theophrastus says, that it went -also under the name of wild mallow[192]. Whilst the Common Mallow, -though highly esteemed for its medicinal virtues, was principally -regarded as a substantial article of food; the Marsh Mallow, on the -contrary, seems to have been rarely used except as an article of the -Materia Medica[193]; and, as its peculiar properties were likely to -be more matured in the wild than cultivated state, it does not appear -to have been grown in gardens[194]. Theophrastus describes it by -comparing it with the Common Mallow, and mentions its application, both -internally and externally, as a medicine[195]. Dioscorides (_l._ iii. -_c._ 139.) gives similar details. Besides mentioning the proper name of -the plant in Greek and in Latin, he calls it, “a kind of wild mallow.” -Palladius (_l._ xi. _p._ 184. _Bip._) explains “_Hibiscus_” to be the -same as “_Althæa_.” See also Pliny, _l._ xx. _c._ 14. _ed. Bip._ Virgil -alludes to the use of it as fodder for goats, and as a material for -_weaving baskets_[196]. - - [192] Hist. Plant. l. ix. cap. 15. p. 188. Heinsii. - - [193] Calpurnius (Eclog. iv. 32,) mentions the “Hibiscus” as used for - food, but only by persons in a state of great destitution. - - [194] At a later period, however, we find the Althæa Officinalis under - the name of “_Ibischa Mis-malva_” in a catalogue of the plants, - which Charlemagne selected for cultivation in the gardens attached - to his villas. See Sprengel, Hist. Rei Herb. i. 220. - - [195] Hist. Plant. l. ix. cap. 19. p. 192. ed. Heinsii. - - [196] Eclog. ii. 30. and x. 71. See Servius, Heyne, and J. II. Voss., - _ad loc._ - -The Hemp-leaved Mallow, _Althæa Cannabina_, is once mentioned by -Dioscorides (_lib._ iii. _c._ 141.). Giving an account of hemp, he -distinguishes between the cultivated and the wild. He says of the wild -hemp, that the Romans called it _Cannabis Terminalis_[197]. After -mentioning the medical properties of the plant, Dioscorides says, that -its bark was useful for making ropes. The truth of this observation -will be apparent to every botanist. The plants belonging to the natural -order _Malvaceæ_ are all remarkable for the abundance of strong and -beautiful fibres in their bark[198]. - - [197] Meaning literally Hedge-hemp. - - [198] We have the following testimony respecting the actual fabrication - of mallow-cloth in modern times: - - “Nous avons vu à Madrid, chez le savant pharmacien D. Casimir - Ortéga, de ces tissus, qui nous ont semblé fort remarquables. - Ils étaient faits avec l’écorce des _Althéas officinalis_ et - _cannabina_, et avec celle du _Malva sylvestris_.” Fée, Flore de - Virgile, Paris 1822, p. 66. - -But of the European species there is none superior in the fineness, -the strength, the whiteness, and lustre of its fibres, to the Common -Mallow, the _Malva Silvestris_. We have seen that the _ancients_ were -familiarly acquainted with this plant; that it was commonly cultivated -in their gardens; and that they gathered it, when growing wild, to be -taken as food or medicine. In these circumstances they could scarcely -fail to observe the aptitude of its bark for being spun into thread. -More especially in places where they had no other native supply of -fibrous materials; in Attica, for example, which probably produced -neither hemp nor flax, it seems in the highest degree probable, that -the fitness of the mallow to supply materials for weaving would not be -overlooked. - -In producing the evidence, which establishes this as a positive fact, -we shall begin with the latest testimonies and proceed in a reverse -order upward to the most ancient. According to this plan, the first -authority is that of Papias, who wrote his Vocabulary about the year -1050. He gives the following explanations: - - Malbella vestis quæ ex malvarum stamine conficitur, - quam alii molocinam vocant. - Molocina vestis quæ albo stamine sit: quam alii malbellam vocant. - -These passages clearly describe a kind of cloth made of the white -fibres of the common mallow. _Malbella_, the same with Malvella, is a -Latin adjective, in the form of a diminutive, from _Malva_: _Molocina_, -the same with Μολόχινη, is a Greek adjective from Μολόχη, and signifies -_made of mallow_. - -Papias, who seems in compiling his dictionary to have made great use of -Isidore, perhaps derived these explanations in part from the following -passage of the latter author: - - _Melocinia_ (vestis est), quæ malvarum stamine conficitur, quam alii - _molocinam_, alii _malvellam_ vocant. _Isid. Hisp. Orig._ xix. 22. - - The cloth called _Melocinea_ is made of the thread of mallows, and is - called by some _Molocina_, by others _Malvella_. - -The passages of Papias cannot be taken as a proof, that mallow-cloth -was woven in his day. But that it was in fashion as late as the age -of Charlemagne appears from the following line, which is quoted by -Du Cange (_Glossar. Med. et Inf. Lat. v. Melocineus_) from a poem in -praise of that monarch, attributed to Alcuin: - - Tecta melocineo fulgescit femina amictu. - - Wrapt in a mallow shawl the lady shines. - -The word “_fulgescit_” aptly describes the lustre of the material under -consideration. From the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea[199] we learn, -that _cloths made of mallow_, were among the articles of export from -India, being brought from Ozene (Ugain) and Tagara in the interior of -the country to the sea-port of Barygaza (Baroch). P. 146. 169, 170, 171. - - [199] P. 146. 169, 170, 171. Arriani Op. ed. Blancardi, tom. ii. - -The genus _Hibiscus_, Linn. is very abundant in India. The bark of a -certain species of this genus, especially of H. _Tiliaceus_ and H. -_Cannabinus_, is now very extensively employed for making _cordage_, -and might unquestionably have been used for making cloth[200]. - - [200] Cavanilles, Tab. 52, fig. 1, represents H. Cannabinus, the - leaf of which is like that of hemp. Tab. 55, fig. 1, represents H. - Tiliaceus, in the description of which we read “_cortice in funes - ductili_;” and Cavanilles says, the inhabitants of the South Sea - Islands (_Australium insularum_) use in their ships and boats ropes - made from the bark. - -H. _Tiliaceus_ is also represented in Rheede’s Hort. Malabaricus (vol. -i. fig. 30.). It grows about 15 feet high. - -Dr. Wallich (Cat. of Indian Woods, p. 18.) mentions two other species -as used for making cordage from the bark. - -The late Mr. John Hare, who lived in India a long time, says, that a -coarse kind of cloth, used for making sacks, &c., is now woven from -Hibiscus bark. - -As a further evidence, that the _Molochina_ mentioned in the Periplus -were made from the bark of the Hibiscus, we may refer to that admirable -specimen of Eastern taste and ingenuity, the Sacontăla of the great -Indian dramatist Calidāsa. Several passages of this poem make -mention of the _Valcăla_, which the Sanscrit Lexicons, themselves -of great antiquity, explain as meaning either bark, or a vesture made -from it. We learn from Dr. Wallich, a celebrated Indian botanist, that -many kinds of Hibiscus had this quality in an eminent degree, and, as -their bark was in common use for making all kinds of cordage, it might -undoubtedly be employed for weaving. - -The Sacontăla is of a date as ancient as the Periplus. Professor -Von Bohlen (_Das alte Indien_, _vol._ ii. _p._ 477.) asserts, that the -author Calidāsa certainly flourished as early as the first century -B. C. Sir William Jones makes him older by several centuries. (_Works_, -_vol._ vi. _p._ 206.) The place also agrees as well as the time. The -Hibiscus Tiliaceus, according to Sir J. E. Smith, is “one of the most -common trees in every part of the East Indies, thriving in all sorts -of situations and soils, and cultivated for the sake of its shade -even more than the beauty of its flowers, in towns and villages and -by road-sides. A coarse cordage,” he adds, “is made of the bark; the -wood is light and white, useful for small cabinet-work; the mucilage of -the whole plant is applied to some medical purposes.” The Molochina, -mentioned in the Periplus, were brought from Ozene and Tagara, and may -have come from still further North. The hermitage, described in the -drama, was at the foot of the Himalaya Mountains, and near the river -Malina, and, according to the representations given by the poet, the -Valcălas (translated by Sir W. Jones “_mantles of woven bark_,” and -by Chézy, “_vêtemens d’écorce_”), were worn both by the hermits and by -the beautiful Sacontăla, while she was their inmate[201]. - - [201] Translation of the Sacontăla, Sir W. Jones’s Works, vol. vi. pp. - 217. 225. 289. Original, ed. Chézy, Paris, 1830, p. 7, l. 10.; p. - 9, l. 10; p. 24, l. 7.; p. 131, l. 14. Chézy’s translation, pp. 10. - 27. 142. 143. See also Heeren, Ideen, i. 2. p. 648. - -“Valcălas” are mentioned in precisely the same manner in the -Ramayana, one of the most noted of the heroic poems of ancient India. -They are represented as coarse garments worn by ascetics. - -If the explanation now given be admitted as applicable to the Molochina -of the Periplus, it may throw light upon some other passages of ancient -authors. - -Ctesias, in his _Indica_[202], mentions “_sheets made from trees_.” - - [202] Cap. 22. Fragmenta, ed. Bähr. p. 253. 326. - -Strabo’s account of the webs, which he calls _Serica_, an account -derived from the writings of Nearchus, admiral of Alexander the Great, -represents those webs as made from fibres, _which were scraped from the -bark of trees_. This would apply exactly to the supposed use of the -Hibiscus for making cloth. The bark must have been first stript from -the tree, and the fibres then scraped from the _inside of the bark_. - -To the same source we may, we think, trace the idea of Arethas (_in -Apoc._ _c._ 57.), that the Byssus, Rev. xix. 8., was “_the bark of an -Indian tree made into flax_.” - -Although the date of the following inscription, found at Rome, is -uncertain, it may be conveniently brought in here. It is published by -Muratori, _Novus Thesaurus Vet. Inscriptionum_, _tom._ ii. _p._ 939. - - P. AVCTIVS P. L. LYSANDER. - VESTIARIVS. TENVIARIVS. - MOLOCHINARIVS. VOT. SOL. - -Muratori in his Note says, that “Vestiarius Tenuiarius” was the man -who made thin garments, and “_Molochinarius_” the man who made such -garments of a mallow color. - -The authors, next in regard to antiquity, who make mention of -_Molochina_, are the writers of the Latin Comedy, Statius Cæcilius, who -died 169 B. C., and Plautus, who died 184 B. C. - -Nonius Marcellus (_l._ xvi.) quotes the following line from the -_Pausimachus_ of the former dramatist: - - Carbasina, molochina, ampelina.[203] - - [203] See C. C. Statii Fragmenta, a Leonhardo Spengel, Monachii 1829, - p. 35. Statius chiefly copied Menander (_Gellius_, ii. _c._ - 16.); but it is not certain that Menander wrote any play called - _Pausimachus_. - -The passage of Plautus is in the Aulularia (_Act_ iii. _Scene_ v. _l._ -40.), where we have a ludicrous enumeration, extending through more -than ten lines, of all the persons concerned in the manufacture or sale -of garments. - - Solearii astant, astant molochinarii. - -All the lexicographers and commentators explain _Molochinarius_ to -be one who dyes cloth of the color of the mallow. _Lanarius_ was -a woollen-draper; _Coactiliarius_, a dealer in felts, a hatter; -_Lintearius_ a linen-draper; and _Sericarius_ a silk-mercer. According -to the same analogy, _Molochinarius_ would mean _a dealer in -Molochina_, i. e. _in all kinds of cloth made from mallows_. - -The class of writers, which will now be produced as affording testimony -respecting the use of the mallow for weaving, are Greek authors, -and who instead of the common Greek terms employ the Attic term -Ἀμοργὸς and its derivatives. - -Ἀμοργὸς has been explained by some of the lexicographers to be a kind -of flax (See Julius Pollux, L. vii. § 74.). Perhaps by this explanation -nothing more was intended than that it was a plant, the fibres of which -were used to spin and weave into cloth. It is highly probable that it -was the _Malva Silvestris_ or _Common Mallow_, and that it was called -Ἀμοργὸς. - -According to the Attic lexicons of Pausanias (_apud Eustath. l. c._) -and of Mœris, Ἀμοργὸς was an Attic term. We now find traces of it in -seven Attic writers, four or five of whom wrote comedy. These are -Aristophanes, Cratinus, Antiphanes, Eupolis, Clearchus, Æschines, and -Plato. - -I. We shall take first Aristophanes, whose comedy called Lysistrata -is frequently quoted by Pausanias and Cratinus, and being still extant -throws considerable light upon the subject. It was represented in the -year 412. B. C. Lysistrata says (_l._ 150), - - Κᾂν τοῖς χιτώνιοισι τοῖς ἁμόργινοις - Γυμναὶ παριοῖμεν, - -“And if we should present ourselves naked in shifts of amorgos;” -showing that these shifts were transparent. Accordingly Mœris says, -that the ἀμόργινον was λεπτὸν ὕφασμα, “a thin web.” Bisetus in his -Greek commentary on this play, after quoting the explanations of -Stephanus Byzantinus, Suidas, Eustathius, and the Etymologicum Magnum, -judiciously concludes as follows: “From all these it is manifest, that -ἀμόργινοι χιτώνες, whether they took their name from a place, from -their color, or from the raw material, were a kind of valuable robe, -worn by the rich, fashionable, and luxurious women.” - -A subsequent passage of the Lysistrata (v. 736-741) still further -illustrates this subject. A woman laments, that she has left at home -her ἀμοργις _without being peeled_ (ἄλοπον), and she goes _to peel it_ -(ἀποδείρειν). The mallow no less than flax and hemp, would require the -bark to be stript off, and doubtless the best time for stripping it is -as soon as the plant is gathered. - -II. Cratinus died about 420 B. C. The following line, from his comedy -called Μαλθακοὶ, represents a person spinning Ἀμοργός. - - Ἀμοργὸν ἔνδον βρυτίνην νήθειν τινα. - _Cratina Fragmenta, a Runkel_, _p._ 29. - -III. Julius Pollux, speaking of garments made of Ἀμοργὸς (L. vii. c. -13.) quotes the Medea of Antiphanes thus: Ἦν χιτὼν ἁμόργινος. This -author was contemporary with Aristophanes. - -IV. Eupolis wrote about the same time, and his authority may be added -to the rest as proving that garments of Amorgos were admired by -luxurious persons at Athens[204]. - - [204] See Harpocration, p. 29. ed. Blancardi. 1683. 4to. Also Pher. et - Eupolidis Fragmenta, a Runkel, p. 150. - -V. Clearchus of Soli[205] mentions the use of a cover of Amorgos -for inclosing a splendid purple blanket. This application of it is -agreeable to the foregoing evidence, showing that the _amorgine webs -were transparent_. The silky translucence of the lace-like web of -mallow would have a very beautiful effect over the fine purple of the -downy blanket. - - [205] Ap. Athenæum, L. vi. p. 255, Casaub. Clearchus probably wrote - about 100 years later than the before-mentioned authors, but the - circumstances related by him may have occurred about the time when - those authors flourished, and even at Athens. - -VI. Æschines in an oration against Timarchus, the object of which is -to hold up to contempt the extravagancies of this Athenian spendthrift, -in his enumeration of them, he mentions (p. 118, ed. Reiskii.) that -Timarchus took to his house a “woman skilled in making cloths of -Amorgos.” - -VII. Plato in the 13th Epistle, addressed to Dionysius, tyrant of -Syracuse, which, if not genuine, is at least ancient, proposes to give -to the three daughters of Cebes three long shifts, not the valuable -shifts made of Amorgos, but the linen shifts of Sicily. - -The mention of amorgine garments by the writers, who have now been -cited, seems to prove, that the fashion of making and wearing them -first came in among the Greeks at Athens in the time of Aristophanes, -who lived, as the reader will have observed, in the fifth century -before Christ. From them the fashion may have extended itself into -Sicily and Italy, which will account, if _Amorgina_ were the same -with _Molochina_, for the striking agreement in this respect between -the writers of Greek and of Latin Comedy. In subsequent ages the -manufacture seems to have declined, probably in consequence of the -abundance of silk and other rich and beautiful goods imported from -Asia. But the mention of these stuffs in the writings of Isidore and -Alcuin renders it probable, that they were brought again into use in -the fifth and following centuries of the Christian era. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -SPARTUM, OR SPANISH BROOM. - -CLOTH MANUFACTURED FROM BROOM BARK, NETTLE, AND BULBOUS -PLANT.--TESTIMONY OF GREEK AND LATIN AUTHORS. - - Authority for Spanish Broom--Stipa Tenacissima--Cloth made from - Broom-bark--Albania--Italy--France--Mode of preparing the fibre for - weaving--Pliny’s account of Spartum--Bulbous plant--Its fibrous - coats--Pliny’s translation of Theophrastus--Socks and garments--Size - of the bulb--Its genus or species not sufficiently defined--Remarks of - various modern writers on this plant--Interesting communications of - Dr. Daniel Stebbins, of Northampton, Mass. to Hon. H. L. Ellsworth. - - -Pliny says, that “in the part of Hispania Citerior about New Carthage -whole mountains were covered with Spartum; that the natives made -mattresses, shoes, _and coarse garments of it_, also fires and torches; -and that its tender tops were eaten by animals[206].” He also says, -that it grows spontaneously where nothing else will grow, and that it -is “the rush of a dry soil.” - - [206] L. xix. c. 2. - -The question now arises, what plant Pliny intended to describe. -Clusius, who travelled in Spain chiefly with a view to botany, supposed -Pliny’s “Spartum” to be the tough grass, used in every part of Spain -for making mats, baskets, &c., which Linnæus afterwards called Stipa -Tenacissima[207]. It is not surprising, that the opinion of so eminent -a botanist as Clusius has been generally adopted. It is, however, far -more probable, that the plant, which Pliny intended to speak of, was -the Spartium Junceum, _Linn._, so familiarly known under the name of -Spanish Broom. - - [207] Clusii Plant. Rar. Historia, L. vi. p. 219. 220. - -In the first place, the name _Spartum_ should be considered as -decisive of the question, unless some sufficient reason can be shown -for ascribing to it in this passage a sense different from that which -it commonly bore. _Spartus_ or _Spartum_, is admitted to be used by -all authors, Greek and Latin, and even by Pliny himself in another -passage[208], to denote the Spanish Broom. We learn from Sibthorp, that -the Spanish Broom is still called _Sparto_ by the Greeks, and that it -grows on dry sandy hills throughout the islands of the Archipelago -and the continent of Greece. _Sparto_ was indeed properly the Greek -name of this shrub, the Latin name being _Genista_, and the use of the -Greek name in Hispania Citerior may have been owing to the Grecian -settlements on that coast, colonized from Marseilles. - - [208] See L. xi. 8. where Pliny says, that bees obtain honey and wax - from “Spartum,” and compare this with Aristotle, Hist. Anim. L. x. - 40. - -Besides the passages of Latin authors referred to by Schneider and -Billerbeck, and which it is unnecessary to repeat, the following from -Isidore of Seville appears decisive respecting the acceptation of the -term. - -“Spartus frutex virgosus sine foliis, ab asperitate vocatus; volumina -enim funium, quæ ex eo fiunt, aspera sunt.” _Originum_ L. xvii. _c._ 9. - -This is the definition of a learned and observant author, who lived -in Spain, and who must have been familiar with the facts. “_Frutex -virgosus sine foliis_” is a clear and striking description of the -Spanish Broom, the leaves of which are so small as easily to escape -observation[209]. The Stipa Tenacissima, on the other hand, is not a -shrub with twigs, but a grass, which grows in tufts, the long leaves -being as abundant and useful as the stems or straws. Clusius himself -(_l. c._) in laying down the distinction between the Spartum of the -Greeks, which he supposed to be the Spanish Broom, and the Spartum of -Pliny, which he supposed to be the Stipa Tenacissima, asserts that the -former is a shrub (_frutex_), the latter a herb with grassy leaves -(_herba graminacea folia proferens_). It is clear, therefore, that -the inhabitants of Spain in the time of Isidore still used the term -_Spartus_ in its original acceptation, viz. to denote the Spartium -Junceum of Linnæus. - - [209] Dioscorides also describes the Spanish Broom to be “a shrub - bearing long twigs without leaves.” Isidore’s etymology, deducing - Spartus from Asper, is manifestly absurd. - -When the Stipa Tenacissima was brought into use for making ropes and -for other purposes, for which the Spanish Broom was employed, the name -of the latter would naturally be extended to the former, and we may -thus account for the fact that the Stipa Tenacissima is now universally -known in Spain by the name _Esparto_. Indeed it is possible, that the -employment of the Stipa Tenacissima for these purposes may have been -as ancient as the time of Pliny; and his use of the word “_herba_” in -describing it, as well as the locality which he assigns to it, the -hilly country about Carthage, favors the common interpretation, and -perhaps even authorizes the conclusion, that his account is the result -of confounding the two plants together, so that he says of one supposed -plant things, which were partly true of both, and partly applicable -either to the Spanish Broom, or to the Stipa Tenacissima only. But, -even if this be admitted, it is still possible that the plant, from -whose fibres the “_pastorum vestis_” was manufactured, was not the -grassy Stipa, but the shrub, the Spanish Broom. - -In order to establish this point we now proceed to mention the -evidence respecting the application of it to such uses. It has been -employed for making cloth in Turkey, in Italy, and the South of France, -but in circumstances, which were either specially favorable to the -manufacture, or where flax could not be cultivated. It is manufactured -into shirts in Albania according to Dr. Sibthorp[210]. Nearly a century -ago, Pope Benedict XIV. brought a colony of Albanians to inhabit a -barren and desolate portion of his territory on the sea-coast. Here -they obtained a very fine, strong, durable thread from the Broom -and the _Nettle_, and used it, when woven, in place of linen[211]. -Trombelli, who relates this fact, also gives an account of the -manufacture of broom-bark in the vicinity of Lucca, where the hills, -called Monte Cascia, are covered with this plant[212]. “Formerly,” he -says, “the people derived no other advantage from the shrub than to -feed sheep and goats with it, and to heat their stoves and furnaces. -But their ingenuity and industry have now made it far more profitable. -They steep the twigs for some days in the thermal waters of Bagno a -Acqua near Lucca. _After this process the bark is easily stript off, -and it is then combed and otherwise treated like flax._ It becomes -finer than hemp could be made; it is easily _dyed_ of _any_ color, and -may be used for garments of _any_ kind[213].” In the vicinity of Pisa -we find that the twigs of the Spanish Broom were in like manner soaked -in the thermal waters, and that a coarse cloth was manufactured from -the bark[214]. - - [210] Flora Græca, No. 671. - - [211] Trombelli, Bononiensis Scient. atque Artium Instituti - Commentarii, tom. vi. p. 118. - - [212] Trombelli calls the plant Genista, and says it is the kind - called by botanists “Genista juncea flore luteo.” This is the - Spartium Junceum of Linnæus. See Ray, Catal. Stirp. Europ. and - Scopoli, Flora Carniolica, 1772, tom. i. No. 870. - - [213] Bononiensis Scientiarum atque Artium Instituti Commentarii, tom. - iv. Bonon. 1757, p. 349-351. A similar account of the manufacture - of the “Teladi Ginestia” at Bagno a Acqua is given by Mr. John - Strange, who says he had sent an account of it to the Society - for encouraging Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. Lettera sopra - l’Origine della carta naturale di Cortona, Pisa 1764. p. 79. - - [214] Mém. de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris 1763. - -But the manufacture has been carried to a far greater extent in the -South of France. In the _Journal de Physique_, _Tom._ 30. _4to._ An. -1787. p. 294., is a paper by _Broussonet Sur la culture et les usages -économiques du Genêt d’Espagne_. A minute and highly curious account is -here given of the mode of preparing the fibres, which is practised by -the inhabitants of all the villages in the vicinity of Lodêve in Bas -Languedoc. The shrub abounds on the barren hills of that region, and -all that the people do to favor its growth is to sow the seed in the -driest places, where scarce any other plant can vegetate. After being -cut, the twigs are dried in the sun, then beaten, macerated in water, -and treated in the same way as flax or hemp (See Zincke’s process, -Chapter XI.). The coarser thread is used to make bags for holding the -legumes, corn, &c.; the finer for making _sheets_, _napkins_, and -_shirts_. The peasants in this district use _no other kind of linen_, -not being acquainted with the culture either of flax or hemp. The -ground is too dry and unproductive to suit these plants. The linen made -of the Spanish Broom is as supple as that made from hemp; it might be -even as beautiful as real linen, if more pains were taken with it. -It becomes whiter, the oftener it is washed. It is rarely sold, each -family making it for its own use. The stalks, after the rind has been -separated from them, are tied in small bundles, and sold for lighting -fires. - -Let us now see how far Pliny’s account of the Spartum agrees with -these representations of the mode of manufacturing Broom-bark. -The Spartum, of which he speaks, is “_the rush of a dry soil_,” a -description far more applicable to the young twigs of the Spanish Broom -than to the grassy stems of the Stipa Tenacissima, or indeed to any -other plant. His Spartum was used for making fires and for giving light -(_hinc ignes facesque_), purposes for which the Stipa Tenacissima is -not at all adapted, but to both of which the stems and twigs of the -Spanish Broom are applied. The tender tops of Pliny’s Spartum served -as food for animals. According to Trombelli sheep and goats feed upon -the Spanish Broom in Italy; but we cannot find that this is the case -with the Stipa Tenacissima. Pliny’s Spartum, after being steeped in -water, was beaten in order to be made useful (_Hoc autem tunditur, ut -fiat utile_); and this process was quite necessary in preparing the -twigs of Spanish Broom, whereas the Stipa Tenacissima is most commonly -manufactured without going through any such process. Clusius indeed -states (_l. c._) that by macerating it in water like flax, and then -drying and beating it, the Spaniards of Valencia make a kind of shoes, -which they call _Alpergates_, also cords, and other finer articles; -but, at the same time, he says, that it is made into mats, baskets, -ropes, and cables, merely by being dried, platted, and twisted, without -any other operation. The same account is given by Townsend, who visited -the country as late as 1787, and who further states, that “the esparto -rush” had latterly “been spun into fine thread for the purpose of -making cloth[215].” It seems, however, that this had only been done as -an experiment, whereas the accounts which have been quoted show, that -the manufacture of cloth from broom-bark had been long established -in Albania, Italy, and the South of France. In the latter district -more especially, the entire dependence of the people on this material -as a substitute for flax and hemp, and the primitive mode in which -this domestic manufacture was carried on in a retired and mountainous -region, seem to indicate the high antiquity of the practice. All the -other authors, who mention the use of the Stipa Tenacissima, certainly -give little countenance to the idea of its fitness to supply a thread -for making cloth. Mr. Carter, adopting the common opinion that the -Spartum of Pliny is the Stipa Tenacissima, observes, that “at present -the meanest Spaniard would think clothing made from this grass very -rough and uncomfortable[216].” We shall only quote one other authority, -that of Löfling, the favorite pupil of Linnæus, who became botanist -to the King of Spain, and whose Iter Hispanicum (_Stockholm_, 1758.) -relates particularly to the plants of that country. He follows Clusius -in supposing the Spartum of Pliny to be the Stipa Tenacissima of -Linnæus. He mentions, that its stem is two or three feet high, with -leaves so long, thin, tough, and convoluted, that they are admirably -adapted for the purposes to which they are applied. He adds, “Hispanis -nominatur Esparto. Usus hujus frequentissimus per universam Hispaniam -ad storeas ob pavimenta lateritia per hyemem: ad funes crassiores pro -navibus ad que corbes et alia utensilia pro transportandis fructibus.” -(_p._ 119.) - - [215] Journey through Spain, vol. iii. p. 129, 130. - - [216] Carter’s Journey, vol. ii. p. 414, 415. - -Pliny’s remark, that the Spartum, of which he speaks, could not be -sown (_quæ non queat seri_), is not true of the Spanish Broom; but this -is of little importance in the present inquiry, because it is coupled -with the remark, that nothing else could be sown in the same situation -(_nec aliud ibi seri aut nasci potest_); a remark, which is totally -unfounded in fact. The Spanish Broom would unquestionably be propagated -by its seed, which is very abundant. - -From these facts, the reader will have no difficulty in forming his -decision. Notwithstanding the respect due to the authority of Clusius, -into which that of all the subsequent writers seems to resolve itself, -it appears to us that the evidence preponderates against the use of -Stipa Tenacissima for making cloth in ancient times, and points to the -conclusion, that the coarse garments, to which Pliny alludes, were -fabricated from the fibrous rind of Spartium Junceum. - -One of the most interesting facts in the geography of plants is the -frequent substitution in one country, of a plant of a certain natural -order for another of the same natural order in another country. The -Indians have a plant, bearing a very close and striking resemblance -to the Spartium Junceum, which they employ just as the natives of Bas -Languedoc employ that plant. We refer to the Crotalaria Juncea, called -by the natives Goni, Danapu, or Shanapu, and by us the Sun-plant, or -Indian Hemp. From the bark are made all kinds of ropes, packing-cloths, -sacks, nets, &c. In order to improve the fibre, the plants are sown as -close as possible and thus draw up to the height of about ten feet. -According to Dr. Francis Buchanan, the plant thrives best on a poor -sandy soil, and requires to be abundantly watered. After being cut -down it is spread out to the sun and dried. The seed is beaten out by -striking the pods with a stick. After this the stems are tied up in -large bundles, about twelve feet in circumference, and are preserved -in stacks or under sheds. When wanted, the stems are macerated during -six or eight days. They are known to be ready, when the bark separates -easily from the pith. “The plant is then taken out of the water, -and a man, taking it up by handfuls, beats them on the ground, and -occasionally washes them until they be clean; and at the same time -picks out with his hand the remainder of the pith, until nothing except -the bark be left. This is then dried, and being taken up by handfuls, -is beaten with a stick to separate and clean the fibres. The hemp is -then completely ready, and is spun into thread on a spindle, both by -the men and women. The men alone weave it, and perform this labor in -the open air with a very rude loom.” The fabric made from it is a -coarse, but very strong sack-cloth. - -“The fibres, when prepared,” says Ironside, “are so similar to hemp, -that Europeans generally suppose them to be the produce of the same -plant[217].” - - [217] Account of the culture and uses of the Son-or Sun-plant of - Hindostan by Ironside, in the Phil. Trans., vol. lxiv.: Dr. F. - Buchanan’s Journey, vol. i. 226, 227, 291.; vol. ii. 227, 235.: - Wissett on Hemp, passim.: Roxburgh’s Flora Indica, vol. iii. p. - 259-263. - - The genus _Lupinus_ (_the Lupin_), belonging to the same natural - order as Spartium and Crotalaria, might probably afford materials - of the same kind. Mr. Strange (_Lettera_, &c. p. 70.) mentions the - filamentous substance of the Lupin _as adapted for making paper_. - -Theophrastus[218] (Hist. Pl. viii. 13.) gives the following account -of a bulbous plant, called by him Βολβὸς ἐριοφόρος, the root of which -supplied materials for weaving:--“It grows in _bays_, and has the wool -under the first coats of the bulb so as to be between the inner eatable -part and the outer. Socks and other garments are woven from it. Hence -this kind is woolly, and not hairy, like that in India.” - - [218] “Theophrastus relates, that there is a kind of bulb growing - about the banks of rivers, and that between its outer rind and the - part of it which is eaten there is a woolly substance, out of which - they make certain kinds of socks and cloths. But in the copies - which I have found, he neither mentions in what country this is - done, nor anything else with greater exactness, except that the - bulb is called _eriophoros_; nor does he make any mention at all of - spartum, although he examined the whole subject with great care 390 - years before my time, as I have observed in another place (Viz., - lib. xv. 1.), from which circumstance it appears, that spartum came - into use since that time.” - -It is difficult to determine what plant is meant, though the -description seems accurate and scientific. Billerbeck absurdly supposes -it to be cotton-grass[219]. By former botanists, men of great eminence, -it was supposed to be Scilla Hyacinthoides. Sprengel objects, that -this species does not grow in Greece[220]. Sir James Smith however -(_article_ SCILLA in _Rees’s Cyclop._) represents it as -growing in Madeira, Portugal, and the Levant. If this account be true, -Theophrastus may have been acquainted with it. In another article, -Eriophorus, Sir J. Smith doubts whether either Scilla Hyacinthoides or -any other bulb produces wool of such quality and in such quantity as -to answer the description of Theophrastus. But, we learn from other -well-informed botanists, that various bulbs have under the outermost -coats a copious tissue of tough fibres, _fully sufficient_ to be -employed in _weaving_. This is particularly the case with the genera -_Amaryllis_, Crinum, and _Pancratium_, as well as _Scilla_. The fibrous -coats serve as a protection to the interior and more vital parts of the -bulb. - - [219] Flora Classica, p. 20. - - [220] German translation of Theophrastus, Notes, vol. ii. p. 283. - -Hoffmansegg and Link, who travelled in Portugal, in the description of -Scilla Hyacinthoides, say, “Bulbus tomento viscoso tectus[221].” - - [221] Annals of Botany, by König and Sims, Lond. 1805, vol. i. 101. - -Sonnini says of the Scilla Maritima, “The Greeks of the Archipelago -call it Kourvara-skilla, _kourvara_ signifying properly a ‘tuft of -thread’ (_peloton de fil_[222]).” Does this refer to the fibres -mentioned by Theophrastus? The _size_ of this bulb, which is the common -squill, used in pharmacy, seems to favor this supposition. It is often -as large as a man’s head[223]. Hoffmansegg and Link[224] say it grows -abundantly on barren hills in Spain and Portugal; but add, “The name -_maritima_ is not quite proper: for the plant is seldom met with near -the sea-shore, and sometimes very remote from it.” On the other hand, -it must have been so called, because it was reported by others to -grow on the sea-shore; and Sir James Smith (_in Rees’s Cyclopedia_) -expressly states, that it grows on “sandy shores.” Redouté says the -same. - - [222] Voyage en Grèce, tom. i. ch. 14. p. 295. - - [223] “Bulbus ovatus, tunicatus, _crassitie ferè capitis humani_.” - Desfontaines’ Flora Atlantica, tom. i. p. 297. - - [224] An. of Bot. vol. i. p. 101. - -From the account of Pancratium by Sir James Edward Smith (_in Rees’s -Cyclop._), we learn that two species grow in Greece, viz. P. Maritimum -and Illyricum. - -The remarks now offered appear to prove, that there certainly may -have been a bulb, such as Theophrastus describes, though we have not -sufficient information to decide its genus and species. It may have -been the Scilla Maritima. - -It is to be observed, that he refers also to an Indian bulb, having -similar properties. Perhaps he alluded to some plant of a kind similar -to Agave Vivipara, the leaves of which are extensively used in India -for making cordage[225]. - - [225] Dr. F. Buchanan’s Journey in Mysore, &c. i. p. 36. - -We cannot better conclude this part of the subject, than by giving -the following interesting communication of Dr. Daniel Stebbins, of -Northampton, Mass., to the Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, a gentleman who has, -in our opinion, rendered most valuable services, not only to the people -of the United States, but to the world at large, since his appointment -to the office of Commissioner of Patents. - - _Northampton, Hampshire County, Mass._ - - “Dear Sir: The favorable notice of silk culture in document No. 109, - from the Patent Office report of February, 1843, is my apology for - presenting the enclosed samples of _paper_, made of mulberry foliage - and bark. Unfortunately, the _external cuticle_ of the bark had not - been removed; producing the spots, but does not injure the paper for - the use intended, which was for the purpose of depositing silk-worms’ - eggs upon something dark; and this being _unbleached_, is considered - adapted to the habits of the silk-worm, and is now in successful - experiment. - - “The four samples are all of one batch; the darkest, having more of - the outside cuticle, was most buoyant, rose to the top and came off - first. - - “A quantity of genuine Canton foliage, which retains its verdure in - greater perfection and later than any other mulberry, is gathered, - dried, and sent to the mill for making paper, bleached, without spots, - fit for cotton paper, as hoped; and, if successful, I shall take - pleasure in sending you a sample, to be preserved with the enclosed. - - “I began, some ten or twelve years since, to bring silk culture - into notice among the members of the Hampshire Agricultural Society, - believing that if we tried the right kind of trees, (such as used in - China,) we could raise silk, yet could not afford to pay $1 per tree, - as then asked for multicaulis; not reflecting how easily they could - be propagated by cuttings and layers. Under this view of the subject, - I wrote to the Rev. E. C. Bridgman, missionary at Canton, China, a - native of Hampshire county, with the request that he would procure and - forward me some _mulberry seed_ of the most approved kind for growing - in China, for the use of members of the agricultural society. He - promptly attended to the request; the seed was forwarded and sown in - the spring of 1834 or 1835. It grew finely, and developed a splendid - leaf. - - “About two years since, while Dr. Parker, with a Chinaman, was here on - a visit, on being shown the Canton foliage, it was readily recognized. - As the trees had grown here very luxuriantly, and developed a larger - leaf than in China, Dr. Parker suggested that our soil might be more - congenial to the plant than even China, its native soil. - - “Soon after receiving the seed from Canton, a friend sent me another - parcel from the South of Asia, with high commendations, that if it - would grow here, it would be of essential benefit to the United States - for raising silk. It succeeded well, and is more hardy than the white - mulberry, very productive in small branches, and a good-sized leaf. - I named the latter _Asiatic Canton_. These two kinds are highly - approved of for feeding silk-worms--the Canton for leaf-feeding, and - the Asiatic for branch feeding. I have, however, almost every variety - which was cultivated during the mulberry speculation--covering, - altogether, some ten or twelve acres, besides a large number of young - Canton and Asiatic seedlings, of this year’s sowing, from seed of my - own raising, to enlarge the plantations. - - “A few days since, the Rev. William Richards, of the Sandwich - Islands, with the young prince, called on me. At a former visit, I - had supplied him with Canton mulberry-seed, silk-worms’ eggs, and dry - mulberry foliage to use in case the eggs should hatch on the passage; - but this they did not do until his arrival home. About the same time, - other eggs had been received there from China; but the cocoons raised - from them were not _one quarter_ as large as the American, and must - have required some 10,000 to 12,000 to make a pound of silk, while in - America 2,400 to 3,000 would make a pound. - - “Mr. Titcomb, also a silk-grower in one of the islands, having the - American and Chinese, crossed them: but the crossing produced cocoons - so small as to require from 5,000 to 6,000 to make a pound of silk, - while not over 3,000 of the American would be required to do the same - thing(!). - - “Mr. Richards was shown several _pamphlets_, _newspapers_, _cap_ and - _writing paper_, supposed to have been made of mulberry bark. He - said rags were _not_ used in India[226], China, or the islands, for - making paper, but they always make it of some vegetable leaf; that the - bark was too valuable for that, and was used to make _fabrics_. (See - Chapters XI. and XII. of this Part. Also Appendix A.) - - “We, as Americans, have the appropriate soil and climate for the - Canton and Asiatic mulberry, with the pea-nut variety of worms, which, - being managed with due care and attention, together with the skill, - ingenuity, and perseverance of Americans--and, in addition, and could - we have the aid of our country to encourage new beginners--we might - hope to compete with any nation in the production of silk, their cheap - labor and cheap living to the contrary notwithstanding. There is - abundant evidence that worms fed exclusively on the Canton mulberry - have been larger, and produced heavier cocoons, by one-third in size - of worms and weight of cocoons, than by other feed. I have supplied an - order of the peanut variety of eggs, to go to Guatemala; and Canton - seed, of my own raising, to go to Rio; and now have an order for a - number of the genuine Canton mulberry trees, roots, or cuttings, - to go to Lima, where the applicant went on business, a few years - since, taking with him a few multicaules, at $2 each--now multiplied - to 50,000; who, without any practical knowledge of raising trees, - reeling and manufacturing silk, or having seen a silk-worm or reel - until he introduced them in 1843, has now presented me with beautiful - samples of _floss cocoons, reeled and sewing silk_, done by ladies - as a diversion, without any assistance, and very little instruction - from him. The silk is of good quality. Samples had been sent by a - mercantile house in Lima to England, for an opinion of the quality; - but no return had been received when he came away. He has come to this - place with a native Spaniard, to obtain more perfect information in - all the branches of reeling, twisting, coloring(!), &c.; to procure - machinery, with a view of enlarging operations, so that he might turn - off twenty-five pounds per day of sewings, cords, braids, &c. He - represents the climate and soil as adapted to the culture of silk, and - could feed every month in the year; that the necessaries of living - are procured with but little labor; that the laboring population are - indolent, _the wealthy classes too proud to labor_. He feels confident - of success, and that he can introduce habits of industry by silk - culture, that would counteract their natural indolence; and he will - inform me of his success in due time, that may be more interesting - than speculations upon what he intends doing. He has engaged several - to perfect themselves in reeling, &c., to accompany him when he - returns to Lima with his machinery. He has become so satisfied with - the superiority of the genuine Canton mulberry, that he has engaged to - take it on with him for propagation and use. - - “I have letters from widely different locations, rendering favorable - accounts of this year’s success in growing silk, and in corroboration - of the prevalent opinion _that the silk cause will finally prevail_. I - have several letters on this subject--one from a gentleman presiding - over one of our most eminent literary institutions, under date of - June, 1844. Discoursing about the culture of silk, he writes as - follows: - - “‘If this earnest waking up to a scientific and practical - consideration of the subject be not soon crowned with signal success, - it will not be for want of enterprize or skill in our countrymen, but - merely from the high price of labor here, compared with the scanty - wages given in other silk-growing countries. Even this consideration, - though it may _retard_ for a while the complete success of this - department of productive industry, will not prevent its ultimate - _triumph_.’ - - “Another gentleman, under date of August, 1844, writes from the far - West, ‘that the soil and climate of the Western and South-western - States are admirably suited to the growth of the mulberry and raising - silk-worms,’ and that ‘eventually the two great staples of the - Western and South-western States will be _silk_ and _wool_.’ It is - the opinion of competent skilful silk manufacturers, who have made - critical experiments upon the _Pongee-silk_ (so called) of foreign - make, by tests which they consider satisfactory and decisive, that - it is _only a vegetable production_, and that the material was never - operated upon _by the silk-worm_(?). There can be no reasonable doubt - about the ultimate success of silk-culture in some _future_ years; - but to accelerate that desirable event, which may constitute an - important American staple for revenue (which might not only enrich the - Government, but reward the labor of personal enterprize), a bounty - is deemed necessary to stimulate and encourage that portion of the - agricultural population whose circumstances or health disqualifies - them for the more laborious exercises of the fields, to commence - operations upon a new and untried crop. Our extensive imports of raw - and manufactured silks are encouraged by us as consumers, instead of - being producers. We now contribute to support foreign enterprize and - industry, to produce the article of silk, which we might, with proper - encouragement, raise ourselves, not only for our own consumption, but - for exportation.” - - Very respectfully, yours, &c. - Daniel Stebbins. - Henry L. Ellsworth, Esq., - Commissioner of Patents. - - [226] Abdollatiph who visited Egypt A. D. 1200, informs us (Chapter - iv. p. 188 of Silvestre de Sacy’s French translation, p. 221 of - Wahl’s German translation.), “_that the cloth, rags, &c. 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_.” - This cloth is proved to be linen (See Part IV. p. 365), and the - passage of Abdollatiph may be considered as decisive proof, which - however has never been produced as such, of the manufacture of - linen paper as early as the year 1200. 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_. Another fact should not be lost sight of, namely, “that - 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. (For further proof, see - Appendix A. Also Part IV. already referred to.) - -The amount of silk imported into the United States annually, nearly -equals that of linen and woollen together, and is equal to one half of -all other fabrics combined. Is it not then, an important consideration, -that this expenditure be saved to the nation? - - - - -PART SECOND. - -ORIGIN AND ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE SHEEP. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -SHEEP’S WOOL. - -SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE -SCRIPTURES, ETC. - - The Shepherd Boy--Sheep-breeding in Scythia and Persia--Mesopotamia - and Syria--In Idumæa and Northern Arabia--In Palestine and Egypt--In - Ethiopia and Libya--In Caucasus and Coraxi--The Coraxi identified - with the modern Caratshai--In Asia Minor, Pisidia, Pamphylia, Samos, - &c.--In Caria and Ionia--Milesian wool--Sheep-breeding in Thrace, - Magnesia, Thessaly, Eubœa, and Bœotia--In Phocis, Attica, and - Megaris--In Arcadia--Worship of Pan--Pan the god of the Arcadian - Shepherds--Introduction of his worship into Attica--Extension - of the worship of Pan--His dances with the nymphs--Pan not the - Egyptian Mendes, but identical with Faunus--The philosophical - explanation of Pan rejected--Moral, social, and political state - of the Arcadians--Polybius on the cultivation of music by the - Arcadians--Worship of Mercury in connection with sheep-breeding and - the wool trade--Present state of Arcadia--Sheep-breeding in Macedonia - and Epirus--Shepherds’ dogs--Annual migration of Albanian shepherds. - - -THE SHEPHERD BOY. - - The rain was pattering o’er the low thatch’d shed - That gave us shelter. There was a shepherd boy, - Stretching his lazy limbs on the rough straw, - In vacant happiness. A tatter’d sack - Cover’d his sturdy loins, while his rude legs - Were deck’d with uncouth patches of all hues, - Iris and jet, through which his sun-burnt skin - Peep’d forth in dainty contrast. He was a glory - For painter’s eye; and his quaint draperies - Would harmonize with some fair sylvan scene, - Where arching groves, and flower-embroider’d banks, - Verdant with thymy grass, tempted the sheep - To scramble up their height, while he, reclin’d - Upon the pillowing moss, lay listlessly - Through the long summer’s day. Not such as he, - In plains of Thessaly, as poets feign, - Went piping forth at the first gleam of morn, - And in their bowering thickets dreamt of joy, - And innocence, and love. Let the true lay - Speak thus of the poor hind:--His indolent gaze - Reck’d not of natural beauties; his delights - Were gross and sensual: not the glorious sun, - Rising above his hills, and lighting up - His woods and pastures with a joyous beam, - To him was grandeur; not the reposing sound - Of tinkling flocks cropping the tender shoots, - To him was music; not the blossomy breeze - That slumbers in the honey-dropping bean-flower, - To him was fragrance: he went plodding on - His long-accustomed path; and when his cares - Of daily duties were o’erpass’d, he ate, - And laugh’d, and slept, with a most drowsy mind. - Dweller in cities, scorn’st thou the shepherd boy, - Who never look’d within to find the eye - For Nature’s glories? Know, his slumbering spirit - Struggled to pierce the fogs and deepening mists - Of rustic ignorance; but he was bound - With a harsh galling chain, and so he went - Grovelling along his dim instinctive way. - Yet _thou_ hadst other hopes and other thoughts, - But the world spoil’d thee: then the mutable clouds, - And doming skies, and glory-shedding sun, - And tranquil stars that hung above thy head - Like angels gazing on thy crowded path, - To thee were worthless, and thy soul forsook - The love of beauteous fields, and the blest lore - That man may read in Nature’s book of truth. - Despise not, then, the lazy shepherd boy: - For his account and thine shall be made up, - And evil cherish’d and occasion lost - May cast their load upon thee, while his spirit - May bud and bloom in a more sunny sphere. - -The inquiry into the origin and propagation of sheep, no less than -of the silk-worm, may be justly regarded as a subject of the deepest -interest. For the management and use of these animals has, from the -earliest dawn of human history, formed a striking feature in the -condition of man. Of the materials employed by the ancients for making -cloth, by far the most important was the wool of sheep. We are able -to trace with great probability the process of sheep-breeding and of -the use of wool for weaving. Among the bones of quadrupeds, found in -ancient caves _throughout Europe_, we cannot find on consulting the -works of Cuvier, Buckland, and De la Beche, that remains of sheep have -ever been discovered. This fact affords some reason for presuming, that -the sheep is not a native of Europe, but has been introduced there by -man. - -It appears to have been a general opinion among Zoologists, that the -Argali, or _Ovis Ammon_ of Linnæus, which inhabits in vast numbers -the elevated regions of Central Asia, is the primitive stock of the -whole race of domesticated sheep. Agreeably to this supposition we -find, that from the earliest times the inhabitants of Tartary, Persia, -Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and the North of Arabia, have been -addicted to pastoral employments. The tribes of wandering shepherds, -which frequent those countries, are descended from progenitors, who led -the same life thousands of years ago, and whose manners and habits are -preserved to the present day with scarcely the slightest change. - -As might be expected, we have little precise information respecting -the Scythians, who inhabited the elevated plains of inner Asia. Some -of their hordes are distinguished by Herodotus, Strabo, and others, -under the name of _Nomadic_ or _pastoral_ Scythians; and that this -denomination was understood to imply, that they tended sheep as well as -larger cattle may be inferred from what Herodotus says of their use of -felt (See Appendix B.). Strabo, moreover, says of a particular tribe of -the Massagetæ, that they had “few sheep,” which implies that the rest -were rich in flocks; and of another tribe he says, “They do not till -the ground, but derive their sustenance from sheep and fish, _after -the manner of the Nomadic Scythians_[227].” But a much more distinct -account of the manners of this people is given us by Justin, who says, -that they were accustomed to wander through uncultivated solitudes, -always employed in tending herds and flocks (_armenta et pecora_). He, -however, adds, that they were strangers to the use of woollen garments, -being clothed in skins and furs[228]. Hence it appears, that they were -too rude and ignorant to have acquired the arts of _spinning_ and -_weaving_. - - [227] Strabo, l. xi. cap. 8. p. 486. ed. Siebenkees. - - [228] Justin, l. ii. cap. 2. - -If we may trust to the authority of Strabo, the Medes did not tend -sheep; for he says of them, “They eat the flesh of wild animals; -they do not bring up tame cattle[229].” Nevertheless, their southern -neighbors, the Persians, with whom they were united under one -government, had sheep in abundance. These animals are strikingly -represented in the bas-reliefs of Persepolis. In one of them, which -represents a long procession sculptured on the wall of a splendid -staircase, two rams, attended by keepers, are accompanied in the same -train by horses, asses, camels, and oxen[230]. Herodotus, in his -account of the manners and institutions of the Persians (L. i. cap. -133.), mentions all these animals together in the following passage: -“Of all days they are accustomed to observe most that on which each -individual was born. On this day they set before their guests a more -abundant feast than on any other. The wealthy provide an ox, a horse, a -camel, and an ass, roasted whole in furnaces; and the poor provide the -smaller cattle.” By “_the smaller cattle_,” this author always means -sheep and goats. - - [229] Strabo, l. xi. cap. 8. p. 567. - - [230] See Ancient Universal History, vol. vi. plates 6. 8. - -The superior excellence of the rich plains of Mesopotamia for -the pasture of sheep as well as oxen, is attested by Dionysius -Periegetes[231], and his account illustrates in an interesting manner -the history of Jacob as contained in the book of Genesis, the rapid -multiplication of the flocks and herds showing how well the soil and -climate were adapted to this pursuit, and how well the business of -tending them was there understood from the earliest times. Seldom do -we find in any ancient author so beautiful a picture as is presented -to us, when Jacob arrives at Padan-aram, and sees the flocks of sheep -and goats assembling from the neighboring pastures in the evening -to be watered at the well. Rachel appears conducting the flock of -her father Laban, which she tended, and Jacob rolls from the mouth -of the well the stone, which was placed to preserve the water cool -and fresh, and assists his relative and future bride in watering her -sheep. (Gen. xxix. 1-10.) Also on Jacob’s departure his remonstrance -with Laban presents to us an animated representation of the duties and -difficulties of the shepherd’s life; “These twenty years have I been -with thee; thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and -the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. That which was torn of beasts -I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it: of my hand didst thou -require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. Thus I was; in -the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep -departed from mine eyes.” (Gen. xxxi. 38-40.) - - [231] Ὅσση δ’ Εὐφρήτου, &c. l. 992-996. - - In English, - - “As for the land, which lies between the Euphrates and the Tigris, - called the land _Between the Rivers_, the herdsman would not - contemn its pastures, nor he who tends flocks folded in the fields, - and honors with his syrinx Pan who has horny hoofs.” - -From Ezekiel we learn, that Damascus supplied the Tyrians with -wool[232], and Jerome, who well knew the country, says in his comment -on the passage, that this article was still produced there in his -time (A. D. 378.)[233]. Aristotle, referring to the sheep of Syria, -mentions a variety with tails, which were a cubit broad[234]; and Pliny -in addition to this circumstance asserts generally the abundance of -the Syrian wool[235]. Probably the part of Syria appropriated more -especially to the breeding of sheep, was the eastern part, which -bordered on Arabia, and was distinguished by the same natural features. - - [232] “Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy - making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, - and _white_ wool. Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied - in thy fairs: _bright_ iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy - market. Dedan was thy merchant in _precious clothes for chariots_. - Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in - _lambs_, and _rams_, and _goats_: in these were they thy merchants. - The merchants of Shebah and Raamah, they were thy merchants: - they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with - all precious stones, and gold. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the - merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants. These - were thy merchants in all sorts of things, _in blue clothes_, and - _broidered work_, and _in chests of rich apparel_, bound with - cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.”--_Ezekiel_ xxvii. - 18-24. - - [233] “Et lana præcipua, quod usque hodie cernimus.” - - [234] Hist. Animalium, l. viii. cap. 28. - - [235] Plinii Hist. Nat. l. viii. c. 75. ed. Bipont. See Appendix A. - -In no part of the ancient world does sheep-breeding appear to have -been more cultivated than in that which we are now approaching. Here -were the Moabites, among whom it was _a royal occupation_, and, as it -appears, the chief source of the revenues of the sovereign: for it is -said in 2 Kings iii. 4. “Mesha, king of Moab, was _a sheep-master_, -and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs and an -hundred thousand rams with the wool.” Here on occasion of a war, which -the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, whose -territory was to the east of Jordan, carried on against the Hagarites, -they obtained as part of their booty 250,000 sheep. (I. Chron. v. 21.) -Here was Idumæa, in a part of which Job is represented to have dwelt, -being possessed of 7,000, and afterwards of 14,000 sheep (Job i. 3. -xlii. 12.): and we have a beautiful allusion to the pastoral habits -of the same country in the language of consolation employed by the -prophet Micah (ii. 12.): “I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; -I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together -as the sheep of Bosrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they -shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.” Here also -were the Midianites, whose flocks were so vast, that the sheep taken -from them by Moses after his victory amounted to 675,000. (Num. xxxi. -32.) Jethro, the priest of Midian, was himself the owner of a numerous -flock, tended by his seven daughters, whom Moses assisted in watering -them, when the neighboring shepherds rudely attempted to drive them -from the well. He afterwards married one of them, and was employed -by the father as his shepherd; and, having occasion according to the -practice of the country to conduct the flock from the plains to pasture -upon the mountains of Horeb, he was thence called to undertake his -extraordinary mission for the deliverance of his nation. (Exod. ii. -15-iii. 1.) - -The Arabs appear from the earliest times to the present day to have -bestowed no less attention upon sheep than upon horses. Isaiah also -records the excellence of the sheep of Arabia in the following terms -addressed by the Almighty to his people (Ch. lx. 7.): “All the flocks -of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth -shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine -altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.” The habits of the -Nebatæi, or Arabs of Nebaioth, are depicted as follows by Diodorus -Siculus: “They live in the open air, and call a land their country, -which is destitute of habitations, and has neither rivers nor copious -fountains, such as could satisfy an army of invaders. _Their law -forbids them on pain of death either to sow corn, to plant fruit-trees, -to use wine, or to build houses._ They submit to this law, because -they think, that those who enjoy such conveniences may for the sake -of them be readily compelled by the powerful to do what they command. -Some of them rear camels, and others sheep, which they pasture in the -wilderness[236].” - - [236] Diod. Sic. l. xix. 94. p. 722. ed. Steph. - - Strabo (l. xvi. cap. 4. p. 460. ed. Siebenkees.), speaking - apparently of another division of the Nebatæi, says they have large - oxen, camels, and white sheep. - -Various ancient authors mention that extraordinary variety of sheep -among the Arabs, the tail of which grew to so great a size as to -require to be supported on a wooden carriage, which was dragged after -the wearer[237]. - - [237] The passages of ancient authors relating to this variety, with - various confirmations from modern travellers, are quoted with his - usual accuracy by Bochart, Hieroz. l. ii. cap. 45. p. 494-497. Ed. - Leusden. Lug. Bat. 1692. - -We have no reason to believe, that the Phœnicians employed themselves -in the breeding and pasture of sheep. The narrow strip of territory, -which they occupied at the eastern extremity of the Mediterranean Sea, -was in general too densely peopled to be adapted for this purpose. -Their activity, intelligence, and enterprize were directed into other -channels, and they supplied themselves from foreign countries with wool -for their celebrated manufactures. - -On the other hand, the Hebrews, who were the immediate neighbors of -the Phœnicians, were altogether an agricultural and pastoral people. -The history of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, presents to -us beautiful images of the kind of life, which still continues with -little variation among the Bedouins, or wandering Nomads of Arabia. Not -only was David _a shepherd boy_; but, when he had ascended the throne, -he had numerous herds and flocks superintended by distinct officers. -“And over the herds that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite: -and over the herds that were in the valleys was Shaphat the son of -Adlai. Over the camels also was Obil the Ishmaelite: and over the -asses was Jehdeiah the Meronothite: and over the flocks was Jaziz the -Hagarite. All these were the rulers of the substance which was king -David’s.” (I. Chron. xxvii. 29-31.) The reader cannot fail to call to -mind David’s frequent allusions in the Psalms to those employments, -which were no less familiar to his own mind than to the rest of his -countrymen, and which supplied to them the most touching comparisons -for the expression of their deepest religious convictions. The passage -“The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down -in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. Yea though I -walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; -for thou art with me; thy rod (or _crook_) and thy staff, they comfort -me” (Psalm xxiii. 1, 2, 4.). “He shall feed (_i. e._ _tend_) his flock -like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry -them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young” -(Is. xl. ii.). “The pastures are _clothed_ with flocks,” an expression -denoting the vast multitudes of sheep, which overspread the mountains -and plains (Ps. lxv. 13.). “Be thou diligent,” says Solomon, “to know -the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. The lambs are for -thy clothing, and the goats are the price of thy field; and thou shalt -have goat’s milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, -and for the maintenance of thy maidens” (Prov. xxvii. 23. 26, 27.). We -would particularly refer the reader to the thirty-fourth chapter of -Ezekiel, where the prophet, reprimanding the rulers of Israel under -the character of shepherds, makes some allusion to every circumstance -connected with the care of sheep and goats. Language very similar -is employed by our Saviour in John x. where he speaks of himself as -“_the good shepherd_.” The whole system and history of the sacrifices -both before and after the giving of the Mosaic law, might be produced -to prove the pastoral habits of this people from the earliest times. -The districts of Bashan and Carmel, seem to have attained the highest -reputation in respect to the breeding of sheep. Bashan, which lay to -the east of the Jordan in the country adjoining that of the Hagarites -and Moabites, already mentioned, and Carmel, the mountainous range near -the Dead Sea in the south of Judea. In the latter district Nabal kept -his flocks, and as he is said to have been “very great,” and we are -at the same time informed that “he had 3000 sheep and 1000 goats” (I. -Sam. xxv. 2.), these numbers afford us a precise idea of the wealth of -a considerable proprietor in this respect. That the “rams of the breed -of Bashan,” were particularly celebrated, we learn from Deut. xxxii. -14; and Ezekiel mentions with distinction (ch. xxxix. 18.) a sacrifice -“of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of -Bashan.” - -It is impossible to conceive a more striking difference in manners -and institutions, than that which must have presented itself to the -traveller in very ancient times, when on crossing the Isthmus of -Suez he passed from the deserts of Arabia and Idumæa to the richly -cultivated and populous plains of Egypt. According to the statement -already quoted from an ancient historian the wandering tribes of -Nabaioth were forbidden by a positive law to till the ground or to -construct settled habitations, and they lived on the produce of their -flocks, which they continually led from place to place in pursuit -of pasture adapted to the season of the year. The Egyptians, on the -contrary, appear to have been originally under a prohibition of exactly -the opposite kind, since they cultivated the ground with care, excelled -most other nations in all the arts of life, and produced the most -splendid proofs of their architectural skill, but were not allowed to -keep flocks of sheep and goats. That this was the case at the time, -when Jacob took his family to sojourn in Egypt, is evident from their -application to Pharaoh on arriving in the land of Goshen, which was -on the eastern border of Egypt adjoining Palestine and Arabia, to be -permitted to remain there on the ground, that from their youth they -had been accustomed to tend flocks, whereas “every shepherd was an -abomination to the Egyptians[238].” - - [238] Gen. xlvi. 28.--xlvii. 6. Compare Josephus, Ant. ii. 7. 5. - -It appears that the Nabatæan law was far more effectual towards the -attainment of its object than the Egyptian. For, whereas the pastoral -tribes of Arabia have retained their independence and their national -peculiarities even to the present day; the Egyptians, on the other -hand, became a prey to foreign invasion, and among other changes in -their customs we have to notice the introduction of the management of -sheep. Even as early as the time of Moses the practice had commenced; -for in the account of the effects of the murrain in Exodus ix. 3, we -find mention of sheep, and indeed it is remarkable, that the domestic -animals there enumerated, viz. horses, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep, -are exactly the same, which, as we have before shown, were bred by the -ancient Persians[239]. Later historians afford distinct testimony to -the same fact. Thus Diodorus Siculus says, that “upon the subsidence of -the waters after the inundation of the Nile the flocks were admitted to -pasture, and the produce of the soil was so abundant, that the sheep -were not only shorn _twice_, but also brought forth young _twice_ in -the year.” Herodotus also plainly supposes, that sheep and goats were -bred in Egypt, when he contrasts the inhabitants of the Theban Nome, -who worshipped Ammon, with the inhabitants of the Mendesian Nome, who -worshipped Mendes. The former, he says, “all abstain from sheep, and -sacrifice goats;” the latter “abstain from goats, which they hold -in veneration, and sacrifice sheep.” He, however, mentions that the -Thebans slew a ram once a year on occasion of a particular ceremony, -which he describes (ii. 42. 46.). The testimony of Strabo and Plutarch, -though differing in some particulars from that of Herodotus, is to the -same general effect. Aristotle (_l. c._) mentions, that the sheep of -Egypt were larger than those of Greece. - - [239] It should be observed, that the Hebrew word translated _sheep_ in - Ex. ix. 3. included goats. - -But, although these passages show, that sheep were bred in Egypt, we -think it evident that their number was very limited. Egyptian wool -cannot have been of the least importance as an article of commerce. -What was produced must also have been consumed in the country. For, -although the chief material for the clothing of the Egyptians was -linen, and they were forbidden to be buried in woollen or to use it in -the temples, yet Herodotus (ii. 81.) states, that on ordinary occasions -they wore a garment of white wool over their linen shirt. They also -used wool for embroidering. According to Pliny[240] the Egyptian wool -was coarse and of a short staple. Tertullian records a saying of -the Egyptians, that Mercury invented the spinning of wool in their -country[241]. - - [240] Hist. Nat. l. viii. 73. See Appendix A. - - [241] De Pallio, c. 3. - -Strabo in an instructive manner contrasts the Ethiopians with the -Egyptians. Having observed, that the boundary between the two nations -was the smaller cataract above Syene and Elephantine, he says, that the -Ethiopians led for the most part a pastoral life without resources, -both on account of their intemperate climate and the poverty of their -soil, and also because they were remote from the civilized world; -whereas the Egyptians had always lived in a refined manner and under -a regular government, settled in fixed habitations, and cultivating -philosophy, agriculture, and the arts[242]. Thus do we find the nomad -life recurring immediately to the south of Egypt. Strabo further -states, that the Ethiopian sheep were small, and instead of being -woolly were hairy like goats, on which account the people wore skins -instead of woollen cloth[243]. That these sheep were held in some -estimation by the Egyptians is, however, manifest from the fact, -that in the splendid procession exhibited at Alexandria by Ptolemy -Philadelphus, there were 130 sheep from Ethiopia, 300 from Arabia, and -20 from Eubœa[244]. Also, that the pastoral habits of the Ethiopians -were known to the Romans may be inferred from the allusion, which -Virgil makes to them in his Tenth Eclogue (l. 64-68.): - - No toils of ours can change the cruel god, - Though we should flee him through each new abode; - Whether we drink, where chilling Hebrus flows, - And winter reigns amid Sithonian snows; - Or, where the elms beneath hot Cancer bend, - Our Ethiopian sheep we fainting tend. - - [242] Strabo, l. xvii. c. 1. § 3. p. 476, 477. ed. Siebenkees. - - [243] Cap. 2. § 1. 3. p. 621. 626. Strabo’s account is illustrated and - confirmed by the traveller, Dr. Shaw, who describes a variety of - sheep in the interior of Africa with “fleeces as coarse and hairy - as those of the goat.”--Travels in Barbary, part iii. chap. 2. § 1. - - [244] Callixenus Rhodius, apud Athenæum, l. v. p. 201. ed. Casaub. - -We find, that the people of Libya had attained to some distinction in -the management of flocks. What Diodorus says of the Egyptian sheep is -asserted by Aristotle of those of Libya, viz. that they produced young -_twice_ in the year[245]. That sheep-breeding had extended hither in -very early times appears from a passage in the Odyssey, which, however, -in consequence of the remoteness of the situation and the imperfect -knowledge of geography in the time of the writer, is mixed with fable, -inasmuch as it represents, that the ewes brought forth not only twice, -but even _three_ times in the year, and that the lambs were immediately -provided with horns[246]. - - That happy clime! where each revolving year - The teeming ewes a triple offspring bear, - And two fair crescents of translucent horn - The brows of all their young increase adorn; - The shepherd swains, with sure abundance blest, - On the fat flock and rural dainties feast; - Nor want of herbage makes the dairy fail, - But every season fills the foaming pail. - - _Pope’s Translation._ - - [245] Aristot. Problem. cap. x. sec. 46. - - [246] Odyss. iv. 85-89. - -Pindar (_Pyth_. ix. 11.) distinguishes Libya by the epithet πολύμηλος, -“abounding in flocks.” To the same district of Africa, Virgil alludes -in the following passage of the Georgics, which is surpassed by few as -a happy example of the art of the poet in describing the various modes -of pastoral life. - - Why should I sing of Libya’s artless swains; - Her scatter’d cottages and trackless plains? - By day, by night, without a destined home, - For many a month their flocks all lonely roam; - So vast th’ unbounded solitude appears, - While, with his flock, his all the shepherd bears, - His arms, his household god, his homely shed, - His Cretan darts, and dogs of Sparta bred. - - _Georg._ iii. 339-345.--_Warton’s Translation._ - -It is to be observed, that, although the Libyan shepherd according to -Virgil’s description led a migratory life, conducting his sheep from -place to place in search of pasture, yet the scale, upon which he -carried on his operations, was widely different from that which has -always characterized the nomadic tribes of Asia. The poet represents -the Libyan shepherd as a solitary wanderer, bearing with him all his -arms and implements, just as a Roman soldier (l. 346.) carried his -military accoutrements. On the other hand, as we have seen, the Syrian -or Arabian shepherd goes in a kind of state, with camels and horses to -carry his wife and children, his tents, and the rest of his equipage; -and he is followed by thousands, instead of hundreds or perhaps scores, -of sheep and goats. - -Let us now pursue the progress of this employment in another direction, -viz. towards the north-west, and across the Euxine Sea and the straits -connected with it into Europe. - -Near the eastern extremity of the Euxine Sea we meet with a very -remarkable instance of the attention paid to the produce and -manufacture of wool in a tribe called _the Coraxi_. Strabo alludes -to the value of their fleeces in a passage which we shall produce in -speaking of the wool of Spain, to which it more directly refers. At -present we shall only consider the following evidence preserved by -Joannes Tzetzes. - - Τὸ παλαιὸν περὶ στρωμνὰς ἦν τῇ Μιλητῷ φήμη· - Ἔρια τὰ Μιλησία καλλίστα γὰρ τῶν πάντων, - Κᾂν ὦσι τῶν Κοραξικῶν φέροντα δευτερεῖα[247]. - - [247] Jo. Tzetzes, Chiliad. x. 348-350, in Lectii Corp. Poetarum - Græcorum. - - “Anciently Miletus was famed for carpets: for of all fleeces the - Milesian were the most beautiful, although the Coraxic bore the second - prize.” - - Περὶ τῶν Μιλησιῶν ἔφαν πολλοὶ ἐρίων· - Περὶ ἐρίων Κοράξων ἐν πρωτῷ δὲ Ἰαμβῷ - Ἱππῶναξ οὗτως εἴρηκε, μέτρῳ χωλῶν Ἰάμβων, - Κωραξικὸν μὲν ἠμφιεσμένη λῶπος.[248] - - “Of the Milesian fleeces many have spoken: and to the Coraxic Hipponax - has alluded in his Choliambic measure, where he mentions ‘a woman - enveloped in a Coraxic shawl.’” - - [248] Ib. 378-381. - -Hipponax, who is here cited by Tzetzes, was a satirical poet of -Ephesus, and flourished about 540 B. C. In confirmation of his -testimony it may be proved, that his countrymen and contemporaries had -constant intercourse with a port in the vicinity of the Coraxi. We -learn from Pliny (l. vi. cap. 5.)[249], that the Coraxi were situated -near Dioscurias, which, though deserted in his time, had been formerly -so illustrious that 300 nations, _speaking different languages_, -resorted to it. As we learn from other authorities, Dioscurias _was -a colony of Miletus and one of its chief settlements_. Miletus also -in the time of Hipponax had risen to the summit of its prosperity, -and was the greatest commercial city in the world next to Tyre and -Carthage[250]. Its chief trade was towards the north and as far as the -extremity of the Euxine Sea. Among the numerous Asiatic tribes, which -were accustomed to bring their productions to Dioscurias and exchange -them for Grecian merchandise, the Coraxi were, as we may conclude -from the evidence now produced, a nation of superior enterprize and -intelligence, who sent to the shores of the Ægean in the vessels of -Miletus their fine wool, as well as the _carpets_ and _shawls_, which -they made from it. - - [249] See Appendix A. - - [250] Heeren, Handbuch, iii. 2. 2. p. 185. Mannert, Geographie, 6. 3. - p. 253, &c. - -If we had no more exact information than that which has been already -cited, we might infer, that the Coraxi occupied part of the modern -Circassia, a mountainous region admirably adapted to the breeding of -sheep. The Circassians of the present day have numerous herds of cattle -and vast flocks of sheep and goats. Their vallies are distinguished -by beauty and fertility. A late traveller says, that from whatever -country you enter Circassia, “_you are at once agreeably impressed -with the decided improvement in the appearance of the population, the -agriculture, and the beauty of their flocks and herds_[251].” With -respect to Dioscurias, we are informed, that “the memory of its ancient -name is still preserved in the present appellation of Iskouriah[252].” -Sir John Chardin, who visited it and calls it Isgaour, commends its -safety in summer as a road for ships, but says that it is a complete -desert, where he could obtain no provisions, the traders who anchor -there being obliged to construct temporary huts and booths of the -boughs of trees for their accommodation, whilst awaiting the arrival of -the natives of Mingrelia and Caucasus[253]. - - [251] Travels in Circassia, &c. in 1835, by Edmund Spencer, Esq., vol. - ii. p. 355. Julius von Klaproth, in the work quoted below, says, - (p. 582.), that the wealth of the Circassians consists principally - in their sheep, from whose wool the women make coarse cloth and - felt. In the summer they drive their sheep into the mountains, but - feed them under cover in winter, and at other times in the plains. - - [252] Dr. Goodenough, in Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, - vol. i. p. 110. See also Major Rennell’s Map of Western Asia. - - [253] Chardin’s Travels, vol i. p. 77. 108. of the English Translation. - London, 1686. - -But, besides the general inference that the Coraxi occupied part of -the modern Circassia, we are able to determine their abode with still -greater precision, and even obtain some insight into their distinctive -characters as a nation. - -At the south-eastern extremity of Chirkess, or Circassia, on the -northern declivity of Mount Elborus, and about the sources of the -Kuban, the ancient Hypanis, we find a mountain clan, consisting of -rather more than 250 families, which appears to retain not only the -manners and habits, but even the very name of the Coraxi. Julius von -Klaproth, to whom we are principally indebted for our knowledge of -them, calls them the Caratshai[254]. From him we learn the following -particulars respecting their appearance, manners, and employments. -They are among the most beautiful of the inhabitants of Caucasus, and -more like the Georgians than the wandering Tartars of the Steppe. -_They are well formed, and have fine features, which are set off by -large black eyes and a white skin._ Their language resembles that of -the Nogay-Tartars. They live in very neat houses, built of pine. Their -children are _strictly_ and _well_ educated; and in general it may be -said of them, that they are the most cultivated nation in Caucasus, -surpassing all their neighbors in refinement of manners. They are -very _industrious_, and subsist chiefly by agriculture. Their soil is -productive, and, besides various kinds of grain, yields abundance of -grass for pasture. The country around them is covered with woods, which -abound with wild animals, such as bears, wolves, wild goats, hares, -and wild cats, whose skins are much prized, and martins. _Their dress -is chiefly made of woollen cloth, which they weave themselves from the -produce of their flocks, and which is admired throughout the whole of -Caucasus. They sell their cloth_, called by them _Shal_[255], their -_felt_ for _carpeting_, and their furs, partly to the Nogay-Tartars and -Circassians, from whom they purchase articles of metal, and partly _at -Souchom-Kalé, a Turkish fort on the Black Sea_, which contains shops -and ware-houses, and carries on a considerable trade with the Western -Caucasus. They receive here in return goods of _cotton_ and _silk_, -tobacco and tobacco-pipes, needles, thimbles, and otter-skins. While -the men are employed out of doors, the women stay at home, make gold -and silver thread, and sew the clothes of their fathers and brothers. - - [254] Reise in den Caucasus, cap. 24. The author thus spells the name - in German characters, _Ckaratschai_. Father Lamberti, a missionary - from the Society of the Propaganda at Naples, who remained twenty - years in that part of Asia in the seventeenth century, calls them - “_i Caraccioli_,” in which name we observe the addition of an - Italian termination. See his Relatione della Colchide, hoggi delta - Mengrelia, Napoli, 1654, cap. 28. p. 196. - - [255] The origin of the English _shawl_. - -Such is the account given by a recent and most competent witness -of the actual condition of this interesting nation, who, though now -perhaps reduced in number, occupy probably after the lapse of 2500 -years their original seat at the distance of from forty to eighty miles -to the north-east of the same coast, to which they have always resorted -for commercial purposes[256]. - - [256] Souchom-Kalé is only twelve miles from _Iscuria_, a single - promontory intervening between the bay and river of the former - harbor and those of the latter. See Spencer’s Travels, vol. i. p. - 295-297, and his Map at p. 209. - -We cannot survey the now deserted Iscuria without observing, what a -mournful contrast the Euxine presents under the sway of both Russia and -Turkey to the useful energy, which more than 2000 years ago promoted -life and the arts of life, and brought into close and peaceful contact -the most refined and the most uncultivated nations, under the direction -of the Ionians of Miletus. The beauty, the bravery, the activity, and -the independence of a highland clan still represent the skill and -enterprize of the ancient Coraxi; but the commerce, which rewarded -their industry, and extended their reputation through the civilized -world, has sunk into insignificance. - -Besides the above notices of the Coraxi in Strabo and Tzetzes we find -little said concerning the breeding of sheep in this part of Asia. -Aristotle, however, mentions the sheep of “Pontus near Scythia,” and -says that they were without horns[257]. The Melanchlæni also, who are -mentioned by Herodotus in his account of the Scythian tribes, and who -lived to the north of the Coraxi, were so called, because they wore -black palls. - - [257] Hist. Anim. viii. 28. - -There can be no doubt, that the use and management of sheep were known -from the earliest times throughout nearly the whole of Asia Minor, and -that some nations in this region had attained to a superiority in the -art before the settlement in it of the Grecian colonists. - -The imagery of the Homeric poems (supposed to be written about 900 -B. C.) affords abundant evidence of these facts. They continually -mention shepherds, who had the care of sheep, as well as goat-herds, -who managed goats. They speak of the folds, in which the flocks were -secured at night to preserve them from the attacks of wild beasts. -The dangers to which the flocks were exposed from both wolves and -lions, are in accordance with similar expressions and incidents in -the Scriptures of the Old Testament, arising from the existence of -the same ravenous and destructive quadrupeds in Palestine. Also, the -language both of the Scriptures and of the Homeric poems _is precisely -the same_, in which the king, ruling his people is compared to the -shepherd tending his flock, or to the strong and large ram, which leads -the sheep[258]. It is to be observed, that the geographical knowledge -expressed in the Homeric poems extended as far as the promontory -of Carambis on the south coast of the Euxine Sea, and included all -Phrygia, Ionia, and the western half of Asia Minor. - - [258] See Bochart’s Hierozoïcon, l. ii. cap. 44. De Gregum Pastoribus. - -The Greek mythology affords similar evidence. The well-known story of -Paris, adjudging the golden apple, is founded on the pastoral scenes -of Ida. Marsyas also was a shepherd on mount Ida[259]: the river -Marsyas, famed for his contest with Apollo, was among the Phrygian -mountains[260]. - - [259] Hyginus, Fab. 165. - - [260] It appears not impossible, that, when Theocritus in Idyll. iii. - 46, represents Adonis as “tending flocks upon the mountains,” he - may have referred to the mountains of Phrygia or of Ionia. For in - another Idyll. (i. 105-110,) he seems to connect the love of Venus - for Adonis with her love for Anchises, as if the scene of both were - in the same region. Among the various accounts of Adonis, one makes - him the offspring of Smyrna; and Cinyras, _the father of Adonis, - is said to have founded the city of Smyrna in Ionia, calling it by - that name after his daughter_. (Hyginus, Fab. 58 and 275.) This - supposition accounts most satisfactorily for the production of the - beautiful elegy on the death of Adonis by Bion, who was a native of - Smyrna. - -The historical evidence to which we now proceed, though referring to -times much posterior to the mythological, is more exact as well as more -entitled to absolute credit. - -According to Strabo the branches of Mount Taurus in _Pisidia_ were rich -in pastures “for all kinds of cattle[261].” The chief town of this -region was _Selge_, a very flourishing city, and hence Tertullian, -in a passage, mentions “oves Selgicæ,” Selgic sheep, among those of -the greatest celebrity. The superior whiteness of the fleeces of -_Pamphylia_ is mentioned by Philostratus. - - [261] Lib. xii. c. 7, § 3. - -We have reason to believe, that the _Lydians_ and _Carians_ bestowed -the greatest attention on sheep-breeding and on the woollen manufacture -before the arrival of the Greek colonists among them. The new settlers -adopted the employments of the ancient inhabitants, and made those -employments subservient to a very extensive and lucrative trade. Pliny -(viii. 73. ed. Bip.) mentions the wool of Laodicea (See Appendix A.) -in Caria; and Strabo (xii. c. 7. p. 578. Casaub.) observes, that -the country about this city and Colossæ, which was not far from it, -produced sheep highly valued on account of the fineness and the color -of their fleeces. - -Aristophanes mentions a _pall_, made of “Phrygian fleeces[262]:” and -Varro asserts, that in his time there were many flocks of wild sheep in -Phrygia[263]. - - [262] Aves, 492. - - [263] De Re Rusticâ, ii. 1. - -The passages above quoted from Strabo and Joannes Tzetzes allude to the -very great celebrity of the wool of _Miletus_ and of the articles woven -from it. - -The passages, which will now be produced from both Greek and Latin -authors of various ages, conspire to prove the distinguished excellence -of the wool of Miletus, although in many of them the epithet _Milesian_ -may be employed only in a proverbial acceptation to denote wool of the -finest quality. The animals, which yielded this wool, must have been -bred in the interior of Ionia not far from Miletus. - -Ctesias describes the softness of camels’-hair by comparing it to -Milesian fleeces[264]. A woman in Aristophanes (Lysist. 732.) says, -she must go home to spread her Milesian fleeces on the couch, because -the worms were gnawing them. In a fragment of a Greek comedy, called -Procris, of a somewhat later age (ap. Athen. l. xii. p. 553), a -favorite lap-dog is described, lying on Milesian fleeces: - - Οὐκοῦν ὑποστορεῖτε μαλακῶς τῷ κυνί· - Κάτω μὲν ὑποβαλεῖτε τῶν Μιλησίων - Ἐρίων. - - Therefore make a soft bed for the dog: throw down for him Milesian - fleeces. - - [264] Ctesiæ fragmenta, a Bähr, p. 224. - -The Sybarites wore _shawls_ of Milesian wool[265]. Palæphatus explains -the fable of the Hesperides by saying, that their father Hesperus -was a Milesian, and that they had beautiful sheep, such as those -which were still kept at Miletus[266]. Eustathius says, the “Milesian -_carpets_[267]” had become proverbial. Virgil represents the nymphs of -Cyrene spinning Milesian fleeces, dyed of a deep _sea-green_ color: - - The nymphs, around her placed, their spindles ply, - And draw Milesian wool, of glassy dye. - _Georg._ iv. 334. - - [265] Timæus apud Athenæum, xii. p. 519. B. - - [266] De Incred. § 19. - - [267] In Dionysium, v. 823. - -He also alludes to the high price of Milesian fleeces in the following -passage: - - Let rich Miletus vaunt her fleecy pride, - And weigh with gold her robes in purple dyed. - _Georg._ iii. 306.--_Sotheby’s Translation._ - -The comment of Servius on the latter passage is as follows: - - Milesian fleeces, most valuable wools; for Miletus is a city of Asia, - where the best wools are dyed. - -The ancient Greek version of Ezekiel (xxvii. 18.) enumerates Milesian -fleeces among the articles of Tyrian importation. - -Columella (vii. 2.) and Pliny (viii. 48.) assert the celebrity of the -flocks of Miletus in former times, although in their time they were -surpassed by the sheep of some other countries. - - In soft Milesian wool as fine as possible.--Hippocrates, vol. i. p. - 689. ed. _Fœsii_. - - Ye are hairs of sheep, although Miletus may boast of you, and Italy be - in high repute, and though the hairs be guarded under skins.--Clemens - Alexandrinus, Pæd. ii. 30. - - Lying on Milesian carpets.--Aristoph. Ranæ, l. 548. - - Nor do I speak of the sheep of Miletus and Selge and Altinum, nor of - those, for which Tarentum and Bætica are famous, and which are colored - by nature.--Tertullian de Pallio, 3. - - If, from the beginning the Milesians were occupied _in shearing - sheep_, the Seres _in spinning the produce of trees_, the Tyrians _in - dyeing_, the Phrygians _in embroidering_, and the Babylonians _in - weaving_.--Tertullian de Habitu Muliebri. - -We may now notice Samos, as being near the Ionic coast. Athenæus (xii. -p. 540. D.) cites two ancient authors who assert that, when Polycrates -was introducing into Samos the most excellent of the different breeds -of animals, he chose the dogs of Laconia and Molossis, the goats of -Scyros and Naxos, and the sheep of Miletus and Attica. - -Respecting the breeding of sheep in _Samos_ it may be proper to quote -the remark of Ælian (Hist. Anim. xii. 40.), that the Samians gave some -religious honor to this animal, because a consecrated utensil of gold, -which had been stolen from one of their temples, was discovered by a -sheep. - -It appears probable, that the shepherd life was established in Thrace -as early as in any part of Europe; for in the Homeric poems it is -called “the mother of flocks” (Il. v. 222.). In a much later age the -sheep of Thrace are mentioned by Nicander (Nicand. Ther. 50.). We learn -from Plato (De Legibus, l. vii. p. 36. ed. Bekker) that in Thrace -the flocks were entrusted to the care of the women, who were there -compelled like slaves to work out of doors. - -Aristotle speaks of the sheep of Magnesia, and says that they brought -forth young twice a year[268]. - - [268] Problem. cap. x. sec. 46. - -A little further south we find sheep from the earliest times in -Thessaly near the river Amphrysus. Here was Iton, which Homer also -calls “the mother of flocks[269].” It was celebrated for a temple of -Minerva, who was called from it _Itonis_, or _Itonia_[270], and whose -worship was transferred from hence to Bœotia. - - [269] Il. B. 696. - - [270] Strabo, l. ix. c. 2. § 29. p. 458; and c. 5. § 14. p. 614. ed. - Siebenkees. Apollonius Rhodius, Argon. i. 551; and Schol. ad locum. - Alcæi Reliquiæ, a Maththiæ, No. 54. - -That Eubœa was famous for sheep we know from the testimony of two -different authors cited by Athenæus. That of Callixenus Rhodius has -been already produced; and that of Hermippus occurs in his metrical -enumeration of the most excellent and characteristic productions of -different countries[271]. - - [271] Athen. Deip. l. i. p. 27. D. - -Bœotia appears from very early times to have been rich in flocks. The -tragic history of Œdipus supposes, that his father Laius, the king -of Thebes, had flocks on Mount Cithæron. According to Sophocles (Œd. -Tyr. 1026-1140.) Œdipus was delivered to one of the royal shepherds -to be there exposed, and this shepherd through pity committed him to -another, and thus saved his life[272]. Seneca in his free version of -Sophocles (Œd. Act. iv. v. 815-850.) has added a circumstance, as it -appears, from the practice established in other cases. He says, that -the shepherd of Laius, whom he calls _Phorbas_, had many others under -him. But, although it may be doubted whether the flocks of Laius were -so numerous as to require a head shepherd placed over many others, we -learn that his possessions of this description excited contest and -warfare among his descendants. Their countryman, Hesiod, represents -them fighting at the gates of Thebes “for the flocks of Œdipus” (Op. et -Dies, 163.), an expression, which must at least be understood to imply, -that sheep constituted a principal part of the king’s wealth. - - [272] This transaction is represented in Plate VIII. Fig. 5. - -Among the Elgin marbles in the British Museum we have an interesting -inscription relating to a contract made between the city of Orchomenos -in Bœotia and Eubulus of Elatea in Phocis, _according to which -Eubulus was to have for four years the right of pasturage for 4 cows, -200 mares, 20 sheep, and 1000 goats_. In the opinion of Professors -Böckh[273] and Ottfried Müller[274] this inscription may be referred to -the time of the Peloponnesian war. The supposed effect of the waters -of the Melas and Cephisos on the fleeces of sheep is a testimony of -a much later date, but proves that sheep, both black and white, were -bred in that country[275]. Varro (De Re Rust. ii. 2.) mentions the -practice of covering sheep with skins in order to improve and preserve -their fleeces. The Attic sheep, thus clothed with skins, are mentioned -by Demosthenes under the name of “soft sheep[276].” The hilly part of -Attica was of course particularly adapted for sheep as well as goats; -and accordingly a letter of Alciphron (iii. 41.) describes flocks of -them at Decelia near Mount Parnes about fifteen miles to the north of -Athens. The fame of the Attic wool is also alluded to by Plutarch (De -audiendo, p. 73. ed. Steph.), and by the Roman poet Laberius, who died -in the year 43 B. C. - - No matter whether in soft Attic wool, - Or in rough goats’-hair you be clothed[277]. - - [273] Corpus Inscrip. Græcar., vol. i. p. 740. - - [274] Orchomenos, p. 471. - - [275] Vitruvius, viii. 3. p. 218. ed. Schneider. See also Dodwell’s - Tour, vol. i. p. 242. It was imagined that the water of the Melas - rendered the wool black, and that of the Cephisos white. - - Dr. Sibthorp, in crossing the plain of Bœotia near Platæa in - November A. D. 1794, says, “Flocks of sheep, whose fleeces - were of remarkable blackness, were feeding in the plain; the - breed was considerably superior in beauty and size to that of - Attica.”--Walpole’s Memoirs on Eur. and As. Turkey, p. 65. - - [276] Contra Everg. et Mnesid. p. 1155. ed. Reiske. - - [277] Apud Non. Marcellum. - -We learn from Theocritus, that the shepherds of Acharnæ, one of the -Attic demi, excelled in playing on the pipe[278]. - - [278] Idyll. vii. 71. - -In the adjoining country of _Megaris_ was a temple of great antiquity -in honor of Δήμητηρ Μαλοφόρος. It was said, that Ceres was worshipped -under that title, THE BRINGER OF FLOCKS, by those who first kept sheep -in the country[279]. Theognis (v. 55.) mentions, that the people of -Megaris used before his time to wear goat-skins, which shows the late -introduction of the growth and manufacture of wool. Here, as in Attica, -it was usual to protect the sheep with _skins_; and, as the _boys_ were -sometimes seen _naked_ after the Doric fashion, Diogenes, the cynic, -said in reference to these practices, _he would rather be the ram of a -Megarensian than his son_[280]. - - [279] Paus. i. 44. 4. - - [280] Diog. Laert. vi. 41. Æliani Var. Hist. xii. 56. - -In the Peloponnesus, _Arcadia_ was always remarkable for the attention -paid to sheep. - -Arcadia claims our especial consideration, because in it the shepherd -life assumed that peculiar form, which has been the subject of so much -admiration both in ancient and modern times. Here the lively genius and -imaginative disposition common to the Greek nation were directed to -the daily contemplation of the most beautiful and romantic varieties -of mountain and woodland scenery, and hence their employments, their -pleasures, and their religion, all acquired a rustic character, highly -picturesque and tasteful, and, as it appears to us, generally favorable -to the development of the domestic and social virtues. To attempt a -full investigation of this subject, and to show in what degree the want -of higher attainments _in religious knowledge_ and _moral cultivation_ -was supplied by the peculiar rites, ideas, and customs of Arcadia, -would lead us too far from our proper subject. We only wish to bring -forward the principal facts and authorities, and to give a succint -account of the genuine Arcadian system of religion and manners without -attempting to refute at length the opposite views, which have been -adopted by ancient and modern writers. - -The peculiar Divinity of Arcadia, whose worship had a constant and -manifest reference to the principal employments of the inhabitants, -was _Pan_. Hence he is called by Virgil and Propertius “the God -of Arcadia[281].” According to Herodotus (ii. 145.), Pan, the son -of Mercury (who was born at Cyllene in Arcadia, where Mercury was -previously worshipped,) first saw the light after the Trojan war, and -about 800 years before his own time. Thus we are able to refer the -supposed birth of Pan, and consequently the commencement of his worship -to about the year 1260 B. C.[282]. - - [281] Virg. Buc. x. 26. and Georg. iii. 385. See also Propert. i. 17. - - [282] Hist. d’Herodote, par Larcher, tome vii. p. 359, 582. - -The circumstances of the birth of this divinity, with his habits and -employments, are described as follows in the most ancient document -which we have relating to him, viz. Homer’s Hymn to Pan. Mercury -tended rough flocks at Cyllene in the service of a mortal man, being -enamored of a beautiful nymph. In the course of time she bore him a -son, _having the feet of a goat, two horns upon his forehead, a long -shaggy beard, and a bewitching smile_. This was Pan, who became the god -of the shepherds, and the companion of the mountain nymphs, penetrating -through the densest thickets, and inhabiting the most wild, rough, -and lofty summits of the sylvan Arcadia. There it is his business to -destroy the wild beasts; _and when, having returned from hunting, he -drives his sheep into a cave, he plays upon his reeds a tune sweet as -the song of any bird in spring_. The nymphs, delighting in melody, -listen to him when they go to the dark fountain, and the god sometimes -appears among them, wearing on his back the hide of a _lynx_, which he -has lately killed, and he joins with them in the choral song and dance -upon a meadow variegated with the _crocus_ and the _hyacinth_. He is -beloved by Bacchus, and is the delight of his father Mercury, and he -celebrates their worship beyond that of all the other gods. - -Callimachus (Hymn. in Dianam, 88.) represents Pan at his fold in -Arcadia, feeding his dogs with the flesh of a lynx, which he has caught -on Mænalus. It is to be observed, that the care of dogs to guard the -flock was an indispensable part of the pastoral office. Philostratus, -in his Second Book of Pictures[283], supposes the nymphs to have been -reproving Pan for his want of grace in dancing, _telling him that he -leapt too high and like a goat_, and offering to teach him a more -gentle method. He pays no attention to them, but tries to catch hold -of them. Upon this they surprise him sleeping at noon after the toils -of the chase; and he is represented in the picture with his arms tied -behind him, and enraged and struggling against them, while they are -cutting off his beard and trying to transform his legs and to humanize -him. - - [283] Philostrati Senioris Imag. l. ii. c. 11. - -In the Bucolics and Georgics of Virgil we find frequent invocations to -Pan as the god of shepherds, the guardian of flocks, and the inventor -of the syrinx, or Pandean pipes. - - Ipse, nemus linquens patrium, saltusque Lycæi, - Pan, ovium custos, tua si tibi Mænala curæ, - Adsis, O Tegeæe, favens. - _Georg._ i. 16-18. - - God of the fleece, whom grateful shepherds love, - Oh, leave Lycæus and thy father’s grove; - And if thy Mænalus yet claim thy care, - Hear, Tegeæan Pan, th’ invoking prayer. - _Georg._ i. 16-18. - - Delightful Mænalus, ‘mid echoing groves, - And vocal pines, still hears the shepherds’ loves; - The rural warblings hear of skilful Pan, - Who first to tune neglected reeds began. - _Bucol._ viii. 22-24.--_Warton’s Translation._ - - O that you lov’d the fields and shady grots, - To dwell with me in bowers and lowly cots, - To drive the kids to fold, the stags to pierce; - Then shouldst thou emulate Pan’s skilful verse, - Warbling with me in woods: ’twas mighty Pan - To join with wax the various reeds began. - Pan, the great god of all our subject plains, - Protects and loves the cattle and the swains: - Nor thou disdain thy tender rosy lip - Deep to indent with such a master’s pipe. - _Bucol._ ii. 28-34.--_Warton’s Translation._ - -Besides the four places in Arcadia, which are referred to in the -above-cited passages of Virgil, Pausanias informs us of several others, -in which he saw temples and altars erected to Pan. He says[284], that -Mount Mænalus was especially sacred to this deity, _so that those who -dwelt in its vicinity asserted, that they sometimes heard him playing -on the syrinx_. A continual fire burnt there near his temple. - - [284] L. viii. c. 36. 5. and c. 37. 8. - -Herodotus gives a very curious account of the introduction of the -worship of Pan into Attica[285]. He says, that before the battle -of Marathon the Athenian generals sent Philippides as a herald to -Sparta. “On his return Philippides asserted, that Pan had appeared to -him near Mount Parthenius above Tegea, had addressed him by name and -with a loud voice, and commanded him to ask the Athenians why they -did not pay any regard to him, a god, who was kind to them, who had -been often useful to them and would be so in future. The Athenians, -believing the statement of Philippides, when they found themselves -prosperous, erected a temple to Pan below the Acropolis, and continued -to propitiate him by annual sacrifices and by carrying the torch.” From -various authorities we know, that this temple was in the cave on the -northern side of the Acropolis below the Propylæa[286]. - - [285] Lib. vi. c. 105. - - [286] Eurip. Jon. 492-504. 937. Paus. i. 28. 4. Stuart’s Ant. of - Athens. Hobhouse’s Travels, p. 336. Dodwell’s Tour, vol. i. p. 304. - - In Sir R. Worsley’s collection of Antiques at Appledurcombe in - the Isle of Wight is a bas-relief, in which Pan is reclining as - if after the chase near the mouth of this cave. He holds the - syrinx in the left hand, a drinking-horn in the right. A train of - worshippers are conducting a ram to the altar within the cave. - See Museum Worsleianum, Lon. 1794. plate 9. In the vestibule of - the University Library at Cambridge is a mutilated statue of Pan - clothed in a goat-skin and holding the syrinx in his left hand. - This statue was discovered near the same cave, and from its style, - (the Æginetic,) may be supposed to have been carved soon after the - battle of Marathon. See Dr. E. D. Clarke s Greek Marbles, p. 9. No. - xi. Wilkins’s Magna Græcia, p. 71, and Dodwell’s Tour, vol. i. p. - 304. - -In later times a cave near Marathon was dedicated to Pan, the -stalactitio incrustations within it being compared to goats, and to -their stalls and drinking-troughs[287]. - - [287] Paus. l. i. 32. 6. Dodwell’s Tour, vol. ii. p. 162. Mapat, p. 330 - of Mem. on Eur. and As. Turkey, edited by Walpole. - -Chandler and Dodwell in their Travels describe another cave larger than -that at Marathon and containing more varied stalagmitic concretions. -It is near the summit of Mount Rapsāna between Athens and Sunium. -ΠΑΝΟϹ is inscribed on the rock near the entrance, proving that it -was considered sacred to Pan. It is no doubt the Panīon mentioned by -Strabo[288]. - - [288] L. ix. cap. 1. § 21. It was consecrated to the Nymphs as well - as to Pan, this association of the Nymphs with that deity being - universally practised. Dodwell’s Tour, vol. i. p. 550-555. “The - countryman and shepherd, as well as the sportsman, has often - repaired, it is likely, to this cave, to render the deities - propitious by sacrificing a she-goat or lamb, by gifts of cakes or - fruit, and by libations of milk, oil, and honey; simply believing, - that this attention was pleasing to them, _that they were present - though unseen_, and partook without diminishing the offering; their - appetites as well as passions, caprices, and employments resembling - the human. At noon-day the pipe was silent on the mountains, _lest - it might happen to awake Pan, then reposing after the exercise of - hunting, tired and peevish_.” Chandler’s Travels in Greece, c. 32. - p. 155. - -The Corycian cave on Mount Parnassus was dedicated by the surrounding -inhabitants to Pan and to the Nymphs[289]. Theocritus also (Idyll. -viii. v. 103.) speaks of Homole, a mountainous tract in the south -of Thessaly, as belonging to Pan. Altars were dedicated to Pan on -the race-course at Olympia in Elis[290], as we may presume, out of -respect to the Arcadians, who resorted to the Olympic games. Pindar -states[291], that he had near his door a statue of Pan. Here, as his -able commentators Heyne and Böckh observe, his daughters with other -Theban virgins sung hymns in honor of the god. - -Time has spared the traces of hymns performed on such occasions, of -which the following Scholion is the most entire specimen. - - Ὦ Πάν, Ἀρκαδίας μέδων κλεεννᾶς, - ὀρχηστὰ βρομίαις ὀπαδὲ νύμφαις, - γελάσειας, ὦ Πὰν, ἐπ’ ἐμαῖς - εὐφροσύναις, ἀοιδαῖς κεχαρημένος[292]. - - O Pan, Arcadia’s sovereign lord, - Dancing and singing with the nymphs; - Smile, Pan, responsive to my joys, - O shout, delighted with my songs. - - [289] Paus. l. x. 32. 5. Strabo, l. ix. cap. 3. § 1. p. 488. ed. - Siebenkees Raikes’s Journal in Memoirs edited by Walpole, p. - 311-315. - - [290] Paus. l. v. c. 15. § 4. - - [291] Pyth. iii. 137-139. - - [292] Athenæus, l. xv. 50. 1547. ed. Dindorf. Pindari Op. a Böckh. ii. - 2. p. 592. Brunck, Analecta, vol. i. p. 156; and vol. iii. Lect. et - Emend. p. 27. - -On a vase of Greek marble in the Royal Museum at Naples (This vase -was first described in [Italian 275] Bayardi, Catalogo degli antichi -monumenti dissottarretti da Ercolano. Napoli, 1754, p. 290. No. 914.), -we see Pan dancing with the nymphs exactly as he is represented in the -preceding song. The sculpture is in that very ancient style, which is -called _Etruscan_. Pan is here exhibited with goats’ feet and horns -(Hom. Hymn. in Pana, 1. 2.). He wears the skin of an animal, and -employs his right hand in drawing it up towards his left shoulder. In -his left hand he holds the crook or pastoral staff, which is one of -his usual emblems. Pan and the three females, with whom he is dancing, -form a distinct group by themselves. They are moving round a large -stone, and the artist probably imagined them to be moving first in one -direction, and then in the opposite, as if performing the Strophe and -Antistrophe around an altar. We learn from Mr. Dodwell, that the modern -Greeks in their circular dances hold each other with a handkerchief, -and not by the hand[293]. - - [293] Dodwell’s Tour, vol. ii. p. 21, 22. - -That the Romans considered Pān and Faun to be the same, using the -two names indiscriminately, the one as the Greek, the other as the -Latin form, is evident from such passages as the following: - - Pan from Arcadia’s hills descends - To visit oft my Sabine seat, - And here my tender goats defends - From rainy winds and summer’s heat. - - For when the vales, wide-spreading round, - The sloping hills, and polish’d rocks, - With his harmonious pipe resound, - In fearless safety graze my flocks. - - Hor. Od. l. i. c. 17. v. 1-12. - -The names Pan and Faun, scarcely differ except in this, that the -one begins with P, the _lenis_, and the other with F, which is its -_aspirate_: in the second place, both were conceived to have not only -the same form and appearance, but the same habits, dispositions, and -employments: thirdly, the goat was sacrificed to Pan in Greece[294] -and to Faunus in Italy[295], because the Arcadian and Roman deity was -conceived to be the guardian of goats as well as sheep, but this animal -was not sacrificed to the Egyptian Mendes, because - - In safety through the woody brake - The latent shrubs and thyme explore, - Nor longer dread the speckled snake, - And tremble at the wolf no more. - _Francis’s Translation, abridged._ - -in Egypt the goat itself was supposed to be Mendes, an incarnation -of the god; and lastly, it is recorded as an historical fact, that -the worship of Faunus was brought to Rome from Arcadia, whereas the -supposition of the introduction of the same worship into Arcadia from -Egypt, though found in the pages of an historian, is not given by him -as a matter of history, but only as a matter of opinion. The account of -the origin of the worship of Faunus at Rome, is as follows: _Evander, -the Arcadian, introduced a colony of his countrymen into Italy, and -established there the rights of Mercury and of the Lycean Pan on the -hill, which was afterwards called the Palatine Mount and became part of -the city of Rome_. A cave at the base of the hill was dedicated to Pan, -as we have seen was the case some centuries afterwards at Athens[296]. - - [294] Longi Pastor. l. ii. c. 17. In an epigram by Leonidas of Tarentum - (No. xxx. Brunckii Analecta, tom. i. p. 228.) Bito, an aged - Arcadian, dedicates offerings to Pan, to Bacchus, and to the - Nymphs. To Pan he devotes a kid. - - [295] Ovid. Fasti, ii. See also Hor. Od. l. i. 4. v. ii. - - [296] Dionys. Halicarn. Hist. Rom. l. i. p. 20, 21, ed. R. Steph. Paris - 1546. Strabon l. v. cap. iii. § 3. Aur. Victor, Origo Gentis - Romanæ. Livii l. i. c. 5. Pausanias, viii. 43. 2. Virg. Æn. viii. - 51-54. 342-344. Heyne’s Excursus ad loc. Ovidii Fasti, ii. 268-452. - v. 88, &c. - -In the preceding observations we have endeavored to give a correct -representation of the real sentiments and practices of the Arcadians -in regard to the proper divinity of their country; and from this -account we are naturally led to inquire what influence this peculiar -belief and worship had upon their manners and their social life. -Whilst the elegant simplicity and innocence of the Arcadian shepherds, -their graceful chorusses, their dance and song, their love for their -fleecy charge, which they delighted and soothed with the melody of -the pipe, have been the theme and ornament of poetry and romance from -the earliest times, the question is highly important and interesting, -whether these ideal visions are realised by historical testimony? -whether the shepherds of the ancient Arcadia were so entirely and so -favorably distinguished from men of the same class and employment -in almost all other times and countries? One modern writer denies -this fact. He says, “The refined and almost spiritualized state of -innocence, which we call the pastoral life of Arcadia, was entirely -unknown to the ancients:” and he quotes in support of this assertion -several expressions, used by Philostratus and other writers, and -denoting contempt for the Arcadians as a rude, ignorant, stupid race -of people[297]. Polybius, who was an Arcadian, confidently asserts, -that they had throughout Greece a high and honorable reputation, not -only on account of their hospitality to strangers and their benevolence -towards all men, but especially on account of their _piety towards -the divine being_! It is true they make no figure in Grecian history, -because they were too wise to take part in the irrational contests, -which continually embroiled the surrounding states. Their division into -small independent communities, each presenting a purely _democratic_ -constitution, _rendered it impossible for them to acquire celebrity -in legislation_; and yet we are informed of some of the citizens of -Arcadia, who were reputed excellent lawgivers for the sphere in which -they acted[298]. It appears to be no inconsiderable evidence of their -progress in the art of government upon republican principles, _that -in the choice of magistrates at Mantinea they proceeded upon the plan -of a double election_[299]. We have the most decisive proofs of their -public spirit in the splendid cities, which they erected, and which -were adorned with theatres, temples, and numerous other edifices. We -are informed by Pausanias[300], that of all the temples in Peloponnesus -the most beautiful and admirable were those of Minerva at Tegea and -of Apollo at Phigalia; and these were both cities of Arcadia. Now -it should be observed, that the taste and splendor of their public -edifices are the more decisive proofs of their national enthusiasm, -when it is considered, _that among them property was exceedingly -subdivided; that they had no overpowering aristocracy_, no princes or -great landed gentry, who might seek for renown or court popularity by -bestowing their wealth upon public institutions; but that the noble -temples, the sculptures, and other works of art, which ornamented their -cities and were subservient to purposes of common interest, could have -been produced only by the united deliberations and contributions of the -mass of the inhabitants. They seem therefore to _prove_ the _universal_ -prevalence both of a liberal patriotic feeling, and of a cultivated -taste for the beautiful and the sublime. - - [297] J. H. Voss, Virgil’s Ländliche Gedichte, tom. ii. p. 353. - - [298] Wachsmuth, Hellen. Alterthumskunde, i. 1. p. 180; i. 2. p. 305. - - [299] Aristot. Polit. l. vi. 2. 2. - - [300] L. viii. c. 41. 5. p. 429, ed. Siebel. - -Virgil bears his testimony to their superior skill in vocal and -instrumental music. - - Arcadian swains, - Ye best artificers of soothing strains. - _Bucol._ x. 32.--_Warton’s Translation._ - -This must of course be understood as referring only to music and -poetry of the pastoral kind. To the composition of the higher species -of poetry, by which the Greeks of other countries laid a foundation for -the instruction and delight of all succeeding ages, the Arcadians never -aspired. At the same time there can be no doubt that they bestowed -great care upon the exhibition of dramatic compositions, though they -did not attempt to write them: of this fact we have sufficient proof -in the remains of the theatres found upon the sites of their principal -cities, and especially of the theatre of Megalopolis, which was the -greatest in all Greece[301]. - - [301] Pausanias, l. viii. 32. 1. Leake’s Travels in the Morea, vol. ii. - p. 32. 39, 40. - -But with respect to their cultivation of music and its influence on -their national character, we have upon record the full and explicit -testimony of one of their most distinguished citizens, the historian -Polybius, whose remarks will appear especially deserving of the -reader’s attention, when it is considered, that he must himself have -gone through the whole course of discipline and instruction which he -describes. Having had occasion to mention the turbulent character -as well as the cruel and perfidious conduct of the Cynætheans, who -occupied a city and district in the north of Arcadia, he proposes to -inquire why it was that, although they were indeed Arcadians, they -had acted in a manner so entirely at variance with the usual habits -and manners of the Greeks, and he then proceeds with earnestness and -solemnity to explain upon the following principles the cause of this -extraordinary contrast. It was, as he states, that the Cynætheans -were the only inhabitants of Arcadia who had neglected to exercise -themselves in music; and he then gives the following account of -the established practice of the rest of the Arcadians in devoting -themselves to the study of _real_ music, by which he means the -united arts of music, poetry, and dancing, of all those elegant and -graceful performances, over which the Muses were supposed to preside. -He informs us that the Arcadians, whose general habits were very -severe, were required by law to go on improving themselves in music, -so understood, until their thirtieth year. “In childhood,” says he, -“they are taught to sing in tune hymns and pæans in honor of the -domestic heroes and divinities. They afterwards learn the music of -Philoxenus and Timotheus. They dance to the pipe in the theatres at -the annual festival of Bacchus; and they do this with great emulation, -the boys performing mock-fights adapted to their age, and the young -men the so-called manly fights. In like manner throughout the whole -of life their pleasure at feasts and entertainments consists, not in -listening to singers hired for the purpose, but in singing themselves -in their turns when called upon. For, although a man may decline any -other performance on the ground of inability and may thereby bring no -imputation on himself, no one can refuse to sing, because all have -been obliged to learn it, and to refuse to take a part, when able, is -deemed disgraceful. The young men also unite together to perform in -order all the military steps and motions to the sound of the pipe, -and at the public expense they exhibit them every year before their -fellow-citizens. Besides these ballets, marches, and mock-fights, -the men and women unite in great public assemblies and in numerous -sacrifices, to which are to be added the circular or choral dances by -the boys and virgins.” Polybius adds, that these musical exercises had -been ordained as the means of communicating softness and refinement to -the otherwise rough and laborious life of the Arcadians, and he warns -them by the example of the half-savages of Cynæthæ never to abandon -such wholesome institutions[302]. With how great benefit to our own -social character might we adopt this counsel! How greatly might we -contribute both to the innocent enjoyment and to the more improved and -elevated tastes of our rustics and artisans, if well-regulated plans -were devised, by which graceful recreations, providing at the same time -exercise for the body, amusement for the imagination, and employment -for the finer and more amiable feelings, were made to relieve the -degrading and benumbing monotony of their protracted labors, whether in -the factory or in the field! - - [302] Polyb. l. iv. c. 20, 21. - -It will be readily perceived, that the education here described, and -the tastes and habits which it produced, were immediately associated -with the popular religion, and especially with the notions and rites -entertained towards the peculiar god of the shepherds. Other deities -indeed, such as Apollo, Diana, and Minerva, who were also worshipped in -Arcadia, may have contributed to the same effect; and especially this -may have been the case with Mercury, perhaps the only one of the higher -Greek divinities, who was conceived to have a benevolent character, -who was the father of Pan, and was himself reported to have been born -in a cave of the same mountain in Arcadia, on which he was worshipped. -He was a lover of instrumental music, having invented the lyre, and -he was frequently represented on coins and gems, riding upon a ram, -or with his emblems so connected with the figures of sheep, and more -rarely of goats and of dogs, as to prove that in his character as the -god of gain the shepherds looked up to him together with his offspring -to bless the flocks and to increase their produce[303]. Hence Homer, in -order to convey the idea that Phorbas was remarkably successful in the -breeding of sheep, says that he was beloved by Mercury above all the -other Trojans[304]. The inhabitants of one territory even in Arcadia, -viz. the city of Phineos, honored Mercury more than all the other gods, -and expressed this sentiment by procuring a statue of him made by a -celebrated sculptor in Ægina, in which he was represented carrying a -ram under his arm, and which they placed in the great temple of Jupiter -at Olympia[305]. At Corinth there was a brazen statue of Mercury in a -sitting posture with a ram standing beside him. According to Pausanias -(ii. 3, 4.) the reason of this representation was, that of all the -gods Mercury was thought most to take care of flocks and to promote -their increase. But, as the Corinthians had little or nothing to do -with the tending of sheep and were devoted to commerce, we may ask what -interest had they in this attribute of Mercury? It is very evident -that it could only be an interest arising from the part which Corinth -took in the wool-trade. That the Arcadians did not themselves consume -their wool is manifest. How could they have built cities, which were -so large, numerous, and handsome in proportion to the extent of their -country, and have lived even in that degree of elegance and luxury, -to which they attained, _unless they had been able to dispose of the -chief produce of their soil in a profitable manner_? It is probable -therefore, that the representation of Mercury or of his emblems in -conjunction with the figure of the sheep on the coins of Corinth and -Patræ may be regarded as an intimation, that the Arcadians disposed of -their wool in those cities for exportation to foreign countries. - - [303] Buonaroti (Osservazioni sopra alcuni Medaglioni Antichi, p. - 41.) has exhibited brass coins, in one of which Mercury is riding - on a sheep; in a second the sheep is seen with Mercury’s bag of - money on its back; and in a third the caduceus is over the sheep, - and two spikes of corn, emblems of agricultural prosperity, spring - out of the ground before it. Among the gems of the Baron de Stosch, - now belonging to the Royal Cabinet at Berlin, No. 381. Class II. - represents Mercury sitting upon a rock with a dog by his side: - Winckelmann observes, that “the dog is the symbol of Mercury as - the protector of shepherds.” Nos. 392, 393, 396-402, in the same - collection, represent him with sheep, and one of them (399.) - exhibits him standing erect in a chariot drawn by four rams, and - holding the bag or purse in his right hand and the caduceus in his - left. - - Some of the coins of Sicily appear to refer in like manner to the - character of Mercury as the promoter of the trade in wool. - - The Honorable Keppel Craven (Excursions in the Abruzzi, London, - 1838, vol. i. ch. 4. p. 109.) mentions a temple at Arpinum, a city - of Latium, which was dedicated, as appears from an inscription - found on its site, to MERCURIUS LANARIUS. This title evidently - represented Mercury as presiding over the growth of wool and the - trade in it. - - Perhaps the very ancient idea of Mercury making the fleece of - Phryxus golden by his touch may have originated in the same view. - See Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, l. 11. 1144, and Scholion ad - locum. - - [304] Il. xiv. 490. See also Hom. Hymn to Mercury, 569. Hesiod, Theog. - 444. - - [305] Paus. l. v. 27. 5. and l. viii. 14. 7. - -But, notwithstanding the important share, which Mercury had in the -religious sentiments and observances of the Arcadians, the proper god -of the shepherds of Arcadia was Pan, and we have already had abundant -evidence to suggest the conviction, that their songs and dances were -performed principally in honor of him, and were supposed to be taught, -guided, and animated by him. - -Arcadia has for many centuries exhibited a most melancholy contrast -to that condition of hardy and yet peaceful independence, of rustic -simplicity united with tasteful elegance, of social kindness and -domestic enjoyment undisturbed by the projects of ambition, which has -supplied many of the most beautiful pictures to the writers of poetry -and romance. The great natural features of the country are unalterable. -The pine-forests of Lycæus, its deep glens continually refreshed with -sparkling streams and cataracts, its savage precipices where scarce -even a goat can climb, remain in their original beauty and grandeur. -This region also affords pasture to flocks of sheep more numerous -than those which feed in any other part of Greece[306]. But whatever -depends on the moral nature of man is changed. The valleys, once richly -cultivated and tenanted by an overflowing population, are scarcely kept -in tillage. The noble cities are traced only by their scattered ruins. -The few descendants of the ancient Arcades have crouched beneath a -degrading tyranny. The thick forests and awful caverns but a few years -ago served to shelter fierce banditti; and the traveller startled at -the sound of their fire-arms instead of being charmed with the sweet -melody of the syrinx[307]. But a new dynasty has been established under -the sanction of the most powerful and enlightened nations of Europe. It -remains to be seen whether this or any other part of Greece will again -become wise, virtuous, and renowned. The philanthropist, who amidst the -gloom and desolation of the moral world depends with confidence upon -an all-wise and all-disposing Providence, may console himself with the -hope, that that great Being who bestowed such inestimable blessings -upon Arcadian shepherds in their ignorance, will not abandon those -of their descendants, who with superior means of knowledge, aim at -corresponding attainments in the excellencies of political, social, and -private life. - - [306] [German 283] Bartholdy, Bruchstücke zur Kenntniss des - heut. Griechenlands, p. 238. - - [307] Dodwell’s Tour, vol. ii. p. 388-393. Leake’s Travels in the - Morea, vol. i. p. 486-490. The latter author gives the following - account of a visit which he paid to the family of a shepherd, - consisting of twelve or fifteen individuals, who lived together in - a tent on Mount Lycæus:--“Milk and misithra (a preparation made - by boiling milk and whey together) is their usual food. ‘We have - milk in plenty,’ they tell me, ‘but no bread.’ Such is the life - of a modern Arcadian shepherd, who has almost reverted to the - balanephagous state of his primitive ancestors (Orac. Pyth. ap. - Pausan. Arcad. c. 42.). The children, however, all look healthy and - are handsome, having large black eyes and regular features with - very dark complexion.” - -According to the representation in the Odyssey (xiv. 100.) Ulysses -had twelve flocks of sheep, and as many of goats on the continent -opposite to Ithaca. At a much later period Neoptolemus, a king of -Molossis, in possession of flocks and herds, which were superintended -by a distinct officer appointed for the purpose[308]. In Macedonia -also the king, though living in a state of so little refinement that -his queen _baked the bread for the whole household_, was possessed at -an early period of flocks of sheep and goats together with horses and -herds of oxen, which were entrusted to the care of separate officers. -We are informed that three Argive brothers, having taken refuge in the -upper part of Macedonia bordering upon Illyria, became hired servants -to the king, one of them having the custody of the horses, another of -the oxen, and a third of the sheep and goats[309]. Here then we find -in Europe a state of society _analogous to that which_, as we have -seen, _existed in Palestine under David_. Indeed we may observe, that -all the countries bordering on Macedonia were contrasted with Attica -and Arcadia in this respect, that, while the Athenians and Arcadians -were in general small landed proprietors, each shepherd tending his -flock upon his own ground, Phrygia[310], Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus, -and even Bœotia belonged probably to an aristocracy, the richest -and most powerful individuals of which became shepherd kings, their -landed possessions giving them a superiority over the rest of their -countrymen, and leading to the employment of numerous persons as their -servants engaged in tending their cattle and in other rural occupations. - - [308] Plutarchi Pyrrhus, p. 705. ed. Steph. - - [309] Herod. viii. 137. - - [310] Theopompus, as quoted by Servius on Virgil, Buc. vi. 13, makes - mention of the shepherds, who kept the flocks of Midas, king of - Phrygia. - -Respecting the attention paid to sheep-breeding in Epirus we have -the testimony of Varro in his treatise De Re Rustica. He informs us -(ii. 2.) that it was usual there to have one man to take care of 100 -coarse-wooled sheep (_oves hirtæ_), and two men for the same number of -“_oves pellitæ_,” or sheep which wore skins. The attention bestowed -upon dogs is an indirect evidence of the care which was devoted to -flocks. It is worthy of remark, that the dogs used to guard the flocks -in the modern Albania, appear to be the genuine descendants of the -ancient “canes Molossici,” being distinguished by their size as well as -by their strength and ferocity[311]. Further notices respecting them -may be found in Virgil’s Georgics, l. iii. 404-413, and in the Notes of -his editors and translators, Heyne, Martyn, and J. H. Voss. See also -Ælian de Nat. An. iii. 2. and Plautus, Capt. l. i. 18. - - [311] Holland’s Travels, p. 443. Hughes’s Travels, vol. i. p. 483, 484, - 496. - -There is another important circumstance, in which probably the habits -of the modern shepherds of Albania are similar to those of the ancient -occupants of the same region, viz. the annual practice of resorting -to the high grounds in summer and returning to the plains in winter, -which prevails both here and in most mountainous countries devoted to -sheep-breeding. The following extract from Dr. Holland’s Travels in the -Ionian Isles, Albania, &c. (_p._ 91-93.), gives a lively representation -of this proceeding: - - “When advanced eight or nine miles on our journey (from Cinque - Pozzi to Joannina; October 31st, 1813,) and crossing another ridge - of high and broken land, we were highly interested in a spectacle, - which by a fortunate incident occurred to our notice. We met on the - road a community of migrating shepherds, a wandering people of the - mountains of Albania, who in the summer feed their flocks in these - hilly regions, and in the winter spread them over the plains in the - vicinity of the Gulph of Arta and along other parts of the coast. The - many large flocks of sheep we had met the day before belonged to these - people, and were preceding them to the plains. The cavalcade we now - passed through was nearly two miles in length with few interruptions. - The number of horses with the emigrants might exceed a thousand; they - were chiefly employed in carrying the moveable habitations and the - various goods of the community, which were packed with remarkable - neatness and uniformity[312]. The infants and smaller children were - variously attached to the luggage, while the men, women, and elder - children travelled for the most part on foot; a healthy and masculine - race of people, but strongly marked by the wild and uncouth exterior - connected with their manner of life. The greater part of the men - were clad in coarse white woollen garments; the females in the - same material, but more curiously colored, and generally with some - ornamented lacing about the breast.” He then adds, “These migratory - tribes of shepherds generally come down from the mountains about the - latter end of October, and return thither from the plains in April, - after disposing of a certain proportion of their sheep and horses. In - travelling, they pass the night on the plains or open lands. Arrived - at the place of their destination, they construct their little huts or - tents of the materials they carry with them, assisted by the stones, - straw, or earth, which they find on the spot.” - - [312] No one has described this pastoral migration more minutely or - more beautifully, than Mr. Charles Fellows, in his _Discoveries in - Lycia_. - -According to Dr. Sibthorp (_in Walpole’s Memoirs_, _p._ 141.), “a -wandering tribe of Nomads” on the other side of Greece drive their -flocks from the mountains of Thessaly into the plains of Attica and -Bœotia to pass the winter. “They give some pecuniary consideration to -the Pasha of Negropont and Vaivode of Athens. These people are much -famed for their woollen manufactures, particularly the coats or cloaks -worn by the Greek sailors.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE -SCRIPTURES, &c. - - Sheep-breeding in Sicily--Bucolic poetry--Sheep-breeding in - South Italy--Annual migration of the flocks--The ram employed to - aid the shepherd in conducting his flock--The ram an emblem of - authority--Bells--Ancient inscription at Sepino--Use of music by - ancient shepherds--Superior quality of Tarentine sheep--Testimony - of Columella--Distinction of the coarse and soft kinds--Names - given to sheep--Supposed effect of the water of rivers on - wool--Sheep-breeding in South Italy, Tarentum, and Apulia--Brown - and red wool--Sheep-breeding in North Italy--Wool of Parma, Modena, - Mantua, and Padua--Origin of sheep-breeding in Italy--Faunus the same - with Pan--Ancient sculptures exhibiting Faunus--Bales of wool and - the shepherd’s dress--Costume, appearance, and manner of life of the - ancient Italian shepherds. - - - Still shall o’er all prevail the shepherd’s stores, - For numerous uses known; none yield such warmth, - Such beauteous hues receive, so long endure; - So pliant to the loom, so various, none.--_Dyer._ - -We now pass over to _Sicily_. The pastoral life of the Sicilians was -marked by peculiar characters as well as that of the Arcadians. The -bucolic poems of Theocritus represent many of its circumstances in the -most lively colors; and, while their dramatic spirit and vivacity are -unrivalled, they seem to be most exact copies of nature, the dialogues -which they contain being in the style, the language, and the precise -dialect of the Sicilian shepherds, and indeed only differing from -their real conversation by being composed in hexameters. It is to -be observed, that the mountains and pastures of Sicily were browsed -by goats and oxen as well as by sheep. These animals were, however, -under distinct keepers, called respectively Shepherds, Goatherds, and -Herdsmen. But the tastes, manner of life, and the superstitions of -these three classes of rustics appear to have been undistinguishable. -They were probably not always independent proprietors of the soil, -but in many cases the servants of a landed aristocracy who lived in -_Syracuse_ and other splendid cities. They appear, however, to have -enjoyed far greater comforts and advantages than the corresponding -class of hired laborers in the countries to the north of the -Peloponnesus and of Attica. In composing pastoral verses and in playing -on the pipe and the syrinx they probably equalled the Arcadians. Whilst -they were watching their flocks and herds, it was a frequent amusement -with them for two persons to contend for a stipulated prize, such as a -goat, a carved wooden bowl, or a syrinx, which was to be awarded by an -appointed judge to him who most excelled either in instrumental music, -or in singing alternate and extemporaneous verses[313]. - - [313] According to the learned German traveller, Baron Riedesel, the - custom was not extinct in his time; for in his Travels through - Sicily, page 148 of Forster’s English translation, he says, “The - shepherds still sing with emulation to gain the crook or the purse, - which is the prize of the best performer.” Nevertheless, the modern - can be only a very faint imitation of the ancient practice; for - thus the same author speaks in other passages: - - “Here I had an opportunity of pitying the wretched situation of - modern Sicily in comparison with what it was in former ages. Many - towns and different nations are destroyed; immense riches are - dissipated; the whole island can at present scarce show 1,200,000 - inhabitants, _the number which Syracuse alone formerly had_. Many - beautiful spots, which used to produce corn and fruits, are now - deserted for want of laborers; many spacious ports are without any - ships for want of trade; and many people want bread, _whilst the - nobility and the monks_ are in possession of all the lands.” p. - 112, 113. - - “To conclude, the climate, the soil, and the fruits of the country - are as perfect as ever. But the precious Greek liberty, population, - power, magnificence, and good taste, are now not to be met with as - in former times, and the present inhabitants can only say, Fuimus - Troes.” p. 151. - -That this elegant recreation was of Sicilian origin we have clear and -abundant evidence. Bion (_Idyll_ vii. 1.) calls pastoral poetry “a -Sicilian strain;” which certainly implies, that of all places where the -Greek language was used Sicily was the most noted for it, and that in -fact it properly belonged to Sicily. So Moschus (_Idyll_ iii.) speaks -of “the Sicilian muses;” and throughout this Idyll, which is the lament -of Moschus on the death of Bion, he repeatedly speaks of the pastoral -poetry, such as Bion cultivated, as proper to Sicily. In Virgil’s -Bucolics we find frequent allusions to the same acknowledged fact. Thus -he says, - - “I will set my verses to the tune of a Sicilian shepherd.” - _Buc._ x. 51. - -The historian Diodorus, himself a Sicilian, who lived about the -commencement of the Christian æra, supposes bucolic poetry and music -to be the peculiar invention and exercise of his own country, and -says, that it continued in use at his time and was held in the same -estimation as formerly[314]. In less than 200 years from this period -the art lost much of its original simplicity. Maximus Tyrius (Diss. -xxi.) says, that “the Dorians of Sicily became, to use the mildest -term, _more weak in understanding_,” (_more dissolute_) “when instead -of the simple Alpine music, which they used to employ in the presence -of their flocks and herds, they began to love the tunes of the -Sybarites, and a style of dancing adapted to them, such as was required -by the Ionic pipe.” - - [314] L. iv. c. 84, p. 283. - -But, although the rustic Dorians of Sicily had the full credit of this -invention and were never surpassed in the practice of it by any other -people, yet the imitation of it was attempted in various instances -by the pastoral inhabitants of other countries. More especially, it -appears to have been adopted in the neighboring district of Magna -Græcia; for it is near _Sybaris_ that Theocritus has placed the scene -of his Fifth Idyll, in which, a shepherd having staked a lamb and a -goatherd a kid, they contend in alternate verses, whilst a wood-cutter, -whom they have called from his labor, listens as judge, and awards -the prize to the goatherd, who hereupon joyfully sacrifices his newly -acquired lamb to the Nymphs. - -In the Seventh Idyll (_v._ 12, 27, 40.) Theocritus mentions the -goatherd, _Lycidas_ of Crete, who was his contemporary, and also his -predecessors and supposed instructors, _Asclepiades of Samos_, and -_Philetas of Cos_, as distinguished for skill in pastoral music. - -The bucolic poems of Theocritus prove, that the Arcadian belief in -the attributes of Pan had extended itself into Sicily and the South of -Italy, so that the rustics of those countries not only invoked him by -name, but even sometimes offered sacrifices to him. Thus, in Idyll v. -58, the Lucanian goatherd already referred to says, that he will set -aside for Pan eight dishes of milk and six of honey. - -But besides importing the belief in Pan from Arcadia the Sicilians -recognized two demigods of native origin, who contributed, if not to -excite feelings allied to religion, at least to amuse their imagination -and to contribute greatly to the variety and liveliness of their -poetry. These were the shepherd Polyphemus, who was horridly deformed, -and the herdsman Daphnis, who was endowed with the most surpassing -beauty. - -Polyphemus was the son of Neptune. Notwithstanding his forbidden aspect -he is represented as susceptible of some tender emotions, and it is his -misfortune to be deeply enamored of the beautiful _Nereid_ or Mermaid -Galatea, whom he sees sporting in the green waves, while he surveys the -coast from the summit of a mountain and plays upon the syrinx for the -amusement of himself and his flock[315]. - - [315] Theocritus, Idyll vi. and xi. Lucian, Dial. Doridis et Galateæ. - Ovid, Met. L. xiii. 739-870. - -The Sicilian Daphnis, like the Arcadian Pan, was the son of Mercury and -of a mountain nymph, and excelled in playing on the syrinx; but his -form was entirely human and the most beautiful that could be imagined. - - The guardian of fair kine, himself more fair. - _Virg. Buc._ v. 44. - -He tended his cattle upon the picturesque Heræan mountains to the north -of Ætna, and did not mix in the society of men. At the time when the -beard was beginning to grow on his upper lip, the nymph Echenais became -enamored of him, and enjoined him upon pain of losing his eye-sight -not to approach any other female. He consented, and for some time -persisted in obeying her; but at length a Sicilian princess, having -intoxicated him with wine, accomplished her purpose. He shared the fate -of Thamyras, the Thracian, and was thus punished for his folly[316]. He -then pined away, and died of hopeless love for the nymph, whom he had -offended[317]. According to Virgil (_Buc._ v. 56-71.) _he was raised to -the stars_, and sacrifices were offered to him by the shepherds. - - [316] Timæus, author of the Hist. of Sicily, as quoted by Parthenius, - c. 29. Ælian, Var. Hist. L. x. c. 18. Diod. Sic. L. iv. c. 84. p. - 283. - - [317] Theocritus, Idyll i. 66-141. and vii. 72-77. - -Daphnis was the frequent subject of pastoral poetry, being regarded as -an ideal representation of the perfection of the shepherd’s culture and -manner of life. Of this we have a proof in the epigram of Callimachus -on the death of Astacides, and which concludes thus: “We (shepherds) -will no longer sing of Daphnis, but of Astacides.” The poet’s design -was to extol Astacides, by comparing him with Daphnis. According to -Ælian (_l. c._) the first bucolic poems related to the blindness of -Daphnis and its cause; and the first poet, who composed verses upon -this subject, was Stesichorus of Himera in Sicily. In Theocritus the -allusions to the beautiful story of Daphnis are very frequent[318], -and his sad fate is described at length by contending shepherds or -goatherds in the First and Seventh Idylls. We shall quote only his -dying words, where he calls on Pan to leave the great Mænalus and the -long ridges of Lycæus, and to come to Sicily in order to receive from -his own hand the syrinx, on which he had been accustomed to play. - - Ἔνθ’ ᾦναξ, καὶ τάνδε φέρ’ εὐπάκτοιο μελίπνουν - Ἐκ κηρῶ σύριγγα καλὰν, περὶ χεῖλος ἑλικτάν· - Ἠ γὰρ ἐγὼν ὑπ’ ἔρωτος ἐς ἅδᾶν ἕλκομαι ἤδη. - - Come, mighty king, come, Pan, and take my pipe, - Well join’d with wax and fitted to my lip; - For now ’tis useless grown, Love stops my breath, - I cannot pipe, but must be mute in death. - _Creech’s Translation._ - - [318] Idyll v. 20. See also v. 80. In Idyll vi. Daphnis is one of the - performers, and gives a description of Galatea. - -Pliny informs us, that in his time the wool of Apulia was in the -highest repute; that throughout the South of Italy the best sheep were -bred in the vicinity of Tarentum and Canusium; and that the wool of -Tarentum was admired for its tinge of black, and that of Canusium for -its fine brown or yellow color[319]. - - [319] See Appendix A. - -The directions for the management of sheep, given by Varro, Columella, -Virgil, and other writers on rural affairs, all tend to show the pains -taken by the Romans to improve the breed of sheep, and especially to -produce wool of the finest quality. - -The first of these authors (_De Re Rustica_, L. ii. _Præf._) mentions -his own flocks of sheep in Apulia. It appears from his account that -every man was obliged to report the number of his sheep to the publican -and to have them inscribed in a register, the earliest allusion, to a -code of laws, which may probably have been in some respects similar to -that now called “La Mesta” in Spain. Varro further speaks expressly of -the summer and winter migrations of the flocks; and to show the great -distances to which they were conducted on these occasions, he states -that the sheep of Apulia were taken every year to pass the summer in -the mountains of Samnium, and sometimes even in those of Reate[320]. - - [320] De Re Rustica, L. ii. c. 1. p. 161. ed. Bip. See also, c. 2. p. - 167. - -Of the nature and circumstances of these annual migrations we are -enabled to form some judgment, not only from the animated description -already quoted from Dr. Holland in relation to Albania, but still more -distinctly from the following accounts by the Honorable Keppel Craven, -one of which relates to the first group of mountains mentioned by -Varro, the other to the second. - -In the year 1818 Mr. Craven visited a large farm a few miles to the -south of Foggia, and consequently not far from the site of the ancient -Arpi in Apulia. He mentions the following particulars. - - “Above 200 persons were employed, and resided on the spot. The - stock of sheep consisted of 8000, divided into several flocks; to - which those of cows, goats, and buffaloes, together with a set of - brood mares and a suitable quantity of poultry, bore an equivalent - proportion. All the cattle are guarded by large milk-white dogs of - the Abruzzo breed. These animals are very handsome and resemble - the Newfoundland species, but have sharper noses; they are very - intelligent and equally fierce. The flocks are tended by natives - of Abruzzo, who also undertake the care of milking them, as well - as making the cheese, &c.; they are assisted by their wives and - children, who accompany them in their yearly migrations to and from - the mountains. These shepherds are clothed in the skins of the animals - which they watch, and are reckoned a quiet, attentive, frugal, and - trust-worthy race.” _Tour through the southern Provinces of the - Kingdom of Naples, by the Honorable Keppel Craven_, p. 80. - -The scene of the following extract is the valley of the Aternus, -descending from the region of the highest Apennines, the “montes -Reatini” of Varro, not very remote from the ruins of his farm and -villa, (These ruins are described at page 45 of the volume from which -this passage is extracted.), and proceeding towards the sites of the -modern Aquila and of the ancient Amiternum. - - “One of the broad tratturos, or cattle-paths, runs in the same line - with the high-road to Aquila; and I was so fortunate as to see it - occupied by a very extended line of flocks, which slowly passed by the - carriage for the space of a mile or more. The word ‘fortunate’ adapted - to such a spectacle, may excite a smile in my readers; but I own that - I never beheld one of these numerous animal congregations plodding - across the flats of Capitanata, or the valleys of Abruzzo, as far as - the eye could reach, without experiencing a sensation of a novel and - exciting kind, nearly allied to that of enjoyment, but which I shall - not attempt to account for. - - “One shepherd heads each division of cattle, of which he has the - peculiar care and direction. Armed with his crook, he walks some - paces in advance of his flock, followed by an old ram termed _il - manso_; which word, meaning tame or instructed, has undoubtedly a more - apposite signification than that of our bell-wether, though he is, as - well as ours, furnished with a large deep-toned bell. - - “The sheep march in files of about twelve in each; and every - battalion, if I may so call it, is attended by six or eight dogs, - according to its number; these accompanying the herd, walking at the - head, middle, and rear of each flank. The beauty and docility of - these animals, which are usually white, has often been described, and - their demeanor is gentle as long as the objects of their solicitude - are unmolested, but at night they are so savage, that it would be - dangerous to approach the fold they guard. - - “The goats, which bear a very small proportion to the sheep, and - are in general black, wind up the array, and evince their superior - intelligence by lying down whenever a temporary halt takes place. The - cows and mares travel in separate bodies. A certain number of these - flocks, commonly those belonging to the same proprietor, are under the - immediate management and inspection of an agent, entitled _fattore_, - who accompanies them on horseback, armed with a musket, and better - clad than the shepherds, who, both in summer and winter, wear the - large _sheep-skin jacket_, and are in other respects provided with - substantial though homely attire, including good strong shoes. - - “These Fattores are all natives of Abruzzo, an Apulian never having - been known to undertake the profession: the former, through particular - habits and the repeated experience of years, are looked upon as so - peculiarly fitted for the care required by cattle, and indeed animals - of all kinds, that all the helpers in the stables of the capital are - natives of these provinces, or of the adjoining county of Molise. In - addition to these qualifications, they are esteemed an abstemious and - honest race. - - “When following the calling of shepherds, and occupied, as I saw - them, in the duties of their charge in travelling, their countenances - are almost invariably marked by the same expression, which combines - mildness and sagacity with immovable gravity, and, it is painful to - add, a look of deep-seated sadness; the whole caravan, animal as well - as human, exhibiting, at least while engaged in one of those tedious - peregrinations, a general appearance of suffering and depression, - distinguishable in every individual that composes it. The shepherd - that opens the march, the independent manso jingling his brazen bell, - the flocks that follow, the dogs that watch over their security, and - even the Fattore who directs the procession, all appear to be plodding - through a wearisome existence of monotony and toil. The extreme - slowness of their progress, the downcast expression of every head - and eye, and, above all, the indications of exhaustion and fatigue - which are but too perceptible after a journey of more than a month’s - duration, may well account for this impression. - - “The animals suffer greatly from heat until they reach their summer - dwelling, and full as much from lameness, which, when it has reached - a certain pitch, becomes the signal for destruction. I saw a mule - bearing no other load than the skins of those that had perished in - this manner. - - “Several other beasts of burden follow the rear of the herds, laden - with the various articles necessary for them and their guardians - during their protracted march: these consist in the nets and poles - requisite to pen the folds at night, the coarse cloth tents for the - use of the shepherds, and a limited stock of utensils for milking, and - boiling the produce of the flock. Among these are to be noticed some - portable jointed seats of very ingenious though simple construction, - composed of the stems of the giant fennel, a substance remarkable for - its light and compact texture. - - “The cattle which I thus met near Aquila were within two days’ journey - of their resting-place, which is generally in some of the valleys - placed on the lower flanks of the mountain ridges, but sufficiently - elevated above the larger plains to afford fresh and abundant herbage - and a cooler temperature. - - “The duration of their abode in these regions is regulated by the - rapid or slow progression of the summer season; in the course of which - they shift their quarters, as the heat increases, till they reach the - highest spots, which are the last divested of the deep snows, in which - they have been buried during three quarters of the year. Here large - tracts of the finest pasture, rills of the coldest and purest water, - and shady woods of considerable extension, are occupied by them during - the remainder of the fine weather, and afford the _ne plus ultra_ - of enjoyment allotted to an existence of such restricted variety.” - _Excursions in the Abruzzi by the Honorable Keppel Craven._ _London_, - 1838, _vol._ i. _p._ 259-264. - -The account, given in the second paragraph of this extract, of the -shepherd marching at the head of his battalion of sheep illustrates in -a striking manner the remark made respecting the comparison of kings to -shepherds, and to their leading rams in Homer and in the Scriptures. - -The Greek word Κτίλος, originally an adjective, corresponds exactly to -the Italian _manso_. It appears to have been applicable to all trained -tame animals. Hence it was used specially to denote the large and -powerful ram, which was instructed to assist the shepherd in disposing -the sheep in proper order and in leading them to and from their daily -pasture as well as during their long migrations. In the third book -of the Iliad (_l._ 196-198), where Priam is described surveying the -Greek troops from the Scæan gate, after the account of Agamemnon, who -was considered as their shepherd, we find Ulysses, who was inferior -to him both in rank and in stature, represented as his _manso_, that -is, as the ram, which immediately follows the shepherd and aids him in -conducting the flock. The same image is repeated in the thirteenth book -(_l._ 492, 493), where Pope’s translation, though very paraphrastic, is -an admirable representation of the real circumstances. - - In order follow all th’ embodied train, - Like Ida’s flocks proceeding o’er the plain: - Before his fleecy care, erect and bold, - Stalks the proud ram, the father of the fold; - With joy the swain surveys them, as he leads - To the cool fountains, through the well-known meads. - -Propertius presents us with a similar picture in the following lines: - - Corniger Idæi vacuam pastoris in aulam - Dux aries saturas ipse reduxit oves. _Lib._ iii. _El._ 13. - - The fold receives the sheep on Ida fed, - By the great ram, their horned chieftain, led. - -Aristotle calls these rams “the leaders of the sheep,” and he states, -that the shepherds provided for each flock such a leader, _which, when -called by name by the shepherd, placed himself at the head of the -flock_, and was trained to execute this office from an early age[321]. -The employment of the _manso_ was probably the ground, on which many of -the Orientals adopted the ram as the emblem of military authority[322]. -According to this supposition it would rather denote secondary than -supreme command; and if so, _the representation of the king of Persia -by the symbol of a ram in the 8th chapter of Daniel is the more -expressive, because it indicated that he was the agent of the supreme -Deity_. Probably also the same sentiment was intended to be conveyed by -the enthusiastic Sapor, or Shahpoor II., King of Persia in the _fourth -century_, when he rode to battle in front of his army wearing instead -of a diadem a ram’s head wrought in gold and studded with precious -stones[323]. - - [321] Hist. Animal. viii. 19. - - [322] E. F. K. Rosenmuller, Bibl. Alterthumskunde, iv. 2. p. 83. - - [323] Ammianus Marcell. xix. 1. - -Any one, who has seen the collection of ancient bronze bells in the -Museum at Naples, and compared them with those now worn in Italy -about the necks of sheep and other cattle, will be struck with -their similarity. We know also from various ancient laws and other -evidence[324] that the shepherds fastened bells upon their sheep as -they do at the present day. - - [324] See note of Sweertius on the treatise of Hieron. Magius de - Tintinnabulis, cap. viii. - -There is a striking correspondence between the words of Varro, “crates, -retia, cæteraque utensilia,” and Craven’s account of the provision of -nets, &c. for making folds, and of the other necessary utensils. - -At Sepino, the ancient Sæpinum, situated in the highest part of the -mountains of Samnium near the source of the Tamarus, Mr. Craven saw -over the Eastern gate the remains of a very remarkable inscription -referring to the same practice[325]. This inscription has been -accurately published by Muratori[326]. It clearly distinguishes between -the “fattores” (_conductores gregum oviaricorum_) and the shepherds -who were under them (_pastores quos conductores habent_). These were -molested by the magistrates of Sæpinum and the neighboring town of -Bovianum, and by the “stationarii” or soldiers, who, instead of -being ready to protect them in case of need, charged them with being -fugitives and with cattle-stealing, and under this pretence drove -back even those sheep which belonged to the emperor (_oves quoque -dominicas_) and thus greatly injured his revenue. These grievances were -consequently represented to an officer at Rome who kept the emperor’s -accounts (_Cosmus, Augusti Libertus a Rationibus_); and he writes in -the terms of the inscription to Basseus Rufus and Macrinus Vindex, -officers of rank in the army, in order that the evil might be remedied. -This inscription must have been erected about the commencement of the -Christian æra. As Mr. Craven remarks, “It not only corroborates what -was already known, that the periodical migration of the herds from -Apulia is of most ancient origin, but it proves, that they observed the -same line of route which they follow to the present day; the road, that -runs from the east to the western gate of this inclosure, falling into -the line of the _tratturos_, or sheep-paths, exclusively allotted to -the use of the flocks in their annual journeys.” - - [325] See Excursions in the Abruzzi, vol. ii. p. 135, 136. - - [326] Novus Thesaurus Vet. Inscriptionum, p. DCVI. - -Whilst we discover these numerous points of resemblance between the -ancient and the modern practice, it is probable that in other respects -there was a greater diversity. If the author whose observations have -been cited had witnessed a similar procession in very ancient times, -he would have seen less reason to deplore its toilsome and melancholy -aspect. Music was then probably of no little service in animating -both the shepherds and their flocks. The sonorous _bagpipe_ may have -contributed to this effect[327]. At least Mr. Craven’s account of a -modern pastoral march is strikingly contrasted with the following -description by Apollonius Rhodius, in which he compares the ship Argo -and the music of Orpheus, followed by multitudes of fishes, to a -shepherd playing on the syrinx and followed by his sheep. - - Ὡς δ’ ὁπότ’ ἀγραύλοιο κατ’ ἴχνια σημαντῆρος - μυρία μῆλ’ ἐφέπονται ἄδην κεκορημένα ποίης - εἰς αὖλιν, ὁ δέ τ’ εἶσι πάρος σύριγγι λιγείῃ - καλὰ μελιζόμενος νόμιον μέλος· ὥς ἄρα τοί γε - ὡμάρτευν· πὴν δ’ αἰὲν ἐπασσύτερος φέρεν οὖρος. - _Argon_, _L._ i. 575-579. - - As sheep in flocks thick-pasturing on the plain - Attend the footsteps of the shepherd-swain, - His well-known call they hear, and fully fed, - Pace slowly on, their leader at their head; - Who pipes melodious, as he moves along, - On sprightly reeds his modulated song: - Thus charm’d with tuneful sounds the scaly train - Pursued the flying vessel o’er the main. - _Fawkes’s Translation._ - - [327] According to Montfaucon (Ant. Expliquée, Suppl. Tom. iii. -p. 188.) the bagpipe was seen under the arm of a shepherd in the -collection of Cardinal Albani at Rome. - -The testimony afforded by Varro relative to the management of the South -Italian sheep, having been given and illustrated, it is to be deplored -that Italy, once so renowned for its sheep, can now boast little of -this production of her bounteous clime. The Romans, whose dress was -woollen, cultivated in an especial degree the fineness of the fleece; -and it was not until the days of the Empire that the silk and cotton of -the East began to supersede the ancient raiment of the Roman people. -The finest wools of ancient Italy were produced in Apulia and Calabria, -being the eastern parts of the present kingdom of Naples[328]. - - [328] It appears from the following passage of Varro, that the Apulian - was sold at a higher price than some other kinds of wool which were - equally beautiful, because it wore better. By _lana Gallicana_ in - this passage we must understand the wool of Gallia Cisalpina, of - which we shall next treat. - - Sic enim lana Gallicana et Appula videtur imperito similis propter - speciem, cum peritus Appulam emat pluris, quod in usu firmior sit. - - _De Lin. Lat._, lib. ix. 28. p. 484. ed. Spengel. - - -We now proceed to the other writers on Rural Affairs, viz., Columella -and Palladius. - -The first attests the high estimation in which the sheep of Calabria -and Apulia were held by the Romans, especially before his own time, -and he says that among them the Tarentine sheep were the best of all. -In speaking of the practice so prevalent in this district of covering -them with skins, he shows, that these “oves pellitæ” were also called -“soft” (_molles_), and “covered” (_tectæ_). Indeed he makes the great -distinction of sheep to be into the “_genus molle_,” i. e. the soft -kind, and the “genus hirsutum,” or “hirtum,” i. e. the coarse kind. -We further learn that the soft sheep were called by the Romans Greek -sheep, because they were bred in Græcia Magna, and Tarentine, because -the best of all were bred at Tarentum. According to Palladius they -were also sometimes called Asiatic (_Asianæ_). It is to be observed -that by _Asia_, Palladius and his contemporaries would understand -the celebrated sheep-country of which Miletus was the centre[329]; -and considering the frequent, long-established, and very friendly -intercourse between Miletus and Tarentum[330], we may infer that the -Milesians imported into Tarentum their fine breed of sheep, and at the -same time introduced the art of _dyeing_ and _preparing_ the wool. -The same sheep, which were called Greek by the Romans, were called -_Italian_ by the Egyptians and others, to whom the word _Greek_ would -not have been distinctive. Columella (vii. 4.) insists particularly -on the great pains and care, which it was necessary to bestow upon -this description of sheep, the “covered” or “soft,” in regard to food, -warmth, and cleanliness, and he says that they were principally brought -up in the house[331]. - - [329] Cellarii Ant. Orbis Notitia, iii. 1. 7, 8, 9. - - [330] Herod. vi. 21. and Wesseling _ad locum_. - - [331] According to Bochart (Hieroz. cap. 45. p. 486, ed. Leusden), the - Talmud and another rabbinical book, lambs soon after their birth - were invested with garments fastened upon them with thongs or - buckles. - - In the sheep-breeding countries of Europe the practice seems to - have been very general. Besides South Italy, Attica, Megaris, and - Epirus, in regard to which countries positive evidence has been - produced, we find that soft sheep, or “oves pellitæ” were kept by - an inhabitant of Cynethæ in Arcadia (Polybius, L. ix. c. 17.), by - the Roman settlers in the North of Gaul and in Spain. - -As there was in general a great affinity between the manners and -ideas of Sicily and South Italy, we might infer that the pastoral -habits of these two districts were in many respects similar. Theocritus -accordingly lays the scene of some of his Idylls on the coast opposite -to Sicily. The fifth Idyll describes a contest between a shepherd and -a goatherd, who are supposed to have been employed as hired servants -in the vicinity of Sybaris. The shepherd, observing some of his sheep -to be feeding on an oak, which could not be very good for them, utters -the following exclamation, showing that it was customary to give proper -names to sheep, and thus confirming the fact, that in ancient times -they were regarded as the objects of affection, and not of profitable -speculation merely: - - Οὐκ ἀπὸ τᾶς δρυὸς οὗτος ὁ Κώναρος, ἅ τε Κυναίθα· - Τουτεὶ βοσκησεῖσθε ποτ’ ἀντολὰς, ὡς ὁ Φάλαρος. - - Ho! Sharphorn, Browning, leave those hurtful weeds, - And come and graze this way, where Colly feeds. - _Creech’s Translation._ - -The passage has often been cited in illustration of the following -verses from the Gospel of St. John. Our Savior, describing himself as a -shepherd, here alludes to various indications of care and attachment, -which distinguish the owner of a flock from the hireling, who, being -engaged to tend the sheep only for a season, could not be so well known -by them, nor so much interested in their security and welfare. - - “He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he - putteth forth (from the fold) his own sheep, he goeth before them, and - the sheep follow him; for they know his voice. And a stranger will - they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice - of strangers.”--_John_, x. 3-5. - -In reference to this passage of Scripture the following remarks of a -late traveller are instructive: - - “I asked my man if it was usual in Greece to give names to sheep. - He informed me that it was, and that the sheep obeyed the shepherd - when he called them by their names. This morning (_March 5, 1828_), - I had an opportunity of verifying the truth of this remark. Passing - by a flock of sheep, I asked the shepherd the same question which - I put to my servant, and he gave me the same answer. I then bade - him to call one of his sheep. He did so, and it instantly left its - pasturage and its companions, and ran up to the hand of the shepherd, - with signs of pleasure and with a prompt obedience which I had never - before observed in any other animal. It is also true of the sheep - in this country, _that a stranger will they not follow, but will - flee from him; for they know not the voice of the strangers_. The - shepherd told me that many of his sheep are still WILD; - that they had not yet learned their names; but that by teaching they - would all learn them. The others, which knew their names, he called - TAME.”--_Researches in Greece and the Levant, by the Rev. - John Hartley_, p. 321. - -The city of Sybaris stood between two rivers, the Sybaris and the -Crathis. The ancients asserted that the sheep which drank of the -Crathis, were white, and those which drank of the Sybaris, black. They -attributed similar virtues to other streams in various parts of the -world[332]. - - [332] Ælian, Nat. Anim. xii. 36. Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxi. 9. Kruse’s - Hellas, i. p. 369. (See Appendix A.) - -According to Strabo (L. vi. _cap._ 3. § 9. _p._ 303. _ed. Siebenkees_) -the hilly promontory of Garganus was particularly celebrated for its -sheep. He says, that their wool was softer than the Tarentine, but less -shining. - -The Roman poets allude in various instances to the excellence of -the Apulian wool, and especially to that of Tarentum. Horace in the -following stanza expresses his predilection for this celebrated city, -and mentions its “soft” or “covered” sheep. He had been asserting his -wish to end his days at Tibur, the modern Tivoli. - - But, should the partial Fates refuse - That purer air to let me breathe, - Galesus, thy sweet stream I’ll choose, - Where flocks of richest fleeces bathe: - Phalanthus there his rural sceptre sway’d, - Uncertain offspring of a Spartan maid. - _Od._ _l._ ii. 6.--_Francis’s Translation._ - -Martial alludes to the celebrity of the Tarentine wool in no less than -five of his epigrams. - - Spartan Galesus did your toga lave, - Or from a flock select fair Parma gave. - L. ii. _ep._ 43. _l._ 3, 4. - -The poet intended here to describe a toga of the most expensive and -fashionable kind. - - You give, O Chloe, to Lupercus, - Your tender favorite, lacernas - Of Spanish, Tyrian, scarlet fleeces, - And togas wash’d in warm Galesus. - L. iv. _ep._ 28. _l._ 1-3. - - Thou wast more sweet, O lovely child! - Than song of aged dying swans: - Thy voice, thy mien were soft and mild - As Phalantine Galesus’ lambs. - L. v. _ep._ 37. _l._ 1, 2. - -The last lines were written by Martial on the death of Erotion in her -sixth year. He describes her interesting qualities by comparing her to -a lamb of the soft Tarentine breed, always clothed and usually kept in -the house and hence remarkably tender and delicate. - -The following epigram (L. viii. _ep._ 28.) was written on the receipt -of a handsome toga from the wealthy and munificent Parthenius, -chamberlain to the emperor Domitian. In expressing his admiration of -it, the poet enumerates the places from which the Romans of his time -obtained the best and most fashionable garments of this description. He -next proceeds to extol its whiteness; and in conclusion observes how -ridiculous he would appear wearing his old _lacerna_ over this new and -snowy garment, and he thus conveys a hint to Parthenius how acceptable -and suitable would be the present of a lacerna in addition to the toga. - - -De Partheniana toga. - - Dic, toga, facundi gratum mihi munus amici, - Esse velis cujus fama, decusque gregis? - Appula Ledæi tibi floruit herba Phalanthi, - Quà saturat Calabris culta Galesus aquis? - An Tartessiacus stabuli nutritor Iberi - Bætis in Hesperia te quoque lavit aqua? - An tua multifidum numeravit lana Timavum, - Quem prius astrifero Cyllarus ore bibit? - Te nec Amyclæo decuit livere veneno; - Nec Miletus erat vellere digna tuo. - Lilia tu vincis, nec adhuc dilapsa ligustra, - Et Tiburtino monte quod albet ebur. - - Spartanus tibi cedet olor, Phaphiæque columbæ: - Cedet Erythræis eruta gemma vadis. - Sed licet hæc primis nivibus sint æmula dona, - Non sunt Parthenio candidiora suo. - Non ego prætulerim Babylonica picta superbè - Texta, Semiramia quæ variantur acu. - Non Athamantæo potius me mirer in auro, - Æolium dones si mihi, Phryxe, decus. - O quantos risus pariter spectata movebit - Trita Palatina nostra lacerna toga! - - Say, grateful gift of mine ingenious friend, - What happy flock shall to thy fleece pretend? - For thee did herb of famed Phalantus blow, - Where clear Galesus bids his waters flow? - Did thy wool count the streamlets, more than seven, - Of him, who slaked the warrior horse of heaven? - Or did Tartessian Guadalquiver lave - Thy matchless woof in his Hesperian wave? - Thou didst not need to taste Amyclæ’s bane, - And wouldst have tried Milesian art in vain. - With thee the lily and the privet pale - Compared, and Tibur’s whitest ivory fail. - The Spartan swan, the Paphian doves deplore - Their hue, and pearls on Erythrean shore. - But, though the boon leave new-fall’n snows behind, - It is not purer than the donor’s mind. - I would prefer no _Babylonian vest_, - _Superbly broider’d_ at a queen’s behest; - Nor better pleased should I my limbs behold, - Phryxus, in _webs_ of thine Æolian gold. - But O! what laughter will the contrast crown, - My worn lacerna on th’ imperial gown! - -It may be observed, that in this ingenious epigram, as well as in two -of the preceding, which relate to togas, Martial supposes the Tarentine -wool to be white: for the Roman toga was of that color except in -mourning, and one object of the last-cited epigram is to praise the -whiteness of the particular toga, which it describes. The Tarentines -therefore must have produced both dark-colored and white fleeces. - -The fifth passage of Martial (xii. 64.), which mentions the sheep of -the Galesus, more directly refers to those of Spain, and will therefore -be quoted under that head. - -Besides the epigrams, now cited, in which Martial commends the wool of -Tarentum in particular, we find others, in which he celebrates that of -Apulia in general. In Book xiv. Ep. 155. he gives an account of the -principal countries, which yielded white wools, and informs us that -those of the first quality were from Apulia. - - -White Wools. - - The first Apulia’s; next is Parma’s boast; - And the third fleece Altinum has engrost. - _Elphinston’s Translation._ - -Also in the following lines Martial alludes to the large and numerous -flocks of Apulia, and to the whiteness of their wool. - - Of white thou hast to clothe a tribe sufficient stock, - The produce fair of more than one Apulian flock. - L. ii. _Ep._ 46. _l._ 5, 6. - -On the other hand the wool from the vicinity of Canusium was no less -esteemed for its dark colors, whether inclining to brown or to red. -These saved the expense of dyeing. The testimony of Pliny to their -value has been already produced. In the two following Epigrams (_l._ -xiv. 127 _and_ 129.) Martial alludes to the peculiar recommendations -and uses, first of the brown, and secondly of the reddish variety. - - This Canusine lacerna, it is true, - Looks muddy: but it will not change its hue[333]. - Rome in the brown delights, gay Gaul in red: - This pleases boys, and whose is blood to shed. - - [333] It appears from this epigram that, when shaken, it had the - color of the brown wool of Canusium, a kind of drab. The lacerna - was a mantle, which the Romans wore out of doors over their white - toga, with which it was well contrasted, whether it was purple, - scarlet, or brown; but the last color, though less showy at first, - must have had the advantage of durability. See Appendix A. - -On referring to the passages produced from Pliny, Columella, and -Martial, it will be seen that the Romans ascribed a very high value -to the white wool of Gallia Cisalpina, i. e. of North Italy, or the -region about the Po. Parma was considered second only to Apulia for -the whiteness of its wool. Besides the two epigrams of Martial already -cited, he refers to Parma as a great place for sheep-breeding in the -following passage, addressed to the wealthy Callistratus: - - And Gallic Parma shears thy num’rous flocks. - L. v. _ep._ 13. - -Columella speaks moreover (_l. c._) of the superiority of the wool -of Mutina, now Modena; and Martial (_l._ v. _ep._ 105.) mentions -the circumstance of a _fuller_, or _clothier_, in that city having -exhibited a show to the public, which is a presumptive evidence that he -had a great business in manufacturing the produce of the surrounding -country. - -Strabo in his account of the productions of Cisalpine Gaul divides -the wool into three kinds; First, the soft kind, of which the finest -varieties were grown about Mutina and the river Scutana, which is the -modern Scultenna, a tributary of the Po, rising in the Apennines; -Secondly, the coarse kind, grown in Liguria and the country of the -Insubres, which was very much used for the common wearing apparel -of the Italians; and Thirdly, the middle kind, grown about Patavium -(now Padua) and employed for making valuable _carpets_ and various -descriptions of _blankets_[334]. By comparing the statements of this -author with those of Columella and Martial it will appear, that the -whole region watered by the parallel rivers Parma, Gabellus, and -Scultenna, and known by the name of _Macri Campi_, or the Barren -Plains, was esteemed for the production of the fine white wool. - - [334] Strabo, L. v. c. 1. § 12. p. 119. ed. Siebenkees. - -That the tending of both sheep and goats was a principal occupation -of the people of Mantua we learn from Virgil, a native of that city, -who places the scene of most of his pastorals in its vicinity. His -First and Ninth Eclogues more particularly relate to the calamities, -which the Mantuans were compelled to sustain, when Augustus seized -on their lands to reward his veteran soldiers after the battle of -Philippi. These eclogues mention flocks both of sheep and goats, -and show that those who had the care of them cultivated music and -poetry after the manner of the Sicilians. The commencement of the -Seventh Eclogue is especially instructive, because it gives us reason -to believe, that while many of the Arcadians left their country in -consequence of that excess of population, to which mountainous regions -are subject, in order to become foreign mercenaries, others, on the -contrary, entered into foreign service as shepherds and goatherds, and -in this condition not only made themselves useful by their experience, -skill, and fidelity, but also introduced at the same time their native -music together with that refinement of manners and feelings which it -promoted. The poet thus describes two such individuals, who had been -employed in tending flocks upon the banks of the Mincius (_l._ 12, -13), and who were either born in Arcadia, or were at least of Arcadian -origin. - - Two blooming swains had join’d their flocks in one, - Thyrsis his sheep, and tuneful Corydon - His goats, which bore their treasur’d milk along; - Arcadians both, both skill’d in amœbean song. - -At a considerable distance to the North-East of Mantua lay Altinum, -which is mentioned by Columella[335], Tertullian, and Martial, as -one of the principal places for the produce of _white_ wool. Martial -says, that it ranked in this respect next to Parma[336], and we must -understand him as referring to the same region in Book viii. Epig. 28, -where he asks, “Did thy wool count the many streams of the Timavus, -which Cyllarus previously drank with his starry mouth?” The Timavus was -indeed a considerable way still further towards the North-East, and -must have been very insignificant in connection with the sheep-breeding -of the Altinates. The poet introduces it here only on account of its -picturesque and mythological interest, just as we have seen that the -Galesus, a small, though clear and very beautiful stream, is repeatedly -named in order to designate the pastoral region about Tarentum. It may -also be observed, that in this epigram, where Martial alludes to three -of the principal places for the growth of white wool, he indicates each -of them by its river, the three rivers being the Galesus, the Bætis, -and the Timavus; and he probably did so on account of the supposed -effect of the waters of these rivers in improving the wool. - - [335] L. vii. cap. 2. - - [336] L. xiv. Ep. 155. - -We can make no question, after what we have seen of the universal -practice of both ancient and modern times, that the sheep, which in the -winter were pastured in the plains and lower grounds about Altinum, -were taken to pass the summer in the vallies of the Carinthian Alps -about the sources of the Brenta, the Piave, and the Tagliamento. We may -also trace the wool, after it was manufactured, in its progress towards -Rome, where was the chief demand for garments of this description. For -Strabo says, that Patavium (_Padua_), which was situated at no great -distance from Altinum on the way to Rome, was a great and flourishing -mart for all kinds of merchandize intended to be sent thither, and -especially for every kind of cloth[337]. It appears, therefore, that -the wool-growers and clothiers of the country to the North-East of -Padua, the modern Trevisano, employed that city as an entrepôt where -they disposed of their goods to the Roman dealers. At the same time we -learn, that this place served as a market for _carpets_ and _blankets_ -made of a stronger and more substantial material, which, according to -the same authority[338], was produced in its more immediate vicinity. - - [337] L. v. cap. 1. § 6, 7. Strabo alludes to the pastoral occupations -of the territory about Altinum and the Timavus. - - [338] Strabo. - -In the North-Western portion of Cisalpine Gaul the wool was generally -coarse, and according to Strabo (_l. c._) the garments made of it -were used by the Italians for the ordinary clothing of their domestic -establishments. Nevertheless, black wool of superior value was grown -at Polentia, now Polenza, on the Stura, which is a tributary of the -Po[339]. The following two Epigrams of Martial (_l._ xiv. 157 and 158.) -allude to the use of the dark wool of Polentia for mourning and for the -dress of inferior domestic servants. - - Polentine Wools. - - 1. Not wools alone, that wear the face of woe; - Her goblets once did proud Polentia show. - - 2. Our sable hue to croplings may belong, - That tend the table, not of primal throng. - _Elphinston’s Translation._ - - [339] Pliny, L. viii. Columella, vii. 2. To these testimonies may be - added Silius Italicus de Bello Punico, l. viii. 597. - -The country people about Modena and in other parts of the Northern -Apennines still wear _undyed_ woollen cloth of a gray color. Muratori -quotes from the statutes of the city of Modena, A. D. 1327, a law to -_prevent the makers of such cloth from mixing with their gray wool the -hair of oxen, asses, or other animals_[340]. - - [340] Dissertazioni sopra le Antichità Italiane, Diss. 30. tomo ii. - 48, 49, 4to edition. This author in his 21st Dissertation endeavors - to assign reasons for the decline of the modern Italians in the - growth and manufacture of wool. - -Before quitting Italy we may properly inquire, whence and how came -the practice of sheep-breeding into Great Britain. It has already been -observed that the very improved state of the art at Tarentum may be in -part ascribed to the intercourse of its inhabitants with the Milesians. -The reader will have noticed the fact that the worship of Pan was -introduced into Italy from Arcadia by Evander, from which circumstance -it may be reasonably inferred, that improvements in the management of -sheep were also introduced at the same time. According to Dionysius of -Halicarnassus, Evander with his companions was said by the Romans to -have migrated to Latium _about sixty years before the Trojan war_[341]. -The same historian alleges that this colony taught in Italy the use -of letters, of instrumental music and other arts, established laws, -and brought some degree of refinement instead of the former savage -mode of life. The story of the birth of Romulus and Remus supposes -sheep-breeding to have been practiced at the period of that event, and -in a state of society similar to that which we have found prevailing -further eastward; for it is stated, that Faustulus, who discovered -them, kept the king’s flocks. He was “magister regii pecoris[342].” - - [341] Hist. Rom. l. i. p. 20, 21. ed. R. Stephani, Par. 1546. folio. - - As it has been a frequent error with nations to push back their - annals into a higher antiquity than was consistent with fact, this - may have been the case in the present instance. For it is to be - observed, that according to Herodotus the worship of Pan did not - arise in Arcadia until after the time when according to this latter - statement it was introduced from Arcadia into Latium. - - [342] Livii l. i. c. 4. - -According to Pausanias (_l._ viii. _c._ 3. § 2.) the first Greek -colony, which went into Italy, was from Arcadia, being conducted -thither by Œnotrus, an Arcadian prince[343]. This was several centuries -before the expedition under Evander, and the part of Italy thus -colonized was the southern extremity, afterwards occupied by the -Bruttii[344]. If with Niebuhr we regard this tradition only in the -light of a genealogical table, designed to indicate the affinities of -tribes and nations, still the simple fact of the colonization of South -Italy by Arcadians certainly authorizes the conjecture, that Arcadia -was one of the stepping-stones, by which the art of sheep-breeding was -transported from Asia into Europe. - - [343] As further evidence for this tradition see Pherecydis Fragmenta, - a Sturtz, p. 190. Virg. Æn. i. 532, and iii. 165. Compare Heyne, - Excursus vi. ad Æn. l. iii. - - [344] Heyne, Excursus xxi. ad Æn. l. i. Niebuhr, Röm. Geschichte, i. p. - 57. - -The reader will have perceived from the observations already made on -the worship of Faunus in Italy, that the Roman Faunus was the same with -the Arcadian Pan. It seems no sufficient objection to this hypothesis, -that a few Roman authors have supposed Faunus to be either the son of -Mars[345], or of Picus and the grandson of Saturn, thus connecting him -with their native mythology, or that his oracle was held by them in -high repute[346]. It is here sufficient to remark, that we find him -extensively recognized in Italy as a pastoral divinity. - - Stretch’d on the springing grass, the shepherd swain - His reedy pipe with rural music fills; - The god, who guards his flock, approves the strain, - The god, who loves Arcadia’s gloomy hills. - _Horat. Carm._ iv. 12. 9-12.--_Francis’s Translation._ - -The above stanza occurs in a description of the beauties of spring, -and the poet no doubt alludes to the pastoral habits of his Sabine -neighbors. - - [345] Appian apud Photium. - - [346] Virgil, Æn. vii. 48, 81-105, and Heyne, Excursus v. ad loc. - -From ancient monuments as well as from the language of the poets we -find, that the worship of other divinities was associated with that -of Faunus in reference to the success of all agricultural pursuits -including that of sheep-breeding. Boissard, in the Fourth Part of his -Antiquitates Romanæ, has published somewhat rude engravings of the -bas-reliefs upon two altars, one of them (No. 130) dedicated to _Hope_, -the other (No. 134) to _Silvanus_. The altar to Hope was erected, as -the inscription expresses, in a garden at Rome by M. Aur. Pacorus, -keeper of the temple of Venus. He says, that he had been admonished -to this deed of piety by _a dream_; and, if the representation in the -bas-relief was the image thus presented to his mind, his dream was -certainly a very pleasant one. Hope, wearing on her head a wreath of -flowers, places her right hand upon a pillar and holds in her left -poppy-heads and ears of corn. Beside her is a bee-hive on the ground, -and on it there is also fixed a bunch of poppy-heads and ears of corn. -Above these emblems of the fruitfulness of the field and of the garden -is the figure of a bale of wool. - -The altar to Silvanus exhibits that divinity crowned with the cones and -foliage of the pine. A pine grows moreover beside his terminal statue, -bearing the large cones, which were used for food at entertainments and -carried in bacchanalian processions. Faunus, or Pan, sits at the foot -of the pine, the syrinx and the double pipe being placed at his feet. -In his right hand he holds an olive branch, while a young winged genius -advances towards him as if to receive it, and another genius of the -same kind appears to be caressing him and whispering into his ear. On -the other side of the terminal statue of Silvanus we see the caduceus -of Mercury and the bale of wool, manifest indications of success in the -wool trade. In this sculpture the bale is surrounded with cords, which -are twisted round one another where they cross. In the former instance -the compression of the wool appears to be effected by the use of -thongs instead of cords[347]. There is also introduced the figure of a -shepherd of the same country. This statue was found in the vicinity of -Rome and is now preserved in the Vatican[348]. The extremities are in -part restorations. A cameo in the Florentine Museum[349] represents the -shepherd Faustulus sitting upon a rock, and contemplating the she-wolf, -which is suckling Romulus and Remus. It is of the Augustan age, and no -doubt exhibits the costume and general appearance of a Roman shepherd -of that period. He wears a _tunica cucullata_, i. e. a tunic of coarse -woollen cloth with a cowl, which was designed to be drawn occasionally -over the head and to protect it from the injuries of the weather. This -garment has also sleeves, which Columella mentions (_tunica manicata_) -as an additional comfort. On his feet the shepherd wears high shoes, or -boots, which, as we may suppose, were made of leather. - - [347] The bas-relief on the first altar is copied from Boissard by - Montfaucon, Ant. Expliquée, tome i. p. 332. and that on the second, - tome ii. p. 275. The latter is also represented by the Rev. Henry - Moses, Collection of Antique Vases, &c. Plate 52. - - [348] Museo Pio-Clementino, tomo iii. tav. 34 and p. 44. - - [349] Museum Florentinum. Gemmæ Antiquæ a Gorio illustratæ, tav. ii. - No. 10. - -The appearance of the shepherds, who are represented in these ancient -works of art, is, doubtless, adapted to produce the impression, that -their condition, even if it were that of slaves, was nevertheless one -of comfort and respectability. Neither their garb, nor their attitude, -suggests the idea of anything base or miserable. On the contrary, -the countenance of each indicates trust-worthiness, steadiness, and -care. That many of the agricultural laborers of ancient Italy had this -character may be inferred also from written testimonies. - -In reference to this subject, and with a view to illustrate at the -same time the habits and employments of the ancient farmer among the -_Sabine_ or _Apulian_ mountains, we will here quote some parts of -Horace’s Second Epode, in which he describes the pleasures of a country -life. - - Like the first mortals blest is he, - From debts, and usury, and bus’ness free, - With his own team who ploughs the soil, - Which grateful once confess’d his father’s toil. - - The sounds of war nor break his sleep, - Nor the rough storm, that harrows up the deep; - He shuns the courtier’s haughty doors, - And the loud science of the bar abjures. - - Either to poplars tall he joins - The marriageable offspring of his vines; - Or lops the useless boughs away, - Inserting happier as the old decay: - - Or in a lonely vale surveys - His lowing herds, safe-wand’ring as they graze; - Or stores in jars his liquid gold - Prest from the hive, or shears his tender fold. - - * * * * * - - And, if a chaste and prudent wife - Perform her part in the sweet cares of life, - Of sun-burnt charms, but honest fame, - Such as the Sabine or Apulian dame; - - If, when fatigued he homeward turns, - The sacred fire, built up with faggots, burns; - Or if in hurdles she inclose - The joyful flock, whence ample produce flows; - - Though unbought dainties she prepare, - And this year’s wines attend the homely fare; - No fish would I from foreign shore - Desire, nor relish Lucrine oysters more. - - Olives, fresh gather’d from the tree; - _Mallows, the frame from heaviness to free_[350]; - A kid snatch’d from the wolf, a lamb - To Terminus with due devotion slain; - - Such is the meal, his labor o’er; - No bird from distant climes I’d relish more. - Meanwhile how pleasant to behold - His sheep well fed, and hasting to their fold; - - To see his wearied oxen bow - Their languid necks, and drag th’ _inverted_ plough; - And then his num’rous slaves to view - Round his domestic gods their mirth pursue. - - [350] See chap. xii. p. 191. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -SHEEP BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE -SCRIPTURES, &c. - - Sheep-breeding in Germany and Gaul--In Britain--Improved by the - Belgians and Saxons--Sheep-breeding in Spain--Natural dyes of Spanish - wool--Golden hue and other natural dyes of the wool of Bætica--Native - colors of Bætic wool--Saga and chequered plaids--Sheep always bred - principally for the weaver, not for the butcher--Sheep supplied milk - for food, wool for clothing--The moth. - - -According to Tacitus[351], the ancient Germans had abundance of cattle, -although we have no reason to suppose that they had acquired any of -that skill in sheep-breeding, by which their successors in Silesia and -Saxony are now distinguished. On the contrary, we are informed by the -same author that the only woollen garment, which they commonly wore, -was the _Sagum_, a term implying the coarseness of the material[352]. - - [351] Terra pecorum fecunda, sed plerumque improcera.--Germania, v. 2. - - [352] Nudi, aut sagulo leves.--Germania, vi. 3. Tegumen omnibus sagum. - xvii. 1. - -We find almost as little in any ancient author in favor of the wool of -Gallia Transalpina, the modern France. Pliny mentions a coarse kind, -more like hair than wool, which was produced in the neighborhood of -Pezenas in Provence[353]. Martial’s account of the Endromis Sequanica, -coarse, but useful to keep off the cold and wet, bears upon the same -point; - - The frousy foster of a female hand; - Of name Laconian, from a barb’rous land; - Though rude, yet welcome to December’s snow, - To thee we bid the homely stranger go: - - * * * * * - - That into glowing limbs no cold may glide, - That baleful Iris never drench thy pride: - This fence shall bid thee scorn the winds and showers; - The Tyrian lawn pretends no equal powers. - - _Elphinston’s Translation._ - - [353] See Appendix A. - -In the following epigram of Martial (vi. 11.), addressed to his -friend Marcus, we observe a similar opposition between the fine and -fashionable cloth of Tyre, and the thick coarse “sagum” produced in -Gaul. - - Proud Tyrian thine, gross Gaulish mine array: - In purple thee can e’er I love in gray? - -Juvenal gives exactly the same account of the woollen manufactures -of Gaul. In the following passage the needy dependant of a rich man -is speaking of the lacernas from that country, which were sometimes -presented to him by his patron. - - Some coarse brown cloaks perhaps I chance to get, - Of Gallic fabric, as a fence from wet. - _Satir._ ix. _v._ 30.--_Owen’s Translation._ - -To the same effect are several passages in the Epistles of Sidonius -Apollinaris, who was Bishop of Clermont in Auvergne in the fifth -century. He mentions, for example, that the attendants on Prince -Sigismer at his marriage wore green _Saga_ with red borders, and he -describes a friend of his own as wearing the Endromis[354]. Also in an -account of his own villa he speaks of the pipe with seven holes, as -the instrument of the shepherds and herdsmen, who used to entertain -themselves during the night with musical contests, while their cattle -were grazing with bells upon their necks. - - [354] Viridantia saga limbis marginata puniceis. L. iv. Ep. 20. Tu - endromidatus exterius. L. iv. Ep. 2. - -All these passages are confirmed and illustrated by the testimony -of Strabo. According to him Gaul produced cattle of all kinds[355]. -The Belgæ, who occupied the most northern part, opposite to Britain, -excelled the rest of the Gauls in their manufactures. Nevertheless -their wool was coarse, and was spun and woven by them into the thick -Saga, which were both worn by the natives of the country and exported -in great quantities to Rome and other parts of Italy. The Roman -settlers, indeed, in the most northern parts had flocks of covered -sheep, and their wool was consequently very fine[356]. - - [355] L. iv. cap. i. § 2. p. 6. ed. Siebenkees. - - [356] L. iv. cap. iv. § 3. pp. 56-59. ed. Siebenkees. - -Here also may be produced the evidence of Eumenius, who in his Oration, -which will be quoted more fully hereafter, intimates the abundance of -the sheep on the western banks of the Rhine by saying, that the flocks -of the Romans were washed in every part of the stream[357]. - - [357] Arat illam terribilem aliquando ripam inermis agricola, et toto - nostri greges flumine bicorni mersantur. p. 152. - -Cæsar informs us, that the ancient inhabitants of Britain had abundance -of cattle (_pecoris magnus numerus_); under the word (_pecus_) -“cattle,” sheep must no doubt be understood to be included. It also -appears, that in his time the Celts, or proper Britons, lived to the -North of the Thames, the Belgians having expelled them and taken -possession of the part to the South, called _Cantium_ or _Kent_. These -last were by far the most civilized inhabitants of the island, not much -differing in their customs from the Gauls. With respect to the others, -Cæsar says, that for the most part they did not sow any kind of grain, -but lived upon milk and flesh, and clothed themselves with skins[358]. - - [358] Ex his omnibus longè sunt humanissimi, qui Cantium incolunt; - quæ regio est maritima omnis; neque multum a Gallicâ differunt - consuetudine. Interiores plerique frumenta non serunt; sed lacte et - carne vivunt, pellibusqe sunt vestiti. De Bello Gallico, I. v. cap. - 10. - -It appears therefore, that before our æra, sheep, and probably goats, -were bred extensively in England, their milk and flesh being used for -food, and their skins with the wool or hair upon them for clothing; -and that the people of Kent, who were of Belgic origin, and more -refined than the original Britons, had attained to the arts of spinning -and weaving, although their productions were only of the coarsest -description. - -Eumenius, the Rhetorician, who was a native of Augustodunum, now -called Autun, delivered his Panegyric in praise of the Emperors -Constantius and Constantine in the city of Treves about A. D. 310. -In the following passage he congratulates Britain on its various -productions, and also on the circumstance, that Constantine had been -recently declared Emperor at York on the death of his father: - - O fortunate Britain, now the happiest country upon earth; for thou - hast been the first to see Constantine made Emperor. It was fit that - on thee Nature should bestow every blessing of climate and of soil. - Suffering neither from the excessive severity of winter, nor the heat - of summer, thy harvests are so fruitful as to supply all the gifts - both of Ceres and of Bacchus; thy woods contain no savage beasts, thy - land no noxious serpents, but an innumerable multitude of tame cattle, - distended with milk, and loaded with fleeces[359]. - - [359] Panegyrici Veteres, ed. Cellarii, Halæ Magd. 1703. pp. 147, 148. - -The improvements in sheep-breeding which were first introduced into -England by the Belgians, appear to have been advanced still further by -the Saxons. - -The only country, which now remains to be surveyed in relation to the -production of sheep’s wool, is Spain; and, as this kingdom retains -its pre-eminence at the present day,[360] so we find none, in which -sheep-breeding was carried to a greater extent in ancient times. - - [360] For accounts of the state of sheep-breeding in modern Spain, - including the annual migration of the flocks, which is conducted - there as in Italy, the reader is referred to “Travels through - Portugal and Spain in 1772, 1773, by R. Twiss,” pp. 72-82; and - to De la Borde’s View of Spain, vol. iv. pp. 45-61, English - Translation. London, 1809. - -Of all the countries in Europe, says Mr. Low, Spain has been the -longest distinguished for the excellence of its wool. This fine -country, more varied in its surface and natural productions than any -other region of the like extent in Europe, produces a great variety of -breeds of sheep, from the larger animals of the richer plains, to the -smaller races of the higher mountains and arid country. Besides the -difference produced in the sheep of Spain by varieties of climate and -natural productions; the diversity of character in the animals may be -supposed to have been increased by the different races introduced into -it:--first, from Asia, by the early Phœnician colonies; secondly, from -Africa by the Carthaginians, during their brief possession; thirdly, -from Italy by the Romans, during their dominion of six hundred years; -and fourthly, again from Africa, by the Moors, who maintained a footing -in the country for nearly eight centuries. The large sheep of the -plains have long wool, often colored brown or black. The sheep of the -mountains, downs, and arid plains have short wool, of different degrees -of fineness, and different colors. The most important of these latter -breeds is the merino, now the most esteemed and widely diffused of all -the fine-wooled breeds of Europe. - -Pliny not only refers in general terms to the various natural colors of -the Spanish wool, but mentions more particularly the red wool produced -in the district adjoining the river Bætis, or Guadalquiver[361]. - - [361] See Appendix A. - -Among the natural colors of the Bætic wool, Columella, a native of -Cadiz, (vii. 2.) mentions, as has been already stated, _gray_ and -_brown_. The latter is what we call _drab_, and the Spaniards _fusco_. -It is now commonly worn by the shepherds and peasants of Spain, the -wool being made into clothes without dyeing. - -Nonius Marcellus (_cap._ 16. _n._ 13), explaining the word _pullus_, -which was called a _native_ color, because it was the natural color of -the fleece, also shows, that this was a common quality of the Spanish -wool. Another testimony is that of Tertullian. - -The sheep of Tarentum were imported into this part of Spain, and there -also their fleeces were protected by clothing. Columella (L. vii. 2.) -gives a very interesting account of the experiments made by his uncle, -a great agriculturalist of Bætica, in crossing his Tarentine breed with -some wild rams of an extraordinary color, which had been brought from -Africa to Cadiz. (See latter part of next chapter.) - -We have a further evidence of the pains taken to improve the Spanish -breed in the circumstance, that Italian shepherds passed into Spain, -just as we have formerly seen, that they migrated into Italy from -Arcadia. In the following lines of Calpurnius (Ecl. iv. 37-49.), -Corydon, a young shepherd, tells his friend and patron, Melibœus, -that he should have been transported into Bætica, had not the times -improved, and his master’s favor enabled him to remain in Italy. - - Through thee I rest secure beneath the shade, - Such plenty hath thy generous bounty made, - But for thy favor, Melibœus, sent - Where Bætis’ waves the western plains indent, - Plains at the earth’s extremest verge, expos’d - To the fierce Moors, which Geryon once inclos’d. - There had I now been doom’d to tend for hire - Iberian flocks, or else of want expire: - In vain I might have tun’d my seven-fold reed: - Mid thickets vast no soul my strains would heed: - Not even Pan on that far-distant shore - Would lend his vacant ear, or be my solace more. - -Juvenal in his Twelfth Satire (_l._ 37-42.) describes a merchant -overtaken by a dreadful storm, and to save the ship throwing his -most valuable goods into the sea. It will be observed, that the poet -attributes the excellence and fine natural color of the woollen cloth -of Bætica to three causes, the rich herbage, the occult properties of -the water, and those of the air. - - “Over with mine,” he cries; “be nothing spar’d;” - To part with all his richest goods prepar’d; - His vests of Tyrian purple, fit to please - The softest of the silken sons of ease, - And other robes, which took a native stain - From air and water on the Bætic plain. - - _Owen’s Translation._ - -Strabo (iii. 144. p. 385. _ed. Sieb._) gives the following account of -the wool of Turdetania. - - Πολλὴ δὲ καὶ ἐσθὴς πρότερον ἤρχετο· νῦν δὲ καὶ ἔρια μᾶλλον τῶν - Κυραξῶν, καὶ ὑπερβολή τις ἐστὶ τοῦ κάλλους· ταλαντιαίους γοῦν ὠνοῦνται - τοὺς κριοὺς εἰς τὰς ὀχείας, ὑπερβολὴ δὲ καὶ τῶν λεπτῶν ὑφασμάτων, ἅπερ - οἱ Σαλτιῆται κατασκευάζουσιν. - - “Much cloth used formerly to come from this country. Now also fleeces - come from it more than from the Coraxi; and they are exceedingly - beautiful, so that rams for breeding are sold for a talent - each. Also the fine webs are very famous, which are made by the - Saltiatæ.”--_Yates’s Translation._ - -The reader will please to remark, that this is the passage of Strabo, -formerly referred to as containing evidence respecting the Coraxi. - -Martial, a Spaniard by birth, frequently alludes to the sheep of -Bætica and especially to the various natural colors of their wool, -which were so much admired, that it was manufactured without dyeing. -Two of his epigrams (iv. 28. and viii. 28.) have been already quoted, -as they refer also to the sheep of Tarentum: to these the seven -following may be added. - - In the Tartessian lands a house appears, - Where Cordova o’er placid Bætis rears - Her wealthy domes; and where the fleeces show - Metallic tints, like living gold that glow. - ix. 62. - - Corduba, more joyous far - Than Venafrum’s unctuous boast; - Nor inferior to the jar, - That renowns glad Istria’s coast: - Who surmount’st the fleecy breed, - That the bright Galesus laves; - Nor bidd’st lying purple bleed - O’er the hue, that nature craves. - xii. 63.--_Elphinston’s Translation._ - - Bætis, with wreaths of unctuous olive crown’d, - For Bacchus’ and for Pallas’ gifts renown’d; - Whose waters clear a golden hue impart - To fleeces, that require no further art; - Such wealth the Ruler of the waves conveys - In ships, that mark with foam thy liquid ways. - xii. 99. - - -Lacernas from Bætica. - - My wool disdains a lye, or caldron hue. - Poor Tyre may take it: me my sheep imbue. - xiv. 133.--_Elphinston’s Translation._ - - Charming Ero’s golden lock - Beat the fleece of Bætic flock. - v. 37. See § 21.--Ib. - - Bætic fleeces, many a pound. - xii. 65. l. 5. - - Let him commend the sober native hues; - Of Bætic drab, or gray, lacernas choose, - Who thinks no man in scarlet should appear, - And only women pink or purple wear. - i. 97. - -The numerous passages, which have now been produced relative to the -native colors of the Spanish wool, explain the following line of -Virgil, in which he describes the clothing of a warrior; - - With broider’d chlamys bright, and Spanish rust. - Æn. ix. 582. - -The poet probably intended to describe an outer garment, a chlamys, -made of undyed Spanish wool of a clear brown or yellowish color, -resembling that of rust; and afterwards enriched with embroidery. - -Ramirez de Prado, the Spanish commentator on Martial (_4to. Paris_, -1607.), says, that two native colors were common in Spain in his time, -the one a golden yellow, the other more brown or ferruginous. - -In the North of Spain the Celtiberi wore saga made of a coarse -wool like goats’-hair (_Diod. Sic._ v. 33. _tom._ i. _p._ 356. -_Wesseling_.), and woven _double_ according to Appian[362]. - - [362] Appiani Hist. Rom. l. vi. de Rebus Hispan., vol. i. p. 151. ed. - Schweighäuser. - -At Salacia in Lusitania, according to Pliny, a chequered pattern -was employed in the manufacture of the coarse wool. This was in all -probability the same as the shepherd’s plaid of the Scotch, the weaver -taking advantage of the natural difference of the white and black wool -to produce this variety of appearance. (See Appendix A.) - -Estremadura, a part of the ancient Bætica, is still famous for its -wool. There the Spanish flocks hybernate, and under the direction of a -peculiar code of laws, called _La Mesta_, are conducted every spring -to pasture in the mountains of Leon and Asturias. Other flocks are led -in the same season from great distances to the heights of the Sierra -Morena, lying to the east of the ancient Bætica, where the vegetation -is remarkably favorable to the improvement of their wool. - -As bearing directly upon the present inquiry it may be observed, that -sheep have always been bred principally for the weaver, not for the -butcher, and that this has been more especially the case in ancient -times and in eastern countries. - -If we may judge from the following epigram of Martial, the Romans -regarded with feelings little short of aversion the act of killing a -sheep for food except on solemn or extraordinary occasions. - - -The Ram’s head. - - Hast pierc’d the neck of the Phryxean lord, - Who oft had shelter’d thine? O deed abhorr’d! - xii. 211.--_Elphinston’s Translation._ - -The customs of the shepherd tribes in the East are in this respect -remarkably like those of the ancients. - -“The Arabs rarely diminish their flocks by using them for food, but -live chiefly upon bread, dates, milk, butter, or what they receive in -exchange for their wool. They however sell their sheep to the people in -the towns. A lamb or kid roasted whole is a favorite dish at Aleppo, -but seldom eaten except by the rich[363].” When the Arabs have a -sheep-shearing, they perhaps kill a lamb, and treat their relations -and friends with it together with new cheese and milk, but nothing -more. Among the Mohammedans sheep are sacrificed on certain days as a -festive and at the same time a religious ceremony; these ceremonies are -of great antiquity and derived from Arab heathenism. On the pilgrimage -to Mecca every one is required to sacrifice a sheep at a certain place -near Mecca[364]. - - [363] Harmer s Observations, vol. i. p. 393. ed. Clarke. - - [364] Harmer, p. 39. - - Pallas (Spicilegia Zoologica, Fasc. xi. p. 79.) speaks of the - beautiful lamb-skins from Bucharia, as being admired for their - curled gray wool. - -By the Law of Moses the sheep was a _clean_ animal, and might -consequently be eaten or sacrificed. A lamb or kid, roasted whole, was -the principal and characteristic dish at the feast of the passover. The -rich man kills a lamb to entertain his guest in the beautiful parable -of Nathan. (2 _Sam._ xii. 4.) Sheep were killed on the festive occasion -of shearing the very numerous flocks of Nabal. (1 _Sam._ xxv. 2. 11. -18.) An ox and six choice sheep were sacrificed daily for the numerous -guests of Nehemiah, while he was building the wall of Jerusalem. -(_Neh._ v. 17, 18.) Immense numbers of sheep and oxen were sacrificed -at the dedication of Solomon’s temple. (1 _Kings_, viii. 5. 63.) The -prophet Ezekiel (xxxiv. 3.) describes the bad shepherd as selfishly -eating the flesh and clothing himself with the wool of the sheep, -without tending them with due care and labor. - -In the Suovetaurilia among the Romans a hog, a sheep, and a bull, -their principal domestic animals, were sacrificed. A sheep was -killed every day for the guards, who watched the tomb of Cyrus. -(_Arrian_, _vol._ i. _p._ 438, _Blancardi_.) In the Odyssey (ρ. -180-182.) a sacrifice is made and a feast prepared of sheep, goats, -hogs, and a cow. Also in Od. v. 3. 250. sheep are sacrificed and -furnish part of a feast. In order to ratify a treaty between the Greeks -and Trojans, the former sacrificed a lamb of the male sex to Jupiter; -the latter one of the male sex and white to the Sun, and another of -the female sex and black to the Earth. (Il. γ. 103, 104.) Sheep are -sacrificed to Apollo at Delphi in Euripides, Ion, _l._ 230. 380. -The rare instances of the use of sheep for food or sacrifice by the -Egyptians have been already noticed. - -But, although sheep, both old and young, male and female, were -sacrificed to the objects of religious worship and on other festive -occasions were eaten, especially by the rich and great, yet their chief -use was to supply clothing, and the nourishment they yielded consisted -in their milk and the cheese made from it, rather than in their flesh. - -This fact is illustrated by the words of Solomon, formerly quoted, and -in which he speaks of lambs for _clothing_ and goat’s _milk_ for food. -In like manner St. Paul says (1 Cor. ix. 7.), “Who planteth a vineyard, -and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth -not of the milk of the flock?” - -Varro thinks, that sheep were employed for the use of man _before any -other animal_ on account of their usefulness and placidity, and he -represents their use to consist in supplying cheese and milk for food, -fleeces and skins for clothing[365]. In like manner Columella in his -account of the use of sheep (vii. 2.) says, they afforded the chief -materials for clothing. In treating of their use for food, he mentions -only their milk and cheese. Pliny refers to the employment of sheep -both for sacrifices and for clothing. He also remarks, that as the -ox is principally useful in obtaining food, to wit, by ploughing and -other agricultural processes, the sheep, on the other hand, supplies -materials for clothing[366]. - - [365] De Re Rustica, l. ii. cap. i. - - [366] See Appendix A. - -The fact, that wool was among the ancients by far the most common -material for making clothes, accounts for the various expressions in -scripture respecting the destructiveness of the moth. - -“Your garments are moth-eaten.” James v. 2. “He, as a rotten thing, -consumeth, as a garment that is moth-eaten.”--Job xiii. 28. “They all -shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.”--Is. l. 9. -“The moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worms shall eat -them like wool.” Is. li. 8. “From garments cometh a moth.” Eccles. -xlii. 13. “Treasures, where moth and rust corrupt.” Matt. vi. 19. - -But it is to be observed, that the sacred writers mention not the -moth, but the minute worm, which changes into a moth, and which alone -gnaws the garments. In the passages which have been quoted, the word -“moth” must be understood to signify the larva[367] of the clothes-moth -(_Phalæna Vestianella_, Linn.), or of some insect of the same kind. - - [367] When an insect first issues from the egg, it is called by - naturalists _larva_. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -GOATS-HAIR. - -ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE GOAT--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES, ETC. - - Sheep-breeding and Goats in China--Probable origin of sheep and - goats--Sheep and goats coeval with man, and always propagated - together--Habits of Grecian goat-herds--He-goat employed to lead - the flock--Cameo representing a goat-herd--Goats chiefly valued for - their milk--Use of goats’-hair for coarse clothing--Shearing of goats - in Phrygia, Cilicia, &c.--Vestes caprina, cloth of goats’-hair--Use - of goats’-hair for military and naval purposes--Curtains to - cover tents--Etymology of Sack and Shag--Symbolical uses of - sack-cloth--The Arabs weave goats’-hair--Modern uses of goats’-hair - and goats’-wool--Introduction of the Angora or Cashmere goat into - France--Success of the project. - - -The inquiry into the origin and propagation of the Goat, no less than -that of the sheep, may justly be considered a subject for interesting -investigation. Goats were no less highly prized by the ancient -inhabitants of Greece and Italy than by the modern. We have seen, that -the great value of sheep always consisted in its fleece. The goat, -on the contrary, was more valued for the excellence and abundance -of its milk, and for its suitableness to higher and more rugged and -unproductive land[368]. - - [368] Virgil, Georg. iii. 305-321. - -We observe a clear allusion to this distinction between the principal -uses of sheep and of goats in the twenty-seventh chapter of the book -of Proverbs[369]. The management and use of goats has from time -immemorial formed a striking feature in the condition of man, and -especially of those nations which belong to the Caucasian, or, as Dr. -Prichard more properly denominates it, the _Iranian_ or _Indo-Atlantic_ -variety of our race[370]. Their habits of sheep-breeding seem no -less characteristic than the form of their countenances, a no less -essential part of their manner of life than any other custom, by which -they are distinguished: and, as all the circumstances, which throw -any light upon the question, conspire to render it probable, that the -above-mentioned variety of the human race first inhabited part of the -high land of central Asia, so it is remarkable, that our domestic sheep -and goats may with the greatest probability be referred to the same -stock with certain wild animals, which now overspread those regions. -The sheep, as has been already observed in chapter I., is regarded as -specifically the same with the Argali; and in the opinion of Pallas, -which has been very generally adopted by zoologists, the goat is the -same with the Ægagrus, a gregarious quadruped, which occupies the -loftiest parts of the mountains extending from the Caucasus to the -South of the Caspian Sea, and thence to the North of India[371]. -Indeed the history of these animals is so interwoven with the history -of man, that those naturalists have not reasoned quite correctly, who -have thought it necessary to refer the first origin of either of them -to any wild stock at all. They assume, that these quadrupeds first -existed in an undomesticated state, that is, entirely apart from man -and independent of him; that, as he advanced in civilization, as his -wants multiplied, and he became more ingenious and active in inventing -methods of supplying them, the thought struck him, that he might obtain -from these wild beasts the materials of his food and clothing; and that -he therefore caught and confined some of them and in the course of time -rendered them by cultivation more and more suitable to his purposes. - - [369] “Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well - to thy herds. The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the - price of thy field; and thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy - food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance of thy - maidens.” Prov. xxvii. 23, 26, 27. - - Bochart has quoted a great variety of ancient testimonies to the - value of goats’-milk in his Hierozoicon, l. ii. cap. 51. pp. 629, - 630. ed. Leusden. - - [370] See Prichard’s Researches into the Physical History of Mankind, - third edition, vol. i. pp. 247. 257-262. 303, 304. These - nations are characterized by the _oval_ form of the skull. Their - distribution over the face of the earth may be seen in the Map, - Plate VII. - - The only remarkable exception to this limitation of ancient - sheep-breeding, is the case of the Chinese. It would appear from - the following evidence, that they had both sheep and goats in - ancient times. - - The Chinese character for a sacrifice is a compound of two - characters, one placed above the other; the upper one, _Yang_, is - the character for _a lamb_, the lower is the character for _fire_; - so that _a lamb on the fire_ denotes _a sacrifice_. See Morison’s - Chinese Dictionary, vol. iii. part i. - - According to the mythology of the Chinese, which as well as their - written characters is of high antiquity, one of the four rivers, - which rise in Mount Kaen-lun and run towards the four quarters of - the globe, is called the Yang-Choui, i. e. the _Lamb-River_. Thomas - Stephens Davies, Esq. in Dr. Robert Thomson’s British Annual for - 1837, p. 271, 277. - - Yang-Ching, i. e. _Sheep-city_, was an ancient name of Canton. - Morison, p. 55. There is a character for the _Goat_, which means - the _Yang of the mountains_, Yang being a general term like the - Hebrew צאן, including both sheep and goats. Ib. p. 61, 62. - - In the following passage of Rufus Festus Avienus, who flourished - about A. D. 400, we have a distinct testimony, that the ancient - Seres, the probable ancestors of the Chinese, employed themselves - in the care of sheep at the same time that they were devoted to the - production of silk. - - Gregibus permixti oviumque boumque, - Vellera per silvas Seres nemoralia carpunt. - Descriptio Orbis Terræ, l. 935, 936. - - - [371] Pallas, Spicilegia Zoologica, Fasciculus xi. pp. 43, 44. See also - Bell’s History of British Quadrupeds, London, 1837, p. 433. - -We have no reason to assume, that man and the two lesser kinds of -horned cattle were originally independent of one another. So far as -geology supplies any evidence, it is in favor of the supposition, -that these quadrupeds and man belong to the same epoch. No properly -fossil bones either of the sheep or goat have yet been found, and we -have no reason to believe, that these animals were produced until -the creation of man. But, as we must suppose, that man was created -perfect and full-grown, and with those means of subsistence around him, -which his nature and constitution require, there is no reason why the -sheep and the goat may not have been created in such a state as to be -adapted immediately both for clothing and for food, or why it should be -considered more probable that they were at first entirely wild. They -may have been produced originally in the same abode, which was occupied -by that variety of the human race, to whose habits and mode of life -the use of them has always been so essential; and, if we assume, that -this abode was somewhere in the elevated land of central Asia, in the -region, for example, of Armenia, we adopt an hypothesis, which explains -in the most simple and satisfactory manner the apparent fact of the -propagation not only of men, but of these quadrupeds with them, from -that centre over immense regions of the globe. - -With regard to historical evidence, it is certainly very defective. -No express testimony assures us of the facts included in the -above-named hypothesis. One thing, however, is certain, and it appears -very deserving of attention, viz. that the sheep and the goat have -_always_ been propagated together. We find great nations, which had -no acquaintance with either of these quadrupeds, but depended for -their subsistence upon either oxen or horses. We find others, on the -contrary, to whose mode of life the larger quadrupeds were of much less -importance than the smaller; but we find none, which were accustomed to -breed sheep without goats, or goats without sheep. - -The reader will find numerous illustrations of this fact on reviewing -the evidence contained in the preceding chapters. General terms were -employed in the ancient world to include both sheep and goats[372]. -Where more specific terms are used, we still find “rams and goats,” -“ewes and she-goats” mentioned together. Sheep and goats were offered -together in sacrifice, and the instances are too numerous to mention, -in which the same flock, or the wealth of a single individual, included -both these animals. - - [372] It should be observed, that the Hebrew word translated _sheep_ in - Ex. ix. 3. included Goats. - -In consequence of this prevailing association of sheep and goats, -they are often represented together in ancient bas-reliefs and other -works of art. Of this we have a beautiful example in the Rev. Robert -Walpole’s collection of “Travels in various countries of the East.” At -the end of the volume is a plate taken from a votive tablet of Pentelic -marble dedicated to Pan, and representing five goats, two sheep, and a -lamb. As the goats are in one group, and the sheep and lamb in another, -the artist probably designed to represent a flock of each. For, though -sometimes mixed in the same flock, the two kinds of animals were -generally kept apart; and to this circumstance our Savior alludes in -his image of the shepherd dividing the sheep from the goats[373]. - - [373] “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy - angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: - and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate - them one from another, _as a shepherd divides his sheep from the - goats_: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats - on the left.”--Matt. xxv. 31-33. - -A sheep and a goat are seen reposing together in a Roman bas-relief in -the Monumenta Matthæiana, vol. iii. tab. 37. fig. 1. - -Rosselini gives two paintings from Egyptian tombs, which exhibit both -sheep and goats[374]; and he mentions an inscription on the tomb of -Ranni, according to which that person had 120 goats, 300 rams, 1500 -hogs, and 122 oxen. - - [374] Monumenti dell’ Egitto, parte ii. Mon. Civili, tomo i. cap. iii. - § 2. tavola xxviii. xxix. - -In the account given in chapter II. of the Sicilian Daphnis, an epigram -by Callimachus on Astacides, who was a goatherd in Crete, was partially -quoted, probably remarkable for his beauty and his immature death. The -translation of the passage will now be given. - - Ἀστακίδην τὸν Κρῆτα, τὸν αἰπόλον, ἥρπασε Νύμφη - Ἐξ ὄρεος· καὶ νῦν ἱερὸς Ἀστακίδης - Οἰκεῖ Δικταίῃσιν ὑπὸ δρυσίν· οὐκέτι Δάφνιν - Ποιμένες, Ἀστακίδην δ’ αἰὲν ἀεισόμεθα. - - A nymph has snatch’d Astacides away; - Beneath Dictæan oaks our goatherd lies: - Shepherds! no more your songs to Daphnis pay; - For now with him the sacred Cretan vies. - _Yates’s Translation._ - -Theocritus (_Idyll._ vii. 12-20.) describes a goatherd of Cydon in -Crete, named Lycidas; and from the account which he gives of his -attire, we may judge of that commonly used in ancient Greece by the -same description of persons. He wore on his shoulders the dun-colored -hide of a shaggy goat, and an old shawl was fastened about his breast -with a broad girdle. In his right hand he held a crook of wild olive. - -The same author (_Idyll._ iii. 5.) mentions a fine strong he-goat, -which was brought from Lybia to Sicily. The design of its -transportation was, no doubt, to improve the breed. Probably Chromis, -the Lybian (_Idyll._ i. 24.), who resided in Sicily, had migrated there -to undertake the management of goats and to improve their quality. - -Maximus Tyrius (_Diss._ xxvii.) seems to suppose, that a flock of goats -could not even exist without the music of the syrinx. “If you take -away,” says he, “the goatherd and his syrinx, you dissolve the flock of -goats; in like manner, if you take away reason from the society of men, -thus depriving them of their leader and guide, you destroy the flock, -which by nature is tame, but may be injured by a bad superintendence.” - -The he-goat was employed to lead the flock as the ram was among sheep. -The following passages of scripture allude to this custom. “Remove out -of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, -and be as the he-goats before the flocks.” _Jer._ l. 8. “Mine anger was -kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats.” _Zech._ x. -3. In Proverbs xxx. 31., according to the Septuagint version, we read -of “the goat which leads the flock.” Julius Pollux (Lib. i. _cap._ 12. -_sect._ 19.) says, that “The he-goat leads the goats[375].” - - [375] See also Ælian, Hist. Anim. vi. 42. and Pausanias, ix. 13. 4. - -On a cameo in the Florentine Museum there is a representation of an -ancient goatherd[376]. The goatherd holds the syrinx in his left hand, -and a young kid in his right. A goat stands beside him, and his dog -appears partially concealed within a kennel formed in the rock, upon -which the goatherd is seated. The herdsman is represented sitting under -an aged ilex. At least this supposition accords with the language of -Tibullus already quoted. - - [376] Mus. Florentinum. Gemmæ antiquæ a Gorio illustratæ. tab. xc. No. -7. - -A modern authoress, who spent some of the summer months in the year -1819 among the mountains east of Rome, notices goats in the following -terms as part of the stock of the farmers in that country. - -“We frequently walked to one of these little farms, to meet the goats -coming in at night from the mountain. As the flock crowded down the -broken road leading to the fold, followed by their grotesque-looking -shepherd and his rough dogs, _the pet-kids crowding round their master -and answering to his call_, we could not help thinking of the antique -manners described by the poets, and represented in the pictures of -Herculaneum and Pompeii. - -“The goats are the most useful domestic animals. Here no other cheese -or milk is tasted. Besides, the ricotta, a kind of curd, and junkets, -are made of goats’-milk, and, with bread serve many of the country -people for food[377].” - - [377] Three Months passed in the Mountains east of Rome, by Maria - Graham (Lady Calcott), p. 36. 55, 56. - - The same writer says, that “black sheep are rather encouraged here - for the wool,” and that “the clothing of the friars is of this - undyed wool.” p. 55. - -From Athenæus[378] we learn the superior excellence of the goats of -Scyros and Naxos. - - [378] Quoted in Chapter I. p. 236. Ælian bears testimony to the same - fact, observing, that the cows of Epirus were said to yield the - greatest quantity of milk, and the goats of Scyros. Hist. Anim. l. - iii. cap. 33. - - From Tournefort, Sonnini, and other modern travellers we learn, - that both Scyros and Naxos are very rocky and mountainous, and that - they still produce goats. See also Dapper, Description des Isles de - l’Archipel, p. 256. 350. - -Virgil (_l. c._), after mentioning the use of goats for food, goes on -to show their contributions to the _weaver_. - - Cloth’d in their shaven beards and hoary hair, - Fence of the ocean spray and nightly air, - The miserable seaman breasts the main, - And camps uninjur’d press the marshy plain. - _Sotheby’s Translation._ - -The last line of this passage of Virgil is quoted by Columella (L. vii. -6.) in speaking of the utility of the he-goat; - - For he himself is shorn “for the use of camps and to make coverings - for wretched sailors.” - -Virgil, moreover, has here followed Varro, who writes thus; - - As the sheep yields to man wool for clothing, so the goat furnishes - hair for the use of sailors, and to make ropes for military engines, - and vessels for artificers. * * * * * The goats are shorn in a great - part of Phrygia, because there they have long shaggy hair. Cilicia - (i. e. hair-cloths), and other things of the same kind, are commonly - imported from that country. The name _Cilicia_ is said to be derived - from the circumstance, that in Cilicia goats were first shorn for this - purpose. _De Re Rustica_, L. ii. _c._ ii. _p._ 201. _ed. Bip._ - -The language of Varro in this passage indicates, that the female goat -was shorn as well as the male; and that the excellence of goats’-hair, -which was used only for coarse articles, consisted in its length. -Columella mentions the long bristly hair of the Cilician goats[379]. - - [379] Setosum, quale est in Cilicia. De Re Rustica, l. i. Præf. p. 20. - ed. Bip. - -Aristotle says, “In Lycia goats are shorn, as sheep are in other -countries.” _Hist. Anim._ viii. 28. This testimony of Aristotle agrees -with that of his nephew and pupil, Callisthenes, who says (_ap. Ælian. -de Nat. Anim._ xvi. 30.), “that in Lycia goats are shorn just as sheep -are everywhere else; for that they have a very thick coat of excellent -hair, hanging from them in locks or curls; and that this hair is -twisted so as to make ropes, which are used in navigation instead of -cables.” - -Pliny, in his account of goats[380], says, “In Cilicia and about the -Syrtes they are covered with hair, which admits of being shorn.” From -this it may be inferred, in conformity with the testimonies already -cited from Varro and Virgil, that the longest and best goats’-hair was -obtained in Cilicia, and on the coast of Africa opposite to Sicily and -Malta, the modern Tripoli. It is remarkable, that Virgil, in order to -designate the latter district, refers to the romantic river Cinyps, -which flowed through it, observing the same practice, which we have -seen to be so common with the poets in regard to the countries noted -for the produce of the most excellent wool. In the interior and more -hilly portion of this district of Africa both sheep and goats are still -reared[381]. - - [380] L. viii. c. 76. See Appendix A. - - [381] Proceedings of the Expedition to explore the Northern Coast of - Africa from Tripoli Eastward, by Beechey, ch. iv. p. 73. In the - same chapter, p. 52. 62-68, is an account of the Wad’el Khahan, the - ancient Cinyps. - -The geographer Avienus asserts that goats’-hair was obtained for the -purpose of being _woven_ in the country of the Cynetæ in Spain[382]. -Isidore of Seville, in his enumeration of the different kinds of -cloth (_Orig._ xix. 22.), uses the following expressions: “Fibrini -(vestis est) tramam de fibri lanâ habens: caprina.” Thus the text -now stands, evidently defective. The writer no doubt alluded to a -kind of cloth called _caprina_, because goats’-hair was used in the -manufacture of it. Beckmann (_History of Inventions_, _Eng. Trans._, -_vol._ iv. _p._ 224.) proposes to read, “tramam de fibri lanâ habens, -stamen de caprinâ,” i. e. “having the woof of beaver-wool, the warp -of goats’-wool.” But the ancients were unacquainted with the fine -wool of certain goats, and it is highly improbable, that they used -goats’-_hair_ in the case referred to, since the “Vestes Fibrinæ” were -of great value, as will soon be shown, and not made in any part of -coarse materials. - - [382] _Rufi Festi Avieni Ora Maritima_, l. 218-221. - -The cloth of goats’-hair would be suitable for sailors, both on account -of their hardy mode of life, and because it was better adapted than any -other kind to bear exposure to water. - -Its use as clothing to express mourning and mortification will be -noticed presently. - -The employment of goats’-hair for military and naval purposes was -far more extensive, and is proved by the following passage from the -Geoponica (xviii. 9.) in addition to the former testimonies. - -Προσοδόυς δίδωσιν οὐκ ὀλίγας, τὰς ἀπὸ γάλακτος καὶ τύρου καὶ (σἀρκός)· -πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς τριχός. ἡ δὲ θρὶξ ἀναγΚαία πρός τε σχοίνους -καὶ σάκκους, καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια, καὶ εἰς ναυτικὰς ὑπηρεσίας, -οὔτε κοπτόμενα ῥᾳδίως, οὔτε σηπόμενα φυσικῶς, ἐὰν μὴ λίαν κατολιγωρηθῇ. - - The goat yields no small profit from its milk, cheese, and (flesh). - It also yields a profit from its hair, which is necessary for making - ropes, sacks, and similar articles, and for nautical purposes, since - it is not easily cut, and does not rot from natural causes, unless it - be much neglected.--_Yates’s Translation._ - -Cicero (_in Verrem_, _Act_ i.) mentions _Cilicia_ together with hides -and sacks, and Asconius Pedianus in his Commentary on the passage (_p._ -95. _ed. Crenii._) gives the following explanation: “Cilicia texta de -pilis in castrorum usum atque nautarum.” Servius on Virgil, Georg. iii. -313. says, that these Cilicia, or cloths of goats’-hair, were used to -cover the towers in sieges, because they could not be set on fire. - -The reader is referred to the Poliorcetica of Lipsius, L. iii. Dial. -3. p. 158. for evidence respecting the use of hair ropes for military -engines, and to L. v. Dial. ix. for passages from Thucydides, Arrian, -Ammianus, Suidas, Vegetius, Curtius, and others, proving, that the -besieged in cities hung Cilicia over their towers and walls to obviate -the force of the various weapons hurled against them, and especially of -the arrows, which carried fire. - -From Exodus we learn[383], that the Israelites in the wilderness among -their contributions to the Tabernacle gave goats’-hair, and that it -was spun by women. The spun goats’-hair was probably used in part to -make cords for the tent; but part of it at least was _woven_ into the -large pieces, called in the Septuagint “curtains of goats’-hair.” Such -curtains, or _Saga_, of spun goats’-hair seem to have been commonly -used for the covering of tents[384]. - - [383] “And thou shalt make curtains of goats’-hair to be a covering - upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make. The length of - one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain - four cubits: and the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure. - And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains - by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront - of the tabernacle. And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of - the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops in - the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second. And thou shalt - make fifty taches of brass, and put the taches into the loops, - and couple the tent together, that it may be one. And the remnant - that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that - remaineth, shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle. And a - cubit on the one side, and a cubit on the other side of that which - remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent, it shall hang - over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side, to - cover it.”--Ex. xxvi. 7-13. - - [384] “And he made curtains of goats-hair for the tent over the - tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them. The length of one curtain - was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain: - the eleven curtains were of one size.”--Ex. xxxvi. 14, 15. - -Cloths of the same kind were used for rubbing horses[385]. The term for -goats’-hair cloth in Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syraic, is שק or סק, i. e. -SHAC, or SAC, translated ΣΑΚΚΟΣ in the Septuagint, and SACCUS in the -Vulgate version of the Scriptures. The Latin SAGUM, appears to have -had the same origin. In English we have _Sack_ and _Shag_, scarcely -differing from the oriental and ancient terms either in sound or sense. - - [385] _Vegetii Ars Veter._ _l._ i. _c._ 42. - -_Cilice_, the modern French term for a hair-shirt, is immediately -derived from _Cilicium_, the origin of which has been explained[386]. - - [386] Menage, Dict. Etym. v. _Cilice_. - -This kind of cloth, which was black or dark brown, the goats of Syria -and Palestine being chiefly of that color even to the present day, -is alluded to in the sixth chapter of Revelations[387], and in Is. -l. 3. “I clothe the heavens with blackness and make sack-cloth their -covering.” It was worn to express mourning and mortification. In -Jonah we have a very remarkable case, for on this occasion blankets -of goats’-hair were put on the bodies both of men and beasts, and -one was worn even by the king of Nineveh himself[388]. When Herod -Agrippa was seized at Cæsarea with the mortal distemper mentioned -in Acts xii. (See chap. vi. p. 93.), the common people sat down on -hair-cloth according to the custom of their country, beseeching God -on his behalf.--_Josephus_, _Ant. Jud._ _l._ xix. _cap._ 8. _p._ 872. -_Hudson_. So according to Josephus (_Ant. Jud._ _l._ vii. _cap._ 7. -_p._ 299.), David fell down upon sack-cloth of the same description and -lay on the ground praying for the restoration of his son. - - [387] “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there - was a great earthquake; and the sun became as black as sack-cloth - of hair, and the moon became as blood.”--Rev. vi. 12. - - [388] “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, - and put on sack-cloth, from the greatest of them even to the least - of them. The word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from - his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with - sack-cloth, and sat in ashes.”--Jonah iii. 5, 6. In v. 5. we should - translate “put on hair-cloths;” for the word is _plural_ in the - Hebrew. - -Hence the use of the hair-shirt by devotees in more recent times. -St. Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea in the fourth century, in answer to the -question, Whether a monk ought to have besides his night-shirt (_post -nocturnam tunicam_) a Cilicium or any other, says, “Cilicii quidem usus -habet proprium tempus. Non enim propter usus corporis, sed propter -afflictionem carnis inventum est hujuscemodi indumentum, et propter -humilitatem animae[389].” He then adds, that as the word of God forbids -us to have two shirts, we ought not to have a second except for the -purpose here mentioned. From this it is clear, that the Cilicium was -not commonly worn by the monks, but only at particular times for the -sake of humiliation. - - [389] From the ancient version of Rufinus, p. 175. ed. 1513. - -Dr. Sibthorp (_in Memoirs, edited by Walpole_,) informs us, that in -the present day the shepherds of Attica “shear the goats at the same -time with the sheep, about April or May,” and that the hair is made -into sacks, bags, and _carpets_, of which a considerable quantity is -exported. In modern as in ancient times, the inhabitants of Greece -subsist in a great measure upon goats’-milk and the cheese made from -it[390]. - - [390] Dodwell’s Tour, vol. i. p. 144. - -The wives of the Arabian shepherds still _weave_ goats’-hair for their -tents. This hair-cloth is nearly black, and resembles that of which our -modern coal-sacks are made[391]. The Arabs also hang bags of the same -cloth, containing barley, about the heads of their horses to supply -them with food[392]. - - [391] Harmer’s Observations, ch. ii. Obs. 36. Dr. Shaw’s Travels, Part - iii. ch. 3. § 6. E. F. K. Rosenmuller, Biblische Alterthumskunde, - iv. 2. p. 89. - - The use of goats’-hair for making cloth among the Moors is - mentioned by Rauwolff, _Travels_, part ii. ch. 1, p. 123 of Ray’s - Translation. The herdsmen on the wide plains about Smyrna live in - tents of “black goats’-hair.”--C. Fellows’s _Discoveries in Lycia_, - p. 8. - - [392] D’Arvieux and Thevenot, ap. Harmer, ch. v. Obs. 9. - -The goat, as is the case with some other quadrupeds, if confined to -a country, which is hot in summer and very cold in winter, is always -protected in the latter season by an additional covering of fine wool -beneath its long hair. A specimen of the Syrian goat in the Hunterian -Museum at Glasgow shows both the hair and the wool. In Kerman and -Cashmere this very fine wool is obtained by combing the goats in the -spring, when it becomes loose; and, having been spun into yarn, it is -used to make the beautiful _shawls_ brought from those countries. - -We will now conclude this chapter with the following interesting -communication from Mr. E. Riley, being the substance of a paper lately -read before the Society of Arts, London. - -Mr. Riley “in 1825 and 1828 transported to that territory two flocks -of the finest sheep procurable throughout Germany, my father had -also long contemplated introducing there the celebrated Cashmere -goat, anticipating that the fulfilment of his views would, in proving -advantageous to himself, become also of ultimate benefit to the colony; -in which expectation, he has been encouraged from the results that -have attended the importation of the Saxon breed of sheep into their -favored climates, the wools of New South Wales, and in proportion to -their improvement, those also of Van Dieman’s Land being now eagerly -purchased by the most intelligent manufacturers in preference to those -of equal prices imported from any part of Europe. - -“With this object in view, he subsequently, during an agricultural tour -on the Continent, directed my attention to the Cashmere flocks of Mons. -Ternaux, and in October 1828, I met this distinguished man at his seat -at St. Onen (Mons. Ternaux is a great shawl manufacturer and a -Peer of France,) where he preserved the elite of his herds; the animals -were a mixture of various sizes and colors, from a perfect white to -brown, with scarcely any stamped features as if belonging to one race -exclusively; they were covered with long coarse hair, under which so -small a quantity of soft short down was concealed, that the average -produce of the whole collection did not exceed three ounces each; -therefore, under these unfavorable circumstances, my father deferred -for a time his intention of sending any of them to Australia. - -“I was then advised by the Viscomte Perrault de Jotemps, -to see the stock of M. Polonceau at Versailles, he having, by a happily -selected cross, succeeded in increasing the quantity and value of the -qualities of the Cashmere goat beyond the most sanguine anticipations, -and in consequence of his enlightened taste for agricultural pursuits, -was also honored with the directorship of the model farm at Grignon. He -became among the first to purchase a chosen selection of the original -importation of the Cashmere goat from M. Ternaux, and some time after -seeing, at one of the estates of the Duchesse de Beri, an -Angora buck with an extraordinary silkiness of hair, having more the -character of long coarse but very soft down, he solicited permission -to try the effects of a union with this fine animal and his own pure -Cashmeres. The improvement even in the first drop was so rapid that -it induced him to persevere, and when I first saw his small herd they -were in the third generation from the males produced solely by the -first cross; the unwillingness however of M. Polonceau to part with any -number of them at this period (the only alienation he has made from the -favorite products of his solicitude being two males and two females -to the _King_ of _Wirtemberg_, for the sum of 3400 francs,) caused -my father again to postpone his intentions until my return from the -Australasian Colonies, judging that M. Polonceau would then probably be -enabled to dispose of a sufficient number, and that the constancy and -properties of the race would by that time be more decidedly determined. - -“On my arrival in England at the close of 1831, he again recurred to -his favorite project of introducing these animals into our colonies, -for which purpose I went to France with the intention of purchasing a -small flock of M. Polonceau, should I find all his expectations of the -Cashmere Angora breed verified, which having perfectly ascertained, -I at length succeeded in persuading M. Polonceau to cede to me ten -females in kid, and three males, and I fortunately was able to convey -the whole in health to London, with the intention of proceeding as -speedily as possible with them to Port Jackson, looking sanguinely -forward not only to their rapid increase but also to _crossing_ the -_common goats_ of the country with this valuable breed, in full -expectation that they may, exclusive of their own pure down, become -thus the means of forming a desirable addition to the already much -prized importations from New South Wales and Van Dieman’s Land. I am -led to the conclusion that the latter result may be accomplished, as M. -Polonceau, who has tried the experiment with the native goat of France, -has obtained animals of the second cross very little inferior to the -breed that has rendered his name so distinguished. He has also crossed -the common goat with the pure Cashmere, but only obtained so tardy an -amelioration, that it required eight or ten generations to produce a -down simply equal to their inferior quantity and quality when compared -to the produce of the Cashmere Angora.” - -Mr. Polonceau has unremittingly persevered in the improvement so -immediately effected, and has proved during the several years which -have elapsed since the first experiment in the year 1822, that an -entire satisfactory result in the union of the most essential qualities -of down, _abundance_, _length_, _fineness_, _lustre_, and _softness_, -was accomplished by the first cross, without any return having ensued -to the individual characters of either of the primitive races, and in -consequence, he has since constantly propagated the produce of that -cross among themselves, careful only of preserving animals entirely -white and of employing for propagation those bucks which had the down -in the greatest quantity and of the finest quality with the smallest -proportion of hair. - -In 1826; the “Societie Royale et Centrale d’Agriculture de Paris” -acquainted with the interesting result of M. Polonceau’s flock, being -at that time in the third generation, and considering that the down of -this new race was _more valuable than that of the East_, and that it -was the most beautiful of filaceous materials known, as it combines -the softness of Cashmere with the lustre of silk, awarded him their -large gold medal at their session, 4th April, 1826, and nominated him a -member of their society in the following year. - -In 1827, at the exhibition of the produce of National Industry, the -jury appointed to judge the merits of the objects exposed, also awarded -him their medal. - -At present the animals are in the twelfth generation, their health and -vigor, the constancy of their qualities, and abundance of their down -_without any degeneration_, prove that this new race may be regarded as -one entirely fixed and established, requiring solely the care that is -generally observed with valuable breeds; that is to say, a judicious -choice of those employed for their reproduction, and in such a climate -as New South Wales it may be reasonably expected that the brilliant -qualities of their down may yet be improved as has been so eminently -the case with the wool of the merino and Saxon sheep imported there. - -M. Polonceau has goats that have yielded as many as thirty ounces of -the down, in one season, and he states that the whole of his herd -produce from twelve to twenty ounces; thus showing the astonishing -advantages this new breed has _over the uncrossed Cashmere_, which -never yield more than four ounces and seldom exceed two ounces each. - -This gentleman also states, that, the Cashmere Angora goats, are more -robust and more easily nourished than the common goat, and that they -are less capricious and more easily managed in a flock; and from the -experience he has already had, he finds them much more docile than even -sheep. They prefer the leaves of trees, as do all other goats, but -they thrive either on hay or straw, or green fodder, or in meadows; -they also feed with equal facility on heaths, and on the most abrupt -declivities, where the sheep would perish; they do not fear the cold, -and are allowed to remain all the winter in open sheds. For the first -year or two of M. P.’s experiments he thought it prudent to give them -aromatic herbs, from time to time, but during the last six years he has -not found it necessary. He knows not of any particular disease to which -they are subject, his flock never having had any. M. P. arranges they -should kid in March, but occasionally he takes _two_ falls from those -of sufficient strength during the year. - -The down commences to grow in September, and developes itself -progressively until the end of March, when it ceases to grow and -detaches itself, unless artificially removed. - -To collect the down, he waits the period when it begins to detach -itself, and then the locks of down which separate from the skin with -little force are taken off by hand; the down is removed from the -animals every three or four days; in general it first begins to fall -from the neck and shoulders, and in the following four or five days -from the rest of the body; the collection is completed in the space -of eight or ten days. Sometimes the entire down can be taken from -the animal at one shearing, and almost in an unbroken fleece, when -it begins to loosen. The shearing has the advantage of preserving -more perfectly the parallelisms of the individual filaments, which -much increase the facility of combing and preparing the down for -manufacturing purposes. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -BEAVERS-WOOL. - -Isidorus Hispalensis--Claudian--Beckmann--Beavers’-wool--Dispersion of -Beavers through Europe--Fossil bones of Beavers. - - -The passage quoted from Isidore of Seville, in the last chapter, shows -that the ancients made a cloth, the woof of which was of Beavers’-wool -(_de fibri lanâ_), and which was therefore called _Vestis Fibrina_. -By _lana_ he must have meant the very fine wool, which, agreeably to -the observation in the last paragraph, grows under the long hair of -the beaver. Isidore in the same Book, observes, “Fibrinum lana est -animalium, quæ fibros vocant: ipsos et castores existimant.” - -The following Epigram of Claudian seems intended, as Beckmann (iv. _p._ -223.) supposes, to describe “a worn-out beaver dress, which had nothing -more left of that valuable fur but the name.” - - -ON A BEAVER MANTLE. - - The shadow of its ancient name remains: - But, if no nap of beaver it retains, - A Beaver Mantle it can scarce be nam’d. - The price, however, proves its claim: it cost - Six pounds. Hence, though all lustre it has lost, - Yet, bought so dear, as beaver let it still be fam’d. - -Sidonius Apollinaris calls those who used this costly apparel -_castorinati_. _Lib._ v. _Epist._ 7. _p._ 313. _Paris_, 1599, 4_to._ - -Gerbert, or Gilbert, surnamed the Philosopher, and afterwards Pope -Silvester II., commenting on the qualities of a good Bishop according -to 1 Timothy iii. 1., says in reference to the word “ornatum:” - - “Quod si juxta sensum literæ tantûm respiciamus, non aliud, - sacerdotes, quam amictum quæremus clariorem; verbi gratiâ, castorinas - quæremus et sericas vestes: et ille se inter episcopas credet esse - altiorem, qui vestem induerit clariorem. Sed S. Apostolus taliter - se intelligi non vult, quia non carne, &c.”--_De Informatione - Episcoporum, seu De Dignitate Sacerdotali, in ed. Benedict. Opp. S. - Ambrosii, tom._ ii. _p._ 358. - -“An upper garment of this cloth was worn by the Emperor Nicephorus II. -at his coronation in the year 936.”--_Beckmann_, _l. c._ § 31. - -“This method of manufacturing beavers’-hair,” observes Beckmann, “seems -not to have been known in the time of Pliny; for, though he speaks much -of the _castor_, and mentions _pellis fibrina_ three times, he says -nothing in regard to manufacturing the hair, or to beaver-fur.” - -It seems probable, that the Greeks and Romans did not use cloth of -beavers’-wool until the 4th century. In an earlier age the furs and -drugs supplied by beavers were obtained from the countries to the -North of the Euxine Sea. But in the period now under consideration -the intercourse of the Romans with the West of Europe would open a -much more extended sphere for procuring the Vestes Fibrinæ, since we -have traces of the existence of beavers in almost all parts of Europe. -Their appearance in Wales, Scotland, Germany, and the North of Europe -generally, is attested by Giraldus Cambrensis[393]. - - [393] Topographia Hiberniæ, c. 21, and Itinerarium Cambriæ, l. ii. c. 3. - -Dr. Patrick Neill, in a valuable paper on this subject,[394] has -given an account of the bones of recent beavers found in Perthshire -and Berwickshire. They have also been found in Cambridgeshire[395]. -We learn from the life of Wulstan[396], that _beaver-furs_, as well -as those of _sables_, _foxes_, and other quadrupeds, were used by the -Anglo-Saxons in very early times for _lining_ their garments. Other -modern authors speak of their occurrence in Austria, Hungary, and -the North of Italy[397]. They are still found in Sweden[398]. Strabo -informs us, that in his time they frequented the rivers of Spain[399]. - - [394] Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. i. p. 177-187. - - [395] Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, vol. i. part - i. p. 175. - - [396] See Extracts in Henry’s History of Britain, vol. iv. - - [397] Muratori, Antichità Italiane, tomo ii. p. 110. Napoli, 1783. The - authors, cited by Muratori, are Gervase of Tilbury, and Mathioli. - - [398] Travels in Sweden, by Dr. Thomas Thomson, p. 411. - - [399] Lib. iii. 163. vol. i. p. 737, ed. Siebenkees. - -Buffon says (_Hist. Nat._ _tome_ 26. _p._ 98.), “There are beavers in -Languedoc in the islands of the Rhone, and great numbers of them in -the North of Europe.” “But as human population extends,” he observes, -“beavers, like other animals, are dispersed, become solitary, fugitive, -or conceal themselves in the ground: they cease to unite in bands, to -engage in building or other undertakings.” - -“We have been unable to ascertain,” says Cuvier[400], “after the most -scrupulous comparisons, if the Castors or Beavers, which burrow along -the Rhone, the Danube, and the Weser, are different in species from -those of North America, or if they are prevented from building by the -vicinity of man.” The same distinguished author in his work on Fossil -Bones says, “The greater part of our European rivers having formerly -supported beavers, and some of them doing so still, viz. the Gardon and -the Rhone in France, the Danube in Bavaria and Austria, and several -small rivers in Westphalia and Saxony, we cannot be surprised to find -their hones preserved in our mosses, or turbaries.” He then mentions -instances of the heads and teeth of beavers, in the valley of the -Somme in Picardy, in the valley of Tonnis-stein near Andermach, and at -Urdingen on the Rhine in Rhenish Prussia[401]. - - [400] Règne Animal, vol. iii. p. 65. of Griffith’s Translation. - - [401] Cuvier, Ossemens Fossiles, tome v. partie Ière, p. 55.; partie - 2nde, p. 518. See also Annales du Museum d’Hist. Naturelle, tome - xiv. p. 47. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -CAMELS-WOOL AND CAMELS-HAIR. - - Camels’-wool and Camels’-hair--Ctesias’ account--Testimony of modern - travellers--Arab tent of Camels’-hair--Fine cloths still made of - Camels’-wool--The use of hair of various animals in the manufacture - of beautiful stuffs by the ancient Mexicans--Hair used by the Candian - women in the manufacture of broidered stuffs--Broidered stuffs of the - negresses of Senegal--Their great beauty. - - -We are informed by Ctesias, in a fragment of the 10th Book of his -Persic History, that there were camels in a part of Persia, whose hair, -soft as Milesian fleeces, was used to make garments for the priests and -the other potentates[402]. - - [402] Apollonii Mirabilia xx. Ælian, Hist. An. xvii. 34. Ctesiæ - Fragmenta, a Bähr, p. 224. - -John the Baptist wore a garment of camels’-hair; but this must be -supposed to have been coarse. (_Matt._ iii. 4., _Mark_ i. 6.)[403]. -This passage of scripture is illustrated by Harmer in the following -observation[404]: - -“This hair, Sir J. Chardin tells us (in his MS. note on 1 _Sam._ xxv. -4.) is not shorn from the camels like wool from sheep, but they pull -off this woolly hair, which the camels are disposed to cast off; as -many other creatures, it is well known, change their coats yearly. This -hair is made into cloth now. Chardin assures us the modern dervishes -wear such garments.” - - [403] “And the same John had his raiment of camels’-hair, and a - leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild - honey.”--_Matt._ iii. 4, also in Mark: - - “And John was clothed with camels’-hair, and with a girdle - of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild - honey.”--_Mark_ i. 6. - - [404] Ch. xi. Obs. 83. vol. iv. p. 416. ed. Clarke. - -Campbell, the poet, mentions a tent of camels’-hair cloth, which he -saw at an Arab encampment between Oran and Mascara in the kingdom of -Algiers. It was 25 feet in diameter and very lofty. (_Letters from -the South_, 1837, _vol._ ii. _p._ 212.) He also mentions (_vol._ i. -_p._ 161.) that the Kabyles or Berbers, who live in the vicinity of -Algiers, and are descended from the original occupants of the country, -dwell in “tents of camels’-hair.” We are informed that the Chinese -make _carpets_ of the same material[405]. _Coverlets_ of goats’ or -camels’-hair are used by the soldiers in Turkey to sleep under[406]. -“The Circassians, when marching, or on a journey, always add to their -other garments a cloak made from camel or goats’-hair, with a hood, -which completely envelopes the whole person. It is impenetrable by -rain; and it forms their bed at night, and protects them from the -scorching sun by day[407].” - - [405] China, its Costume, Arts, Manufactures, &c., by Bertin: - translated from the French. London, 1812, vol. iv. - - [406] Travels in Circassia, by Edmund Spencer, vol. i. p. 202. - - [407] Ibid. vol. ii. p. 219. - -Fortunatus, in his life of St. Martin (l. iv.), describes a garment of -such cloth; but it may be doubted whether he took his description from -actual knowledge of the use of it, or only from the account in Matthew -of the dress of John the Baptist already quoted. - -Camels’-hair of annual growth would vary in fineness according to -circumstances, and might be used either for the coarse raiment of -prophets and dervises, _or for the costly shawls_, to which Ctesias -alludes. Fine wool, adapted to the latter purpose, might also grow, -as in the goat and beaver, beneath the long hair of the camel. It has -been doubted whether cloth so fine and beautiful as Ctesias asserts, -could possibly be obtained from camels. The following accounts by -modern travellers illustrate and justify the statement of the suspected -ancient. - -Marco Polo, who travelled in the 13th century, in his account of the -city of Kalaka, which was in the province of Tangut and subject to -the Great Kahn, says[408], “In this city they manufacture beautiful -camelots, the finest known in the world, of the hair of camels and -likewise of fine wool.” According to Pallas, (Travels, vol. ii. § 8.,) -“From the hair of the camel the Tartar women in the plains of the -Crimea manufacture a narrow cloth, which is used in its natural color, -and is extremely warm, soft, and light.” According to Prosper Alpinus, -(_Hist. Nat. Ægypti_, _l._ iv. _c._ 7. _p._ 225.) the Egyptians -manufactured from the hair of their camels not only coarse cloth for -their tents, but other kinds so fine as to be worn not only by princes -but even by the senators of Venice. - - [408] Book i. ch. 52. p. 235. of Marsden’s Translation. - -Elphinstone, in his account of Cabul (_p._ 295.), mentions, that -“Oormuck, a fine cloth made of camels’-wool,” is among the articles -imported into Cabul from the Bokhara country. This country lies North -of the Oxus, and East of the Southern extremity of the Caspian Sea, and -is probably the country, to which Ctesias more especially referred. -A still more recent authority is that of Moorcroft, who informs us, -that “Cloth is now made from the wool of the wild camels of Khoten in -Chinese Tartary,” and that “at Astrakhan a fine cloth is manufactured -from the wool of the camel foal of the first year[409].” - - [409] Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. i. p. 241, 242. - - It is customary in many parts of the East, as it was in Mexico in - the time of Cortes (See Part Third, Chapter I.) to use the hair of - various animals in embroidering garments. The Candian women even - embroider with their own hair, as well as that of animals, with - which they make splendid representations of flowers, foliage, &c.: - they also insert the skins of eels and serpents. - - According to M. de Busson, the negresses of Senegal, embroider - the skins of various beasts, representing figures, flowers, and - animals, in every variety of color. - - -[Illustration: - -Plate V. - - Drawn from the life. - -INDIAN LOOM with the process of Winding off the THREAD.] - - - - -PART THIRD. - -ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - GREAT ANTIQUITY OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE IN INDIA--UNRIVALLED SKILL - OF THE INDIAN WEAVER. - - Superiority of Cotton for clothing, compared with linen, both in - hot and cold climates--Cotton characteristic of India--Account of - Cotton by Herodotus, Ctesias, Theophrastus, Aristobulus, Nearchus, - Pomponius Mela--Use of Cotton in India--Cotton known before silk - and called Carpasus, Carpasum, Carbasum, &c.--Cotton awnings - used by the Romans--Carbasus applied to linen--Last request of - Tibullus--Muslin fillet of the vestal virgin--Linen sails, &c. called - Carbasa--Valerius Flaccus introduces muslin among the elegancies - in the dress of a Phrygian from the river Rhyndacus--Prudentius’s - satire on pride--Apuleius’s testimony--Testimony of Sidonius - Apollinaris, and Avienus--Pliny and Julius Pollux--Their testimony - considered--Testimony of Tertullian and Philostratus--Of Martianus - Capella--Cotton paper mentioned by Theophylus Presbyter--Use of Cotton - by the Arabians--Cotton not common anciently in Europe--Marco Polo - and Sir John Mandeville’s testimony of the Cotton of India--Forbes’s - description of the herbaceous Cotton of Guzerat--Testimony of Malte - Brun--Beautiful Cotton textures of the ancient Mexicans--Testimony - of the Abbé Clavigero--Fishing nets made from Cotton by the - inhabitants of the West India Islands, and on the continent of - South America--Columbus’s testimony--Cotton used for bedding by the - Brazilians. - - -Among all the materials which the skill of man converts into -comfortable and elegant clothing, that which appears likely to be -the most extensively useful, though it was the last to be generally -diffused, is the beautiful produce of the cotton-plant. - -The properties of cotton strongly recommend it for clothing, -especially in comparison with linen, both in hot and cold countries. -Linen has, indeed, in some respects the advantage; it forms a smooth, -firm, and beautiful cloth, and is very agreeable wear in temperate -climates; but it is less comfortable than cotton, and less conducive -to health, either in heat or in cold. Cotton, being a bad conductor -of heat, as compared with linen, preserves the body at a more -equable temperature. The functions of the skin, through the medium -of perspiration, are the great means of maintaining the body at an -equable temperature amidst the vicissitudes of the atmosphere. But -linen, like all good conductors of heat, freely condenses the vapor -of perspiration, and accumulates moisture upon the skin: the wetted -linen becomes cold, chills the body, and checks perspiration, thus -not only producing discomfort, but endangering health. Calico, on the -other hand, like all bad conductors of heat, condenses little of the -perspiration, but allows it to pass off in the form of vapor. Moreover, -when the perspiration is so copious as to accumulate moisture, calico -will absorb a greater quantity of that moisture than linen. It has -therefore a double advantage,--it accumulates less moisture, and -absorbs more. - -From the above considerations, it is evident that in cold climates, or -in the nocturnal cold of tropical climates, cotton clothing is much -better calculated to preserve the warmth of the body than linen. In -hot climates, also, it is more conducive to health and comfort, by -admitting of freer perspiration[410]. - - [410] Bains’s “History of the Cotton Manufacture,” p. 12. - -Wool, as we have seen, was principally used for weaving in Palestine -and Syria, in Asia Minor, Greece, Italy and Spain; hemp in the Northern -countries of Europe; flax in Egypt (The history of the two last, hemp -and flax, is given in Part IV. to which the reader is referred.); silk -in the central regions of Asia[411]. In like manner cotton has _always_ -been characteristic of India. We find this circumstance distinctly -noticed by Herodotus[412]. Among the valuable products, for which -India was remarkable, he states, that “the wild trees in that country -bear fleeces as their fruit, surpassing those of sheep in beauty and -excellence; and the Indians use cloth made from these trees.” In the -same book (c. 47.) Herodotus says, that the thorax or cuirass sent -by Amasis, king of Egypt, to Sparta, was “adorned with gold and with -fleeces from trees.” These substances were perhaps used in the weft to -form the figures (ζῶα), which were woven into the thorax; but it -appears equally probable that the gold only was thus employed, the -cotton being used as an inside lining or stuffing: and in this case -it is possible, that the down of the Bombax Ceiba, a tree allied to -the Cotton-plant (_Gossypium_), may have been used, since, though not -fitted for spinning or weaving, it has long been used in India for -the stuffing of pillows and similar purposes, and would be included -under the phrase employed by Herodotus, “_wool_” or “_fleeces from -trees_.” The thorax may have been made in Egypt; but the materials, -used to enrich it, were probably imported: for we have no proof, that -either gold or cotton of any kind was found in that country as a native -product in the time of Amasis. - - [411] See Map Plate VII. at the end of Part IV. - - [412] L. iii. c. 106. - -Ctesias, the contemporary of Herodotus, seems also to have known the -fact of the use of a kind of wool, the produce of trees, for spinning -and weaving among the Indians. It is evident that Ctesias referred -exclusively to cotton cloths, as may be inferred from the testimony -of Varro, as we find it in Servius (_Comm. in Virgilii Æn._ i. 649.). -“Ctesias ait in Indiâ esse arbores, quæ lanam ferant.” - -The expedition of Alexander the Great into India contributed to make -the Greeks better acquainted than before with cotton. Hence it is -distinctly mentioned by Theophrastus, the disciple of Aristotle. He -says, “The trees, from which the Indians make cloths, have a leaf like -that of the Black Mulberry; but the whole plant resembles the dog-rose. -They set them in the plains arranged in rows, so as to look like vines -at a distance[413].” In a succeeding part of the same book (_c._ 7. -_p._ 143, 144. _ed. Schneider_) he notices the growth of cotton, not -only in India, but in _Arabia_, and in the island called Tylos, which -he places in the Arabian Gulf, although it was probably in the Persian -Gulf, near the Arabian coast[414]. According to his account in the -latter passage, “The wool-bearing trees, which grew abundantly in this -island, had a leaf like that of the vine, but smaller; they bore no -fruit, but the capsule containing the wool, was, when closed, about the -size of a quince, when ripe, it expanded so as to emit the wool, which -was woven into cloths, either cheap, or of great value.” - - [413] Hist. Pl. iv. c. 4. p. 132. ed. Schneider. - - [414] See the Map,--Plate vii. at the end of Part iv. Bochart, Geogr. - Sacra, p. 766. Cadomi, 1651. Heeren, Ideen, i. 2. p. 214-219. - -Sprengel in his German translation (_p._ 150. _vol._ ii.) supposes -the Broussonetia Papyrifera to be meant in the former passage. But he -gives no good reason for this supposition, and he admits, that the -Broussonetia Papyrifera grows in China, not in India. The expression of -Theophrastus, ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη, which he employs in the latter passage -(_c._ 9. _p._ 144. _ed. Schneider_), clearly proves, that he is -speaking of the same plant in both passages, and Sprengel himself (_p._ -164.) supposes the Gossypium Arboreum of Linnæus, the Cotton Tree, to -be meant in the latter, though not in the former. The description of -Theophrastus is remarkably exact, if we consider it as applying, not to -the Cotton Tree (_Gossypium Arboreum_), but to the Cotton Plant (_G. -Herbaceum_), from which the chief supply of cotton for spinning and -weaving into cloth has always been obtained. - -Aristobulus, one of Alexander’s generals, made mention of the -cotton-plant under the name of the Wool-bearing Tree, and stated that -its capsule contained seeds, which were taken out, and that what -remained was combed like wool[415]. - - [415] Strabo, L. xv. c. 1. vol. vi. p. 43. ed. Siebenkees. - -The testimony of Nearchus, who was the admiral of Alexander, is also -preserved to the following effect; “that there were in India trees -bearing, as it were, flocks or bunches of wool; that the natives made -linen garments of it, wearing a shirt, which reached to the middle of -the leg, a sheet folded about the shoulders, and a turban rolled round -the head; and that the linen made by them from this substance was fine -and whiter than any other.” It is to be observed, that Nearchus, or -rather the two later authors who quote him, viz. Arrian and Strabo, use -the terms for linen in a general sense, as including all fine light -cloths made of vegetable substances[416]. - - [416] Arriani Rer. Indic. p. 522. 539. ed. Blancardi. Strabo, L. xv. c. -1. vol. vi. p. 40. ed. Sieb. - -We read in the account of India by Pomponius Mela (L. iii. _c._ 7.), -that the woods produced wool, used by the natives for clothing. He -distinctly mentions the use of flax likewise. It has been conjectured, -that he may have taken his account from Nearchus, or some other Greek -writer, and that he may have intended to speak only of the use of -cotton. But in reply to this it is to be observed, that Pomponius Mela -here mentions flax in opposition to cotton, and that his assertion, so -understood, was probably true, since we have other evidence to show -that flax grows in India as well as cotton. (See Part IV.) Nevertheless -it seems necessary to understand other authors of the same period as -meaning cotton by the term λίνον, or _linum_. Thus Dyonisius Periegetes -(_l._ 1116), speaking of the employments of the Indians, says, Οἱ δὲ -ἱστοὺς ὑφόωσι λινεργέας, which probably meant “some weave muslins”. In -the same manner we must interpret the assertion of Quintus Curtius, -“Terra _lini_ ferax, unde plerisque sunt vestes” i. e., The land -produces flax, from which the greater part obtain garments. Soon after -this Curtius says in terms more strictly proper, - - Corpora usque pedes _carbaso_ velant, soleis pedes, capita linteis - vinciunt. - - They cover their bodies from head to foot with _carbasus_; they bind - shoes about their feet, linen cloths about their heads. - -Again, speaking of the dress of the King, he says, - - Distincta sunt auro et purpurâ _carbasa_, quæ indutus est. L. viii. 9. - The _carbasa_ which he wore, were spotted with purple and gold. - -In like manner, Lucan, describing the Indian nations, says, - - Who drink sweet juices from the tender cane, - With dyes of crocus stain their hair, and fix - With color’d gems the flowing carbasus. - L. iii. _v._ 239. - -Strabo says, (L. xv. _c._ 1. _vol._ vi. _p._ 153. ed. Sieb.) - - That the Indians use white raiment, and fine white cloths and - _carpasa_. - -Also the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea states, that the region about -the Gulf of Barygaza in India was productive “of _Carpasus_ and of the -fine Indian cloths made of it[417].” These were what we now call _India -muslins_. These muslins we are informed by Dr. Vincent, were imported -into Egypt, and accordingly Pacatus[418] represents Antony’s army as -wearing cotton in that country. - - [417] Arriani Opp. v. ii. p. 165. ed. Blancard. - - [418] Paneg. Theodosii, c. 33. - -The term _Carbasus_, is evidently used by the five last-cited authors -to signify cotton; for they employ it in describing the common dress -of the Indians. As the Greeks and Romans became acquainted with cotton -much earlier than with silk, we find that _Carpas_, the proper Oriental -name for cotton, was also in use among them at a comparatively early -period; and we shall now endeavor to trace the progress of this term -from India, Westward. With little variation it is found in the same -sense in the Sanscrit, Arabic, and Persic languages[419]. - - [419] Celsii Hierobot. vol. ii. p. 159. Sir W. Jones, in As. - Researches, vol. iv. p. 226. London Edition. Schlegel, Indische - Bibliotek, ii. p. 393. E. F. K. Rosenmüller, Biblische - Alterthumskunde, 4. 1. p. 173. - -This word occurs once in the Hebrew Scriptures, viz. Esther, i. 6., -and there evidently as a foreign term. The hangings, used to decorate -the court of the royal palace at Susa on occasion of the great feast -given by Ahasuerus, are thus described in the common version of the -Scriptures:-- - - “Where were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of - fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds - were of gold and silver upon a pavement of red and blue and white and - black marble.” - -The word, corresponding to “_green_” in the original is _Carpas_ -(כרפס). It has been translated “green” -by the authors of the common version on the authority of the Chaldee -Paraphrase. - -The earliest instance of the use of the oriental name in any classical -author is the line from Statius Cæcilius, who died 169 B. C. as quoted -by Nonius Marcellus (_l._ xvi.) from the _Pausimachus_ of Statius: - - Carbasina, molochina, ampelina[420]. - -As these words are all three Greek, and the play, in which the verse -occurred, was also called by a Greek name, we cannot doubt, that -Statius translated it according to his usual custom from one of the -writers of the New Comedy. We may therefore infer with some confidence -from this expression, that the Greeks made use of muslins or calicoes, -or at least of cotton cloths of some kind, which were brought from -India as early as 200 years B. C. - - [420] See C. C. Statii Fragmenta, a Leonhardo Spengel, Monachii 1829, - p. 35. - - Statius chiefly copied from Menander (_Gellius_ ii. _c._ 16.); but - we cannot find, that Menander wrote any play called _Pausimachus_. - -After some time the oriental custom of using cotton as a protection -from the sun’s rays was adopted also by the Romans. Cotton was not -only a cheaper and commoner article than silk, but it was particularly -adapted for this purpose on account of its lightness, as well as -its beauty and fineness; and, besides the instance already cited -from the book of Esther, we may observe also, that where the _Latin_ -authors mention the use of “Carbasa,” it is sometimes for purposes -of this kind. “Tabernacula carbaseis intenta velis,” _i. e._ “Tents -with coverings of cotton,” were among the expensive novelties which -contributed to the luxury of Verres, when Prætor in Sicily[421]. The -same species of ornament was first displayed at Rome in the magnificent -ædileship of P. Lentulus Spinther, at the Apollinarian games and in the -year 63 B. C. - - “At a later period awnings of linen were used to keep out the sun, - but originally in the theatres only, which contrivance was first - adopted by Q. Catulus, when he dedicated the capitol. After this - Lentulus Spinther is said to have first introduced cotton awnings in - the theatre at the Apollinarian games. By and by Cæsar the Dictator - covered with awnings the whole Roman forum, and the sacred way, from - his own house even to the ascent of the Capitoline hill, which is - said to have appeared more wonderful than the gladiatorial exhibition - itself. Afterwards, without exhibiting games, Marcellus the son of - Octavia, sister of Augustus, when he was Ædile and his uncle consul - the eleventh time[422], on the day before the Kalends of August, - protected the forum from the rays of the sun, that the persons engaged - in lawsuits might stand with less injury to their health. What a - change from the manners which prevailed under Cato the Censor, who - thought that the forum should even be strewed with caltrops! Of late - sky-blue awnings, spotted with stars, have been extended by means - of strong ropes, even in the amphitheatre of the Emperor Nero. Red - awnings are used to cover the atria of houses, and they defend the - moss from the sun. As for the rest, white linen has always remained - in favor. This plant was honored in the Trojan war. _For why should - it not perform its part in battles as well as in shipwrecks?_ Homer - testifies, that a few of his warriors fought in linen cuirasses. The - tackle of his ships was also of flax, according to some of his more - learned interpreters, who argue that by the term _sparta_ he meant - _sata_, or things that are sown.”--_Pliny_, Lib. xix. chap. vi. - - [421] This was about the year 70 B. C. Cic. in Verrem, Act. ii. l. v. - c. 12. - - [422] The following are the dates of the display of awnings on the - several occasions referred to:-- - - _Linen_ awnings first used in the theatre at the dedication of the - temple of Jupiter by Catulus 69 B. C. - _Cotton_ awnings first used in the theatre by Lentulus Spinther, - July 6th, 63 B. C. - Linen used to cover the forum and Via Sacra at the gladiatorial - show by Julius Caesar 46 B. C. - Linen awnings extended over the forum by Marcellus, - July 31st 23 B. C. - - -Lucretius apparently refers to the introduction by Lentulus Spinther of -the cotton awnings above mentioned (vi. 108.), when he is theorising -on the cause of thunder, and compares the clouds spread over the sky -to the awnings of calico, which veiled the theatres and sheltered the -spectators from the sun: - - Carbasus ut quondam magnis intenta theatris - Dat crepitum, malos inter jactata trabeisque. - - As flaps the cotton, spread above our heads - In the vast theatres from mast to beam. - -We now find frequent mention of cotton by the poets of the Augustan -age and by many subsequent writers. As in the case of silk, these -authors introduce cotton, not only historically, but for the purpose -of embellishment; and, considering _Carbasus_ as a poetical term, they -often by a _catachresis_ employ it where they mean to speak of linen. -Also as was before observed in regard to silk (Part I. chapter II.), it -may likewise be noticed here, that the wars against Mithridates and the -Parthians may have contributed to make the Romans familiar with the use -of cotton, although their chief supply of it was more probably through -Egypt, than through Persia and Babylonia. - -Catullus (64.), speaking of the black sail which Ægeus furnished for -the ships of his son Theseus, calls it “_Carbasus Ibera_,” “an Iberian -sail.” As, on the one hand, he here uses the proper term for cotton, -without intending to describe the sail as cotton, so on the other hand -he calls the sail Iberian merely because Iberia was a country adjoining -Colchis, and from Colchis (as will be shown in Part IV.) the Greeks and -Romans obtained a great supply of flax and sail-cloth. - -Tibullus, or Lygdamus, entreats (iii. 2. 17.), in the contemplation of -his death and funeral, that after his bones have been washed, first -with wine, and then with milk, they may be dried “carbaseis veils,” -with linen napkins. Although he uses the proper term for cotton, he -probably did not intend to denote any preference for cotton rather than -linen. His bones, after being wiped, were to be deposited in a marble -urn. - -Propertius seems to have aimed at a display of knowledge on these -subjects (see Part First, chapter II.); and in the following passage -(iv. 3.) he probably used _Carbasa_ in its proper sense, as he is -referring to Eastern habits: - - Raptave odorata carbasa lina duci. - - Muslins taken among the spoils from a scented general. - -In the last Elegy of the same Book he refers to the story of the young -Vestal virgin, who, when the flame was extinguished upon the altar -committed to her care, and when the scourge appeared to await her for -her neglect, threw upon the ashes a fillet of muslin from her head, and -saved her life by its ignition, which was supposed to be effected by -the favor of the goddess: - - Vel cui, commissos cum Vesta reposceret ignes, - Exhibuit vivos carbasus alba focos. - - The fire had died, and Vesta urged her claim, - When the white cotton show’d a living flame. - -The story is related by Valerius Maximus (i. 7.). Although we are not -informed of the date of the event, it appears from his language that -the fillet was of fine muslin: “Cum _carbasum, quam optimum habebat_, -foculo imposuisset, subito ignis emicuit.” This description is well -suited to the nature of cotton, than which nothing was more easily -ignited. - -The passage in Virgil’s Georgics, which mentions cotton, has been -already quoted (See Part I. chapter II. p. 24.). By the Æthiopians, -whose groves were “white with soft wool,” he probably intended those -of Arabia; and we may suppose him to have referred to accounts, not so -much of the Gossypium Herbaceum, to which the word “groves” (_nemora_) -would not apply, as to groves of Gossypium Arboreum and Bombyx Ceiba. -In the following passages of Æneid he mentions cotton under its proper -name, though probably not intending to distinguish accurately between -cotton and linen, and only using the term for the sake of ornament:-- - - Jamque dies, alterque dies processit, et auræ - Vela vocunt, tumidoque inflatur carbasus austro. iii. 356. - - Two days were past, and now the southern gales - Call us aboard, and stretch the swelling sails. - _Pitt’s Translation._ - - Vocat jam carbasus auras; - Puppibus et læti nautæ imposuere coronas. iv. 417. - - The flapping sail invites the gales; the poops - By the glad seamen are already crown’d. - - Eum (_fluvium Tiberim_) tenuis glauco velabat amictu - Carbasus, et crines umbrosa tegebat arundo. viii. 33. - - Thin muslin veils him with its sea-green folds; - His head a copious shade of reeds sustains. - - Tum croceam chlamydem, sinusque crepantes - Carbaseos fulvo in nodum collegerat auro. xi. 775. - - His saffron chlamys, and each rustling fold - Of muslin was confined with glittering gold. - -This last passage is part of the description of the attire of Chloreus, -the Phrygian, whose muslin chlamys may have rustled in consequence of -being interwoven with gold. - - -OVID. - - Totaque malo - Carbasa deducit, venientesque excipit auras.--_Met._ xi. 477. - - The active seamen now unfurl the sails, - And spread them wide to catch the coming gales. - - Carbasa mota sonant, jubet uti navita ventis. xiii. 420. - - The flapping sails resound; the captain bids advance. - - Cum dabit aura viam, præbebis carbasa ventis.--_Epist._ vii. 171. - - When the gale favors, give the wind your sails. - - Sed non, quo dederas a litore carbasa, vento - Utendum, medio cum potiare freto.--_Art. Am._ ii. 357. - - The wind to which you give your sails on shore, - In the mid ocean will assist no more. - - Dumque parant torto subducere carbasa lino.--_Fast._ iii. 587. - - They now with twisted ropes let down the sails. - -In all these passages Ovid uses _carbasa_ in the improper sense: it was -an easy transition from the idea of a cotton awning, with which the -Romans had become familiar, to apply the term to the sail of a ship. To -these examples we may add the following: - - Et sequitur curvus fugienta carbasa delphin. - _Seneca, Œd._ ii. _prope fin._ - - The dolphin curved pursues the flying sails. - - Strictaque pendentes deducunt carbasa nautæ.--_Lucan_, ii. 697. - - The mariners confine the sails with cords, - And, clinging to the mast, they take them down. - - Recto deprendit carbasa malo. ix. 324. - - The mast stands upright; he takes down the sails. - - Jamque adeo egressi steterant in littore primo, - Et promota, ratis pendentibus arbore nautis, - Aptabant sensim pulsanti carbasa vento. - _Silius Italicus. Pun._ iii. 128. - - They leave the port and reach the shore: aloft - They hang upon the mast, and by degrees - They fit the sails to catch the beating wind. - - Festinant trepidi substringere carbasa nautæ. - _Martial_, _l._ xii. _ep._ 29. - - The trembling seamen haste to reef their sails. - - Primæ, carbasa ventilantis, auræ.--_Statius, Sylv._ iv. 3. 106. - - Of the first gale, which breathes upon the sails. - -Statius also mentions “Carbasei sinus,” the folds of cotton in the -chlamys of a Bacchanal (_Theb._ vii. 658.). - - Æstivos penetrent oneraria carbasa fluctus.--_Rutilius_, i. 221. - - Postquam tua carbasa vexit--Oceanus.--_Val. Flaccus_, i. - - Necdum aliæ viderunt carbasa terræ.--_Ibid._ - -Valerius Flaccus also introduces muslin among the elegances in the -dress of a Phrygian from the river Rhyndacus. - - Tenuai non illum candentis carbasa lini, - Non auro depicta chlamys, non flava galeri - Cæsaries, pictoque juvant subtemine braccæ. vi. 228. - - No aid to him his chlamys white as snow, - Muslin with gold enrich’d, his yellow curls - Of artificial hair, and _figured_ pantaloons. - (See Part 1, chap. iii. p. 59.) - -Also Prudentius, the Christian poet (See Part 1, chap. iii. p. 59.), -in an elaborate account of Pride, depicts her in a garment of the same -kind: - - Carbasea ex humeris summo collecta coibat - Palla sinu, teretem nectens a pectore nodum.--_Psychom._ 186. - - A muslin kerchief by a knot compress’d, - Pass’d o’er her shoulders, and adorn’d her breast. - - Tantâ tamque multiplici fertilitate abundat rerum omnium Cyprus, ut - nullius externi indigens adminiculi, indigenis viribus, a fundamento - ipso carinæ ad supremos usque carbasos ædificet onerarium navem, - omnibusque armamentis instructam mari committat.--_Amm. Marcellinus_, - xiv. 8. - -Apuleius mentions _carbasina_ in conjunction with _bombycina_ and other -kinds of cloth[423]. He may consequently be presumed to use the word -in its proper sense, to wit, as denoting calico or muslin. In the same -manner cotton is distinguished from silk by Sidonius Apollinaris[424]. -Also we may presume that cotton and not linen sails are to be -understood in the following line of Avienus: - - Si tamen in Boream flectantur carbasa cymbæ. - _Descr. Orbis_, 799. - - [423] Metamorphoseon l. viii. p. 579, 580. ed. Oudendorpii. (Quoted in - Part First, Chapter ii. p. 35.) - - [424] L. ii. _Epist._ 2. (Quoted in Part First, Chapter iii. p. 61.). - -Here the writer not only professes to give geographical information, -but he is describing the Indian seas and islands; and as in the present -day, so also in ancient times, the sails used in the navigation of -those seas were probably made of cotton. - -Strabo uses the word καρπασίναι in describing the official dress of a -certain class of priestesses among the Cimbri[425]. Although it is -possible, that muslin may have been conveyed to them to be used on -solemn occasions, it appears more probable that fine linen or cambric, -which was manufactured at no great distance among the Atrebates, ought -here to be understood. - - [425] L. vii. cap. 2. § 3. p. 336. ed. Siebenkees. - -Pliny mentions cotton in four different passages of his Natural -History. Two of them are translated with some inaccuracies from the -passages of Theophrastus. To his translation of one of these passages -Pliny annexes the remark, derived perhaps from some other source, that -the inhabitants of Tylos called their Cotton Trees _gossympins_, and -that an island which was called the smaller Tylos, distant ten miles, -was still more fertile in cotton than the larger island of the same -name. - -The third passage introduces cotton under its proper name, Carbasa. -It would imply that cotton was first grown or manufactured at Tarraco -in Spain, than which assertion nothing can be more inaccurate and -groundless. - -The fourth passage is also contrary to all previous evidence, inasmuch -as it represents cotton to be the native growth of Egypt. It calls -the Cotton Plant _gossypion_, and hence the name has been given to it -by modern botanists. Supposing this last passage to be genuine, still -we know not on what authority Pliny depended, or from what source he -derived his information, nor can we tell to what extent he allowed -himself to be inaccurate in transcribing or translating. Taken by -itself, therefore, it appears to us that this passage is no better -proof of the growth of cotton anciently in Egypt than the third passage -is of its first discovery in Spain. - - In Upper Egypt, towards Arabia, there grows a shrub, which some call - _gossypium_, and others _xylon_, from which the stuffs are made which - we call _xylina_. It is small, and bears a fruit resembling the - filbert, within which is a downy wool, which is spun into thread. - There is nothing to be preferred to these stuffs for whiteness or - softness: beautiful garments are made from them for the priests of - Egypt.[426] - - [426] Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xix. c. 1. (Delph. Ed. c. 2.) - -This passage seems however deserving of more consideration, when taken -in conjunction with the following from the Onomastícon of Julius -Pollux, who wrote 100 years later than Pliny:-- - - There are also Byssina; and Byssus, a kind of flax. But among the - Indians, and now also among the Egyptians, a sort of wool is obtained - from a tree. The cloth made from this wool may be compared to linen, - except that it is thicker. The tree produces a fruit most nearly - resembling a walnut, but three-cleft. After the outer covering, which - is like a walnut, has divided and become dry, the substance resembling - wool is extracted and is used in the manufacture of cloth for woof, - the warp being linen. - -The description here given of the Cotton Tree or Cotton Plant, -whichever was meant, is remarkably correct; indeed more correct than -any account obtained since the time of the expedition of Alexander. -The circumstance of the pericarp being three-cleft is agreeable to the -fact, _and is not noticed by any earlier writer_. The comparison of -it to a walnut in regard to size and form is also accurate. From this -account, and from those of Theophrastus, Aristobulus, and Nearchus, we -gather the following particulars, which are agreeable to the fact: that -the cotton-plants are set in the plains, and in rows like vines; that -the plant is three or four feet high, and is branched, spreading, and -flexible, like a dog-rose; that the leaf is palmated like that of the -vine; that the capsule is three-valved, about the size of a walnut, -and, when it bursts, emits the cotton, resembling flocks of wool, in -which the seeds are imbedded. - -On the other hand, we have had no previous evidence respecting the use -of cotton in the manufacture of cloth _for the woof only_, and it is -doubtful whether this piece of information is correct, _because we have -no reason to suppose that cotton was used for weaving in any country in -which flax was also spun and woven_. - -Tertullian in the third Chapter of his treatise De Pallio, enumerates -nearly all the raw materials which were spun for weaving. He mentions -the class of vegetable substances (cotton and flax) in the following -terms: - - Et arbusta vestiunt, et lini herbida post virorem lavacro nivescunt. - - Both thickets supply clothing; and crops of flax, after being green, - are rendered by washing white as snow. - -Philostratus, who wrote in the third century, makes distinct mention -of cotton in two passages[427]. - - [427] Vita _Appollonii_, _l._ ii. _cap._ 20. Ibid. _l._ iii. _cap._ 15. - -Martianus Capella (_l._ ii. § 4. _p._ 99. _ed._ Goetz.) makes distinct -reference to a tunic and shawl white as milk, and made either of cotton -or fine linen. - -Theophilus Presbyter, who wrote probably about A. D. 800, describes the -use of cotton-paper for making gold-leaf. He calls it Greek parchment, -made of tree-wool, _Pergamena_, or _Parcamena Græca, quæ fit ex lanâ -ligni_[428]. - - [428] De Omni Scientiâ Picturæ Artis, c. 21. quoted in Lessing’s - Schriften, vol. iv. p. 63. ed. 1825, 12mo., and in Wehr’s vom - Papier, p. 132. (See Appendix B.) - -From the travels of the two Arabians who visited China in the ninth -century, we learn that at that time the ordinary dress of their -countrymen was cotton: for they remark, that “the Chinese dressed, -not in cotton, as the Arabians did, but in silk[429].” Probably the -use of imported cotton might by this time have become not uncommon in -Egypt, Syria, and other oriental countries; but we apprehend, that it -was never generally employed in Europe either for clothing, or for any -other purpose, until very lately. - - [429] See the Travels as published by Renaudot, and translated from his - French into English. - -It is unnecessary to further discuss the question as to whether cotton -was or was not cultivated in Egypt in ancient times. This vexed -question having been lately set at rest, by a discovery which reduces -a great deal of the learning that has been expended upon it _to the -character of old lumber_. The difficulty of ascertaining whether the -mummy-cloths (of which the specimens are exceedingly numerous) were -made of linen or cotton, has at length been overcome; and though no -chemical test could be found out to settle the question, it has been -decided by that important aid to scientific scrutiny, the microscope. -(See Chapters I. and II. Part IV.) - -The following observations of Dr. Robertson in his “Historical -Disquisition concerning the knowledge which the Ancients had of -India[430],” appear very just and important. - - If the use of the cotton manufactures of India had been common among - the Romans, the various kinds of them would have been enumerated in - the Law _De Publicanis et Vectigalibus_, in the same manner as the - different kinds of spices and precious stones. Such a specification - would have been equally necessary for the direction both of the - merchant and of the tax-gatherer. - - [430] _Note_ xxv. p. 370. _Second ed._ 1794. - -In confirmation of these remarks it may be observed, that the passages -collected in this chapter represent cotton cloth as an expensive and -curious production rather than as an article of common use among the -Greeks and Romans. Among the ancients linen must have been far cheaper -than cotton, whereas the improvements in navigation, the discovery -of the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and still more the -discovery of America, have now made cotton the cheaper article among -us, and have thus brought it into general use. - -India produces several varieties of cotton, both of the herbaceous -and the tree kinds. Marco Polo mentions that “cotton is produced in -Guzerat in large quantities from a tree that is about six yards in -height, and bears during twenty years; but the cotton taken from trees -of this age is not adapted for spinning, but only _quilting_. Such, on -the contrary, as is taken from trees of twelve years old, is suitable -for muslins and other manufactures of extraordinary fineness[431].” Sir -John Mandeville, on the other hand, who travelled in the fourteenth -century, fifty years later than Polo, mentions the annual herbaceous -cotton as cultivated in India: he says--“In many places the seed of -the cotton, (cothon,) which we call tree-wool, is sown every year, and -there springs up from its copses of low shrubs, on which this wool -grows[432].” Forbes also, in his Oriental Memoirs, thus describes the -herbaceous cotton of Guzerat:--“The cotton shrub, which grows to the -height of three or four feet, and in verdure resembles the currant -bush, requires a longer time than rice (which grows up and is reaped -in three months) to bring its delicate produce to perfection. The -shrubs are planted between the rows of rice, but do not impede its -growth, or prevent its being reaped. Soon after the rice harvest is -over, the cotton bushes put forth a beautiful yellow flower, with a -crimson eye in each petal; this is succeeded by a green pod, filled -with a white stringy pulp; the pod turns brown and hard as it ripens, -and then separates into two or three divisions containing the cotton. A -luxuriant field, exhibiting at the same time the expanding blossom, the -bursting capsule, and the snowy flakes of ripe cotton, is one of the -most beautiful objects in the agriculture of Hindostan[433].” - - [431] Book iii. chap. 29. - - [432] Hakluyt’s Voyages, vol. ii. p. 169. - - [433] Forbes’s Oriental Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 405. - -The following general statement concerning the cotton of India, is -from the geographical work of Malte Brun:--“The cotton-tree grows on -all the Indian mountains, but its produce is coarse in quality: the -herbaceous cotton prospers chiefly in Bengal and on the Coromandel -coast, and there the best cotton goods are manufactured. Next to these -two provinces, Maduré, Marawar, Pescaria, and the coast of Malabar, -produce the finest cotton[434].” He elsewhere says--“Cotton is -cultivated in every part of India: the finest grows in the light rocky -soil of Guzerat, Bengal, Dude, and Agra. The cultivation of this plant -is very lucrative, an acre producing about nine quintals of cotton in -the year[435].” - - [434] Malte Brun, vol. iii. p. 30. - - [435] Ibid. vol. iii. p. 303. - -On the discovery of this continent by Columbus, Cotton formed the -principal article of clothing among the Mexicans. - -We are informed by the Abbé Clavigero that “of cotton the Mexicans -made _large webs_, and as delicate and fine as those of Holland, which -were, with much reason, highly esteemed in Europe. They wove their -cloths _of different figures_ and _colors_, representing _different -animals_ and _flowers_. Of feathers interwoven with cotton, they made -_mantles_ and _bed-curtains_, _carpets_, _gowns_, and other things, -not less soft than beautiful. With cotton also they _interwove the -finest hair of the belly of rabbits and hares, after having spun -it into thread_: of this they made most beautiful cloths, and in -particular winter waistcoats for their lords[436].” Among the presents -sent by Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, to Charles V., were “cotton -mantles, some all white, others mixed with white and black, or red, -green, yellow, and blue; waistcoats, handkerchiefs, counterpanes, -tapestries, and carpets of cotton; and the colors of the cotton were -extremely fine[437].” That the Mexicans should have understood the art -of dyeing those beautiful colors referred to in the above extract, is -not to be wondered at when we consider that they had both _indigo_ and -_cochineal_ among their native productions. - - [436] Clavigero’s History of Mexico, book vii. sect. 57, 66. - - [437] Clavigero’s History of Mexico, book vii. sect. 58. - -Columbus also found the cotton plant growing wild, and in great -abundance, in Hispaniola, and other West India islands, and on -the continent of South America, where the inhabitants wore cotton -dresses, and made their fishing nets of the same material[438]; and -when Magellan went on his circumnavigation of the globe, in 1519, -the Brazilians were accustomed to make their beds of this vegetable -down[439]. - - [438] Sommario dell’Indie Occidentali del S. Don Pietro Martire, in - Ramusio’s Collection, tom. ii. pp. 2, 4, 16, 50. (See Appendix D.) - - [439] Vincentino’s Viaggio atorno il Mondo, (with Ferd. Magellan,) in - Ramusio, tom. i. p. 353. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -SPINNING AND WEAVING--MARVELLOUS SKILL DISPLAYED IN THESE ARTS. - - Unrivalled excellence of India muslins--Testimony of the two Arabian - travellers--Marco Polo, and Odoardo Barbosa’s accounts of the - beautiful Cotton textures of Bengal--Cæsar Frederick, Tavernier, - and Forbes’s testimony--Extraordinary fineness and transparency of - Dacca muslins--Specimen brought by Sir Charles Wilkins; compared - with English muslins--Sir Joseph Banks’s experiments--Extraordinary - fineness of Cotton yarn spun by machinery in England--Fineness of - India Cotton yarn--Cotton textures of Soonergong--Testimony of R. - Fitch--Hamilton’s account--Decline of the manufactures of Dacca - accounted for--Orme’s testimony of the universal diffusion of the - Cotton manufacture in India--Processes of the manufacture--Rude - implements--Roller gin--Bowing. (Eli Whitney inventor of the Cotton - gin--Tribute of respect paid to his memory--Immense value of Mr. - Whitney’s invention to growers and manufacturers of Cotton throughout - the world.) Spinning wheel--Spinning without a wheel--Loom--Mode of - weaving--Forbes’s description--Habits and remuneration of Spinners, - Weavers, &c.--Factories of the East India Company--Marvellous skill - of the Indian workman accounted for--Mills’s testimony--Principal - Cotton fabrics of India, and where made--Indian commerce in Cotton - goods--Alarm created in the woollen and silk manufacturing districts - of Great Britain--Extracts from publications of the day--Testimony - of Daniel De Foe (Author of _Robinson Crusoe_.)--Indian fabrics - prohibited in England, and most other countries of Europe--Petition - from Calcutta merchants--Present condition of the City of Dacca--Mode - of spinning fine yarns--Tables showing the comparative prices of Dacca - and British manufactured goods of the same quality. - - -The antiquity of the cotton manufacture in India having been noticed -in the last chapter, the present one will give some account of the -remarkable excellence of the Indian fabrics,--the processes and -machines by which they are wrought,--the condition of the population -engaged in this department of industry,--the extensive commerce -formerly carried on in these productions to every quarter of the globe, -and the causes that have tended to destroy it. - -The Indians have in all ages maintained an unapproached and almost -incredible perfection in their fabrics of cotton. Indeed some of their -muslins might be thought the work of fairies or insects, rather than of -men; but these are produced in small quantities, and have seldom been -exported. In the same province from which the ancient Greeks obtained -the finest muslins then known, namely, the province of Bengal, these -astonishing fabrics are manufactured to the present day[440]. - - [440] Bains’s “History of the Cotton Manufacture,” p. 55. - -We learn from two Arabian travellers of the ninth century, that -“in this country (India) they make garments of such extraordinary -perfection, that nowhere else are the like to be seen. These garments -are for the most part round, and wove to that degree of fineness that -they may be drawn through a ring of moderate size[441].” Marco Polo, -in the thirteenth century, mentions the coast of Coromandel, and -especially Masulipatam, as producing “the finest and most beautiful -cottons that are to be found in any part of the world[442];” and -this is still the case as to the flowered and glazed cottons, called -chintzes, though the muslins of the Coromandel coast are inferior to -those of Bengal. - - [441] Anciennes Relations des Indes et de la Chine, de deux Voyageurs - Mahometans, qui y allerent dans le neuviéme siecle, p. 21. - - [442] Travels of Marco Polo, book iii. c. 21, 28. - -Odoardo Barbosa, one of the Portuguese adventurers who visited India -immediately after the discovery of the passage by the Cape of Good -Hope, celebrates “the great quantities of cotton cloths admirably -painted, also some white and some striped, held in the highest -estimation,” which were made in Bengal[443]. Cæsar Frederick, a -Venetian merchant, who travelled in India in 1563, and whose narrative -is translated by Hakluyt, describes the extensive traffic carried -on between St. Thomé (a port 150 miles from Negapatam) and Pegu, in -“_bumbast_ (cotton) cloth of every sort, painted, which is a rare -thing, because this kind of cloths show as if they were gilded with -divers colors, and the more they are washed, the livelier the colors -will become; and there is made such account of this kind of cloth, that -a small bale of it will cost 1000 or 2000 ducats[444].” - - [443] Ramusio’s “Raccolto delle Navigationi et Viaggi,” tom. i. p. 315. - - [444] Hakluyt’s Voyages, vol. ii. p. 366. Edition of 1809. - -Tavernier, who, like Marco Polo, Barbosa, and Frederick, was a -merchant as well as a traveller, and therefore accustomed to judge -of the qualities of goods, and who travelled in the middle of the -seventeenth century, says--“The white calicuts,” (calicoes, or rather -muslins, so called from the great commercial city of Calicut, whence -the Portuguese and Dutch first brought them) “are woven in several -places in Bengal and Mogulistan, and are carried to Raioxsary and -Baroche[445] to be whitened, because of the large meadows and plenty -of lemons that grow thereabouts, for they are never so white as they -should be till they are dipped in _lemon-water_. Some calicuts are made -so fine, _you can hardly feel them in your hand_, and the thread, when -spun, is scarce discernible[446].” The same writer says, “There is -made at Seconge (in the province of Malwa) a sort of calicut so fine -that when a man puts it on, _his skin shall appear as plainly through -it, as if he was quite naked_; but the merchants are not permitted -to transport it, for the governor is obliged to send it all to the -Great Mogul’s seraglio and the principal lords of the court, to make -the sultanesses and noblemen’s wives shifts and garments for the hot -weather; and the king and the lords take great pleasure to behold them -in these shifts, and see them dance with nothing else upon them[447].” -Speaking of the turbans of the Mohammedan Indians, Tavernier says, “The -rich have them of so fine cloth, that twenty-five or thirty ells of it -put into a turban will not weigh four ounces[448].” - - [445] “At the town of Baroche, in Guzerat, Forbes describes the - manufacture as being now in nearly the same state as when Arrian’s - Periplus was written (about A. D. 100.). He says--”The cotton trade - at Baroche is very considerable, and the manufactures of this - valuable plant, from the finest muslin to the coarsest sail-cloth, - employ thousands of men, women, and children, in the metropolis - and the adjacent villages. The cotton clearers and spinners - generally reside in the suburbs, or poorahs, of Baroche, which are - very extensive. The weavers’ houses are mostly near the shade of - tamarind and mango trees, under which, at sun-rise, they fix their - looms, and weave a variety of cotton cloth, with very fine baftas - and muslins (See Plate V.). Surat is more famous for its colored - chintzes and piece goods. The Baroche muslins are inferior to those - of Bengal and Madras, nor do the painted chintzes of Guzerat equal - those of the Coromandel coast.”--Forbes’s Oriental Memoirs, vol. - ii. p. 222. - - [446] Tavernier’s Travels, contained in Dr. Harris’s Collection of - Voyages and Travels, vol. i. p. 811. - - [447] Ibid. vol. i. p. 829. - - [448] Tavernier’s Travels, Harris’s Collection, vol. i. p. 833. - -An English writer, at the end of the seventeenth century, in a -remonstrance against the admission of India muslins, for which, -he says, the high price of thirty shillings a yard was paid, -unintentionally compliments the delicacy of the fabric by stigmatizing -it as “only the _shadow_ of a commodity[449].” - - [449] The Naked Truth, in an Essay upon Trade, p. 11. - -The late Rev. William Ward, a missionary at Serampore, informs us -that “at Shantee-pooru and Dhaka, muslins are made which sell at a -hundred rupees a piece. The ingenuity of the Hindoos in this branch of -manufacture is wonderful. Persons with whom I have conversed on this -subject say, that at two places in Bengal, Sonar-ga and Vilkrum-pooru, -muslins are made by a few families so exceedingly fine, that four -months are required to weave one piece, which sells at five hundred -rupees. When this muslin is laid on the grass, and the dew has fallen -upon it, _it is no longer discernible_[450].” - - [450] View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos, by - William Ward; vol. iii. p. 127. 3d edition. - -After such statements as the above, from sober and creditable -witnesses, the Oriental hyperbole which designates the Dacca muslins as -“_webs of woven wind_,” seems only moderately poetical. - -Sir Charles Wilkins brought a specimen of Dacca muslin from India -in the year 1786, which was presented to him by the principal of the -East India Company’s factory at Dacca, as the finest then made there. -Like all Indian muslins, it has a yellowish hue, caused by imperfect -bleaching. Though the worse for many years’ exposure in a glass case, -and the handling of visitors, it is of exquisite delicacy, softness, -and transparency; yet the yarn of which it is woven, and of which Mr. -Wilkins also brought a specimen, is not so fine as some which has been -spun by machinery in England. The following minute, made by Sir Joseph -Banks on a portion of this yarn, thirty or forty years since, appears -at the India House in his own writing, together with a specimen of the -muslin:-- - - “The portion of skein which Mr. Wilkins gave to me weighed 34-3/10 - grains: its length was 5 yards 7 inches, and it consisted of 196 - threads. Consequently, its whole length was 1018 yards and 7 inches. - This, with a small allowance for fractions, gives 29 yards to a grain, - 203,000 to a pound avoirdupoise of 7000 grains; that is, 115 miles, 2 - furlongs, and 60 yards.” - -Cotton yarn has been spun in England, making _three hundred and fifty -hanks_ to the _lb. weight_, each hank measuring 840 yards, and the -whole forming a thread of 167 miles in length[451]. This, however, -must be regarded merely as showing how fine the cotton can possibly -be spun by machinery, since no such yarn is or could be used in the -making of muslins, or for any other purpose. The extreme of fineness -to which yarns for muslins are ever spun in Great Britain is 250 hanks -to the lb., which would form a thread measuring 119⅓ miles; but -it is very rarely indeed that finer yarn is used than 220 hanks to -the lb., which is less fine than the specimen of Dacca muslin above -mentioned. The Indian hand-spun yarn is softer than mule-yarn, and the -muslins made of the former are much more durable than those made of the -latter. In point of appearance, however, the book-muslin of Glasgow -is very superior to the Indian muslin, not only because it is better -bleached, but because it is more evenly woven, and from yarn of uniform -thickness, whereas the threads in the Indian fabric vary considerably. - - [451] Pliny, in speaking of linen yarn, gives us an account (L. xix. - cap. 2.) of the cuirass of the Egyptian king Amasis, which is - preserved in the temple of Minerva in Rhodes. “Each thread,” says - he, “is shown to consist of 365 fibres, which fact Mucianus, being - a third time Consul, lately asserted at Rome.”--Mucianus was Consul - the third time A. D. 75. - -It is probable that the specimens brought by Wilkins, though the -finest then made at the city of Dacca, is not equal to the most -delicate muslins made in that neighborhood in former times, or even in -the present. The place called by the Rev. Mr. Ward Sonar-ga, and, by -Mr. Walter Hamilton, Sooner-gong, a decayed city near Dacca, has been -said to be unrivalled in its muslins. Mr. Ward’s testimony has been -quoted above. Mr. Ralph Fitch, an English traveller, in 1583, spoke -of the same place when he said--“Sinnergan is a town six leagues from -Serrapore, where there is the best and finest cloth made of cotton -that is in all India[452].” Mr. Hamilton says--“Soonergong is now -dwindled down to an inconsiderable village. By Abul Fazel, in 1582, it -is celebrated for the manufacture of a beautiful cloth, named _cassas_ -(cossaes,) and the fabrics it still produces justify to the present -generation its ancient renown[453]”. But it seems that there has been a -great decline in the manufacture of the finest muslins, which is both -stated and accounted for by Mr. Hamilton in the following passage on -the district of Dacca Jelulpoor:-- - - [452] Hakluyt’s Voyages, vol. ii. p. 390; edit. 1809. - - [453] A Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Description of - Hindostan, by Walter Hamilton, Esq. vol. i. p. 187--(1820.) - -“Plain muslins, are distinguished by different names, according to the -fineness or closeness of the texture, as well as _flowered_, _striped_, -or _chequered_ muslins, are fabricated chiefly in this district, where -a species of cotton named the banga grows, necessary, although not of a -very superior quality, to form the stripes of the finest muslins, for -which the city of Dacca has been so long celebrated. The northern parts -of Benares furnish both plain and flowered muslins, which are not ill -adapted for common use, though incapable of sustaining any competition -with the beautiful and inimitable fabrics of Dacca. - -“The export of the above staple articles has much decreased, and -the art of manufacturing some of the finest species of muslins is in -danger of being lost, the orders for them being so few that many of the -families who possess by _hereditary_ instruction the art of fabricating -them have desisted, on account of the difficulty they afterwards -experience in disposing of them. This decline may partly be accounted -for from the utter stagnation of demand in the upper provinces since -the downfall of the imperial government, prior to which these delicate -and beautiful fabrics were in such estimation, not only at the court -of Delhi, but among all classes of the high nobility in India, as to -render it difficult to supply the demand. Among more recent causes also -may be adduced the French revolution, the degree of perfection to which -this peculiar manufacture has lately been brought in Great Britain, the -great diminution in the Company’s investment, and the advance in the -price of cotton.” - -With respect to the peculiar species of cotton of which the Dacca -muslins are made, the following statement was given to a committee of -the House of Commons, in 1830-31, by Mr. John Crawfurd, for many years -in the service of the East India Company, and author of the “History of -the Indian Archipelago:” - -“There is a fine variety of cotton in the neighborhood of Dacca, from -which I have reason to believe the fine muslins of Dacca are produced, -and probably to the accidental discovery of it is to be attributed the -rise of this singular manufacture; it is cultivated by the natives -alone, not at all known in the English market, nor, as far as I am -aware, in that of Calcutta. Its growth extends about forty miles along -the banks of the Megna, and about three miles inland. I consulted -Mr. Colebrook respecting the Dacca cotton, and had an opportunity of -perusing the manuscripts of the late Dr. Roxburgh, which contain an -account of it; he calls it a variety of the common herbaceous annual -cotton of India, and states that it is longer in the staple, and -affords the material from which the Dacca muslins have been always -made.” - -The cotton manufacture in India is not carried on in a few large -towns, or in one or two districts; it is universal. The growth of -cotton is nearly as general as the growth of food; everywhere the women -spend a portion of their time in spinning; and almost every village -contains its weavers, and supplies its own inhabitants with the scanty -clothing they require[454]. Being a domestic manufacture, and carried -on with the rudest and cheapest apparatus, it requires neither capital, -mills, or an assemblage of various trades. The cotton is separated from -the seeds by a small rude hand-mill, or gin, turned by women. - - [454] Orme, in his Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, says, “On - the coast of Coromandel and in the province of Bengal, when at some - distance from the high road or a principal town, it is difficult to - find a village in which every man, woman, and child is not employed - in making a piece of cloth. At present, much the greatest part of - the whole provinces are employed in this single manufacture.” (p. - 409.) “The progress of the cotton manufacture includes no less than - a description of the lives of half the inhabitants of Indostan.” - (p. 413.) - -The mill consists of two rollers of teak wood, fluted longitudinally -with five or six grooves, and revolving nearly in contact. The upper -roller is turned by a handle, the lower being carried along with it by -means of a perpetual screw at the axis. The cotton is put in at one -side, and drawn through by the revolving rollers; but the seeds, being -too large to pass through the opening, are torn off and fall down on -the opposite side from the cotton[455]. - - [455] To the efforts of Eli Whitney, America is indebted for the value - of her great staple. While the invention of the cotton gin has been - the chief source of the prosperity of the Southern planter, the - Northern manufacturer comes in for a large share of the benefits - derived from this most important offspring of American ingenuity. - - Eli Whitney, who may with justice be considered one of the most - ingenious and extraordinary men that ever lived, was born in - Westborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts, December 8th, 1765. - His parents belonged to that respectable class in society, who, by - the labors of husbandry, manage, _by uniform industry_, to provide - well for a rising family,--a class from whom have risen most of - those who, in New England, have attained to high eminence and - usefulness. - - Although Mr. Whitney’s machines have benefited the people of this - country, and the world at large, millions upon millions, yet, - it is to be lamented that he did not reap that reward which his - ingenuity and industry, as well as virtuous course of conduct so - richly merited, but died much involved in debt, while thousands who - had conspired to defraud him of his just and lawful rights, were - enriched by the use of his machines. - - “If we should assert,” said Judge William Johnson, “that the - benefits of this invention (the Cotton gin) exceed $100,000,000, we - can prove the assertion by correct calculation.” - - Who is there that, like him, has given his country and the world a - machine--the product of his own skill--which has furnished a large - part of its population, from childhood to age, with a lucrative - employment; by which their debts have been paid off; their capitals - increased; their lands trebled in value? - - Mr. Whitney died on the 8th of January 1825, and is buried in the - cemetery of New Haven, Connecticut. His tomb is after the model - of Scipio’s at Rome. It is simple and beautiful, and promises to - endure for years. It bears the following inscription. - - =ELI WHITNEY.= - THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON GIN. - OF USEFUL SCIENCE AND ARTS, THE EFFICIENT PATRON AND IMPROVER. - IN THE SOCIAL RELATIONS OF LIFE, A MODEL OF EXCELLENCE. - WHILE PRIVATE AFFECTION WEEPS AT HIS TOMB, HIS COUNTRY HONORS HIS - MEMORY. - BORN DECEMBER 8TH, 1765.--DIED JAN. 8TH, 1825. - - The convention of American Geologists and Naturalists who met at - New Haven in May last (1845.), were invited, together with their - ladies, by Mrs. Whitney, the _widow of the inventor of the Cotton - gin_, to attend an evening party at her house, which was accepted, - where they had an elegant supper and conversazione. - - “It is melancholy,” says Mr. Bains in his History of the Cotton - Manufacture, p. 114, “to contrast with the sanguine eagerness - of inventors, the slowness of mankind to acknowledge and reward - their merits,--to observe how, on many occasions, genius, instead - of realizing fame and fortune, has been pursued by disaster and - opposition,--how trifling difficulties have frustrated the success - of splendid discoveries,--and how those discoveries, snatched from - the grasp of their broken-hearted authors, have brought princely - fortunes to men whose _only_ talent was in making money. When - inventors fail in their projects, no one pities them; when they - succeed, persecution, envy, and jealousy are their reward. Their - means are generally exhausted before their discoveries become - productive. They plant a vineyard, and either starve, or are driven - from their inheritance, before they can gather the fruit.” - - Would it not be greatly to the credit of the cotton manufacturing - interest in this country and in Europe, to present Mrs. Whitney - with some token of their respect and veneration for the memory of - the inventor of the Cotton gin? - -The next operation is that of bowing the cotton, to clear it from dirt -and knots. A large bow, made elastic by a complication of strings, is -used; this being put in contact with a heap of cotton, the workman -strikes the string with a heavy wooden mallet, and its vibrations open -the knots of the cotton, shake from it the dust and dirt, and raise it -to a downy fleece. The hand-mill and bow have been used immemorially -throughout all the countries of Asia, and have their appropriate names -in the Arabic and other languages: they were formerly used in America, -whence the term, still applied in commerce, “_bowed Georgia cotton_.” -The hatters of Great Britain still raise their wool by the bow. The -cotton being thus prepared, without any carding, it is spun by the -women; the coarse yarn is spun on a one-thread wheel, and very much -resembling those used at the present day by the peasantry in the west -of Ireland. - -The finer yarn is spun with a metallic spindle, and sometimes without -a distaff; a bit of clay is attached as a weight to one end of the -spindle, which is turned round with the left hand, whilst the cotton -is supplied with the right; the thread is wound upon a small piece of -wood. The spinster keeps her fingers dry by the use of a chalky powder. -(See Part First, Chapter I, pp. 17 and 18.) - -The yarn, having been reeled and warped in the simplest possible -manner, is given to the weaver whose loom is as rude a piece of -apparatus as can be imagined. It consists merely of two bamboo rollers, -one for the warp and the other for the web, and a pair of headles. The -shuttle performs the double office of shuttle and lay, and for this -purpose is made like a large netting needle, and of a length rather -more than the breadth of the web[456]. This apparatus the weaver -carries to a tree, under which he digs a hole (which may be called the -_treadle-hole_) large enough to contain his legs and the lower tackle. -He then stretches his warp by fastening his bamboo rollers at a proper -distance from each other by means of wooden pins. The headle-jacks -he fastens to some convenient branch of the tree over his head (See -Plate V.): two loops underneath, _in which he inserts his great toes_, -serve instead of treadles; and his long shuttle, which also performs -the office of lay, draws the weft through the warp, and afterwards -strikes it home to the fell. “There is not so much as an expedient for -rolling up the warp: it is stretched out to the full length of the web, -which makes the house of the weaver insufficient to contain him. He is -therefore obliged to work continually in the open air; and every return -of inclement weather interrupts him[457].” - - [456] The shuttle is not always of this length. Hoole, in his “Mission - to India,” represents it as requiring to be _thrown_, in which - case it must be short; and a drawing of a Candyan weaver, in the - Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, - shows the shuttle of the same size as our modern shawl shuttle. - Indeed we have abundant evidence that the Indians employed shuttles - of this latter description from time immemorial. The Chinese also - use shuttles of the same description. (See Chinese loom, Plate I.) - - [457] Mill’s History of British India, book ii. ch. 8. - -Forbes describes the weavers in Guzerat, near Baroche, as fixing their -looms at sun-rise under the shade of tamarind and mango trees. In some -parts of India, however, as on the banks of the Ganges, the weavers -work under the cover of their sheds, fixing the geer of their looms -to a bamboo in the roof (See Plate V.). They size their warps with a -starch made from the root called _kandri_. When chequered muslins are -wrought, three persons are employed at each loom. - -Some authentic particulars concerning the habits and remuneration -of the Hindoos engaged in the making of cotton cloth, are contained -in an unpublished account of the districts of Puraniya (Purneah,) -Patna, and Dinajpur, by Dr. Francis Hamilton, better known as Dr. F. -Buchanan, (he having taken the name of Hamilton,) the author of the -“Journey from Madras to Mysore, Canara, and Malabar.” This account of -the above-named provinces near the Ganges is in several manuscript -volumes in the library of the India House, in London. We learn from -his elaborate survey that the spinning and weaving of cotton prevails -throughout these provinces. The fine yarns are spun with an iron -spindle, and without distaff, generally by women of rank; no caste is -disgraced here by spinning, as in the south of India; the women do not -employ all their time at this work, but only so much as is allowed by -their domestic occupations. The coarse yarns are spun on a small wheel -turned by the hand. The hand-mill is used to free the cotton from its -seeds, and the bow to tease it. The following capital is required for -the weaver’s business: a loom, 2½ rupees; sticks for warping and -a wheel for winding, 2 anas; a shop, 4 rupees; thread for two ready -money pieces, worth 6 rupees each, 5 rupees;--total 11 rupees 10 anas; -to which must be added a month’s subsistence. The man and his wife -warp, wind, and weave two pieces of this kind in a month, and he has -7 rupees (14 shillings stg.) profit, deducting, however, the tear and -wear of his apparatus, which is a trifle. A person hired to weave can -in a month make three pieces of this kind, and is allowed 2 anas in -the rupee of their value, which is 2¼ rupees (4_s._ 6_d._) a month. -The finest goods cost 2 rupees a piece for weaving. Dr. Hamilton, in -his observations on another district, states the average profit of a -loom engaged in weaving coarse goods to be 28 rupees (£2. 16_s._) a -year, or something less than 13_d._ a week. At Puraniya and Dinajpur -the journeymen cotton-weavers usually made from 2 to 2½ rupees (from -4_s._ to 5_s._) a month. At Patna a man and his wife made from 3 to 4 -rupees (from 6_s._ to 8_s._) a month by beating and cleaning cotton; -and each loom employed in making chequered muslins, has a profit of -108½ rupees a year (£10. 16_s._), that is, 1_s._ 4_d._ a week for -each of the three persons who work the loom. The average earnings of a -journeyman weaver, therefore, appear to be from 1_s._ to 1_s._ 4_d._ -per week. At Bangalore, and in some other parts of southern India, this -author states that weavers earn from 3_d._ to 8_d._ a day, according -as they are employed on coarse or fine goods[458]; but this is so much -above the usual remuneration for labor in India, that, if the statement -is not erroneous, it must be of extremely limited application. On the -same authority, a woman spinning coarse yarn can earn 1⅔_d._ per -day[459]. - - [458] Buchanan’s Journey through Mysore, vol. i. pp. 216-218. - - [459] Ibid. vol. iii. p. 317. - -A fact is mentioned by Dr. Hamilton, in his unpublished account of -Patna, which affords a striking indication as to the national character -of the Hindoos--“All Indian weavers, who work for the common market, -make the woof of one end of the cloth coarser than that of the other, -and attempt to sell to the unwary by the fine end, although every one -almost, who deals with them, is perfectly aware of the circumstance, -and although in the course of his life any weaver may not ever have an -opportunity of gaining by this means, yet he continues the practice, -with the hope of being able at some time or other to take advantage of -the purchaser of his goods.” - -The East India Company has a factory at Dacca, and also in other -parts of India,--not, as the American use of the word “factory” might -seem to imply, a mill, for the manufacture is entirely domestic--but -a commercial establishment in a manufacturing district, where the -spinners, weavers, and other workmen are chiefly employed in providing -the goods which the Company export to Europe. This establishment is -under the management of a commercial resident, who agrees for the -kinds of goods that may be required, and superintends the execution -of the orders received from the presidencies. Such is the poverty -of the workmen, and even of the manufacturers who employ them, that -the resident has to advance beforehand the funds necessary in order -to produce the goods. The consequence of this system is, that the -manufacturers and their men are in a state of dependence almost -amounting to servitude. The resident obtains their labor at his own -price, and, being supported by the civil and military power, he -establishes a monopoly of the worst kind, and productive of the most -prejudicial effects to industry. The Act of 1833, which put an end to -the commercial character of the Company, will of course abolish all the -absurd and oppressive monopolies it exercised. - -It cannot but seem astonishing, that in a department of industry, -where the raw material has been so grossly neglected, where the -machinery is so rude, and where there is so little division of labor, -the results should be fabrics of the most exquisite delicacy and -beauty, _unrivalled by the products of any other nation, even those -best skilled in the mechanic arts_. This anomaly is explained by the -remarkably fine sense of touch possessed by that effeminate people, -by their patience and gentleness, and by the hereditary continuance -of a particular species of manufacture in families through many -generations, which leads to the training of children from their very -infancy in the processes of the art. Mr. Orme observes--“The women spin -the thread destined for the cloth, and then deliver it to the men, -who have fingers to model it as exquisitely as these have prepared -it. The rigid, clumsy fingers of a European would scarcely be able to -make a piece of canvass with the instruments which are all that an -Indian employs in making a piece of cambric (muslin). It is further -remarkable, that every distinct kind of cloth is the production of a -particular district, in which the fabric has been transmitted perhaps -for centuries from father to son,--_a custom which must have conduced -to the perfection of the manufacture_[460].” The last mentioned fact -may be considered as a kind of division of labor. - - [460] Ormes’s Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, p. 413. - -Mr. Mill thus explains the unequalled manual skill of the Indian -weaver:--“It is a sedentary occupation, and thus in harmony with his -predominant inclination. It requires patience, of which he has an -inexhaustible fund. It requires little bodily exertion, of which he -is always exceedingly sparing; and the finer the production, the more -slender the force which he is called upon to apply. But this is not -all. The weak and delicate frame of the Hindu is accompanied with an -acuteness of external sense, particularly of touch, which is altogether -unrivalled; and the flexibility of his fingers is equally remarkable. -The hand of the Hindu, therefore, constitutes an organ adapted to -the finest operations of the loom, in a degree which is almost or -altogether peculiar to himself[461].” - - [461] Mill’s History of British India, book ii. c. 8. - -It is, then, to a physical organization in the natives, admirably -suited to the processes of spinning and weaving; to the possession of -the raw material in the greatest abundance; to the possession also of -the _most brilliant dyes_ for _staining_ and _printing_ the cloth; -to a climate which renders the colors lively and durable; and to the -hereditary practice, by particular castes, classes, and families, -both of the manual operations and chemical processes required in the -manufacture;--it is to these causes, with very little aid from science, -and in an almost barbarous state of the mechanical arts, that India -owes her long supremacy in the manufacture of cotton. - -Bengal is celebrated for the production of the finest muslins; the -Coromandel coast, for the best chintzes and calicoes; and Surat, for -strong and inferior goods of every kind. The cottons of Bengal go under -the names of _casses_, _amâns_, and _garats_; and the handkerchiefs are -called Burgoses and Steinkirkes. _Table cloths_ of superior quality are -made at _Patna_. The _basins_, or _basinets_, come from the Northern -Circars. Condaver furnishes the beautiful handkerchiefs of Masulipatam, -the fine colors of which are partly obtained from a plant called -_chage_, which grows on the banks of the Krishna, and on the coast -of the Bay of Bengal. The chintzes and ginghams are chiefly made at -Masulipatam, Madras, St. Thomé, and Paliamcotta. The long cloths and -fine pullicats are produced in the presidency of Madras. The coarse -piece-goods, under the name of baftas, doutis, and pullicats, as well -as common muslins and chintzes, are extensively manufactured in the -district of which Surat is the port. Besides all these, there is an -endless variety of fabrics, many of which are known in the markets of -Europe, Asia, and Africa. - -The commerce of the Indians in these fabrics has been extensive, from -the Christian era to the end of the last century. For many hundred -years, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Abyssinia, and all the eastern -parts of Africa, were supplied with a considerable portion of their -cottons and muslins, and with all which they consumed of the finest -qualities, from the marts of India. This commerce existed in the last -age, and is described by the Abbé Raynal[462] and Legoux de Flaix. The -blue calicoes of Guzerat were long bought by the English and Dutch for -their trade with Guinea. The great marts of this commerce on the west -coast of India were Surat and Calicut, the former of which is near to -Baroche, the manufacturing capital of Guzerat, in which province a -considerable part of the exported cottons of India were made; and on -the east coast, Masulipatam, Madras, and St. Thomé, whence the varied -and extensive products of the Coromandel coast are exported. - - [462] Histoire Philosophique et Politique des Etablissements du - Commerce des Européens dans les deux Indes, tom. ii. liv. iv. ch. 4. - -Owing to the beauty and cheapness of Indian muslins, chintzes, -and calicoes, there was a period when the manufacturers of all the -countries of Europe were apprehensive of being ruined by their -competition. In the seventeenth century, the Dutch and English East -India Companies imported these goods in large quantities; they became -highly fashionable for ladies’ and children’s dresses, as well as -for drapery and furniture, and the coarse calicoes were used to line -garments. To such an extent did this proceed, that as early as 1678 a -loud outcry was made in England against the admission of Indian goods, -which, it was maintained, were ruining the woollen manufacture,--a -branch of industry which for centuries was regarded with an almost -superstitious veneration, as a kind of palladium of the national -prosperity, and which was incomparably the most extensive branch of -manufactures till the close of the eighteenth century. A few extracts -from pamphlets published in the seventeenth and at the beginning of -the eighteenth century, will not only afford amusement, but will show -the wonderful commercial revolution which has since been effected -by machinery. In the year 1678, a pamphlet was issued under the -title--“The Ancient Trades Decayed and Repaired again,” in which the -author thus bewails the interference of cotton with woollen fabrics. - -“This trade (the woollen) is very much hindered by our own people, -who do wear many foreign commodities instead of our own; as may be -instanced in many particulars; viz. instead of green _sey_, that -was wont to be used for children’s frocks, is now used painted and -Indian-stained and striped calico; and instead of a perpetuana or -shalloon to line men’s coats with, is used sometimes a glazed calico, -which in the whole is not above 12_d._ cheaper, and abundantly worse. -And sometimes is used a _Bangale_ that is brought from India, both -for linings to coats, and for petticoats too; yet our English ware is -better and cheaper than this, only it is thinner for the summer. To -remedy this, it would be necessary to lay a very high impost upon all -such commodities as these are, and that no calicoes or other sort of -linen be suffered to be glazed.”--pp. 16, 17. - -The writer, with equal wisdom, recommends the prohibition of _stage -coaches_, on account of their injuring the proprietors of the inns on -the road, by conveying the passengers too quickly, and at too little -expense to themselves. A pamphlet entitled “The Naked Truth, in an -Essay upon Trade,” published in 1696, informs us that-- - -“The commodities that we chiefly receive from the East Indies are -calicoes, muslins, Indian wrought silks, pepper, saltpetre, indigo, &c. -The advantage of the Company is chiefly in their muslins and Indian -silks, (a great value in these commodities being comprehended in a -small bulk,) and these becoming the general wear in England.”--p. 4. -“Fashion is truly termed a witch; the dearer and scarcer any commodity, -the more the mode; 30_s._ a yard for muslins, and only the shadow of a -commodity when procured.”--p. 11. - -So sagacious and far-sighted an author as Daniel de Foe (Author of -Robinson Crusoe) did not escape the general notion, that it was not -merely injurious to the woollen and silk manufactures, a but also a -national evil, TO HAVE CLOTHING CHEAP FROM ABROAD RATHER THAN -TO MANUFACTURE IT DEAR AT HOME. In his _Weekly Review_, which -contains so many opinions on trade, credit, and currency far beyond the -age, he thus laments the large importations of Indian goods. - -“The general fancy of the people runs upon East India goods to that -degree, that the _chintz_ and _painted calicoes_, which before were -only made use of for carpets, quilts, &c., and to clothe children and -ordinary people, become now the dress of our ladies; and such is the -power of a mode as we saw our persons of quality dressed in stuffs -which but a few years before their chambermaids would have thought -too ordinary for them: the chintz was advanced from lying upon their -floors to their backs, from the foot-cloth to the petticoat; and even -the queen herself at this time was pleased to appear in China silks and -calico. Nor was this all, but it crept into our houses, closets, and -bed-chambers; curtains, cushions, chairs, and at last beds themselves, -were nothing but calicoes or Indian stuffs; and in short, almost -everything that used to be made of wool or silk, relating either to the -dress of the women or the furniture of our houses, was supplied by the -Indian trade.” - -“Above half of the (woollen) manufacture was entirely lost, half of the -people scattered and ruined, and all this by the intercourse of the -East India trade.”--_Weekly Review_, _January_ 31st, 1708. - -However exaggerated and absurd De Foe’s estimate of the injury caused -to the woollen manufacture, as manifested by the small value of the -whole importations of Indian fabrics, at that time, as well as (much -more decisively) by the experience of recent times, when the woollen -manufacture has sustained the incomparably more formidable competition -of the English cotton manufacture, it is evident from his testimony, -and that of other writers, that Indian calicoes, muslins, and chintzes, -had become common in England at the close of the seventeenth century. -De Foe’s complaint was not of an evil existing in 1708, when he wrote, -but of one a few years earlier; for he says in another place, that -the “PROHIBITION OF INDIAN GOODS” had “AVERTED THE RUIN OF ENGLISH -MANUFACTURES, AND REVIVED THEIR PROSPERITY.” This prohibition took -place by the Act 11 and 12 William III. cap. 10., (1700,) which forbid -the introduction of Indian silks and printed calicoes for domestic use, -either as apparel or furniture, under a penalty of £200 on the wearer -or seller, and as this Act did not prevent the continued use of the -goods, which were probably smuggled from the continent of Europe, other -Acts for the same purpose were passed at a later date. - -A volume published in the year 1728, entitled “A Plan of the English -Commerce,” shows that the evil of a consumption of Indian manufactures -still prevailed, and that it was ascribed to a cause for which the -writer saw no remedy, namely, the _will of the ladies_, or, in his own -words, their “_passion for their fashion_.” The other countries of -Europe are represented as equally suffering from Indian competition -and _female perverseness_, and as attempting in the same way to find a -remedy in legislative prohibition. Holland was an honorable exception. -The author says-- - -“The calicoes are sent from the Indies by land into Turkey, by land and -inland seas into Muscovy and Tartary, and about by long-sea into Europe -and America, till in general they are become a grievance, and almost -all the European nations but the Dutch restrain and prohibit them.”--p. -180. - -“Two things,” says the writer, “among us are too ungovernable, viz. our -_passions_ and our _fashions_. - -“Should I ask the ladies whether they would dress by law, or clothe by -act of parliament, they would ask me _whether they were to be statute -fools_, and to be made pageants and pictures of?--whether the sex was -to be set up for our jest, and the parliament had nothing to do but -make Indian queens of them?--that they claim liberty as well as the -men, and as they expect to do what they please, and say what they -please, so they will wear what they please, and dress how they please. - -“It is true that the liberty of the ladies, their _passion_ for their -_fashion_, has been frequently injurious to the manufactures of Great -Britain, and is so still in some cases; but I do not see so easy a -remedy for that, as for some other things of the like nature. The -ladies have suffered some little restraint that way, as in the wearing -East India silks, instead of English; and calicoes and other things -instead of worsted stuffs and the like; and we do not see they are -pleased with it.”--p. 253. - -It appears, then, that not more than a century ago, the cotton fabrics -of India were so beautiful and cheap, that nearly all the governments -of Europe thought it necessary to prohibit them, or to load them with -heavy duties, IN ORDER TO PROTECT THEIR OWN MANUFACTURES. -How surprising a revolution has since taken place! The Indians have -not lost their former skill; but a power has arisen, which has robbed -them of their ancient ascendancy. The following document furnishes -superabundant proof how a manufacture which has existed without a rival -for thousands of years, is withering under the competition of a power -which is as it were but of yesterday: it would be well if it did not -also illustrate the very different measure of protection and justice -which governments usually afford to their subjects at home, and to -those of their remote dependencies. - - -PETITION OF NATIVES OF BENGAL, RELATIVE TO DUTIES ON COTTON AND SILK. - - “Calcutta, 1st. Sept. 1831. - - “_To the Right Honorable the Lords of His Majesty’s Privy Council for - Trade, &c_. - - “The humble Petition of the undersigned Manufacturers and Dealers in - _Cotton_ and _Silk Piece-goods_, the fabrics of Bengal; - - “Sheweth--That of late years your Petitioners have found their - business nearly superseded by the introduction of the fabrics of Great - Britain into Bengal, the importation of which augments every year, to - the great prejudice of the native manufactures. - - “That the fabrics of Great Britain are consumed in Bengal, without - any duties being levied thereon to protect the native fabrics. - - “That the fabrics of Bengal are charged with the following duties when - they are used in Great Britain-- - - “On manufactured cottons, 10 per cent. - “On manufactured silks, 24 per cent. - - “Your Petitioners most humbly implore your Lordships’ consideration - of these circumstances, and they feel confident that no disposition - exists in England to shut the door against the industry of any part of - the inhabitants of this great empire. - - “They therefore pray to be admitted to the privilege of British - subjects, and humbly entreat your Lordships to allow the cotton and - silk fabrics of Bengal to be used in Great Britain free of duty, _or - at the same rate which may be charged on British fabrics consumed in - Bengal_[463]. - - “Your Lordships must be aware of the immense advantages the - British manufacturers derive from their skill in constructing and - using machinery, which enables them to undersell the unscientific - manufacturers of Bengal in their own country: and, although your - Petitioners are not sanguine in expecting to derive any great - advantage from having their prayer granted, their minds would feel - gratified by such a manifestation of your Lordships’ good will towards - them; and such an instance of justice to the natives of India would - not fail to endear the British government to them. - - “They therefore confidently trust, that your Lordships’ righteous - consideration will be extended to them as British subjects, without - exception of _sect_, _country_, or _color_. - - “And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.” - - [Signed by 117 natives of high respectability.] - - [463] This reasonable request was not complied with, the duty on India - cotton being still 10 per cent. The extra duty of 3½_d._ per yard - on printed cottons was taken off when the excise duty on English - prints was repealed, in 1831. English cottons imported into India - only pay a duty of 2½ per cent. - -Dacca, notwithstanding its present insignificance as compared with -its former grandeur, may nevertheless still be classed among second -rate cities. It has a population of 150,000 inhabitants, which is -nearly a third more than the city of Baltimore contains. Some new -brick dwellings have silently sprung up here and there, it may also be -observed, within the last few years; and this city can now boast an Oil -Mill driven by steam, and an Iron Suspension Bridge. Three more steam -engines are in the course of erection[464]. On the whole, an increase -may be looked for, rather than the contrary, in the wealth, population, -and importance of the city of Dacca. - - [464] Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii. - -It would be curious to compare the gradual decrease of the population, -with the falling off of the manufacture of those beautiful cotton -fabrics, for which this city was once without a rival in the -world[465]. The first falling off in the Dacca trade, took place so far -back as 1801, previous to which the yearly advances made by the East -India Company, and private traders, for Dacca muslins, were estimated -at upwards of twenty-five lacs of rupees[466]. In 1807, the Company -s investment had fallen to 595,900, and the private trade to about -560,200. In 1813, the private trade did not exceed 205,950, and that of -the Company was scarcely more considerable. And in 1817, the English -commercial residency was altogether discontinued. The French and Dutch -factories had been abandoned many years before. The division of labor -was carried to a great extent in the manufacture of fine muslins. In -spinning the very fine thread, more especially, a great degree of skill -was attained. It was spun with the fingers on a “_Takwa_,” or fine -steel spindle, by young women, who could only work during the early -part of the morning, while the dew was on the ground; for such was -the extreme tenuity of the fibre, that it would not bear manipulation -after the sun had risen. One retti of cotton could thus be spun into a -thread eighty cubits long; which was sold by the spinners at one rupee, -eight annas, per sicca weight. The “Raffugars,” or _Darners_, were also -particularly skilful. They could _remove an entire thread from a piece -of muslin_, and _replace it by one of a finer texture_. The cotton -used for the finest thread, was grown in the immediate neighborhood -of Dacca, more especially about Sunergong. Its fibre is too short, -however, to admit of its being worked up by any except that most -wonderful of all machines--the human hand. The art of making the very -fine muslin fabrics is now lost--and a pity it is that it should be so. - - [465] If Providence should continue to bless the work of our hands, and - our life and health be preserved, we indulge the hope of being - able, at no very distant period, to investigate this subject more - fully. - - [466] _Lac of rupees_ is one hundred thousand rupees, which at 55 cents - each amount to fifty-five thousand dollars, or at 2_s._ 6_d._ - sterling, to £12,500. - -In 1820, a resident of Dacca, on a special order received from China, -procured the manufacture of two pieces of muslin, each ten yards long -by one wide, and weighing ten and a half sicca rupees.--The price of -each piece was 100 sicca rupees. In 1822, the same individual received -a second commission for two similar pieces, from the same quarter; but -the parties who had supplied him on the former occasion had died in the -mean time, and he was unable to execute the commission. - -The annual investment, called the “Malbus Khás,” for the royal wardrobe -at Delhi, absorbed a great part of the finest fabrics in former -times: the extreme beauty of some of these muslins, was sufficiently -indicated by the names they bore: such as, “_Abrowan_,” running water; -“_Siebnem_,” evening dew, &c. The cotton manufacture has not yet -arrived at anything like this perfection with us, and probably never -will.[467] - - [467] The manufacture of fine muslin, was attempted both in Lancashire - and at Glasgow, about the year 1780, with weft spun by the jenny. - The attempt failed, owing to the coarseness of the yarn. Even with - Indian weft, muslins could not be made to compete with those of - the East. But when the mule was brought into general use, in 1785, - both weft and warp were produced sufficiently fine for muslins; and - so quickly did the weaver avail himself of the improvement in the - yarn, that no less than 500,000 pieces of muslin were manufactured - in Great Britain in the year 1787. In a “Report of the Select - Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company upon - the subject of the Cotton Manufacture of this Country,” made in the - year 1793, it is said, that “_every shop offers British muslins - for sale equal in appearance, and of more elegant patterns than - those of India, for one-fourth, or perhaps more than one-third, - less in price_.” “Muslin began to be made nearly at the same time - at Bolton, at Glasgow, and at Paisley, each place adopting the - peculiar description of fabric which resembled most those goods - it had been accustomed to manufacture; and, in consequence of - this judicious distribution at first, each place has continued - to maintain a superiority in the production of its own article. - Jaconets, both coarse and fine, but of a stout fabric, checked and - striped muslins, and other articles of the heavier description of - this branch, are manufactured in Bolton, and its neighborhood. - Book, mull, and leno muslins, and jaconets of a lighter fabric - than those made in Lancashire, are manufactured in Glasgow. Sewed - and tambored muslins are almost exclusively made there and in - Paisley.”--_Encyclopædia Britannica_. - -Coarse cotton piece goods still continue to be manufactured at Dacca, -though from the extreme cheapness of English cloths, it is not -improbable that the native manufacture will be altogether superseded -ere long. - -In 1823-4, cotton piece goods, mostly coarse, passed the Dacca Custom -House, to the value of 1,442,101. In 1829-30, the value of the same -export was 969,952 only. There was a similar falling off in _silk_ and -_embroidered_ goods during the same period. - -In the export of the articles of cotton yarn again, there has been an -increase. In 1813, the value was 4,480 rupees only; whereas in 1821-22, -it amounted to 39,319 rupees. From that period it has, however, -decreased; and in 1829-30, the value of the native cotton yarn exported -from Dacca, amounted to 29,475 rupees only. - -Annexed are two statements--one showing the comparative prices of -muslins now manufactured at Dacca, and of the same description of -cloth, the produce of British looms.--The other, the comparative prices -of Dacca cloths, manufactured from yarn spun in the country, and from -British cotton yarn. These cannot fail to be interesting at the present -moment, and their general accuracy may be relied on. - - -COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE PRICES OF MUSLINS MANUFACTURED AT DACCA, -AND THE PRODUCE OF THE BRITISH LOOMS. - - +------------------------------------------+------------+------------+ - |ASSORTMENTS. |Manufactured|Produce of | - | | at |the British | - | | Dacca. | Looms. | - +------------------------------------------+------------+------------+ - |Jamdaní, with small spot, 1st sort | 25 | 8 | - |Jamdaní, with small spot 2nd ditto | 16 | 5 | - |Jamdaní, Mabíposh, | 27 to 28 | 6 | - |Jamdaní, Diagonal pattern, | 12 to 13 | 4 to 4½ | - |Jaconet Muslin, 40½, } 1st ditto | 38 to 40 |20 to 22 | - | corresponding } 2nd ditto | 24 to 25 | 9 to 10 | - | with Jungle Cossas, } | | | - |Nyansook, 40 to 2¼, | 8 to 9 | 5 to 6 | - |Cambric, corresponding with Camiz Cossas, | 13 to 14 | 6 to 9½ | - |Jamdaní blue or red sprigs, | 15 to 16 | 4 to 5 | - |Jamdaní Sarîs, | 12 to 13 | 5 to 5½ | - |Book Muslin, corresponding with Mulmulls, | 10 to 11 | 7 to 8 | - |Sahun, 48 by 3, | 28 to 30 |14 to 15 | - +------------------------------------------+------------+------------+ - -COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE PRICES OF DACCA CLOTHS, MANUFACTURED WITH -COTTON YARN SPUN IN THE COUNTRY, AND FROM BRITISH COTTON YARN. - - +----------------------------------------------------------------+ - | | DACCA MUSLINS. | - | +----------------+--------------+ - |ASSORTMENTS. | Manufactured | Manufactured | - | | with Country | with Europe | - | | Cotton Thread. | Cotton Yarn. | - +--------------------------------+----------------+--------------+ - |Mulmuls, 40 by 2, 1st sort | 8 to 9 | 3 to 4 | - | 2nd ditto | 10 to 12 | 5 to 6 | - | 3rd ditto | 14 to 15 | 9 to 10 | - | | | | - |Sablams, 40 by 2, 1st ditto | 4 to 4½ | 2½ | - | 2nd ditto | 5½ to 6 | 3 | - | 3rd ditto | 11 to 12 | 6 | - | 4th ditto | 14 to 15 | 8 | - | 5th ditto | 17 to 18 | 10 to 11 | - | | | | - |Sarbans, 40 cubits, 1st ditto | 3 | 1½ | - | 2nd ditto | 3½ to 3¾ | 1¾ | - | | | | - |Allabalís Adí, 1st ditto | 5 to 5½ | 3 | - | 2nd ditto | 7 to 7½ | 4 | - | 3rd ditto | 8 to 9 | 5 to 5½ | - | 4th ditto | 9 to 10 | 6 to 6½ | - | | | | - |Tarindans, 40 cubits, 1st ditto | 4½ to 5 | 3 | - | 2nd ditto | 6½ to 7 | 4 | - | 3rd ditto | 11 to 12 | 7 to 8 | - | 4th ditto | 13 to 14 | 10 to 11 | - |Sarí, per pair, 1st ditto | 5 | 3 | - | 2nd ditto | 5 to 5½ | 3½ to 4 | - | 3rd ditto | 9 to 10 | 5½ to 6 | - | | | | - |Dhotis, per pair, 1st ditto | 5 | 3 | - | 2nd ditto | 6 to 6½ | 3½ | - | 3rd ditto | 7 to 7½ | 5 | - | 4th ditto | 8 to 8½ | 6 | - | 5th ditto |10½ to 11 | 8 to 8½ | - | 6th ditto | 9 to 11 | 7 to 7½ | - | | | | - |Sheraganj Cossas, 1st ditto | 4 | 2¾ | - | 40 cubits, 2nd ditto | 5 | 3¼ | - | 3rd ditto | 5½ to 6 | 4 | - | 4th ditto | 7 to 7½ | 5 | - | 5th ditto | 8 to 8½ | 6 | - | | | | - |Sheraganj Hamam, 1st ditto | 5 | 3½ | - | 40 by 3, 2nd ditto | 6 to 6½ | 4 | - | 3rd ditto | 7½ to 8 | 5 | - | 4th ditto | 9 to 9½ | 6 to 7 | - | 5th ditto | 11 to 12 | 8 to 9 | - | 6th ditto | 14 to 15 | 10 to 11 | - | | | | - |Jamdan Dhotis, 1st ditto | 5½ to 6 | 4 | - | 10 cubits, 2nd ditto | 6½ to 7 | 4½ | - | 3rd ditto | 7½ to 8 | 5 | - +--------------------------------+----------------+--------------+ - -The manufacture of cotton, as we have seen, was general in India and -had attained high excellence in the age of the first Greek historian, -_that is, in the fifth century before Christ_, at which time it had -already existed for an unknown period; yet eighteen centuries more -elapsed before it was introduced into Italy or Constantinople, or even -secured a footing in the neighboring empire of China. Though so well -suited to hot climates, we have seen that cottons were known rather -as a curiosity than as a common article of dress in Egypt and Persia, -five centuries after the Greeks had heard of the “wool-bearing trees” -of India: in Egypt, as has been shown, the manufacture never reached -any considerable degree of excellence, and the muslins worn by the -higher classes have always been imported from India[468]. In Spain the -manufacture, after flourishing to some degree, became nearly extinct. -In Italy, Germany, and Flanders, it had also a lingering and ignoble -existence. - - [468] In Arabia and the neighboring countries, cottons and muslins came - gradually into use; and the manufacture was spread, by the - commercial activity and enterprise of the early followers of - Mohammed, throughout the extended territories subdued by their - arms. “It is recorded of the fanatical Omar, the immediate - successor of the Arabian impostor, that he preached in a tattered - cotton gown, torn in _twelve_ places; and of Ali, his contemporary, - who assumed the caliphate after him, that on the day of his - inauguration, he went to the mosque dressed in a thin cotton - gown, tied round him with a girdle, a coarse turban on his head, - his slippers in one hand, and his bow in the other, instead of a - walking staff.”--_Crichton’s History of Arabia_, _vol._ i. _pp._ - 397, 403. - - - - -PART FOURTH. - -ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE LINEN MANUFACTURE. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -FLAX. - -CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF FLAX BY THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF -THE SCRIPTURES, ETC. - - - Earliest mention of Flax--Linen manufactures of the Egyptians--Linen - worn by the priests of Isis--Flax grown extensively in Egypt--Flax - gathering--Envelopes of Linen found on Egyptian mummies--Examination - of mummy-cloth--Proved to be Linen--Flax still grown in - Egypt--Explanation of terms--Byssus--Reply to J. R. Forster--Hebrew - and Egyptian terms--Flax in North Africa, Colchis, Babylonia--Flax - cultivated in Palestine--Terms for flax and tow--Cultivation of - Flax in Palestine and Asia Minor--In Elis, Etruria, Cisalpine Gaul, - Campania, Spain--Flax of Germany, of the Atrebates, and of the - Franks--Progressive use of linen among the Greeks and Romans. - -The earliest mention of flax by any author occurs in the account of the -plague of hail, which devastated Lower Egypt, Ex. ix. 31. The Hebrew -term for flax in this and various other passages of the old Testament -is פשתה; the corresponding word in the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic -versions is כתנא Λίνον, LXX. Linum, _Jerome_. - -In Isaiah xix. 9, according to King James’s Translators and Bishop -Lowth, mention is made of those that “_work in fine flax_,” and which -was one of the chief employments of the Egyptians. According to -Herodotus (ii. 37, 81.) the Egyptians universally wore linen shirts, -which were fringed at the bottom. The fringe consisted of the _thrums_, -or ends of the webs. Thrums used for this purpose may be seen in the -cloths which are found in Egyptian mummies. - -[Illustration: _PLATE VI_ Egyptian flax-gathering.] - -Besides the linen shirt the priests wore an upper garment of linen, -more especially when they officiated in the temples. This garment was -probably of the exact form of a modern linen sheet. The distinction -between the shirt and the sheet worn over it, as well as the reason why -linen was used for all sacred purposes, is clearly expressed in the two -following passages from Apuleius and Jerome. - - Etiamnè cuiquam mirum videri potest, cui sit ulla memoria religionis, - hominem tot mysteriis Deûm conscium, quædam sacrorum crepundia domi - adversare, atque ea lineo texto involvere, quod purissimum est rebus - divinis velamentum? Quippe lana, segnissimi corporis excrementum, - pecori detracta, jam inde Orphei et Pythagoræ scitis, profanus - vestitus est. Sed enim mundissima lini seges, inter optimas fruges - terrâ exorta, non modò indutui et amictui sanctissimis Ægyptiorum - sacerdotibus, sed opertui quoque in rebus sacris usurpatur. - - _Apuleii Apolog. p. 64. ed. Pricæi._ - - Can any one impressed with a sense of religion wonder, that a man who - has been made acquainted with so many mysteries of the gods, should - keep at home certain sacred emblems and wrap them in a linen cloth, - the purest covering for divine objects? For wool, the excretion - of a sluggish body, taken from sheep, was deemed a profane attire - even according to the early tenets of Orpheus and Pythagoras. But - flax, that cleanest and best production of the field, is used, not - only for the inner and outer clothing of the most holy priests of - the Egyptians, but also for covering sacred objects.--_Yates’s - Translation._ - -_Indutus_ was the putting on of the _inner_, amictus of the _outer_ -garment. - - Vestibus lineis utuntur Ægyptii sacerdotes non solum extrinsecus, sed - et intrinsecus.--_Hieron. in Ezek. 44. folio 257._ - - The Egyptian priests use linen garments, not only without, but also - within. - -Plutarch says[469], that the priests of Isis wore linen on account of -its purity, and he remarks how absurd and inconsistent would have been -their conduct, if they had carefully plucked the hairs from their own -bodies, and yet clothed themselves in wool, which is the hair of sheep. -He also mentions the opinion of some who thought that flax was used -for clothing, because the _color of its blossom resembles the etherial -blue which surrounds the world_; and he states, that the priests of -Isis were also buried in their sacred vestments. According to Strabo, -Panopolis was an ancient seat of the linen manufacture[470]. - - [469] L. xvii. § 41. p. 586. ed. Siebenkees. - - [470] De Iside et Osiride, prope init. Opp. ed. H. Stephani, Par. 1572, - tom. i p. 627, 628. - -Celsius in his Hierobotanicon (_vol._ ii. _p._ 287-291.), and Forster -in his treatise De Bysso Antiquorum (_p._ 65-68.) have quoted other -passages from ancient authors, which concur to show the abundance -and excellence of the flax grown anciently in Lower Egypt, and more -particularly in the vicinity of Pelusium, the general employment -of it among the inhabitants for clothing, and the exclusive use of -linen cloth for the garments of the priesthood and for other sacred -purposes, and especially for the worship of Isis and Osiris. From -the same authorities we learn, that the Egyptian flax and the cloth -woven from it were shipped in great quantities to all the ports of the -Mediterranean[471]. - - [471] “Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and _linen yarn_” - (טקוח): 1 Kings x. 28. 2 Chron. i. 16. - -In connection with these statements the reader is referred to what has -already been advanced (See Part Second, Chap. I.) on the use of wool -for clothing by the Egyptians; and it may be also observed, that when -we find it stated by ancient authors, that the priests wore linen only, -the term ought not to be so strictly understood as to exclude the use -of cotton, which would probably be considered equally pure and equally -adapted for sacred purposes with linen, and which was brought in -ancient times from India to Egypt; and the term _linum_ was undoubtedly -often employed in so general a sense as to include cotton. - -These testimonies of ancient authors are confirmed in a very -remarkable manner by existing monuments. The paintings in the Grotto of -El Kab represent among other scenes a field of corn and a crop of flax, -the latter distinguished by its inferior height, by its round capsules, -and by being pulled up by the roots instead of being reaped. The mode -of binding the flax in bundles is also exhibited, and the separation -of the “bolls,” or capsules, containing the lin-seed, from the stalk, -by the use of a comb, or “ripple.” (_See Description de l’Egypte: -Antiquités; Planches, tome_ i. _pl._ 68. _and the Plates to Hamilton’s -Ægyptiaca_, xxiii.) - -In Plate VI. is inserted so much of the painting as relates to our -present subject. Five persons are employed in plucking up the flax -by the roots, viz., four men and one woman. The woman wears a shift -reaching to her ancles, but _transparent_[472]. The four men wear -shirts which reach to their knees, and are not transparent. Another -man binds the flax into sheaves: a sixth carries it to a distance: and -a seventh separates the seed from the stem by means of a four-toothed -ripple. The back of the ripple rests on the ground; its teeth being -raised to the proper elevation by a prop, as shown in the drawing. -The man sets his foot upon the back to keep the instrument firm, and, -taking hold of a bunch of flax near the root, draws it through the -comb. This method is now employed in Europe. At the left-hand corner of -the Plate lies a bundle of flax stript of its capsules, and underneath -the ripple is the heap of seed which has been separated from the stem. - - [472] This circumstance is adapted to illustrate the mention of - “transparent garments” in Isaiah iii. 23. Lowth’s Translation. - -Evidence equally decisive is presented in the innumerable mummies, -the fabrication of successive ages through a period of more than two -thousand years, which are found in the catacombs of Egypt. It is indeed -disputed, whether the cloth in which they are enveloped is linen or -cotton. - -It was believed to be linen by all writers previous to Rouelle. More -especially, this opinion was advanced by the learned traveller and -antiquary, Professor John Greaves, in his Pyramidographia, published A. -D. 1646. He speaks of the “linen shroud” of a mummy, which he opened, -and he says, “The ribbands” (_or fillets_) “by what I observed, were of -linen, which was the habit also of the Egyptian priests.” He adds, “of -these ribbands I have seen some so _strong_ and _perfect_ as if they -had been made but yesterday.” - -Rouelle’s dissertation on Mummies is published in the _Mémoires de -l’Académie R. des Sciences_ for the year 1750. He there asserts (_p._ -150), that the cloth of every mummy which he had an opportunity of -examining, even that of embalmed birds, was cotton. - -Dr. Hadley, however, who wrote a few years after Rouelle (_Phil. -Transactions for 1764, vol. 54._), seems to adhere to the old opinion. -He calls the cloth of the mummy, which he examined, “linen.” He says, -it was in fillets of different breadths, but the greater part 1½ -inches broad. “They were torn longitudinally; those few that had a -selvage, having it on one side only.” - -But the opinion of Rouelle received a strong support from Dr. John -Reinhold Forster, to whom it appeared at first almost incredible, -although he afterwards supported it in the most decided manner. He -determined to take the first opportunity of settling the question by -the inspection of mummies, and examined those in the British Museum, -accompanied by Dr. Solander. Both of these learned and acute inquirers -were convinced, that the cloth was cotton, deriving this opinion from -the inspection of all those specimens, which were sufficiently free -from gum, paint, and resins, to enable them to judge[473]. Larcher -informs us, that he remarked the same thing in these mummies in 1752, -when he was accompanied by Dr. Maty[474]. It is to be observed, -however, that neither Larcher, Rouelle, nor Forster mentions the -criterion which he employed to distinguish linen from cotton. They -probably formed their opinion only from its apparent softness, its -want of lustre, or some other quality, which might belong to linen no -less than to cotton, and which therefore could be no certain mark of -distinction. - - [473] Forster, De Bysso Antiquorum, London 1776, p. 70, 71. - - [474] Herodote, par Larcher. Ed. 2nde, Par. 1802, livre ii. p. 357. - -The opinion of Larcher, Rouelle, and Forster appears to have been -generally adopted. In particular we find it embraced by Blumenbach, -who in the Philosophical Transactions for 1794 speaks of the “cotton -bandages” of two of the small mummies, which he opened in London[475]. -In his _Beiträge (i. e. Contributions to Natural History, 2nd part, p. -73, Göttingen_, 1811) he says, he is more firmly convinced than ever, -that the cloth is universally cotton. He assigns also his reasons in -the following terms. “I ground this my conviction far less on my own -views than on the assurance of such persons as I have questioned on the -subject, and whose judgment in this matter I deem incomparably superior -to my own or to that of any other scholar, namely, of ladies, dealers -in cotton and linen cloth, weavers and the like.” He also refers to -the cultivation of cotton in Egypt, which he assumes probably on the -authority of Forster; and to the fable of Isis enveloping in “cotton” -cloth the collected limbs of her husband Osiris, who had been torn in -pieces by Typhon. The latter arguments are founded on the supposition, -that the ancient term _Byssus_ meant cotton, and not linen. But the -question as to its meaning must in part be decided, as we shall see -hereafter, by previously settling the present question as to the -materials of the mummy cloth. The opinion of ladies, tradesmen, and -manufacturers, though it may be better than that of the most learned -man, if derived from mere touch and inspection, is quite insufficient -to decide the question. If those whom Blumenbach consulted thought -that the cloth was always cotton, many others of equal experience and -discernment have given an opposite judgment; and the fact is, that -linen cloth, which has been long worn and often washed, as is the case -with a great proportion of the mummy cloth, and which is either ragged -or loose in its texture, cannot be distinguished from cotton by the -unassisted use of the external senses. - - [475] On the authority of this paper the mummy-cloth is supposed to be - cotton by Heeren, Ideen, i. 1. p. 128. - -Relying, however, on the same evidence of ocular inspection, another -distinguished author, who travelled in Egypt and published his remarks -about the same time, says, “As to the circumstance of cotton cloths -having been exclusively used in the above process, an inspection of the -mummies is sufficient evidence of the fact[476].” - - [476] Ægyptiaca, by William Hamilton, Esq. F. R. S. London, 1809. p. - 320. - -M. Jomard, one of the authors of the great French work on Egypt, -published about 1811, paid great attention to this subject. He -concluded, that both linen and cotton were employed in the bandages of -mummies, grounding his opinion partly on their appearance and touch, -and partly on the testimony of Herodotus, whom he misinterpreted in the -manner, which will hereafter be mentioned[477]. - - [477] Description de l’Egypte. Mémoires.--Sur les Hypogées, p. 35. - -Another of these authors, M. Costaz, who contributed the memoir on the -grotto of El Kab, asserts that the mummy cloth is found on examination -to be cotton[478]. - - [478] Ibid. tom. i. p. 60. - -An important paper on the same subject appeared in the Philosophical -Transactions for 1825. In this Dr. A. B. Granville describes a mummy, -which he opened. He dwells more particularly on the circumstances, -which have reference to anatomical and surgical considerations, and -expresses very strongly his admiration of the skill and neatness -employed in folding the cloth, so as to present an example of every -kind of bandage used by modern surgeons, and to exhibit it in the most -perfect manner. - -The passages which are connected with the present inquiry, will be -quoted at length. Dr. Granville observes (_p. 272._), - - The principal rollers appear to be made of a very compact, yet elastic - linen, some of them from four to five yards in length, without any - stitch or seam in any part of them. There were also some large square - pieces thrown around the head, thorax, and abdomen, of a less elastic - texture. These pieces were found to alternate with the complete - swathing of the whole body. They occurred four distinct times; while - the bandaging, with rollers and other fasciæ, was repeated, at least, - twenty times. The numerous bandages, by which the mummy was thus - enveloped, were themselves wholly covered by a roller 3½ inches - wide and 11 yards long, which after making a few turns around both - feet, ascended in graceful spirals to the head, whence descending - again as far as the breast, it was fixed there. The termination of - this outer roller is remarkable for the loose threads hanging from - it in the shape of a fringe and for certain traces of characters - imprinted on it similar to those described and delineated by Jomard - in the _Description de l’Egypte_. One or two of these characters have - corroded the linen, leaving the perforated traces of their form. - -Dr. Granville gives a fac-simile of these characters, and in the same -Plate he represents the exact appearance of the external rolls of cloth -on the mummy. He then says (_p._ 274.), - - I have satisfied myself, that both cotton and linen have been employed - in the preparation of our mummy, although Herodotus mentions only - cotton (_byssus_) as the material used for the purpose. Most mummies - have been described as wholly enveloped in linen cloth, and some - persons are disposed to doubt the existence of cotton cloth in any, - not excepting in the one now under consideration. - - But with respect to the last point, a simple experiment has, I - think, set the question at rest. If the surface of old linen, and - of old cotton cloth be rubbed briskly and for some minutes with a - rounded piece of glass or ivory, after being washed and freed from - all extraneous matter, the former will be found to have acquired - considerable lustre; while the latter will present no other difference - than that of having the threads flattened by the operation. By means - of this test I selected several pieces of cotton cloth from among the - many bandages of our mummy, which I submitted to the inspection of an - experienced manufacturer, who declared them to be of that material. - -Besides the appeal to the senses of “an experienced manufacturer,” -Dr. Granville here proposes a new test, that of rubbing in the manner -described. But, although cotton cloth in all circumstances has less -lustre than linen, still this cannot be considered a satisfactory -criterion. - -The ingenious John Howell of Edinburgh[479] paid some attention to -this question, having a few years since obtained and opened a valuable -mummy. He and the friends, whom he consulted, and who were _weavers_ -and other persons of _practical_ experience, most of them thought that -the cloth was altogether linen: some however thought that certain -specimens of it were cotton. - - [479] Author of an Essay on the War Galleys of the Ancients, Edinburgh - 1826, 8vo. - -This curious and important question was at length decisively settled -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 Althœæ 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. - - The account which Herodotus gives (iv. 23) of the habitations of the - Argippæi evidently alludes to customs similar to those of the modern - Tartars. He says, “They live under trees, covering the tree in - winter with strong and thick undyed felt (πίλῳ στεγνῷ λευκῷ), and - removing the felt in summer.” Among the ceremonies observed by the - Scythians in burying the dead, Herodotus also mentions the erection - of three stakes of wood, which were surrounded with a close covering - of woollen felt (iv. 73). Also, in the next section but one (iv. 75.) - there is an evident allusion to the practice of living under tents - made of felt (ὑποδύνουσι ὑπὸ τοὺς πίλους). - - [588] _Reise in dem Kaucasus und nach Georgien_, ch. vi. p. 161. - - [589] _Voyage dans les Environs du Mont Elbrouz._ St. Petersburg, 1829, - 4to, p. 20. - - [590] _Travels in Circassia_, by Edmund Spencer. - - [591] _Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor_, p. 38. - - [592] Ch. ii. p. 7, of Rémusat’s Translation, Par. 1836, 4to. - -[Illustration: PLATE VIII.] - -In conformity with the prevailing use of this manufacture in the -colder regions of Asia, scarlet or purple felt (such as that lately -_re-invented_ at Leeds, in England), was used by the Babylonish -decorators for the drapery of the funeral pile, when Alexander -celebrated the splendid obsequies of Hephæstion: for so we must -understand the expression φοινικίδες πιληταί (Diod. Sic. xvii. 115. p. -251, Wess.). Xenophon (_Cycrop._ v. 5. § 7.) mentions the use of felt -manufactured in Media, _as a covering for chairs and couches_. The -Medes also used bags and sacks of felt (Athenæus, 1. xii. p. 540 _c._ -Casaub.). - -The process, by which wool is converted into felt, was called by the -Greeks πίλησις (Plato _de Leg._ 1. viii. p. 115. ed. Bekker), literally -a compression, from πιλέω, to compress[593]. The ancient Greek scholion -on the passage of Plato here referred to thus explains the term: -Πιλήσεως· τῆς διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐρίων πυκνώσεως γινομένης ἐσθῆτος, _i. e._ -“cloth made by the thickening of wool.” With this definition of felt -agrees the following description of a πέτασος in a Greek epigram, which -records the dedication of it to Mercury:-- - - Σοὶ τὸν πιληθέντα δι’ εὐξάντου τριχὸς ἀμνοῦ, - Ἑρμᾶ, Καλλιτέλης ἐκρέμασε πέτασον. - - Brunck, _Anal._ ii. 41. - - [593] Xenophanes thought that _the moon_ was _a compressed cloud_ - (νέφος πεπιλημένον, Stobæi _Eclog._ i. 27. p. 550, ed. Heeren); _and - that the air was emitted from the earth by its compression_ - (πίλησις, i. 23. p. 484). - -The art of felting was called ἡ πιλητικὴ, (Plato, _Polit._ ii. 2. p. -296, ed. Bekker). According to the ancient Greek and Latin glossaries, -and to Julius Pollux (vii. 30), a felt-maker, or hatter, was πιλοποιὸς -or πιλωτοποιὸς, in Latin _coactiliarius_. From πῖλος (_dim._ πίλιον, -_second dim._ πιλίδιον), the proper term for _felt_ in general, derived -from the root of πιλέω, came the verb πιλόω, signifying _to felt_, -or _to make felt_, and from this latter verb was formed the ancient -participle πιλωτὸς, _felted_, which again gave origin to πιλωτοποιός. - -It may be observed, that our English word _felt_ is evidently a -participle or a derivative, and that its verb or root FEL -appears to be the same with the root of πιλέω. - -The Latin _cogo_, which was used, like the Greek πιλέω, to denote the -act of compressing, or forcing the separate hairs together, gave origin -to the participle _coactus_, and its derivative _coactilis_. Pliny (H. -N. viii. 48. s. 73.), after speaking of woven stuffs, mentions in the -following terms the use of wool for making felt: “Lanæ et per se coactæ -(_al._ coactam) vestem ficiunt,” _i. e._ “Parcels of wool, driven -together by themselves, make cloth.” This is a very exact, though -brief description of the process of felting. The following monumental -inscription (Gruter, p. 648, n. 4.) contains the title _Lanarius -coactiliarius_, meaning _a manufacturer of woollen felt:_-- - -M. BALLORIUS M. L. LARISEUS, LANARIUS COACTILIARIUS, CONJUGA -CARISSIMÆ B. M. FEC. - -Helvius Successus, the son of a freed man, and the father of the Roman -emperor Pertinax, was a hatter in Liguria (_tabernam coactiliariam in -Liguria exercuerat_, Jul. Cap. _Pertinax_, c. 3.). Pertinax himself, -being fond of money, having the perseverance expressed by his agnomen, -and having doubtless, in the course of his expeditions into the East, -made valuable observations respecting the manufacture which he had -known from his boyhood, continued and extended the same business, -carrying it on and conveying his goods to a distance by the agency of -slaves. The Romans originally received the use of felt together with -its name[594] from the Greeks (Plutarch, _Numa_, p. 117, ed. Steph.). -The Greeks were acquainted with it as early as the age of Homer, who -lived about 900 B. C. (_Il._ x. 265), and Hesiod (_Op. et Dies_, 542, -546). - - [594] _Pileus_ or _Pileum_ (Non. Marc. iii., _pilea virorum sunt_, - Servius _in Virg. Æn._ ix. 616.), dim. _Pileolus_ or _Pileolum_ - (Colum. _de Arbor._ 25). - -The principal use of felt among the Greeks and Romans was to make -coverings of the head for the male sex, and the most common cover -made of this manufacture was a simple skull-cap, _i. e._ a cap -exactly fitted to the shape of the head, as is shown in Plate VIII. -fig. 1. taken from a sepulchral bas-relief which was found by Mr. -Dodwell in Bœotia[595]. The original is as large as life. The person -represented appears to have been a Cynic philosopher. He leans upon -the staff (_baculus_, βάκτρον, σκῆπτρον); he is clothed in the blanket -(_pallium_, χλαῖνα, τρίβων) with one end, which is covered, over his -left breast, and another hanging behind over his left shoulder; he -wears the beard (_barba_, πώγων); his head is protected by the simple -skull-cap (_pileus_, πῖλος). All these were distinct characteristics of -the philosopher, and more especially of the Cynic[596]. The dog also -probably marked his sect. Leonidas of Tarentum, in his enumeration -of the goods belonging to the Cynic Posochares[597], including a -dog-collar (κυνοῦχον), mentions, καὶ πῖλον κεφαλᾶς οὔχ ὁσίας σκεπανὸν, -_i. e._ “The cap of felt, which covered his unholy head.” This passage -may be regarded as a proof, that among the Greeks, though not among -the Romans, the cap of felt was worn by very poor men. It also proves -that this cap, which was the _fess_ of the modern Greeks, was worn by -philosophers, and therefore throws light on a passage of Antiphanes -(_ap. Athen._ xii. 63. p. 545 a) describing a philosopher of a -different character, who was very elegantly dressed, having a small cap -of fine felt (πιλίδιον ἁπαλὸν), also a small white blanket, a beautiful -tunic, and a neat stick. When Cleanthes advanced the doctrine, _that -the moon had the shape of a skull-cap_ (πιλοειδῆ τῷ σχήματι, Stobæi -_Ecl. Phys._ 1. 27. p. 554, ed. Heeren), he probably intended to -account for its phases from its supposed hemispherical form. A cap of a -similar form and appearance, though perhaps larger and not so closely -fitted to the crown of the head, was worn by fishermen[598]. In an -epigram of Philippus[599], describing the apparatus of a fisherman, the -author mentions πῖλον ἀμφίκρηνον ὑδασιστεγῆ, “the cap encompassing his -head and protecting it from wet.” Figure 2. in Plate VIII. represents a -small statue of a fisherman belonging to the Townley Collection in the -British Museum. His cap is slightly pointed and in a degree, which was -probably favorable to the discharge of water from its surface. Hesiod -recommends, that agricultural laborers should wear the same defence -from cold and showers (_Op. et Dies_, 545-547). The use of this cap -by seamen was no doubt the ground, on which the painter Nicomachus -represented Ulysses wearing one. “Hic primus,” says Pliny (H. N. xxxv. -36. s. 22.), “Ulyssi addidit pileum[600].” For the same reason the cap -is an attribute of the Dioscuri; and hence two caps with stars above -them are often shown on the coins of maritime cities and of others -where Castor and Pollux were worshipped. Figure 3. of Plate VIII. is -taken from a brass coin of Dioscurias in Colchis, preserved in the -British Museum. On the reverse is the name ΔΙΟΣΚΟΥΡΙΑΔΟΣ. Figure 4. -represents both sides of a silver coin in the same collection, with -the legend ΒΡΕΤΤΙΩΝ. It belongs to Bruttium in South Italy. On the one -side Castor and Pollux are mounted on horseback. They wear the chlamys -and carry palm branches in their hands. Their caps have a narrow brim. -The reverse shows their heads only, and their caps, without brims, are -surrounded by wreaths of myrtle. The cornucopia is added as an emblem -of prosperity. Figure 5. is from a brass coin of Amasia (ΑΜΑΣΣΕΙΑΣ) in -Pontus. It shows the cornucopia between the two skull-caps. Charon also -was represented with the mariner’s or fishermen’s cap, as, for example, -in the bas-relief in the _Museo Pio-Clementino_, tom. iv. tav. 35, and -the painted vase in Stackelberg’s _Grüber der Hellenen_, t. 47, 48, -which is copied in Becker s _Charicles_, vol. ii. taf. i. fig. 1, and -in Smith’s _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_, p. 404. - - [595] _Tour through Greece_, vol. i. pp. 242, 243. - - [596] See the articles _Baculus_, _Barba_, _Pallium_, p. 703, in - Smith’s _Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities_. - - [597] Brunck, _Anal._ i. p. 223. Nos. x. xi. - - [598] Theocrit. xxi. 13. - - [599] Brunck, _Anal._ ii. p. 212. No. v. - - [600] Compare Eustathius _in Hom. Il._ x. 265, as quoted below. - -A pileus of the same general form was worn by artificers; and on -this account it was attributed to Vulcan and to Dædalus, who, as well -as Ulysses and Charon, are commonly found wearing it in works of -ancient art. Arnobius says, that Vulcan was represented “cum pileo -et malleo”--“fabrili expeditione succinctus;” and that on the other -hand Mercury was represented with the petasus, or “petasunculus,” on -his head.[601] This observation is confirmed by numerous figures of -these two divinities, if we suppose the term _petasus_, which will be -more fully illustrated hereafter, to have meant a hat with a brim, and -_pileus_ to have denoted properly a fessor cap without a brim. - - [601] _Adv. Gentes_, lib. vi. p. 674, ed. Erasmi. When Lucian - ludicrously represents Jupiter wearing a skull-cap, which we may - suppose to have been like that of the philosopher in Plate VIII. - figure 1. he must have intended to describe the “Father of gods and - men” as a weak old man; Διεῖλε τὴν κεφαλὴν κατενεγκών· καὶ εἴ γε μὴ - ὁ πῖλος ἀντέσχε, καὶ τὸ πολὺ τῆς πληγῆς ἀπεδέξατο, &c. _Dial. - Deor._, vol. ii. p. 314. ed. Hemster. - -Fig. 6. Plate VIII. is taken from a small bronze statue of Vulcan in -the Royal Collection at Berlin. He wears the _exomis_, and holds his -hammer in the right hand and his tongs in the left. For other specimens -of the head-dress of Vulcan the reader is referred to the _Museo -Pio-Clementino_, t. iv. tav. xi., and to Smith’s _Dictionary of Greek -and Roman Antiquities_, p. 589. - -Plate VIII. is intended still further to illustrate some of the most -common varieties in the form of the ancient skull-cap. Figure 7. is -a head of Vulcan from a medal of the Aurelian family[602]. Figure 8. -is the head of Dædalus from a bas-relief, formerly belonging to the -Villa Borghese, and representing the story of the wooden cow, which -he made for Pasiphae[603]. Fig. 10. is from a cameo in the Florentine -collection. Fig. 9. is the head of a small bronze statue, wearing boots -and the _exomis_, which belonged to Mr. R. P. Knight, and is now in the -British Museum. It is engraved in the “Specimens of Ancient Sculpture -published by the Society of Dilettanti,” vol. i. pl. 47. The editors -express a doubt whether this statue was meant for Vulcan or Ulysses, -merely because the god and the hero were commonly represented wearing -the same kind of cap. Not only does the expression of countenance -decide the question; but also the small bronze of Mr. Knight’s -collection agrees in attitude and costume with many small statues of -Vulcan, who is represented in all of them wearing the exomis, holding -the hammer and tongs, and having the felt cap on his head[604]. Fig. -11. is another representation of Ulysses from an ancient lamp[605]. -It exhibits him tied to the mast, while he listens to the song of the -Sirens. The cap in this figure is much more elongated than in the -others. - - [602] Montfaucon, _Ant. Expl._ t. i. pl. 46. No. 4. - - [603] Winckelmann, _Mon. Ined._ ii. 93. The skull-cap, here represented - as worn by Dædalus, is remarkably like that which is still worn by - shepherd boys in Asia Minor. Fig. 12, in Plate VIII. is copied from - an original drawing of such a Grecian youth, procured by Mr. George - Scharf who accompanied Mr. Fellows on his second tour into that - country. - - According to Herodotus the Scythians had felted coverings for their - tents, a custom still found among their successors, the Tartars. - Felting appears to have preceded weaving. It is certainly a much - ruder and simpler process: and, when we consider both the long - prevalence of the art among the pastoral inhabitants of the ancient - Scythia, and the extensive use of its products among them so as to - be employed even for their habitations, perhaps we shall be right - in considering felting as the appropriate invention of this people. - - [604] Montfaucon, _Ant. Expl._ vol. i. pl. 46. figs. 1. 2. 3; _Mus. - Florent. Gemmæ Ant. a Gorio illustratæ_, tom. ii. tab. 40. fig. 3. - - [605] Bartoli, _Lucerne Antiche_, P. III. tab. 11. There is a beautiful - figure of Ulysses in _Picturæ Antiquæ Virgiliani cod. Bibl. Vat._ a - Bartoli, tab. 103, taken from a gem. In Winckelmann, _Mon. Ined._ - ii. No. 154, he is represented giving wine to the Cyclops: this - figure is copied in Smith’s _Dict._ p. 762. - -The felt cap was worn not only by _desultores_, but by others of the -Romans upon a journey, in sickness, or in cases of unusual exposure. -Hence Martial says in _Epig._ xiv. 132, entitled “Pileus,” - - Si possem, totas cuperem misisse lacernas: - Nunc tantum capiti munera mitto tuo. - _i. e._ - O that a whole lacerna I could send! - Let this (I can no more) your head defend. - -The wig (_galerus_) answered the same purpose for the wealthy classes -(_arrepto pileo vel galero_, Sueton. _Nero_, 26), and the _cucullus_ -and _cudo_ for both rich and poor. On returning home from a party, -a person sometimes carried his cap and slippers under his arm (Hor. -_Epist._ l. xiii. 15). - -The hats worn by the Salii[606] are said by Dionysius of -Halicarnassus to have been “tall hats of a conical form[607].” Plutarch -distinctly represents them as made of felt. He says (_l. c._), that -the _flamines_ were so called _quasi pilamines_, because they wore -felt hats, and because in the early periods of Roman history it -was more common to invent names derived from the Greek. On coins, -however, this official cap of the Salii and Flamines is commonly oval -like that attributed to the Dioscuri. We observe indeed continual -variations in the form of the pileus from hemispherical to oval, and -from oval to conical. A conical cap is seen on the head of the reaper -in the wood-cut to the article FLAX in Smith’s _Dictionary_ -of Greek and Roman Antiquities, which wood-cut is taken from a coin -of one of the Lagidæ, kings of Egypt. Caps, regularly conical and -still more elongated, are worn by the buffoons or comic dancers, who -are introduced in an ancient mosaic preserved in the Villa Corsini -at Rome[608]. Telephus, king of Mysia, is represented as wearing a -“Mysian cap[609].” This “Mysian cap” must have been the same which is -known by the moderns under the name of _the Phrygian bonnet_, and with -which we are familiar from the constant repetition of it in statues -and paintings of Priam, Paris, Ganymede[610], Atys, Perseus, and -Mithras, and in short in all the representations not only of Trojans -and Phrygians, but of Amazons and of all the inhabitants of Asia Minor, -and even of nations dwelling still further to the East. Also, when -we examine the works of ancient art which contain representations of -this Mysian cap, we perceive that it was a cone bent into the form in -which it is exhibited, and so bent, perhaps by use, but more probably -by design. This circumstance is well illustrated in a bust of Parian -marble, supposed to be intended for Paris, which is preserved in the -Glyptotek at Munich. A drawing of it is given in Plate VIII. fig. 13. -The flaps of the bonnet are turned up and fastened over the top of the -head. The stiffness of the material is clearly indicated by the sharp -angular appearance of that portion of it which is turned forwards. -Mr. Dodwell, in his _Tour in Greece_ (vol. i. p. 134), makes the -following observations on the modern costume, which seems to resemble -the ancient, except that the ancient πῖλος and πιλίδιον were probably -of undyed wool:--“The Greeks of the maritime parts, and particularly -of the islands, wear a red or blue cap of a conical form, like the -pilidion. When it is new it stands upright, but it soon bends, and -then serves as a pocket for the handkerchief, and sometimes for the -purse. Others wear the red skull-cap, or _fess_.” The Lycians, as we -are informed by Herodotus (viii. 92), wore caps of felt, which were -surrounded with feathers. Some of the Lycian coins and bas-reliefs, -however, show the “Phrygian bonnet,” as it is called, in the usual -form[611]. - - [606] Smith’s _Dict. of Gr. and R. Antiquities_, art. Apex. - - [607] _Ant. Rom._ L. ii. - - [608] Bartoli, _Luc. Ant._ P. I. tab. 35. - - [609] Aristoph. _Acham._ 429. - - [610] Stuart, in his _Antiquities of Athens_, vol. iii. ch. 9. plates - 8, 9, has engraved two beautiful statues of Telephus and Ganymede - from a ruined colonnade at Thessalonica. In these the cap is very - little pointed. - - [611] Fellows’s _Discoveries in Lycia_, Plate 35. Nos. 3, 7. The - “Phrygian bonnet” is seen in the bas-reliefs brought from Xanthus - by this intelligent traveller, and now deposited in the British - Museum. - -The cap worn by the Persians is called by Greek authors κυρβασία or -τιάρα[612], and seems to have had the form now under consideration. -Herodotus, when he describes the costume of the Persian soldiers in -the army of Xerxes, says, that they wore light and flexible caps of -felt, which were called _tiaras_. He adds, that the Medes and Bactrians -wore the same kind of cap with the Persians, but that the Cissii wore -a mitra instead (vii. 61, 62, 64). On the other hand he says, that the -Sacæ wore _cyrbasiæ_, which were sharp-pointed, straight, and compact. -The Armenians were also called “weavers of felt” (Brunck, _Anal._ ii. -p. 146. No. 22). The form of their caps is clearly shown in the coins -of the Emperor Verus, one of which, preserved in the British Museum, -is engraved in Plate VIII. fig. 14. The legend, surrounding his head, -L. VERVS. AVG. ARMENIACVS, refers to the war in Armenia. The reverse -shows a female figure representing Armenia, mourning and seated on the -ground, and surrounded by the emblems of Roman warfare and victory. -The caps represented on this and other coins agree remarkably with the -forms still used in the same parts of Asia. Strabo (L. xi. p. 563, ed. -Sieb.) says, that these caps were necessary in Media on account of the -cold. He calls the Persian cap “felt in the shape of a tower” (L. -xv. p. 231). The king of Persia was distinguished by wearing a stiff -cyrbasia, which stood erect, whereas his subjects wore their tiaras -folded and bent forwards.[613] Hence in the _Aves_ of Aristophanes the -cock is ludicrously compared to the Great King, his erect comb being -called his “cyrbasia.” The Athenians no doubt considered this form of -the tiara as an expression of pride and assumption. It is recorded as -one of the marks of arrogance in Apollodorus, the Athenian painter, -that he wore an “erect cap[614].” - - [612] Herod, v. 49. According to Mœris, _v._ - Κυρβασία, this was the Attic term, τιάρα meaning the same thing in - the common Greek. Plutarch applies the latter term to the cap worn - by the younger Cyrus: Ἀποπίπτει δὲ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἡ τιάρα τοῦ Κύρου. - --_Artaxerxes_, p. 1858. ed. Steph. - -The “Phrygian bonnet” is called _Phrygia tiara_ in the following lines -of an epitaph (_ap. Gruter._ p. 1123): - - Indueris teretes manicas Phrygiamque tiaram? - Non unus Cybeles pectore vivet Atys. - - [613] Xenoph. _Anab._ ii. 5. 23; _Cyrop._ viii. 3, 13. Clitarchus, _ap. - Schol. in Aristoph. Aves_, 487. - - [614] Πῖλον ὀρθόν. Hesychius, _s. v._ Σκιαγραφαί. - -The coin represented in Plate VIII. fig. 15. (taken from Patin, _Imp. -Rom. Numismata_, Par. 1697, p. 213) is of the reign of the Emperor -Commodus, and belonged according to the legend either to Trapezus in -Cappadocia or to Trapezopolis in Caria. It represents the god Lunus -or Mensis, who was the moon considered as of the male sex agreeably -to the ideas of many northern and Asiatic nations (Patin, p. 173). -This male moon or month was, as it seems, always represented with the -cyrbasia[615]. In another coin published by Patin (_l. c._) a cock -stands at the feet of this divinity, proving that this was the sacred -bird of Lunus, and probably because the rayed form of the cock’s comb -was regarded as a natural type of the cyrbasia, which distinguished the -kings of Persia and was attributed also to this Oriental divinity. A -lamp found on the Celian Mount at Rome[616] represents in the centre -Lunus with 12 rays, probably designed to denote the 12 months of the -year, and on the handle two cocks pecking at their food. A head of -the same divinity, published by Hirt (_l. c._) from an antique gem at -Naples, has 7 stars upon the cap, perhaps referring to the 7 planets. - - [615] Hirt’s _Bilderbuch_, p. 88. tab. xi. figs. 8, 9. - - [616] Bartoli, _Luc. Ant._, P. II. tav. 11. - -Instead of the conical cap of the Asiatics many of the Northern -nations of Europe appear to have worn a felt cap, the form of which -was that of a truncated cone. Of this a good example is shown in the -group of Sarmatians, represented in the wood-cut in Smith s _Dictionary -of Greek and Roman Antiquities_ (p. 160), which is taken from the -Column of Trajan. The same thing appears in various coins belonging -to the reign of this Emperor, two of which, preserved in the British -Museum, are engraved in Plate VIII. fig. 16. represents Dacia sitting -as a captive with her hands tied behind her back, wearing trowsers -(_braccæ_) and a conical or oval cap with the edge turned up. Figure -17. represents Dacia mourning. In each we see a Dacian target together -with Roman armor. Each has the same legend, DAC. CAP. COS. V. P. -P. S. P. Q. R. OPTIMO. PRINC. On the reverse is the head of the -Emperor with the inscription IMP. TRAJANO. AUG. GER. DAC. P. M. TR. -P. - -According to the representation of Lucian (_de Gymnas._), the -Scythians were in the constant habit of wearing caps or hats: for -in the conversation between Anacharsis and Solon described by that -author, Anacharsis requests to go into the shade, saying that -he could scarce endure the sun, and that he had brought his cap (πῖλον) -from home, but did not like being seen alone in a strange habit. In -later times we read of the “pileati Gothi” and “pileati sacerdotes -Gothorum[617].” - - [617] Jornandes, &c., _ap. Div. Gentium Hist. Ant._, Hamb. 1611, pp. - 86, 93. - -In considering the use of the skull-cap, or of the conical cap of -felt, it remains to notice the use of it among the Romans as the emblem -of liberty[618]. When a slave obtained his freedom he had his head -shaven, and wore instead of his hair the pileus, or cap of undyed felt, -(Diod. Sic. Exc. Leg. 22. p. 625, ed. Wess.). Plutarch, in allusion to -the same custom, calls the cap πιλίον, which is the diminutive of πῖλος. -It is evident, that the Latin _pileus_ or _pileum_ is derived from the -Greek πῖλος and its diminutive, and this circumstance in conjunction -with other evidence tends to show, that the Latins adopted this use of -felt from the Greeks. Sosia says in Plautus (_Amphit._ i. l, 306), as a -description of the mode of receiving his liberty, “Ut ego hodie, raso -capite calvus, capiam pileum.” Servius (_in Virg. Æn._ viii. 564) says, -the act of manumitting slaves in this form was done in the temple of -Feronia, who was the goddess of freedmen. In her temple at Terracina -was a stone seat, on which was engraved the following verse: - - “Benemeriti servi sedeant, surgent liberi.” - - [618] Hæc mea libertas; hoc nobis pilea donant.--Persius, v. 82. - -In allusion to this practice it appears that the Romans, though they -did not commonly wear hats, put them on at the Saturnalia.[619] At -the death of Nero, the common people to express their joy went about -the city in felt caps.[620] In allusion to this custom the figure of -Liberty on the coins of Antoninus Pius holds the cap in her right hand. -Figures 1 and 2 in Plate IX. are examples selected from the collection -in the British Museum, and, as we learn from the legend, were struck -when he was made consul the fourth time, _i. e._ A. D. 145. - - [619] Pileata Roma. _Martial_, xi. 7; xiv. 1. - - [620] Plebs pileata. _Sueton. Nero_, 57. - -In contradistinction to the various forms of the felt cap now -described and represented, all of which were more or less elevated, -and many of which were pointed upwards, we have now to consider those, -which, though made of felt, and therefore classed by the ancients under -the general terms _pileus_, πῖλος, &c.,[621] corresponded more nearly -to our modern _hat_. The Greek word πέτασος, _dim._ πετάσιον, derived -from πετάννυμι, _extendo_, _dilato_, and adopted by the Latins in the -form _petasus_, dim. _petasunculus_, well expressed the distinctive -form of these hats. They were more or less broad and expanded. What -was taken from their height was added to their width. Those already -mentioned had no brim; the petasus of every variety had a brim, which -was either exactly or nearly circular, and which varied greatly in its -width. In some cases it seems to be a mere circular disc without any -crown at all. Of this we have an example in a beautiful statue, which -has, no doubt, been meant for Endymion, in the Townley collection of -the British Museum. See Plate IX. Fig. 3. His right hand encircles his -head, and his scarf is spread over a rock as described by Lucian[622]. -He sleeps upon it, holding the fibula in his left hand. His feet are -adorned with boots (_cothumi_) and his simple petasus is tied under his -chin. In this form the petasus illustrates the remark of Theophrastus, -who, in describing the Egyptian Bean, says, that the leaf was of the -size of the Thessalian petasus[623]. For the purpose of comparing -these two objects, a representation of the leaves of the plant referred -to, is introduced into the same Figure (3); taken from the “Botanical -Magazine,” Plates 903, 3916, and Sir J. E. Smith’s “Exotic Botany,” -Tab. 31, 32. The petasus here shown on the head of Endymion, the -original statue being as large as life, certainly resembles very -closely both in size and in form the leaf of the Egyptian Bean, which -is the Cyamus Nelumbo, or Nelumbium Speciosum of modern botanists. - - [621] Plutarch (_Solon_, 179) says that Solon, pretending - to be mad and acting the part of a herald from Salamis, ἐξεπήδησεν - εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἄφνω πιλίον περιθέμενος. Here πιλίον seems to mean - the πέτασος. - - [622] In the Dialogues of the Gods (xi.), the Moon says in answer to - Venus, that Endymion is particularly beautiful “when he sleeps, - having thrown his scarf under him upon the rock, holding in his - left hand the darts just falling from it, whilst his right hand - bent upwards lies gracefully round his face, and, dissolved in - sleep, he exhales his ambrosial breath.” - - The recumbent statue, here represented, is of white marble, and is - placed in room XI. of the Townley Gallery. It was found in 1774 - at Roma Vecchia (Dallaway’s _Anecdotes of the Arts_, p. 303). It - has been called Mercury or Adonis. But there are no examples or - authorities in support of either of these suppositions. It is - not sufficient to say that every beautiful youth may have been - meant either for Mercury, who was never represented asleep, or - for Adonis. We know that the fable of Endymion and the Moon was - a favorite subject with the ancient artists. In the _Antichita - d’Ercolano_, tom. iii. tav. 3, we find a picture, which was - discovered at Portica, and which represents this subject. It is - still more frequent in ancient bas-reliefs. See _Mus. Pio-Clem._ - tom. iv. v. 8, pp. 38, 41; Sandrart, _Sculp. Vet. Adm._ p. - 52; Gronovii _Thesaur._ tom. i. folio O; _Proceedings of the - Philological Society_, vol. i. pp. 8, 9. - - [623] Πετάσῳ Θετταλικῇ. _Hist. Plant._ iv. 10. p. 147, ed. Schneider. - -The flowers of umbelliferous plants are aptly called by Phanias[624] -πετασώδη, _i. e._ like a petasus. The petasus, as worn by the two -shepherds, who discover Romulus and Remus, in a bas-relief of the -Vatican[625], is certainly not unlike the umbel of a plant. See Plate -IX. Fig. 4. - -Callimachus ascribes the same head-dress to shepherds in the following -lines: - - Ἔπρεπε τοι προέχουσα κάρης εὐρεῖα καλύπτρη, - Ποιμενικὸν πίλημα.--_Frag._ cxxv. - - The wide covering projecting from your head, the pastoral hat, became - you. - - [624] _Apud Athen._ ix. 12. p. 371 D. ed. Casaub. - - [625] Museo Pio-Clementino, tom. v. tav. 24. This bas-relief formerly - belonged to the Mattei collection. See _Monumenta Matthæinana_, - tom. iii. tab. 37. - -This pastoral hat, if we may judge from the representation of the -two shepherds in the bas-relief just referred to (Fig. 4.), was in -its shape very like the “bonny blue bonnet” of the Scotch. Figure -5 in Plate IX. is taken from a painted Greek vase, and represents -the story of the delivery of Œdipus to be exposed. His name ΟΙΔΙΠΟΔΑΣ -is written beside him. The shepherd ΕΥΦΟΡΒΟΣ, who holds the naked child -in his arms, wears a flat and very broad petasus hanging behind his -neck. It is of an irregular shape, as if from long usage[626]. The -shepherd Zethus wears a petasus hanging behind his back in a bas-relief -belonging to the Borghese collection, published by Winckelmann (_Mon. -Inediti_, ii. 85). See Plate IX. Fig. 6. - - [626] See [Italian 469]_Monumenti Inediti pubblicati dall’ Instituto di - Correspondenza Archeologica_, vol. ii. tav. 14. - -The Athenian ephebi wore the broad-brimmed hat, together with the scarf -or chlamys[627]. Meleager, in an epigram on a beautiful boy, named -Antiochus, says, that he would be undistinguishable from Cupid, if -Cupid wore a scarf and petasus instead of his bow and arrows and his -wings[628]. - - [627] Pollux, _Onom._ x. 164; Philemon, p. 367. ed. Meineke; Brunck, - _Anal._ vol. ii. p. 41; Jacobs _in Athol. Græc._ i. l. p. 24. - - [628] Brunck, _Anal._ vol. i. p. 5. - -When a young Greek conquered in the games, his friends sometimes -bestowed a hat (_petasus_) upon him as a present[629]. - - [629] Eratosthen. _a Bernhardy_, p. 249. 250. - -In consequence of the use of the petasus as a part of the ordinary -costume of the Athenian youth, we find it in a great variety of works -of ancient art illustrative of the religion and mythology of Greece. -For example:-- - -1. In the inner frieze of the Parthenon, the remains of which are now -in the British Museum, it is worn by many of the riders on horseback. -Figure 7, in Plate IX. shows one of these horsemen (from the slab No. -54.) with his petasus tied under his chin. - -2. It is worn by Theseus, as represented on a vase in the Vatican -collection. See Winckelmann, _Mon. Inediti_, vol. ii. 98, and Fig. 8, -Plate IX. - -3. Also by Œdipus, as represented on one of Sir William Hamilton’s -vases (vol. ii. Plate 24.), standing before the sphinx. - -4. The coins of Ætolia exhibit Meleager wearing the petasus. Five of -these have been selected from the collection in the British Museum, -which are engraved according to the size of the originals in Plate -IX. Figures 9, 10, and 11, are of silver. In each of them the petasus -has the form of a circular disc with a boss at the top like that on a -Scotch bonnet: on the reverse is the Calydonian boar, with a spear head -beneath it, and the word ΑΙΤΩΛΩΝ. Figure 12, which is of gold[630], -and Figure 13, which is of silver, have the head of Hercules on the -reverse. The hero, supposed to be Meleager, wears a petasus, a scarf, -and boots, as we have seen to be the case with Endymion (Fig. 3), this -being the attire of hunters. In these two coins he also holds a spear -in his right hand, and is seated upon a shield (see Fig. 13.) and other -pieces of armor. ΑΙΤΩΛΩΝ is written by the side. The gold coin (see -Fig. 12.) represents him with a Victory in his left hand, and with a -small figure of Diana Lucifera in front. - - [630] This is engraved by Taylor Combe, _Vet. Populorum Nunmi._ tab. v. - No. 23. - -The broad-brimmed hat, or petasus, was more especially worn by the -Greeks when they were travelling[631]. Its appearance is well shown in -Fig. 14, taken from a fictile vase belonging to the late Mr. Hope[632]. -It represents a Greek soldier on a journey, wearing his large blanket, -and holding two spears in his right hand. This figure also shows one of -the methods of fastening on the hat, viz. by passing the string round -the occiput. - -The comedies of Plautus, being translated from the Greek, contain -allusions to the same practice. In the Pseudolus (ii. 4. 55, and iv. -7. 90,) the petasus and the scarf are supposed to be worn by a person -to indicate that he was coming from a journey. In the prologue to the -Amphitryo, Mercury says, - - Ego has habebo hic usque in petaso pinnulas, - Tum meo patri autem torulus inerit aureus - Sub petaso: id signum Amphitruoni non erit. - - [631] Brunck, _Anal._ ii. 170, No. 5. - - [632] Hope, _Costume of the Ancients_, vol. i. pl. 71. - -Mercury and his father Jupiter are here supposed to be attired like -Sosia and Amphitryo his master, both of whom had been travelling and -were returning home. At the same time there is an allusion to the -winged hat of Mercury, of which more hereafter. Again, in act i. -scene i. l. 287, the petasus is attributed to Sosia, because he is -supposed to be coming from a journey; and to Mercury, both because it -was commonly attributed to him, and because on this occasion he was -personating Sosia. - -The Romans were less addicted to the use of the petasus than the -Greeks: they often wore it when they were from home; but that they -did not consider it at all necessary to wear hats in the open air is -manifest from the remark of Suetonius about the Emperor Augustus, -that he could not even bear the winter’s sun, and hence “domi quoque -non nisi petatasus sub divo spatiabatur.” (_August._ 82.) Caligula -permitted the senators to wear them at the theatres as a protection -from the sun (Dio. Cass. lix. 7. p. 909, ed. Reimari). What was meant -by wearing hats “according to the Thessalian fashion” is by no means -clear. Perhaps the Thessalians may have worn hats resembling those -of their neighbors, the Macedonians, and of the shape of these we -may form some conception from the coins of the Macedonian kings. One -of these coins from the collection in the British Museum is copied -in Plate IX. Fig. 15. It is a coin of the reign of Alexander I. and -exhibits a Macedonian warrior standing by the side of his horse, -holding two spears in his left hand, and wearing a hat with a broad -brim turned upwards. This Macedonian petasus is called the _Causia_ -(καυσία)[633], and was adopted by the Romans[634], and more especially -by the Emperor Caracalla, who, as Herodian states, aimed to imitate -Alexander the Great in his costume. It appears probable, nevertheless, -that the turning up of the brim was not peculiar to the Macedonians, -and it may have depended altogether on accident or fancy; for we find -instances of it on painted fictile vases, where there is no reason -to suppose that any reference was intended either to Macedonia or -Thessaly. Fig. 16. Plate IX. for example, is taken from the head -of Bellerophon, on one of Sir William Hamilton’s vases[635]; and -the left-hand figure from a fictile vase at Vienna, engraved by -Ginzrot[636]. This hat is remarkable for the boss at the top, which we -observe also on the Ætolian coins, and in various other examples. - - [633] Val. Max. v. 1. _Extem._ 4. Pausan., _ap. Eustath. in Il._ ii. - 121. It is to be observed, that the _causia_ and _petasus_ are - opposed to one another by a writer in Athenæus (L. xii. 537, e), as - if the _causia_ was not a petasus! - - [634] Plautus, _Mil._ iv. 4. 42. _Pers._ i. 3. 75. Antip. Thess. in - _Brunck Anal._ ii. 111. - - [635] Vol. i. pl. 1. - - [636] _Uber die Wägen und Fuhrwerke der Alten_, vol. i. p. 342. - -In connection with the above quoted expression of Dio Cassius it may -be observed further, that besides the _causia_ two varieties of the -petasus seem to be alluded to by several ancient authors, viz. the -Thessalian, and the Arcadian or Laconian. How they were distinguished, -cannot be ascertained, but the passages which mention them will now be -produced, that the reader may judge for himself. The Thessalian variety -is mentioned by Dio Cassius, by Theophrastus, as above quoted (p. 427), -and by Callimachus in the following fragment, which is preserved in the -Scholia on Sophocles, _Œd. Col._ 316. - -And about his head lay a felt, newly come from Thessaly, as a -protection from wet.--_Frag._ 124. _ed._ Ernesti. - -The frenzied Cynic philosopher Menedemus, among other peculiarities, -wore an Arcadian hat, HAVING THE TWELVE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC WOVEN INTO -IT[637]! Ammianus (Brunck, _Anal._ ii. 384.) represents an orator -dedicating “an Arcadian hat” to Mercury, who was the patron of his art, -and also a native of Arcadia. - - [637] Diog. Laërt. vi. 102. See Gilroy’s Treatise on the _Art of - Weaving_, American edition, p. 446. - -Herodes Atticus wore “the Arcadian hat” at Athens, as a protection -from the sun; and the language of Philostratus, in recording the fact, -shows that the Athenians of his time commonly wore it, more especially -in travelling[638]. Arrian, who wrote about the middle of the second -century, says, that “Laconian or Arcadian hats,” were worn in the army -by the peltastæ instead of helmets[639]. This circumstance shows a -remarkable change of customs; for in the early Greek history we find -the Persian soldiers held up as the objects of ridicule and contempt, -because they wore hats and trowsers[640]. On the whole, it is very -evident that “the Arcadian or Laconian hat” was one and the same -variety, and that this variety of head-dress was simply the petasus, -or hat with a brim, so called to distinguish it from the proper πῖλος, -which was the skull-cap, or hat without a brim. - -This supposition suits the representations of the only imaginary beings -who are exhibited in works of ancient art wearing the petasus, viz. the -Dioscuri and Mercury. - - [638] _Vit. Sophist._ ii. 5. 3. - - [639] _Tactica_, p. 12. ed. Blancardi. - - [640] _Herod._ v. 49. - -It has been already observed that the Dioscuri are commonly represented -with the skull-cap, because they were worshipped, as the reader will -have perceived, as the guardians of the mariner[641]; but on ancient -vases we find them sometimes painted with the petasus; and if this -was the same with the πῖλος Λακωνικὸς, it would coincide with their -origin as natives of Sparta. In Plate IX. Fig. 16, an example is shown, -on one of Sir William Hamilton’s vases, in which their attire resembles -that of the Athenian ephebi. They wear boots and a tunic, over which -one of them also wears the scarf or chlamys. They are conducted by the -goddess Night. - - [641] See p. 419. - -In like manner Mercury, as a native of Arcadia, might be expected -to wear “the Arcadian hat.” In the representations of this deity on -works of ancient art, the hat, which is often decorated with wings to -indicate his office of messenger, as his talaria also did[642], has a -great variety of forms, and sometimes the brim is so narrow, that it -does not differ from the cap of the artificer already described, or -the πῖλος in its ordinary form. These hats, with a brim of but small -dimensions, agree most exactly in appearance with the cheapest hats of -undyed felt, now made in the United States and Great Britain[643]. On -the heads of the rustics and artificers in our streets and lanes we -often see forms the exact counterpart of those which we most admire in -the works of ancient art. The petasus is also still commonly worn by -agricultural laborers in Greece and Asia Minor. - - [642] Servius (on _Virg. Æn._ viii. 138) says, that Mercury was - supposed to have wings on his petasus and on his feet, in order to - denote the swiftness of speech, he being the god of eloquence. - - [643] These hats are sold in the shops for sixpence, ninepence, or a - shilling each. - -A bas-relief in the Vatican collection[644], represents the birth -of Hercules, and contains two figures of Mercury. In one he carries -the infant Hercules, in the other the caduceus. In both he wears a -large scarf, and a skull-cap, like that of Dædalus[645], without a -brim. This example therefore proves that, although the petasus, as -distinguished from the pileus, was certainly the appropriate attribute -of Mercury[646], yet the artists of antiquity sometimes took the -liberty of placing on his head the skull-cap instead of the hat, just -as we have seen that they sometimes made the reverse substitution in -the case of the Dioscuri. - - [644] _Museo Pio-Clementino_, tom. iv. tav. 37. - - [645] See Plate VIII. Fig. 8. - - [646] See Brunck, _Anal._ ii. 41, and Arnobius, _Adv. Gentes_, lib. vi. - See also Ephippus, _ap. Athen._ xii. 53. p. 537 F. Casaub. - - It is remarkable that the person who acted the part of a Silenus - in the Dionysiac procession instituted by Ptolemy Philadelphus at - Alexandria, wore a hat and a golden caduceus (_Athen._ v. 27. p. - 198 A.). In this case the imagination appears to have been indulged - in decorating a mere festive character with the peculiar attributes - of Mercury. It is added, that various kinds of chariots were driven - by “boys wearing the tunics of charioteers and petasi” (_Athen._ - v. p. 200 F.). This would be in character, being agreeable to the - custom of the Grecian youth. - - The following is from a sepulchral urn found near Padua (_Gruter._ - _p._ 297): - - Abite hinc, pessimi fures, * * * vestro cum Mercurio petasato - caduceatoque. - -Another bas-relief in the Vatican[647], represents the story of -the birth of Bacchus _from Jupiter’s thigh_. Thus the subject of it -is very similar to that, which relates to the birth of Hercules, -the infant being in each instance consigned to the care of Mercury. -But the covering of Mercury’s head in these two cases is remarkably -different, though from no other reason than the fancy of the artist. -In the bas-relief now under consideration, Mercury holds the skin -of a lynx or panther to receive the child. He wears the scarf or -chlamys and cothumi. This was a very favorite subject with the -ancients. It occurs on a superb marble vase with the inscription -ΣΑΛΠΙΩΝ ΕΠΟΙΗΣΕ[648], and on one of Sir W. Hamilton’s fictile -vases[649]. - - [647] _Museo Pio-Clementino_, tom. iv. tav. 19. - - [648] Spon., _Misc. Erud. Ant._ § xi. art. 1. - - [649] Vol. i. No. 8. - -Figure 4. in Plate X. is from Hope’s _Costume of the Ancients_, vol. -ii. pl. 175. The money-bag is in Mercury’s right hand. - -In a painting found at Pompeii[650], Mercury is represented with wings -(_pinnulæ_) on his petasus, though not very ancient, is also recognized -in the Amphitryo of Plautus. - - [650] Gell’s _Pompeiana_, London 1819, pl. 76. - -Figure 5. in Plate X. is from the Marquis of Lansdowne’s marble bust, -published by the Dilettanti Society[651]. In this beautiful bust the -brim of the hat is unfortunately damaged. - - [651] _Specimens of Ancient Sculpture_, London 1809, pl. 51. - -Figures 6 and 7, Plate X., are from coins engraved in Carelli’s _Nummi -Veteris Italiæ_ (plates 58 and 65). Figure 7 is a coin of Suessa in -Campania. - -To these illustrations might have been added others from ancient gems, -good examples of which may be found in the second volume of Mariette’s -_Traité des Pierres Gravées_, folio, Paris, 1750. - -Besides the application of felt as a covering of the head for the -male sex in the manner now explained, it was also used as _a lining for -helmets_. When in the description of the helmet worn by Ulysses we read - - Μέσσῃ δ’ ἐνὶ πῖλος ἀρήρει[652], - -we may suppose πῖλος to be used in its most ordinary sense, -consequently that the interior of the helmet was a common skull-cap. - -[Illustration: PLATE IX.] - - [652] Homer, _Il._ x. 265. Eustathius, in his commentary on this - passage, says, that the most ancient Greeks always wore felt in - their helmets, but that those of more recent times, regarding - this use of felt as peculiar to Ulysses, persuaded the painters - to exhibit him in a skull-cap, and that this was _first_ done, - according to the tradition, by the painter _Apollidorus_. The - account of Pliny, who, together with Servius (_in Æn._ ii. 44), - represents Nicomachus, and not Apollidorus, as having first adopted - this idea. - -Being generally thicker than common cloth, felt presented a more -effectual obstacle to missile weapons. Hence, when the soldiers under -Julius Cæsar were much annoyed by Pompey’s archers, they made shirts -or other coverings of felt, and put them on for their defence[653]. -Thucydides refers to the use of similar means to protect the body from -arrows[654]; and even in besieging and defending cities felt was used, -together with hides and sackcloth, to cover the wooden towers and -military engines[655]. - - [653] Jul. Cæsar, _Bell. Civ._ iii. 44. - - [654] Thucyd. iv. 34. Schol. _ad loc._ - - [655] Æneas Tacticus, 33. - -Felt was also sometimes used to cover the bodies of quadrupeds. -According to Aristotle[656], the Greeks clothed their _molles oves_ -either with skins or with pieces of felt; and the wool became gray in -consequence. The Persians used the same material for the trappings of -their horses (Plutarch, _Artax._ II. p. 1858. ed. Stephani). - - [656] _De Gen. Animalium_, v. 5. p. 157. ed. Bekker. - -The loose rude coverings for the feet called _Udones_ were sometimes -made of felt, being worn within the shoes or brogues of the rustic -laborers[657]. - - [657] Hesiod, _Op. ed Dies_, 542; Grævius, _ad loc._; Cratini, - _Fragmenta_, p. 29. ed. Runkel. - -In concluding this investigation it may be proper to observe, that, -although πῖλος originally meant _felt_, and more especially a skull-cap -made of that manufacture, it was sometimes used, at least by the later -Greek authors, by an extension of its meaning, to denote a cap of any -other material. Thus Athenæus (lib. vi. p. 274. Casaub.) speaking of -the Romans, says, that they wore about their heads πίλους προβατείων -δερμάτων δασεῖς, _i. e._ “thick caps made of sheep skins.” - - - - -APPENDIX D. - -ON NETTING. - - -MANUFACTURE AND USE OF NETS BY THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE -SCRIPTURES, ETC. - - Nets were made of Flax, Hemp, and Broom--General terms for nets--Nets - used for catching birds--Mode of snaring--Hunting-nets--Method - of hunting--Hunting-nets supported by forked stakes--Manner of - fixing them--Purse-net or tunnel-net--Homer’s testimony--Nets used - by the Persians in lion-hunting--Hunting with nets practised by - the ancient Egyptians--Method of hunting--Depth of nets for this - purpose--Description of the purse-net--Road-net--Hallier--Dyed - feathers used to scare the prey--Casting-net--Manner of throwing - by the Arabs--Cyrus king of Persia--His fable of the piper and the - fishes--Fishing-nets--Casting-net used by the Apostles--Landing-net - (Scap-net)--The Sean--Its length and depth--Modern use of the - Sean--Method of fishing with the Sean practised by the Arabians - and ancient Egyptians--Corks and leads--Figurative application of - the Sean--Curious method of capturing an enemy practised by the - Persians--Nets used in India to catch tortoises--Bag-nets and small - purse-nets--Novel scent-bag of Verres the Sicilian prætor. - - -The raw materials, of which the ancients made nets, were flax, -hemp[658], and broom[659]. Flax was most commonly used; so that -Jerome, when he is prescribing employment for monks, says, -“Texantur et _lina_ capiendis piscibus[660].” The operation of -netting, as well as that of platting, was expressed by the verb -πλέκειν[661]. The meshes were called in Latin _maculæ_[662], in Greek -βρόχοι, _dim._ βροχίδες[663]. - - [658] Rete cannabina. Varro, _De Re Rust._ iii. 5. p. 216, ed. Bipont. - - [659] Pliny, H. N. xix. 1. s. 2; xxiv. 9. s. 40. - - [660] Hieron. _Epist._ l. ii. p. 173, ed. Par. 1613, 12mo. Hunting-nets - are called “lina nodosa” by Ovid, _Met._ iii. 153, and vii. 807. - Compare Virg. _Georg_, i. 142; Homer, _Il._ v. 487; Brunck, _Anal._ - ii. 94, 494, 495; Artimedorus, ii. 14. See also Pliny, H. N. xix. - 1. s. 2. - - [661] Πλεξάμενος ἄρκυς, Aristoph. _Lysist._ 790. Τῶν πεπλεγμένων - δίκτυων, Bokkeri _Anecdota_, vol. i. p. 354. - - [662] Varro, _De Re Rust._ iii. 11; Ovid, _Epist._ v. 19; Nemesiani - Cyneg. 302. - - [663] Heliodor. l. v. p. 231, ed. Commelini. - -The use of all the Latin and Greek terms for nets will now be -explained, and in connection with this explanation of terms, will be -produced all the facts which can be ascertained upon the subject. - - -I. - -RETIS and RETE; _dim._ RETICULUM. - -ΔΙΚΤΥΟΝ[664]. - - [664] From δικεῖν, _to throw_. See Eurip. _Bacc._ 600, and the Lexicons - of Schneider and Passow. - -_Retis_ or _Rete_ in Latin, and δίκτυον in Greek, were used to denote -nets in general. Thus in an epigram of Leonidas Tarentinus[665], three -brothers, one of whom was a hunter, another a fowler, and the third -a fisherman, dedicate their nets to Pan. Several imitations of this -epigram remain by Alexander Ætolus[666], Antipater Sidonius[667], -Archias[668], and others[669]. In one of these epigrams (Ἰουλιάνου -Αἰγυπτίου) we find λίνα adopted as a general term for nets instead of -δίκτυα, no doubt for the reason above stated. In another epigram[670] -a hare is said to have been caught in a net (δίκτυον). Aristophanes -mentions nets by the same denomination among the contrivances employed -by the fowler[671]. Fishing-nets are called δίκτυα in the following -passages of the New Testament: Matt. iv. 20, 21; Mark i. 18, 19; Luke -v. 2, 4-6; John xxi. 6, 8, 11: also by Theocritus, _ap. Athen._ vii. -20. p. 284, Cas.; and by Plato, _Sophista_, 220, _b._ p. 134, ed. -Bekker. - - [665] Brunck, _Anal._ i. 225. - - [666] Brunck, _Anal._ i. 418. Alexandri Ætoli _Fragmenta_, a Capelmann, - p. 50. - - [667] _Ibid._ ii. 9, Nos. 15, 16. - - [668] _Ibid._ ii. 94, No. 9. - - [669] _Ibid._ ii. 494, 495. Jacobs, _Anthol._ vol. i. p. 188, 189. - - [670] Brunck, _Anal._ iii. 239, No 417. - - [671] _Aves_, 526-528. - -Netting was applied in various ways in the construction of _hen-coops_ -and aviaries; and such net-work is called _rete_[672]. It was used to -make pens for sheep by night. At the amphitheatres it was sometimes -placed over the podium. At a gladiatorial show given by Nero, the -net, thus used as a fence against the wild beasts, was knotted _with -amber_[673]. The way in which the net was used by the _Retiarii_ is -well known. The head-dress called κεκρύφαλος, was a small net of fine -flax, silk, or gold thread, and was also called _reticulum_[674]. But -by far the most important application of net-work was to the kindred -arts of hunting and fishing: and besides the general terms used alike -in reference to both these employments, there are special terms to be -explained under each head. - - [672] Varro, _De Re Rust._ iii. 5. - - [673] Plin. H. N. xxxvii. 3. s. 11. - - [674] Nonius Marcellus, p. 542, ed. Merceri. See also the article - CALANTICA, in Smith’s _Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities_. - -The use of nets for catching birds was very limited, on which account -we find no appropriate name for fowlers’ nets[675]. Nevertheless -thrushes were caught in them[676], and doves or pigeons, with their -limbs tied up, or fastened to the ground, or with their eyes covered -or put out, were confined in a net in order that their cries might -allure others into the snare[677]. An account of the nets used by the -Egyptians to catch birds is given by Sir Gardner Wilkinson[678], being -derived from the paintings found in the catacombs. The net commonly -employed for the purpose was the clap-net. Bird-traps were also made by -stretching a net over two semicircular frames, which, being joined and -laid open, approached to the form of a circle. The trap was baited, and -when a bird flew to it and seized the bait, it was instantly caught by -the sudden rising of the two sides or flaps. - - [675] See Aristophanes, _l. c._ - - [676] Hor. _Epod._ ii. 33, 34. - - [677] Aristoph. _Aves_, 1083. - - [678] _Man. and Customs_, vol. iii. p. 35-38, 45. - - -II. - -CASSIS; PLAGA. - -ΕΝΟΔΙΟΝ, ΑΡΚΥΣ. - -In hunting it was usual to extend nets in a curved line of considerable -length[679], so as in part to surround a space, into which the beasts -of chase, such as the boar, the wild goat, the deer, the hare, the -lion, and the bear might be driven through the opening left on one -side. Tibullus (iv. 3. 12) speaks of inclosing woody hills for this -purpose:-- - - ... densos indagine colles - Claudentem. - - [679] Τὰ δίκτυα περιβάλλουσι. Ælian, H. A. xii. 46. Uno portante - multitudinem, qua saltus cingerentur. Plin. H. N. xix. l. s. 2. - Oppian (_Cyneg._ iv. 120-123) says, that in an Asiatic lion-hunt the - nets (ἄρκυες) were placed in the form of the new moon. - -The following lines of Virgil show, that the animals were driven into -the toils from a distance by the barking of dogs and the shouts of men: - - Thy hound the wild-ass in the sylvan chase, - Or hare, or hart, with faithful speed will trace; - Assail the muddy cave with eager cries, - Where the rough boar in secret ambush lies; - Press the tall stag with clamors echoing shrill - To secret toils, along the aërial hill. - Georg. iii. 411-413.--_Warton’s Translation._ - -In another splendid passage the boar is described as coming into the -midst of the nets after he has been driven to them from a mountain or a -marsh at a great distance: - - And as a savage boar on mountains bred, - With forest mast and fattening marshes fed; - When once he sees himself in toils inclosed, - By huntsmen and their eager hounds opposed; - He whets his tusks, and turns and dares the war: - The invaders dart their javelins from afar: - All keep aloof and safely shout around, - But none presumes to give a nearer wound. - He frets and froths, erects his bristled hide, - And shakes a grove of lances from his side. - _Æn._ x. 707-715.--_Dryden’s Translation._ - -Even in a case where the same poet introduces an equivalent expression -to that of Tibullus, already quoted, viz. “saltus indagine cingunt” -(_Æn._ iv. 121), he represents the hunting-party as going over a large -extent of country to collect the animals out of it: - - Postquam altos ventum in montes atque invia lustra, - Ecce feræ saxi dejectæ vertice capræ - Decurrere jugis; alia de parte patentes - Transmittunt cursu campos, atque agmina cervi - Pulverulenta fuga glomerant, montesque relinquunt. - At puer Ascanius mediis in vallibus acri - Gaudet equo, jamque hos cursu, jam præterit illos, - Spumantemque dari pecora inter inertia votis - Optat aprum, aut fulvum descendere monte leonem. - _Æn._ iv. 151-159. - -So Ovid (_Epist._ iv. 41, 42): - - In nemus ire libet, pressisque in retia cervis, - Hortari celeres per juga summa canes; -and (_Epist._ v. 19, 20): - - Retia sæpe comes maculis distincta tetendi, - Sæpe citos egi per juga longa canes. - -The _younger_ Pliny describes himself on one occasion sitting beside -the nets, while the hunters were pursuing the boars and driving them -into the snare (_Epist._ i. 6). In Euripides (_Bacc._ 821-832) we find -the following beautiful description of a fawn, which has been driven -into the space inclosed by the nets, but has leaped over them and -escaped:-- - - ὡς νεβρὸς χλοεραῖς - ἐμπαίζουσα λείμακος ἡ- - δοναῖς, ἡνίκ’ ἂν φοβερὸν φύγῃ - θήραμ’ ἔξω φυλακᾶς - εὐπλέκτων ὑπὲρ ἀρκύων, &c. - -Here a Bacchanal, tossing her head into the air with gambols and -dancing, is said to be “like a fawn sporting in the green delights -of a meadow, when she has escaped the fearful chase by leaping over -the well-platted nets so as to be out of the inclosure, whilst the -shouting hunter has been urging his dogs to run still more swiftly: -by great efforts and with the rapidity of the winds she bounds over a -plain beside a river, pleased with solitudes remote from man, and hides -herself in the thickets of an umbrageous forest.” - -If hollows or valleys were inclosed[680], the nets were no doubt -extended only in those openings, through which it was possible for the -animals to escape. Also a river was of itself a sufficient boundary: - - Inclusum flumine cervum.--Virg. _Æn._ xii. 749. - - [680] - Nec, velit insidiis altassi claudere valles, - Dum placeas, humeri retia ferre negent.--Tibullus, i. 4. 49, 50. - - It was the duty of the attendants (J. Pollux, v. 4. 27-31) in - most cases to carry the nets on their shoulders, agreeably to the - representation in the Plate X. Pliny, _l. c._ - - Cassibus impositos venor.--Propert. iv. 2. 32. - - ... alius raras - Cervice gravi portare plagas.--Sen. _Hippol._ i. l. 44. - - -The proper Latin term for the hunting-net, but more especially for the -purse-net, which will be hereafter described, was CASSIS. -“Cassis, genus venatorii retis.” Isidori Hispalensis _Orig._ xix. 5. -“Arctos rodere casses” is applied by Persius (v. 170) to a quadruped -with incisor teeth caught in such a net and striving to escape. See -also Propertius as just quoted, and the _Agamemnon_ of Seneca and -Virgil’s _Georgics_ as quoted below. _Cassis_ seems to be derived from -the root of _capere_ and _catch_. But PLAGA was also applied -to hunting-nets, so that Horace describes the hunting of the boar in -the following terms: - - Aut trudit acres hinc et hinc multa cane - Apros in obstantes plagas.--_Epod._ ii. 31, 32. - -Lucretius (lib. v. 1251, 1252) aptly compares the setting up of the -_plagæ_ to the planting of a hedge around the forest: - - Nam fovea atque igni prius est venarier ortum, - Quam sæpire plagis saltum, canibusque ciere. - -In the same manner _plagæ_ is used in the _Hippolytus_ of Seneca, as -above quoted, and in Pliny[681]. - - [681] H. N. xix. 1. s. 2. - -To dispose the nets in the manner which has been described, was called -“retia ponere” (Virg. _Georg._ i. 307) or “retia tendere” (Ovid, _Art. -Amat._ i. 45). - -In Homer a hunting-net is called λίνον πάναγρον, literally, “the flax -that catches everything[682].” But the proper Greek term for the -hunting-net, corresponding to the Latin _cassis_, was ἄρκυς, which is -accordingly employed in the passages of Oppian and Euripides cited -above. Also the epigram of Antipater Sidonius, to which a reference has -already been made, specifies the hunting-net by the same appellation: - - Δᾶμις μὲν θηρῶν ἄρκυν ὀρειονόμων. - -The word is used in the same sense by Cratinus[683]; also by -Arrian, where he remarks that the Celts dispensed with the use of -nets in hunting, because they trusted to the swiftness of their -greyhounds[684]. In Euripides[685] it is used metaphorically: the -children cry out, when their mother is pursuing them, - - Ὡς ἐγγὺς ἤδη γ’ ἐσμέν ἀρκύων ζίφους, - - _i. e._ “Now how near we are being caught with the sword.” - - [682] _Il._ v. 487. - - [683] Cratini _Fragmenta_, a Runkel, p. 28. - - [684] Καί εἰσὶν αἱ κύνες αὗται, ὅ τι περ αἱ ἄρκυς Ξενοφῶντι ἐκείνῳ, - _i. e._ “And here greyhounds answered the same purpose as Xenophon’s - hunting-nets.” _De Venat._ ii. 21. See Dansey’s translation, - pp. 72, 121. - - [685] _Medea_, 1268. - -Also in the _Agamemnon_ of Æschylus (l. 1085): - - Ἡ δίκτυον τί γ’ Αἴδου; - ἀλλ’ ἄρκυς ἡ ζύνευνος, ἡ ζυναιτία - φόνου. - -In this passage reference is made to the large shawl in which -Clytemnestra wrapt the body of Agamemnon, as in a net, in order to -destroy him. On account of the use made of it, the same fatal garment -is afterwards (l. 1353) compared to a casting-net, which in its -form bore a considerable resemblance to the _cassis_. In l. 1346, -ἀρκύστατα[686] denotes this net as set up for hunting. The same form -occurs again in the _Eumenides_ (l. 112); and in the _Persæ_ (102-104) -escape from danger is in nearly the same terms expressed by the notion -of overleaping the net. In Euripides[687] this contrivance is called -ἀρκύστατος μηχανὴ; and in the _Agamemnon_ of Seneca[688] the same -allusion is introduced: - - At ille, ut altis hispidus silvis aper; - Cum, casse vinctus, tentat egressus tamen, - Arctatque motu vincla, et incassum furit, - Cupit, fluentes undique et cæcos sinus - Disjicere, et hostem quærit implicitus suum. - - [686] Or, ἀρκύστατον, ed. Schütz. l. 1376. - - [687] _Orestes_, 1405, s. 1421. - - [688] L. 886-890. - -Part of the apparatus of a huntsman consisted in the stakes which he -drove into the ground to support his nets, and which Antipater Sidonius -thus describes: - - Καὶ πυρὶ θηγαλέους ὀξυπαγεῖς στάλικας; - _i. e._ “The sharp stakes hardened in the fire[689].” - -The term which Xenophon uses of the stakes is, according to some -manuscripts of his work, σχαλίδες. He says, they should be fixed so -as to lean backwards, and thus more effectually to resist the impulse -of the animals rushing against them[690]. The Latin term answering to -στάλικες was VARI. We find it thus used by Lucan: - - Aut, cum dispositis adtollat retia varis - Venator, tenet ora levis clamosa Molossi. - _Pharsalia_, iv. 439, 440. - - _i. e._ “The hunter holds the noisy mouth of the light Molossian dog, - when he lifts up the nets to the stakes arranged in order.” - - [689] Brunck, _Anal._ ii. 10. We find στάλικες in Oppian, - _Cyneg._ iv. 67, 71, 121, 380; Pollux, _Onom._ v. 31. - - [690] _De Venat._ vi. 7. - -Gratius Faliscus, adopting a Greek term, calls them _ancones_, on -account of the “elbow” or fork at the top: - - Hic magis in cervos valuit metus: ast ubi lentæ - Interdum Libyco fucantur sandyce pinnæ, - Lineaque extructis lucent anconibus arma, - Rarum, si qua metus eludat bellua falsos.--_Cyneg._ 85-88. - -It was the business of one of the attendants to watch the nets: - - Ego retia servo.--Virg. _Buc._ iii. 75. - -Sometimes there was a watchman at each extremity and one in the middle, -as in the Persian lion-hunt[691]. The prevalence of this method of -hunting in Persia might be inferred from the circumstance, that one of -the chief employments of the inhabitants consisted in making these nets -(ἄρκυς, Strabo, xv. 3. § 18). To watch the nets was called ἀρκυωρεῖν -(Ælian, H. A. i. 2), and the man who discharged this office ἀρκυωρὸς -(Xen., _De Ven._ ii. 3; vi. 1.). - - [691] Oppian, Cyneg. iv. 124, &c. - -The paintings discovered in the catacombs of Egypt show, that the -ancient inhabitants of that country used nets for hunting in the same -manner which has now been shown to have been the practice of the -Persians, Greeks and Romans[692]. - - [692] Wilkinson’s _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_, - vol. iii. p. 3-5. - -Hunting-nets had much larger meshes than fishing or fowlers’-nets, -because in general a fish or a fowl could escape through a much smaller -opening than a quadruped. In hunting, the important circumstance -was to make the nets so strong that the beasts could not break -through them. The large size of the meshes is denoted by the phrases -“retia rara[693]” and “raras plagas[694];” and it is exhibited in a -bas-relief in the collection of ancient marbles at Ince-Blundell in -Lancashire. See Plate X. fig. 1. This sculpture presents the following -circumstances, which are worthy of notice as illustrative of the -passages above collected from ancient authors. Three servants with -staves carry a large net on their shoulders. The foremost of them holds -by a leash a dog, which is eager to engage in the chase[695]. Then -follows another scene in the hunt. A net with very large meshes and -five feet high is set up, being supported by three stakes. Two boars -and two deer are caught. A watchman, holding a staff, stands at each -end of the net. Fig. 2, Plate X. is taken from a bas-relief in the same -collection, representing a party returning from the chase, with the -quadrupeds which they have caught. Two men carry the net, holding in -their hands the stakes with forks at the top. These bas-reliefs have -been taken from sarcophagi erected in commemoration of hunters, and -they are engraved in the _Ancient statues, &c. at Ince-Blundell_, vol. -ii. pl. 89 and 126. An excellent representation of these forked staves -is given in a sepulchral bas-relief in Bartoli, _Admiranda_, tab. 70, -which Mr. Dansey has copied at p. 307 of his translation of Arrian -_on Coursing_, and which represents a party of hunters returning from -the chase. Another example of the _varus_, or forked staff, is seen -in a sepulchral stone lately found at York (England), and engraved -in Mr. Wellbeloved’s _Eburacum_, pl. 14. fig. 2. The man, who holds -the varus in his right hand, and who appears to be a huntsman and a -native of the north of England, though partly clothed after the Roman -fashion, wears an inner and outer tunic, and over them a fringed -sagum. In the _Sepolcri de’ Nasoni_, published by Bartoli, there is a -representation of a lion-hunt, and of another in which deer are caught -by means of nets set up so as to inclose a large space. In Montfaucon’s -_Supplement_, tome iii., is an engraving from a bas-relief, in which -a net is represented: but none of these are so instructive as the two -bas-reliefs at Ince-Blundell. - - [693] Virg. _Æn._ iv. 131; Hor. _Epod._ ii. 33. - - [694] Seneca, _Hippol._ l. c. - - [695] See Lucan, as quoted in the last page. - -Gratius Faliscus recommends that a net should be forty paces long, and -full ten knots high: - - Et bis vicenos spatium prætendere passus - Rete velim, plenisque decem consurgere nodis.--_Cyneg._ 31, 32. - -The necessity of making the nets so high that the animals could -not leap over them, is alluded to in the expression Ὕψος κρεῖσσον -ἐκπηδήματος, _i. e._ “a height too great for the animals _to leap -out_[696].” - - [696] Æschyli _Agamemnon_, 1347. - -Xenophon, in his treatise _on Hunting_, gives various directions -respecting the making and setting of nets; and Schneider -has added to that treatise a dissertation concerning the ἄρκυς. It -is evident that this kind of net was made with a bag (κεκρύφαλος, -vi. 7), being the same which is now called the _purse-net_, or the -_tunnel-net_, and that the aim of the hunter was to drive the animal -into the bag; that the watchman (ἀρκυωρὸς) waited to see it caught -there; that branches of trees were placed in the bag to keep it -expanded, to render it invisible, and thus to decoy quadrupeds into it; -that a rope ran round the mouth of the bag (περίδρομος, vi. 9), and was -drawn tight by the impulse of the animal rushing in so as to prevent -its escape[697]. To this rope was attached another, called ἐπίδρομος, -which was used as follows. In fig. 1. of Plate X. we observe, that -the upper border of the net consists of a very strong rope. Xenophon -calls this σαρδὼν (vi. 9). In the purse-net it was furnished with -rings. The ἀρκυωρὸς, or watchman, lay in ambush, holding one end of the -ἐπίδρομος, which ran through the rings, and was fastened at the other -end to the περίδρομος, so that by pulling it he drew the mouth of the -bag still more firm and close. He then went to the bag and despatched -the quadruped which it inclosed, or carried it off alive, informing his -companions of the capture by _shouting_[698]. - - [697] This effect of the περίδρομος is well expressed by Seneca, - “Arctatque motu vincla:” also the circumstance of the branches used - to distend the bag and to make it invisible; “Fluentes undique et - cæcos sinus.” - - Homer (_Il._ v. 487) seems to allude to the same contrivance, and to - apply the term ἀχῖδες to the rope which encircled the entrance of - the bag, with the others attached to it. - - We find in Brunck’s _Analecta_ (ii. 10. No. xx.) the phrase ἀγκύλα - δίκτυα applied to hunting-nets. It was probably meant to designate - the ἄρκυς, which might be called ἀγκύλα, _i. e._ angular, because - they were made like bags ending in a point. The term νεφέλη, which - occurs in Aristophanes (_Aves_, 195), and denoted some contrivance - for catching birds, is said by the Scholiast on the passage to have - meant a kind of hunting-net. But this explanation is evidently good - for nothing. - - [698] Oppian, _Cyneg._ iv. 409. Pliny mentions these _epidromi_, or - _running ropes_: H. N. xix. 1. s. 2. - -In this treatise Xenophon distinguishes the nets used in hunting by -three different appellations; ἄρκυς, ἐνόδιον, and δίκτυον. Oppian also -distinguishes the δίκτυον used in hunting from the ἄρκυς[699]. The -ἄρκυς or _cassis_, _i. e._ “the purse- or tunnel-net,” was by much -the most complicated in its formation. The ἐνόδιον, or “road-net,” -was comparatively small: it was placed across any road, or path, to -prevent the animals from pursuing that path: it must have been used to -stop the narrow openings between bushes. The δίκτυον was a large net, -simply intended to inclose the ground: it therefore resembled in some -measure the sean used in fishing. The term, thus specially applied, -may be translated _a hay_, or _a hallier_[700]. These three kinds of -nets appear to be mentioned together by Nemesianus under the names of -_retia_ (i. e. δίκτυα), _casses_ (i. e. ἄρκυς), and _plagæ_ (i. e. -ἐνόδια.): - - Necnon et casses idem venatibus aptos, - Atque plagas, longoque meantia retia tractu - Addiscunt raris semper contexere nodis, - Et servare modum maculis, linoque tenaci. - - _Cyneg._ 299-302. - - [699] _Ibid._ iv. 381. - - [700] See Arrian _on Coursing: the Cynegeticus of the younger_ - Xenophon, _translated from the Greek_, &c. &c. _by a graduate of - Medicine_ (William C. Dansey, M. B.). London, 1831, pp. 68, 188. - -Xenophon, in his treatise on Hunting, further informs us, that the cord -used for making the ἄρκυς, or purse-net, consisted of three strands, -and that three lines twisted together commonly made a strand (ii. 4); -but that, when the net was intended to catch the wild boar, nine lines -went to a strand instead of three (x. 2). - -It remains to be noticed, that, when the long range of nets, set up in -the manner which has been now represented, was designed to catch the -stag (_cervus_), it was flanked by cords, to which, as well as to the -nets themselves, feathers _dyed scarlet_, and of other bright colors -intermixed with their native white, and sometimes probably birds’ -wings, were tied so as to flare and flutter in the wind[701]. This -appendage to the nets was called the _metus_ or _formido_ (Virg. _Æn._ -xii. 750), because it frightened these timid quadrupeds so as to urge -them onwards into the toils. Hence Virgil, speaking of the method of -taking stags in Scythia, says, - - Nor toils their flight impede, nor hounds o’ertake, - Nor plumes _of purple dye_ their fears awake. - - _Georg._ iii. 371, 372.--_Sotheby’s Translation._ - - [701] Dum trepidant alæ.--Virg. _Æn._ iv. 121. - -The following passages likewise allude to the use of this contrivance -in the stag-hunt: - - Nec formidatis cervos includite pennis.--Ovid. _Met._ xv. 475. - - Vagos dumeta per avia cervos - Circumdat maculis et multa indagine pinnæ. - - Auson. _Epist._ iv. 27. - -Nemesianus, in the following passage, asserts that the cord (_linea_) -carrying feathers of this description had the effect of terrifying not -the stag only, but the bear, the boar, the fox and the wolf: - - Linea quinetiam, magnos circumdare saltus - Quæ possit, volucresque metu concludere prædas, - Digerat innexas non una ex alite pinnas. - Namque ursos, magnosque sues, cervosque fugaces - Et vulpes, acresque lupos, ceu fulgura cœli - Terrificant, linique vetant transcendere septum. - Has igitur vario semper fucare veneno - Cura tibi, neveisque alios miscere colores, - Alternosque metus subtemine tendere longo. - - _Cyneg._ 303-311. - -The same fact is asserted in a striking passage, which has been above -quoted from Gratius Faliscus. To the same effect are the following -passages: - - Nec est mirum, cum maximos ferarum greges linea pennis distincta - conterreat, et ad insidias agat, ab ipso effectu dicta - formido.--Seneca, _de Ira_, ii. 11. - -Feras lineis et pinna conclusas contine: easdem a tergo eques telis -incessat: tentabunt fugam per ipsa quæ fugerant, proculcabuntque -formidinem.--Seneca, _de Clementia_, i. 12. - - Picta rubenti lineo pinna - Vano claudat terrore feras. - - Seneca Frag. _Hippol._ i. 1. - - -III. - -FUNDA, JACULUM, RETE JACULUM, RETIACULUM. - -ΑΜΦΙΒΛΗΣΤΡΟΝ, ΑΜΦΙΒΟΛΟΝ. - -Fishing-nets[702] were of six different kinds, which are enumerated by -Oppian as follows: - - Τῶν τὰ μὲν ἀμφίβληστρα, τὰ δὲ γρῖφοι καλέονται, - Γάγγαμα τ’, ἠδ’ ὑποχαὶ περιηγέες, ἠδὲ σαγῆναι, - Ἄλλα δὲ κικλήσκουσι καλύμματα.--_Hal._ iii. 80-82. - - [702] Ἁλιευτικὰ δίκτυα. Diod. Sic. xvii. 43. p. 193, Wessel. - -Of these by far the most common were the ἀμφίβληστρον, or -_casting-net_, and the σαγήνη, _i. e._ the _drag_ or _sean_. -Consequently these two are the only kinds mentioned by Virgil and Ovid -in the following passages: - - Atque alius latum funda jam verberat amnem, - Alta petens; pelagoque alius trahit humida lina. - - Virg. _Georg._ i. 141, 142. - - Hi jaculo pisces, illi capiuntur ab hamis; - Hos cava contento retia fune trahunt. - - Ovid, _Art. Amat._ i. 763, 464. - -By Virgil the casting-net is called _funda_, which is the common term -for a sling. In illustration of this it is to be observed, that the -casting-net is thrown over the fisherman’s shoulder, and then whirled -in the air much like a sling. By this action he causes it to fly open -at the bottom so as to form a circle, which is loaded at intervals -with stones or pieces of lead, and this circle “strikes the broad -river[703]:” for the casting-net is used either in pools of moderate -depth, or in rivers which have, like pools, a broad smooth surface; -whereas the sean is employed for fishing in the deep (_pelago_)[704]. - - [703] The Arabs now employ the casting-net on the shores of the Arabian - Gulf. “Its form is round, and loaded at the lower part with small - pieces of lead; and, when the fisherman approaches a shoal of - fish, his art consists in throwing the net so that it may expand - itself in a circular form before it reaches the surface of the - water.”--Wellsted’s _Travels in Arabia_, vol. ii. p. 148. - - [704] For a technical account of nets, including the casting-net as now - made, the reader is referred to the Hon. and Rev. Charles - Bathurst’s _Notes on Nets; or the Quincunx practically considered_, - London, 1837, 12mo. Duhamel wrote on the same subject in French. - -Isidore of Seville, in his account of the different kinds of nets -(_Orig._ xix. 5), thus speaks: “_Funda_ genus est piscatorii retis, -dicta ab eo, quod in fundum mittatur. Eadem etiam a jactando _jaculum_ -dicitur. Plautus: - - Probus quidem antea jaculator eras[705].” - - [705] _Jaculator_ corresponds to the Greek ἀμφιβολεὺς. - - Ausonius, in the following lines, which refer to the methods of - fishing in the vicinity of the Garonne, appears to distinguish - between the _jaculum_ and the _funda_. - - Piscandi traheris studio? nam tota supellex - Dumnotoni tales solita est ostendere gazas: - Nodosas vestes animantum Nerinorum, - Et jacula, et fundas, et nomina villica lini, - Colaque, et indutos terrenis vermibus hamos. - _Epist._ iv. 51-55. - - -Besides the passage of Plautus, here quoted by Isidore, there are two -others, in which the casting-net is mentioned under the name of _rete -jaculum_, viz. _Asinar_. l. i. 87, and _Truc._ l. i. 14. Pareus, as -we find from his _Lexicon Plautinum_, clearly understood the meaning -of the term, and the distinction between the casting-net and the -sean. Of the _Rete jaculum_ he says, “Sic dicitur ad differentiam -_verriculi_, quod non jacitur, sed trahitur et verritur.” He adds, that -Herodotus calls it ἀμφίβληστρον, and the Germans _Wurffgarn_. - -The word occurs twice in Herodotus, and both places throw light upon -its meaning. In Book i. c. 141. he says: “The Lydians had no sooner -been brought into subjection by the Persians than the Ionians and -Æolians sent ambassadors to Cyrus at Sardis, entreating him to receive -them under his dominion on the same conditions on which they had been -under Crœsus. To this proposal he replied in the following fable. A -piper, having seen some fishes in the sea, _played for a while on his -pipe, thinking that this would make them come to him on the land_. -Perceiving the fallacy of this expectation, he took a casting-net, and, -having thrown it around a great number of the fishes, he drew them out -of the water. He then said to the fishes, as they were jumping about, -_As you did not choose to dance out of the water, when I played to -you on my pipe, you may put a stop to your dancing now_.” The other -passage (ii. 95) has been illustrated in a very successful manner by -William Spence, Esq., F. R. S., in a paper in the Transactions of the -Entomological Society for the year 1834. In connection with the curious -fact, that the common house-fly will not in general pass through the -meshes of a net, Mr. Spence produces this passage, in which Herodotus -states, that the fishermen who lived about the marshes of Egypt, being -each in possession of a casting-net, and using it in the day-time to -catch fishes, employed these nets in the night to keep off the gnats, -by which that country is infested. The casting-net was fixed so as -to encircle the bed, on which the fisherman slept; and, as this kind -of net is always pear-shaped, or of a conical form, it is evident -that nothing could be better adapted to the purpose, as it would be -suspended like a tent over the body of its owner. In this passage -Herodotus twice uses the term ἀμφίβληστρον, and once he calls the -same thing δίκτυον, because, as we have seen, this was a common term -applicable to nets of every description[706]. - - [706] _None of the commentators appear to have understood these - passages._ In particular we find that Schweighäuser in his _Lexicon - Herodoteum_ explains Ἀμφίβληστρον thus: “Verriculum, Rete quod - circumjicitur.” _Rete_, however, corresponds to δίκτυον, which meant - a net of any kind; and _Verriculum_ is the Latin for Σαγήνη, which, - as will be shown hereafter, was a sean, or drag-net. - -The antiquity of the casting-net among the Greeks appears from a -passage in the _Shield of Hercules_, attributed to Hesiod (l. 213-215). -The poet says, that the shield represented the sea with fishes seen in -the water, “and on the rocks sat a fisherman watching, and he held in -his hands a casting-net (ἀμφίβληστρον) for fishes, and seemed to be -throwing it from him.” We apprehend that, the position of _sitting_ was -not so suitable to the use of the casting-net as standing, because it -requires the free use of the arms, which a man cannot well have when he -sits. In other respects this description exactly agrees with the use of -the casting-net: for it is thrown by a single person, who remains on -land at the edge of the water, observes the fishes in it, and throws -the net from him into the water so as suddenly to inclose them. - -In two of the tragedies of Æschylus we find the term ἀμφίβληστρον -applied _figuratively_ by Clytemnestra to the _shawl_, in which she -enveloped her husband in order to murder him. - - Ἄπειρον ἀμφίβληστρον, ὥσπερ ἰχθύων, - περιστίχιζω, πλοῦτον εἵματος κακόν.--_Agamem._ 1353, 1354. - - Μέμνησο δ’, ἀμφίβληστρον ὡς ἐκαίνισαν.--_Choëph._ 485. - -Lycophron (l. 1101) calls this garment by the same name, when he refers -to the same event in the fabulous history of Greece. We have seen, that -in other passages the shawl so used is with equal aptitude called a -purse-net (ἄρκυς). - -One of the comedies of Menander was entitled Ἁλιεῖς, “the Fisherman.” -The expression, Ἀμφιβλήστρῳ περιβάλλεται, is quoted from it by Julius -Pollus (x. 132)[707]. - - [707] Menandri et Phil. _Reliquæ, a Meineke_, p. 16. - -Athenæus (lib. x. 72. p. 450 c. Casaub.) quotes from Antiphanes the -following line, which describes a man “throwing a casting-net on many -fishes”: - - Ἰχθύσιν ἀμφίβληστρον ἀνὴρ πολλοῖς ἐπιβάλλων. - -In an epigram of Leonidas Tarentinus we find the casting-net called -ἀμφίβολον instead of ἀμφίβληστρον[708]. - - [708] Brunck, _Anal._ i. 223, No. xii. Jacobs, _Anthol._ i. 2. p. 74. - -The ἀμφίβληστρον is mentioned together with two other kinds of nets by -Artemidorus, and which will be quoted presently. - -The following curious passage of Meletius _de Natura Hominis_, in -which that author, probably following Galen, describes the expansion -of the optic nerves, mentions the casting-net as “an instrument used -by fishermen”: - - Διασχίζονται δὲ τὰ νεῦρα εἰς τοὺς θαλάμους, ὥσπερ ἤν τις λαβὼν - πάπυρον, ταύτην εἰς λεπτὰ διατεμὼν καὶ διασχίζων ἀναπλέκηται πάλιν, - καὶ ποιῇ χιτῶνα λεγόμενον ἀμφιβληστροειδῆ, ὅμοιον ἀμφιβλήρτρῳ. ὄργανον - δὲ τοῦτο θηρευταῖς ἰχθύων χρήσιμον.--Salmasius, _in Tertull. de - Pallio_, p. 213. - -The χιτὼν ἀμφιβληστροειδὴς, or _tunica retina_, was so called on -account of its resemblance in form to the casting-net. - -As we learn from Herodotus that the casting-net was universally -employed by the fishermen of Egypt, we shall not be surprised to find -it mentioned in the Alexandrine, or, as it is commonly called, the -Septuagint version of the Psalms and Prophets:-- - - Πεσοῦνται ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτωλοὶ, - _i. e._ “Sinners shall fall in _his_ casting-net.”--_Psalm_ cxli. 10. - Cadent in retiaculo ejus peccatores.--_Vulgate Version._ - “Let the wicked fall in their own nets.” - --_Common English Version._ - -The word in the original Hebrew is -מכמור, which Gesenius translates “Rete,” _a net_. This word -must have been more general in its meaning than the Greek ἀμφίβληστρον, -and included the purse-net, or ἄρκυς. The Chaldee and Syriac versions -use in this passage a word, which denotes _snares_ in general. See -_Isaiah_ li. 20, where the same word is used in the Hebrew, but applied -to the catching of a quadruped, and where consequently the purse-net -must have been intended. - - Καὶ οἱ βάλλοντες σαγήνας, καὶ οἱ ἀμφιβολεῖς πενθήσουσι. - - _i. e._ “And they who throw seans, and they who fish with the - casting-net, shall mourn.”--_Isa._ xix. 8. - - Et expandentes rete super faciem aquarum emarcescent.--_Vulgate - Version._ - - “And they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.”--_Common - English Version._ - -It is to be observed, that this prophecy relates to Egypt. The Hebrew -verb פרש, here translated “_expandentes_,” -“_they that spread_,” is exactly applicable to the remarkable -expansion of the casting-net just as it reaches the surface of the -water. In the Alexandrine version we may also observe the clear -distinction between the two principal kinds of nets, the sean and the -casting-net, and that the man who fishes with the latter is called -ἀμφιβολεὺς, as in Latin he was designated by the single term -_jaculator_. - - Εἵλκυσεν αὐτὸν ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ, καὶ συνήγαγεν αὐτὸν ἐν ταῖς σαγήναις - αὐτοῦ· ἕνεκεν τοὺτου εὐφρανθήσεται καὶ χαρήσεται ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ. - Ἕνεκεν τούτου θύσει τῇ σαγήνῃ αὐτοῦ, καὶ θυμιάσει τῷ ἀμφιβλήστρῳ - αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐλίπανε μερίδα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ βρώματα αὐτοῦ - ἐκλεκτά. Διὰ τοῦτο ἀμφιβαλεῖ τὸ ἀμφίβληστρον αὐτοῦ, καὶ διαπαντὸς - ἀποκτένειν ἔθνη οὐ φείσεται. - - _i. e._ “He (the Chaldean) hath drawn him in a casting-net and - gathered him in his seans: therefore his heart shall rejoice and be - glad. Therefore he shall sacrifice to his sean and burn incense to - his casting-net, because by them he hath fattened his portion and his - chosen dainties. Therefore he shall throw his casting-net, and not - spare utterly to slay nations.”--_Habakkuk_, i. 15-17. - - “They catch them in their net and gather them in their drag; therefore - they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net and - burn incense unto their drag: because by them their portion is fat and - their meat plenteous. Shall they therefore empty their net, and not - spare continually to slay the nations?”--_Common English Version._ - -The Latin Vulgate in this passage uses without discrimination the terms -_rete_ and _sagena_, which latter is the Greek word in a Latin form. - -Ἀμφίβληστρον occurs twice in the New Testament. Matthew iv. 18: “Jesus, -walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon and Andrew, -_casting a net into the sea_; for they were fishers”: in the original, -βάλλοντας ἀμφίβληστρον εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν; in the Vulgate version, -“mittentes rete.” It appears no sufficient objection to the sense -which has been assigned to ἀμφίβληστρον, that here two persons are -mentioned as using it at the same time. Being partners and engaged in -the same employment, one perhaps collecting the fishes which the other -caught, they might be described together as “throwing the casting-net,” -although only one at a time held it in his hands. In other respects -this explanation is particularly suitable to the circumstances. Jesus -was walking on the shore and accosted the two brothers. This suits the -supposition that they were on the shore likewise, and not fishing out -of a boat, as they did with the sean at other times. In verse 20 the -Evangelist uses the term δίκτυα (nets), saying “they left their nets,” -and meaning both their casting-net and those of other kinds. In verse -21 he mentions that James and John were in their boat, mending their -nets (δίκτυα). - -The same things are to be observed in Mark i. 16, which is the parallel -passage. - - -IV. - -ΓΡΙΦΟΣ, _or_ ΓΡΙΠΟΣ. - -Pursuing the order adopted by Oppian in his list of fishing nets above -quoted, we come to the Γρῖφος. What kind of net this was we have been -unable to discover. It must, however, have been one of the most useful -and important kinds, because Plutarch mentions γρίφοι καὶ σαγήναι as -the common implements of the fisherman[709], and Artemidorus speaks of -this together with the casting-net and the sean in similar terms[710]. - - [709] Περὶ ἐνθυμίας, vol. v. p. 838, ed. Steph. - - [710] L. ii. c. 14. - -It may be observed, that Γριπεὺς is used for a fisherman[711], -apparently equivalent to ἁλιεὺς[712]. We also find the expression -Γριπηΐδι τέχνῃ, meaning, “By the fisherman’s art[713]”. - - [711] Jacobs, _Anthol._ vol. i. p. 186, Nos. 4 and 5. - - [712] Theocrit. i. 39; iii. 26. - - [713] Brunck, _Anal._ ii. 9, No. 14. - - -V. - -ΓΑΓΓΑΜΟΝ. - -The third fishing-net in Oppian’s enumeration is Γάγγαμον. We find -it once mentioned metaphorically, viz. by Æschylus, who calls an -inextricable calamity, Γάγγαμον ἄτης[714]. In Schneider’s edition -of Oppian we find this note, “Rete ostreis capiendis esse annotavit -Hesychius.” Passow also in his Lexicon explains it as “a small round -net for catching oysters.” The reference to Hesychius is incorrect. If -it was a net for catching oysters, which appears very doubtful, it may -have been the net used by the Indians in the pearl-fishery[715]. - - [714] _Agam._ 352. - - [715] Λέγει Μεγασθένης θηρεύεσθαι τὴν κόγχην αὐτοῦ δικτύοισι. - Arrian, _Indica_, vol. i p. 525, ed. Blancardi. - - -VI. - -ὙΠΟΧΗ. - -The ὑποχὴ, which is the fourth in Oppian’s enumeration, was the -landing-net, used merely to take fishes out of the water when they rose -to the surface, or in similar circumstances to which it was adapted. It -was made with a hoop (κύκλος) fastened to a pole, and was perhaps also -provided with the means of closing the round aperture at the top[716]. - -Of the Κάλυμμα we find nowhere any further mention. - - [716] See Oppian, _Hal._ iv. 251. - - -VII. - -TRAGUM, TRAGULA, VERRICULUM. - -ΣΑΓΗΝΗ. - -These were the Greek and Latin names for the _sean_. Before producing -the passages in which they occur, we will present to the reader an -account of this kind of net as now used by the fishermen on the coast -of Cornwall (England) for catching pilchards, and as described by Dr. -Paris in his elegant and pleasant _Guide to Mount’s Bay and Land’s -End_[717]. - -“At the proper season men are stationed on the cliffs to observe by -the color of the water where the shoals of pilchards are to be found. -The sean is carried out in a boat, and thrown into the sea by two -men with such dexterity, that in less than four minutes the fish are -inclosed. It is then either moored, or, where the shore is sandy and -shelving, it is drawn into more shallow water. After this the fish are -bailed into boats and carried to shore. A _sean_ is frequently _three -hundred fathoms long, and seventeen deep_. The bottom of the net is -kept to the ground by leaden weights, whilst the corks keep the top of -it floating on the surface. A sean has been known to inclose at one -time as many as _twelve hundred hogsheads_, amounting to about _three -millions of fish_.” - - [717] Penzance, 1816, p. 91 - -Let this passage be compared with the following, which gives an account -of the use of the same kind of net among the Arabs. It will then appear -how extensively it is employed, since we find it used in exactly the -same way both by our own countrymen and by tribes which we consider -as ranking very low in the scale of civilization; and on making this -comparison, the inference will seem not unreasonable, that the ancient -Greeks and Romans, who in several of their colonies in the Euxine Sea, -on the coasts of Ionia, and of Spain, and in other places, carried on -the catching and curing of fish with the greatest possible activity and -to a wonderful extent, used nets of as great a compass as those which -are here described. - -“The fishery is here (_i. e._ at Burka, on the eastern coast of Arabia) -conducted on a grand scale, by means of nets many hundred fathoms in -length, which are carried out by boats. The upper part is supported by -small blocks of wood, formed from the light and buoyant branches of -the _date-palm_, while the lower part is loaded with lead. To either -extremity of this a rope is attached, by which, when the whole of the -net is laid out, about thirty or forty men drag it towards the shore. -The quantity thus secured is enormous; and what they do not require for -their own consumption is salted and carried into the interior. When, as -is very generally the case, the nets _are the common property of the -whole village_, they divide the produce into equal shares[718].” - - [718] Lieutenant Wellsted’s _Travels in Arabia_, vol. i. (_Ornam_), pp. - 186, 187. - -That this method of fishing was practised by the Egyptians from a -remote antiquity appears from the remaining monuments. The paintings -on the tombs show persons engaged in drawing the sean, which has -floats along its upper margin and leads along the lower border[719]. -An ancient Egyptian net, obtained by M. Passalacqua, is preserved in -the Museum at Berlin. Some of its leads and floats remain, as well as a -gourd, which assisted the floats[720]. - - [719] See Wilkinson’s _Manners and Customs of Ancient Egypt_, vol. ii. - p. 20, 21; see also vol. iii. p. 37. One of these paintings, copied - from Wilkinson, is introduced in Plate X. fig. 3. of this work. - The fishermen are seen on the shore drawing the net to land full - of fishes. There are eight floats along the top, and four leads at - the bottom on each side. The water is drawn as is usual in Egyptian - paintings. - - [720] Un filet de pêche à petites mailles, et fait avec du fil de lin. - Cet objet, qui est garni de ses plombs, conserve encore les - morceaux de bois qui garnissaient sa partie supérieure, ainsi - qu’une courge qui l’aidait à surnager.--Thèbes, Passalacqua, - _Catalogue des Antiquitiés découvertes en Egypte_, No. 445. p. 22. - -Besides the verses of Oppian, which are above quoted, we find another -passage of the same poem (_Hal._ iii. 82, 83), which mentions the -following appendages to the σαγήνη, viz. the πέζαι, the σφαιρῶνες, and -the σκολιὸς πάναγρος. As the πόδες, or _feet_ of a sail were the ropes -fastened to its lower corners, we may conclude that the πέζαι were -the ropes attached to the corners of the sean, and used in a similar -manner to fasten it to the shore and to draw it in to the land, as is -described by Ovid in the line already quoted,-- - - Hos cava _contento_ retia _fune_ trahunt. - -The σφαιρῶνες, as the name implies, were spherical, and must therefore -have been either the floats of wood or cork at the top, or the weights, -consisting either of round stones or pieces of lead, at the bottom. -The σκολιὸς πάναγρος must have been a kind of bag formed in the sean -to receive the fishes, and thus corresponding to the purse or conical -bag in the ἄρκυς. The term is illustrated by the application of the -equivalent epithet ἀγκύλα or “angular,” to hunting-nets in a passage -from Brunck’s _Analecta_, which was formerly explained, and by the -epithet “cava” in the line just quoted from Ovid[721]. - - [721] Observe also the use of the word μυχὸς in the passage of Lucian’s - _Timon_, quoted below. - -In the following passage Ovid mentions the use both of the corks and of -the leads[722]. This passage also shows that several nets were fastened -together in order to form a long sean: - - Aspicis, ut summa cortex levis innatat unda, - Cum grave nexa simul retia mergat onus? - - _Trist._ iii. 4. 1, 12. - - [722] Μολύβδαιναι, J. Pollux, x. 30. § 132. - -This use of cork and lead in fishing is also mentioned by Ælian, -_Hist. Anim._ xii. 43; and that of cork by Pausanias, viii. 12. § 1; -and by Pliny, H. N. xvi. 8. s. 13, where, in reciting the various -uses of cork, he says it was employed “piscantium tragulis.” Sidonius -Apollinaris, describing his own villa, says:-- - - Hinc jam spectabis, ut promoveat alnum piscator in pelagus, ut - stataria retia suberinis corticibus extendat.--_Epist._ ii. 2. - - “Hence you will see how the fisherman moves forward his boat into the - deep water, that he may extend his stationary nets by means of corks.” - -Alciphron, in his account of a fishing excursion near the Promontory -of Phalerum, says, “The draught of fishes was so great as almost to -submerge the corks[723].” The earnest desire of a posterity, founded -on the wish for posthumous remembrance, which was a very strong -and prevailing sentiment among the ancients, is illustrated by the -language of Electra in the Choëphorœ of Æschylus, where she entreats -her father upon this consideration to attend to her prayer, and likens -his memory to a net, which his children, like corks, would save from -disappearing:--“_Do not extinguish the race of the Pelopidæ. For -thus you will live after you are dead. For a man’s children are the -preservers of his fame when dead, and, like corks in dragging the net, -they save the flaxen string from the abyss._” The use of the corks is -mentioned in several of the epigrams of the Greek Anthology, already -referred to, and in the following passage of Plutarch:-- - - Ὥσπερ τοὺς τὰ δίκτυα διασημαίνοντας ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ φελλοὺς ὁρῶμεν - ἐπιφερομένους .--_De Genio Socratis_, p. 1050, ed. Steph. - - [723] Μικρὸν καὶ τοὺς φελλοὺς ἐδέησε κατασύραι ὕφαλον τὸ δίκτυον - ἐξογκούμενον.--_Epist._ i. 1. - -Passages have been already produced from Plutarch, Artemidorus, -and the Alexandrine version of Isaiah and Habakkuk, in which the -sean is mentioned by its Greek name σαγήνη, in contradistinction -to other kinds of nets. Also the passage above cited from Virgil’s -Georgics (“pelagoque alius trahit humida lina”), indicates the use of -the sean in deep water, and the practice of dragging it out of the -water by means of ropes, which gave origin both to its English name, -_the Drag-net_, and to its Latin appellations, _tragula_, used by Pliny -(_l. c._), and _tragum_, which is found in the ancient Glossaries and -in Isidore of Seville[724]. - - [724] Tragum genus retis, ab eo quod trahatur nuncupatum: ipsum est et - verriculum. Verrere enim trahere est.--_Orig._ xix. 5. - - The Latin name _verriculum_ occurs in a passage of Valerius - Maximus, which is also remarkable for a reference to the Ionian - fisheries, and for the use of the word _jactus_, literally, _a - throw_, corresponding to that which the Cornish men denominate, _a - hawl of fish_. - - A piscatoribus in Milesia regione verriculum trahentibus quidam - jactum emerat.--_Memor._ lib. iv. cap. 1. - - We introduce here an expression of Philo, in which we may remark - that βόλος ἰχθύων corresponds exactly to _jactus_ in Latin, and - that the drawing of the net into a circle is clearly indicated: - βόλον ἰχθύων πάντας ἐν κύκλῳ σαγηνεύσας. --_Vita Mosis_, tom. ii. - p. 95. ed. Mangey. - -We find mention of the sean more especially for the capture of the -tunny and of the pelamys, which were the two principal kinds of fish -caught in the Mediterranean. Lucian speaks of the tunny-sean[725], -which was probably the largest net of the kind, and he relates -the circumstance of a tunny escaping from its bag or bosom[726]. -The sean is thrice mentioned in the Epistles of Alciphron (_l. -c._ and lib. i. epp. 17, 18.), and in the two latter passages, as -used for catching tunnies and pelamides. We read also of a dolphin -(δελφὶς) approaching the sean[727]; but this might be by accident. It -was not, we apprehend, employed to catch dolphins. - - [725] Σαγήνη θυννευτική.--_Epist. Saturn._ tom. iii. p. 406. ed. Reitz. - - [726] Ὁ θύννος ἐκ μυχοῦ τῆς σαγήνης διέφυγεν.--_Timon_, - § 22. tom. i. p. 136. - - [727] Οὐκ ἔτι πλησιάζει τῇ σαγήνῃ.--Ælian, H. A. xi. c. 12. In this - chapter the same net is twice called by the common name, δίκτυον. - -In the following passage of the Odyssey (xxii. 384-387) we have a -description of the use of a sean in a small bay, having a sandy shore -at its extremity, and consequently most suitable for the employment of -this kind of net: - - Ὥστ’ ἰχθύας, οὕσθ’ ἁλιήες - Κοῖλον ἐς αἰγιαλὸν πολιῆς ἔκτοσθε θαλάσσης - Δικτύῳ ἐξέρυσαν πολυωπῷ· οἱ δέ τε πάντες - Κύμαθ’ ἁλὸς ποθέοντες ἐπὶ ψαμάθοισι κέχυνται. - -The poet here compares Penelope’s suitors, who lie slain upon the -ground, to fishes, “which the fishermen by means of a net full of holes -have drawn out of the hoary sea to a hollow bay, and all of which, -deprived of the waves of the sea, are poured upon the sands.” Although -the general term δίκτυον is here used, it is evident that the net -intended was the sean, or dragnet. - -In one of the passages of Alciphron already referred to, mention is -made of the use of the sean in a similar situation. Some persons, -who are fishing in a bay for tunnies and pelamides, inclose nearly -the whole bay with their sean, expecting to catch a very large -quantity[728]. This circumstance proves, that the sean was used with -the ancient Greeks, as it is with us, to encompass a great extent of -water. - - [728] Τῇ σαγῆνῃ μονονουχί τὸν κόλπον ὅλον περιελάβομεν. --_Epist._ i. 17. - - A few miscellaneous passages, which refer to the use of the sean, - may be conveniently introduced here: - - Diogenes, seeing a great number of fishes in the deep, says there - is need of a sean to catch them; σαγήνης δέησις.--Lucian, _Piscata_, - § 51. tom. i. p. 618, ed. Reitz. - - The sean is called, from its material, σαγηναίον λίνον, in an - epigram of Archias.--Brunck, _Anal._ ii. 94. No. 10. - - Plutarch, describing the _spider’s web_, says, that its _weaving_ - is like the labor _of women at the loom_, its hunting like that - of fishermen with the sean.--_De Solertia Animalium_, tom. x. p. - 29, ed. Reiske. He here uses the term σαγηνευτὴς for _a fisher with - the sean_. This verbal noun is regularly formed from σαγηνεύειν, - which means _to inclose or catch with the sean_: e. g. ἐν δίκτυοις - σεσαγηνευμένοι.--Herodian, iv. 9, 12. - - Lucian uses the same verb in reference to the story of Vulcan - inclosing Mars and Venus in a net; σαγηνεύει τοῖς δεσμοῖς.--_Dialogi - Deor._ tom. i. p. 243. _Somnium_, tom. ii. p. 707, ed. Reitz. - - Leonidas of Tarentum, in an epigram enumerating the ornaments - of a lady’s toilet (Brunck, _Anal._ i. p. 221), mentions ὁ πλατὺς - τριχῶν σαγηνευτήρ. Jacobs (_Annot. in Anthol._ i. 2. p. 63) supposes - this to mean the lady’s comb; but, judging from the known meaning - of σαγήνη and its derivatives, we may conclude that it was the - κεκρύφαλος, or net, which inclosed and encircled the hair, like a sean. - - The following verse of Manilius (lib. v. ver. 678.) is remarkable - as a rare instance of the adoption of the Greek word _sagena_ by a - Latin poet:-- - - Excipitur vasta circumvallata sagena. - -We have seen that the sean supplied figures of speech no less than the -purse-net (ἄρκυς), and the casting-net (ἀμφίβληστρον). It is applied -thus in the case of persons who are ensnared by the wicked[729], who -are captivated by the charms of love[730] or of eloquence[731], or who -are held in bondage by superstition[732]. But by far the most distinct, -expressive and important of its metaphorical applications, was to -the mode of besieging a city by encircling it with one uninterrupted -line of soldiers, or sweeping away the entire population of a certain -district by marching in similar order across it. Of this the first -example occurs in Herodotus iii. 145:-- - - Τὴν δὲ Σάμον σαγηνεύσαντες οἱ Πέρσαι παρέδοσαν Σολυσῶντι, ἐρῆμον - ἐοῦσαν ἀνδρῶν. - - “The Persians, having dragged Samos, delivered it, being now destitute - of men, to Solyson.” - - [729] Σαγηνεύομαι πρὸς αὐτῶν.--Lucian, _Timon_, § 25. tom. i. p. 138, - ed. Reitz. - - [730] Brunck, _Anal._ iii. 157. No. 32. Here the sean is called by the - general term δίκτυον, but the particular kind of net is indicated by - the participle σαγηνευθείς. - - [731] - Τῶνδὲ μαθητὴν, - Οἳ κόσμον γλυκερῇσι Θεοῦ δήσαντο σαγήναις, - - _i. e._ “A disciple of those who bound the world in the sweet seans - of God.”--Greg. Nazianz. _ad Nemesium_, tom. ii. p. 141, ed. Paris, - 1630. (See Chap. III, p. 53.) - - [732] Plutarch, evidently referring to the siege of Jerusalem by - Titus, says, “The Jews on the Sabbath sitting down on coarse - blankets (ἐν ἀγνάμπτοις, literally, in ἱμάτια, or blankets, which - had not been fulled, or cleansed by the γναφεύς), even when the - enemy were setting the ladders to scale the walls, did not rise up, - but remained, as if inclosed in one sean, namely, superstition, - (ὥσπερ ἐν σαγήνῃ μιᾷ, τῇ δεισιδαιμονίᾳ, συνδεδεμένοι).”--_Opp._ - tom. vi. _De Superstit._ p. 647, ed. Reiske. - -As we speak of _dragging_ a pit, so the Greeks would have spoken, -in this metaphorical sense, of _dragging_ an island. In the sixth -book (ch. xxxi.) Herodotus particularly describes this method of -capturing the enemy. According to this account the Persians landed on -the northern side of the island. They then took hold of one another’s -hands so as to form a long line, and thus linked together they walked -across the island to the south side, so as to hunt out all the -inhabitants. The historian here particularly mentions, that Chios, -Lesbos, and Tenedos were reduced to captivity in this manner. It is -recorded by Plato[733], that Datis, in order to alarm the Athenians, -against whom he was advancing at the head of the Persian army, spread -a report that his soldiers, joining hand to hand, had taken all the -Eretrians captive as in a sean. The reader is referred to the Notes -of Wesseling and Valckenaer on Herod. iii. 149 for some passages, in -which subsequent Greek authors have quoted Herodotus and Plato. -We find σαγηνευθῆναι, “to be dragged,” used in the same manner by -Heliodorus[734]. - - [733] _De Legibus_, lib. iii. prope finem. - - [734] Lib. vii. p. 304. ed. Commelini. - -In addition to the passages of Isaiah and Habakkuk which mention the -drag in opposition to the casting-net; we find three references to the -use of it in the prophecies of Ezekiel, viz. in Ezek. xxvi. 5. 14; -xlvii. 10. The prophet, foretelling the destruction of Tyre, says it -would become _a place to dry seans upon_, ψυγμὸς σαγηνῶν; “siccatio -sagenarum,” _Vulgate Version_; “a place for the spreading of nets,” -_Common English Version_. The Hebrew term for a drag or sean is here -חרם. - -The only passage of the New Testament which makes express mention of -the sean, is Matt. xiii. 47, 48: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a -net (σαγήνη) that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; -which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered -the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.” The casting-net, which -can only inclose part of a very small shoal, would not have been -adapted to the object of this parable. But we perceive the allusion -intended by it to the great quantity and variety of fishes of every -kind which are brought to the shore of the bay (αἰγιαλὸν) by the use -of the drag. The Vulgate here retains the Greek word, translating -_sagena_ as in the above-cited passages of Habakkuk and Ezekiel. In -John xxi. 6. 8. 11, the use of the sean is evidently intended to be -described, although it is called four times by the common term δίκτυον, -which denoted either a sean, or a net of any other kind. It is in this -passage translated _rete_ in the Latin Vulgate. - -The Greek σαγήνη having been adopted under the form _sagena_ in the -Latin Vulgate, this was changed into rezne by the Anglo-Saxons[735], -and their descendants, have still further abridged it into _sean_. In -the south of England this word is also pronounced and spelt _seine_, -as it is in French. We find in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History[736] a -curious passage on the introduction of this kind of net into England. -He says, “the people had as yet only learnt to catch eels with nets. -Wilfrid caused them to collect together all their eel-nets, and to use -them as a sean for catching fishes of all kinds.” - - [735] See Caedmon, p. 75. ed. Junii. - - [736] Page 294, ed. Wilkins. - - -VIII. - -RETICULUS or RETICULUM. - -ΓΥΡΓΑΘΟΣ. - -In the ancient Glossaries we find Γύργαθος translated _Reticulus_ and -_Reticulum_: it meant, therefore, _a small net_. It was not a name -for nets in general, nor did it denote any kind of hunting-net or -fishing-net, although the net indicated by this term might be used -occasionally for catching animals as well as for other purposes. It -was used, for example, in an island on the coast of India to catch -tortoises, being set at the mouths of the caverns, which were the -resort of those creatures[737]. But the same term is applied to the -nets which were used to carry pebbles and stones intended to be thrown -from military engines[738]; and a similar contrivance was in common -use for carrying loaves of bread[739]. Hence it is manifest that the -γύργαθος was often much like the nets in which the Jewish boys in our -streets carry lemons, being inclosed at the mouth by a running string -or noose. We may therefore translate γύργαθος, “a bag-net,” as it was -made in the form of a bag. “To blow into a bag-net,” εἰς γύργαθον -φυσᾷν, became a proverb, meaning to labor in vain. But this bag was -often of much smaller dimensions, and of much finer materials, than in -the instances already mentioned. From a passage of Æneas Tacticus (p. -54. ed. Orell.) we may infer that it was sometimes not larger than a -purse for the pocket. Hence Aristotle[740] properly applies the term -γύργαθος to the small spherical or oval bag in which spiders deposit -their eggs. Among the luxurious habits of the Sicilian prætor Verres, -it is recorded, that he had a small and very fine linen net, filled -with rose-leaves, “which ever and anon he gave his nose[741].” This net -was, no doubt, called γύργαθος in Greek. - - [737] Ἐν δὲ ταύτῃ τῇ νήσῳ καὶ γύργαθοις αὐτὰς ἰδίως λινεύουσιν, - ἀντὶ δικτύων καθίεντες αὐτοὺς περὶ τὰ στόματα τῶν προράχων. - - [738] Athenæus, lib. v. § 43. p. 208, ed. Casaub. - - [739] Γύργαθον· σκεῦος πλεκτὸν, ἐν ᾧ βάλλουσι τὸν ἄρτον οἱ - ἀρτοκόποι.--Hesych. Reticulum panis.--Hor. _Sat._ i. l. 47. - - [740] _Anim. Hist._ v. 27. Compare Apollodorus, _Frag._ xi. p. 454, ed. - Heyne. - - [741] Reticulum ad nares sibi admovebat, tenuissimo lino, minutis - maculis, plenum rosæ.--Cic. _in Verr._ ii. 5. 11. --_Arrian, Per. - Maris Eryth._ p. 151. ed. Blancardi. - - - - -THE END. - - -[Illustration: _Plate X._] - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - - -A number of typographical errors have been corrected silently. - -Cover is in public domain. - -Footnote 731 may not be pointing to the exactly correct location as the -original was not marked. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF SILK, COTTON, LINEN, -WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES; *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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Gilroy</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, Wool, and Other Fibrous Substances;</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0;'>Including Observations on Spinning, Dyeing, and Weaving.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Clinton G. Gilroy</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: July 31, 2021 [eBook #65967]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Turgut Dincer, SF2001, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES; ***</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - <div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_cover" style="max-width: 20em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover" /> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Frontis">[Frontis]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp42" id="Plate_I" style="max-width: 28em;"> - <div class="caption"><p class="right"><i>Plate I.</i></p></div> - <img class="w100" src="images/plate_i.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>From Original Drawings</i></p> - <p class="center"><big>CHINESE LOOMS.</big></p> - <p class="right"><a href="#Page_119"><i>See Page 119.</i></a></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</span></p> - -<h1><small>THE</small><br /> -<span class="gesperrt">HISTORY</span><br /> -<small><small>OF</small></small><br /> -<strong>SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL,</strong><br /> -<small>AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;</small></h1> - -<p class="center"><small>INCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON</small><br /> -<strong><big>SPINNING, DYEING AND WEAVING</big></strong>.</p> - -<p class="center"><small>ALSO AN ACCOUNT OF THE</small><br /> -PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS, THEIR SOCIAL STATE<br /> -AND ATTAINMENTS IN THE DOMESTIC ARTS.</p> - -<p class="center space-above"> -<strong>WITH APPENDICES</strong><br /> -ON PLINY’S NATURAL HISTORY; ON THE ORIGIN AND MANUFACTURE<br /> -OF LINEN AND COTTON PAPER; ON FELTING, NETTING, &C. </p> - -<p class="center space-above"> -<small>DEDUCED FROM</small><br /> -<span class="gesperrt">COPIOUS AND AUTHENTIC SOURCES</span>.</p> - -<p class="center space-above"><strong>ILLUSTRATED BY STEEL ENGRAVINGS.</strong> - </p> - -<p class="center space-above"><span class="gesperrt">NEW YORK</span>:<br /> -HARPER & BROTHERS, 82 CLIFF STREET.</p> -<hr class="r5" /> -<p class="center">1845. - </p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr /> -<p class="center"> -<span class="smcap">Entered</span>, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845,<br /> -<span class="gesperrt">BY HARPER & BROTHERS,</span><br /> -In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States,<br /> -for the Southern District of New York. -</p> -<hr /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"> -TO THE<br /> -<big><strong>PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES,</strong></big><br /> -<span class="gesperrt">THIS VOLUME<br /> -IS RESPECTFULLY<br /> -INSCRIBED.<br /></span> - </p> - </div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE.</h2> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p>History, until a recent period, was mainly a record of gigantic -crimes and their consequent miseries. The dazzling -glow of its narrations lighted never the path of the peaceful -Husbandman, as his noiseless, incessant exertions transformed -the howling wilderness into a blooming and fruitful garden, but -gleamed and danced on the armor of the Warrior as he rode -forth to devastate and destroy. One year of his labors sufficed -to undo what the former had patiently achieved through centuries; -and the campaign was duly chronicled while the labors -it blighted were left to oblivion. The written annals of a nation -trace vividly the course of its corruption and downfall, but -are silent or meagre with regard to the ultimate causes of its -growth and eminence. The long periods of peace and prosperity -in which the Useful Arts were elaborated or perfected are -passed over with the bare remark that they afford little of interest -to the reader, when in fact their true history, could it now -be written, would prove of the deepest and most substantial -value. The world might well afford to lose all record of a hundred -ancient battles or sieges if it could thereby regain the -knowledge of one lost art, and even the Pyramids bequeathed -to us by Egypt in her glory would be well exchanged for a few -of her humble workshops and manufactories, as they stood in -the days of the Pharaohs. Of the true history of mankind -only a few chapters have yet been written, and now, when the -deficiencies of that we have are beginning to be realized, we find -that the materials for supplying them have in good part perished -in the lapse of time, or been trampled recklessly beneath the -hoof of the war-horse.</p> - -<p>In the following pages, an effort has been made to restore a -portion of this history, so far as the meagre and careless traces -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</span> -scattered through the Literature of Antiquity will allow.—Of -the many beneficent achievements of inventive genius, those -which more immediately minister to the personal convenience -and comfort of mankind seem to assert a natural pre-eminence. -Among the first under this head may be classed the invention -of Weaving, with its collateral branches of Spinning, Netting, -Sewing, Felting, and Dyeing. An account of the origin and -progress of this family of domestic arts can hardly fail to interest -the intelligent reader, while it would seem to have a special -claim on the attention of those engaged in the prosecution or -improvement of these arts. This work is intended to subserve -the ends here indicated. In the present age, when the resources -of Science and of Intellect have so largely pressed into -the service of Mechanical Invention, especially with reference to -the production of fabrics from fibrous substances, it is somewhat -remarkable that no methodical treatise on this topic has been -offered to the public, and that the topic itself seems to have almost -eluded the investigations of the learned. With the exception -of Mr. Yates’s erudite production, “<i>Textrinum Antiquorum</i>,” -we possess no competent work on the subject; and -valuable as is this production for its authority and profound research, -it is yet, for various reasons, of comparative inutility to -the general reader.</p> - -<p>That a topic of such interest deserved elucidation will not be -denied when it is remembered that, apart from the question of -the direct influence these important arts have ever exerted upon -the civilization and social condition of communities, in various -ages of the world, there are other and scarcely inferior considerations -to the student, involved in their bearing upon the true -understanding of history, sacred and profane. To supply, -therefore, an important desideratum in classical archæology, by -thus seeking the better to illustrate the true social state of the -ancients, thereby affording a commentary on their commerce -and progress in domestic arts, is one of the leading objects contemplated -by the present work. In addition to this, our better -acquaintance with the actual condition of these arts in early -times will tend, in many instances, to confirm the historic accuracy -and elucidate the idiom of many portions of Holy Writ.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</span></p> - -<p>How many of the grandest discoveries in the scientific world -owe their existence to accident! and how many more of the -boasted creations of human skill have proved to be but restorations -of lost or forgotten arts! How much also is still being -revealed to us by the monumental records of the old world, -whose occult glyphs, till recently, defied the most persevering -efforts of the learned for their solution!</p> - -<p>To be told that the Egyptians, four thousand years ago, -were cunning artificers in many of the pursuits which constitute -lucrative branches of our modern industry, might surprise -some readers: yet we learn from undoubted authorities that -such they were. They also were acquainted with the fabrication -of crapes, transparent tissues, cotton, silk, and paper, as -well as the art of preparing colors which still continue to defy -the corrosions of defacing time.</p> - -<p>If the <i>spider</i> may be regarded as the earliest practical -weaver upon record—the generic name <i>Textoriæ</i>, supplying -the root from which is clearly derived the English terms, <i>texture</i> -and <i>textile</i>, as applied to woven fabrics, of whatever materials -they may be composed—the <i>wasp</i> may claim the honor of -having been the first paper-manufacturer, for he presents us -with a most undoubted specimen of clear white pasteboard, of -so smooth a surface as to admit of being written upon with -ease and legibility. Would the superlative wisdom of man but -deign, with microscopic gaze, to study the ingenious movements -of the insect tribe more minutely, it would not be easy -to estimate how much might thereby be achieved for human -science, philosophy, and even morals!</p> - -<p>For those who love to add to their fund of general knowledge, -especially in the department of natural history, the author -trusts that much valuable and interesting information will be -found comprised in those pages of this work which delineate -the habits of the Silk-Worm, the Sheep, the Goat, the Camel, -the Beaver, &c.; while another department, being devoted to -the history of the Pastoral Life of the Ancients, will naturally -enlist the sympathies of such as take a deeper interest in the -records of ages and nations long since passed away. From a -mass of heterogeneous, though highly valuable materials, it has -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</span> -been the design of the author to select, arrange, and conserve -all that was apposite to his subject and of intrinsic value. -Thus has he endeavored to render the piles of antiquity, to -adopt the words of a recent writer, well compacted—a process -which has been begun in our times, and with such eminent success -that even the men of the present age may live to see many -of the thousand and one folios of the ancients handed over -without a sigh to the trunk-maker.</p> - -<p>The ample domains of Learning are fast being submitted to -fresh irrigation and renewed culture,—the exclusiveness of the -cloister has given place to an unrestricted distribution of the intellectual -wealth of all times. What civilization has accomplished -in the physical is also being achieved in the mental -world. The sterile and inaccessible wilderness is transformed -into the well-tilled garden, abounding in luxurious fruits and -fragrant flowers. It is the golden age of knowledge—its Paradise -Regained. The ponderous works of the olden time have -been displaced by the condensing process of modern literature; -yielding us their spirit and essence, without the heavy, -obscuring folds of their former verbal drapery. We want -real and substantial knowledge; but we are a labor-saving and -a time-economizing people,—it must therefore be obtained by -the most compendious processes. Except those with whom -learning is the business of life, we are too generally ignorant -of the mighty mysteries which Nature has heaped around our -path; ignorant, too, of many of the discoveries of science and -philosophy, in ancient as well as modern times. To meet the -exigencies of our day, a judgment in the selection and condensation -of works designed for popular use is demanded—a facility -like that of the alchymist, extracting from the crude ores -of antiquity the fine gold of true knowledge.</p> - -<p>The plan of this work naturally divides itself into four departments. -The first division is devoted to the consideration of -<i>Silk</i>, its early history and cultivation in China and various -other parts of the world; illustrated by copious citations from -ancient writers: From among whom to instance Homer, we -learn that embroidery and tapestry were prominent arts with -the Thebans, that poet deriving many of his pictures of domestic -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</span> -life from the paintings which have been found to ornament their -palaces. Thus it is evident that some of the proudest attainments -of art in our own day date their origin from a period coeval -at least with the Iliad. Again we find that the use of the -distaff and spindle, referred to in the Sacred Scriptures, was almost -as well understood in Egypt as it now is in India; while -the factory system, so far from being a modern invention, was -in full operation, and conducted under patrician influence, some -three thousand years ago. The Arabians also, even so far back -as five centuries subsequent to the deluge, were, it is stated on -credible authority, skilled in fabricating silken textures; while, -at a period scarcely less remote, we possess irrefragable testimony -in favor of their knowledge of paper made from cotton -rags. The inhabitants of Phœnicia and Tyre were, it appears, -the first acquainted with the process of dyeing: the Tyrian -purple, so often noticed by writers, being of so gorgeous a hue -as to baffle description. The Persians were also prodigal in -their indulgence in vestments of gold, embroidery and silk: the -memorable army of Darius affording an instance of sumptuous -magnificence in this respect. An example might also be given -of the extravagance of the Romans in the third century, in the -fact of a pound of silk being estimated literally by its weight -in gold. The nuptial robes of Maria, wife of Honorius, which -were discovered in her coffin at Rome in 1544, on being burnt, -yielded 36 pounds of pure gold! In the work here presented, -much interesting as well as valuable information is given under -this section, respecting the cultivation and manufacture of Silk -in China, Greece and other countries.</p> - -<p>The second division of the work, comprising the history of the -<i>Sheep</i>, <i>Goat</i>, <i>Camel</i>, and <i>Beaver</i>, it is hoped will also be -found curious and valuable. The ancient history of the <i>Cotton</i> -manufacture follows—a topic that has enlisted the pens of -many writers, though their essays, with two or three exceptions, -merit little notice. The subsequent pages embody many new -and important facts, connected with its early history and progress, -derived from sources inaccessible to the general reader. -The fourth and last division, embracing the history of the <i>Linen</i> -manufacture, includes notices of <i>Hemp</i>, <i>Flax</i>, <i>Asbestos</i>, &c. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</span> -This department again affords a fruitful theme for the curious, -and one that will be deemed, perhaps, not the least attractive -of the volume. Completing the design of the work, will be -found the Appendices, comprising rare and valuable extracts, -derived from unquestionable authorities.</p> - -<p>Of the <i>Ten Illustrations</i> herewith presented, five are entirely -original. It is hoped that these, at least, will be deemed -worthy the attention of the scholar as well as of the general -reader, and that their value will not be limited by their utility -as elucidations of the text. Among these, especial notice is requested -to the engraving of the Chinese Loom, a reduced fac-simile, -copied by permission from a magnificent Chinese production, -recently obtained from the Celestial Empire, and now in -the possession of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in -this city. Another, equally worthy of notice, represents an -Egyptian weaving factory, with the processes of Spinning and -Winding; also a reduced fac-simile, copied from <i>Champollion’s</i> -great work on Egypt. The Spider, magnified with his web, -and the Indian Loom, it is presumed, will not fail to attract attention.</p> - -<p>Throughout the entire work, the most diligent care has been -used in the collation of the numerous authorities cited, as well -as a rigid regard paid to their veracity. As a work so elaborate -in its character would necessarily have to depend, to a considerable -extent, for its facts and illustrations, upon the labors of -previous writers, the author deems no apology necessary in thus -publicly and gratefully avowing his indebtedness to the several -authors cited in order at the foot of his pages; but he would -especially mention the eminent name of Mr. Yates, to the fruits -of whose labors the present production owes much of its novelty, -attractiveness, and intrinsic value.</p> - -<p><i> New York, Oct. 1st, 1845.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="hrtocpart1" /> - -<h2><small>PART FIRST.</small><br /> -ANCIENT HISTORY OF SILK.</h2> - -<hr class="hrtocpart2" /> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> -<tbody> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Whether Silk is mentioned in the Old Testament—Earliest Clothing—Coats of -Skin, Tunic, Simla—Progress of Invention—Chinese chronology relative to the -Culture of Silk—Exaggerated statements—Opinions of Mailla, Le Sage, M. -Lavoisnè, Rev. J. Robinson, Dr. A. Clarke, Rev. W. Hales, D.D., Mairan, -Bailly, Guignes, and Sir William Jones—Noah supposed to be the first emperor -of China—Extracts from Chinese publications—Silk Manufactures of the -Island of Cos—Described by Aristotle—Testimony of Varro—Spinning and -Weaving in Egypt—Great ingenuity of Bezaleel and Aholiab in the production -of Figured Textures for the Jewish Tabernacle—Skill of the Sidonian women -in the Manufacture of Ornamental Textures—Testimony of Homer—Great -antiquity of the Distaff and Spindle—The prophet Ezekiel’s account of the -Broidered Stuffs, etc. of the Egyptians—Beautiful eulogy on an industrious -woman—Helen the Spartan, her superior skill in the art of Embroidery—Golden -Distaff presented her by the Egyptian queen Alcandra—Spinning a domestic -occupation in Miletus—Theocritus’s complimentary verses to Theuginis on her -industry and virtue—Taste of the Roman and Grecian ladies in the decoration -of their Spinning Implements—Ovid’s testimony to the skill of Arachne in -Spinning and Weaving—Method of Spinning with the Distaff—Described by -Homer and Catullus—Use of Silk in Arabia 500 years after the flood—Forster’s -testimony</td> - <td class="tocpage">1</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub1">HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE CONTINUED TO THE 4TH CENTURY.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub2">SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING.—HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ATTAINED -IN THESE ARTS.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Testimony of the Latin poets of the Augustan -age—Tibullus—Propertius—Virgil—Horace—Ovid—Dyonisius -Perigetes—Strabo. Mention of silk by authors in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</span> -the first century—Seneca the Philosopher—Seneca the Tragedian—Lucan—Pliny—Josephus—Saint -John—Silius Italicus—Statius—Plutarch—Juvenal—Martial—Pausanias—Galen—Clemens -Alexandrinus—Caution to Christian -converts against the use of silk in dress. Mention of silk by authors in the -second century—Tertullian—Apuleius—Ulpian—Julius Pollux—Justin. Mention -of silk by authors in the third century—Ælius Lampidius—Vopiscus—Trebellius -Pollio—Cyprian—Solinus—Ammianus—Marcellinus—Use of silk by -the Roman emperors—Extraordinary beauty of the textures—Use of water to -detach silk from the trees—Invectives of these authors against extravagance in -dress—The Seres described as a happy people—Their mode of traffic, etc.—(Macpherson’s -opinion of the Chinese.)—City of Dioscurias, its vast commerce -in former times.—(Colonel Syke’s account of the Kolissura silk-worm—Dr. -Roxburgh’s description of the Tusseh silk-worm.)</td> -<td class="tocpage">22</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub1">HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE FROM THE THIRD TO THE SIXTH -CENTURY.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub2">SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING.—HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ATTAINED -IN THESE ARTS.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Fourth Century—Curious account of silk found in the Edict of Diocletian—Extravagance -of the Consul Furius Placidus—Transparent silk shifts—Ausonius -describes silk as the produce of trees—Quintus Aur Symmachus, and Claudian’s -testimony of silk and golden textures—Their extraordinary beauty—Pisander’s -description—Periplus Maris Erythræi—Dido of Sidon. Mention of silk in the -laws of Manu—Rufus Festus Avinus—Silk shawls—Marciannus Capella—Inscription -by M. N. Proculus, silk manufacturer—Extraordinary spiders’ webs—Bombyces -compared to spiders—Wild silk-worms of Tsouen-Kien and Tiao-Kien—M. -Bertin’s account—Further remarks on wild silk-worms. Christian -authors of the fourth century—Arnobius—Gregorius Nazienzenus—Basil—Illustration -of the doctrine of the -resurrection—Ambrose—Georgius Pisida—Macarius—Jerome—Chrysostom—Heliodorus—Salmasius—Extraordinary -beauty of the silk and golden textures described by these authors—Their invectives -against Christians wearing silk. Mention of silk by Christian authors in -the fifth century—Prudentius—Palladius—Theodosian Code—Appollinaris Sidonius—Alcimus -Avitus. Sixth century—Boethius. (Manufactures of Tyre -and Sidon—Purple—Its great durability—Incredible value of purple stuffs -found in the treasury of the King of Persia.) -</td> -<td class="tocpage">41</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub1">HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE CONTINUED FROM THE INTRODUCTION -OF SILK-WORMS INTO EUROPE, A. D. 530, TO THE FOURTEENTH -CENTURY.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">A. D. 530.—Introduction of silk-worms into Europe—Mode by which it was -effected—The Serinda of Procopius the same with the modern Khotan—The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</span> -silk-worm never bred in Sir-hind—Silk shawls of Tyre and Berytus—Tyrannical -conduct of Justinian—Ruin of the silk manufactures—Oppressive conduct -of Peter Barsames—Menander Protector—Surprise of Maniak the Sogdian ambassador—Conduct -of Chosroes, king of Persia—Union of the Chinese and Persians -against the Turks—The Turks in self-defence seek an alliance with the -Romans—Mortification of the Turkish ambassador—Reception of the Byzantine -ambassador by Disabul, king of the Sogdiani—Display of silk textures—Paul -the Silentiary’s account of silk—Isidorus Hispalensis. Mention of silk by -authors in the seventh century—Dorotheus, Archimandrite of Palestine—Introduction -of silk-worms into Chubdan, or Khotan—Theophylactus Simocatta—Silk -manufactures of Turfan—Silk known in England in this century—First -worn by Ethelbert, king of Kent—Use of by the French kings—Aldhelmus’s -beautiful description of the silk-worm—Simile between weaving and virtue. -Silk in the eighth century—Bede. In the tenth century—Use of silk by -the English, Welsh, and Scotch kings. Twelfth century—Theodoras Prodromus—Figured -shawls of the Seres—Ingulphus describes vestments of silk interwoven -with eagles and flowers of gold—Great value of silk about this time—Silk -manufactures of Sicily—Its introduction into Spain. Fourteenth century—Nicholas -Tegrini—Extension of the Silk manufacture through Europe, illustrated -by etymology—Extraordinary beauty of silk and golden textures used in -the decoration of churches in the middle ages—Silk rarely mentioned in the -ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth centuries</td> -<td class="tocpage">66</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub1">SILK AND GOLDEN TEXTURES OF THE ANCIENTS.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub2">HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ATTAINED IN THIS MANUFACTURE.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Manufacture of golden textures in the time of Moses—Homer—Golden tunics of -the Lydians—Their use by the Indians and Arabians—Extraordinary display -of scarlet robes, purple, striped with silver, golden textures, &c., by Darius, -king of Persia—Purple and scarlet cloths interwoven with gold—Tunics and -shawls variegated with gold—Purple garments with borders of gold—Golden -chlamys—Attalus, king of Pergamus, <i>not</i> the inventor of gold thread—Bostick—Golden -robe worn by Agrippina—Caligula and Heliogabalus—Sheets interwoven -with gold used at the obsequies of Nero—Babylonian shawls intermixed -with gold—Silk shawls interwoven with gold—Figured cloths of gold and Tyrean -purple—Use of gold in the manufacture of shawls by the Greeks—4,000,000 -sesterces (about $150,000) paid by the Emperor Nero for a Babylonish -coverlet—Portrait of Constantius II.—Magnificence of Babylonian carpets, -mantles, &c.—Median sindones</td> -<td class="tocpage">84</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub1">SILVER TEXTURES, ETC., OF THE ANCIENTS.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub2">EXTREME BEAUTY OF THESE MANUFACTURES.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Magnificent dress worn by Herod Agrippa, mentioned in Acts xii. 21—Josephus’s -account of this dress, and dreadful death of Herod—Discovery of ancient Piece-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</span>goods—Beautiful -manuscript of Theodolphus, Bishop of Orleans, who lived in -the ninth century—Extraordinary beauty of Indian, Chinese, Egyptian, and -other manufactured goods preserved in this manuscript—Egyptian arts—Wise -regulations of the Egyptians in relation to the arts—Late discoveries in Egypt -by the Prussian hierologist, Dr. Lepsius—Cloth of glass</td> -<td class="tocpage">93</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub1">DESCRIPTION OF THE SILK-WORM, ETC.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Preliminary observations—The silk-worm—Various changes of the silk-worm—Its -superiority above other worms—Beautiful verses on the May-fly, illustrative -of the shortness of human life—Transformations of the silk-worm—Its -small desire of locomotion—First sickness of the worm—Manner of casting its -Exuviæ—Sometimes cannot be fully accomplished—Consequent death of the -insect—Second, third, and fourth sickness of the worm—Its disgust for food—Material -of which silk is formed—Mode of its secretion—Manner of unwinding -the filaments—Floss-silk—Cocoon—Its imperviousness to moisture—Effect of -the filaments breaking during the formation of the cocoon—Mr. Robinet’s curious -calculation on the movements made by a silk-worm in the formation of a -cocoon—Cowper’s beautiful lines on the silk-worm—Periods in which its various -progressions are effected in different climates—Effects of sudden transitions -from heat to cold—The worm’s appetite sharpened by increased temperature—Shortens -its existence—Various experiments in artificial heating—Modes of artificial -heating—Singular estimate of Count Dandolo—Astonishing increase of -the worm—Its brief existence in the moth state—Formation of silk—The silken -filament formed in the worm before its expulsion—Erroneous opinions entertained -by writers on this subject—The silk-worm’s Will</td> -<td class="tocpage">98</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub1">GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHINESE MODE OF REARING SILK-WORMS, -ETC.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Great antiquity of the silk-manufacture in China—Time and mode of pruning the -Mulberry-tree—Not allowed to exceed a certain height—Mode of planting—Situation -of rearing-rooms, and their construction—Effect of noise on the silk-worm—Precautions -observed in preserving cleanliness—Isan-mon, mother of -the worms—Manner of feeding—Space allotted to the worms—Destruction of -the Chrysalides—Great skill of the Chinese in weaving—American writers on the -Mulberry-tree—Silk-worms sometimes reared on trees—(M. Marteloy’s experiments -in 1764, in rearing silk-worms on trees in France)—Produce inferior -to that of worms reared in houses—Mode of delaying the hatching of the eggs—Method -of hatching—Necessity for preventing damp—Number of meals—Mode -of stimulating the appetite of the worms—Effect of this upon the quantity -of silk produced—Darkness injurious to the silk-worm—Its effect on the Mulberry-leaves—Mode -of preparing the cocoons for the reeling process—Wild<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</span> -silk-worms of India—Mode of hatching, &c.—(Observations on the cultivation -of silk by Dr. Stebbins—Dr. Bowring’s admirable illustration of the mutual dependence -of the arts upon each other.)</td> -<td class="tocpage">119</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">THE SPIDER.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub2">ATTEMPTS TO PROCURE SILKEN FILAMENTS FROM SPIDERS.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Structures of spiders—Spiders not properly insects, and why—Apparatus for spinning—Extraordinary -number of spinnerules—Great number of filaments composing -one thread—Réaumur and Leeuwenhoeck’s laughable estimates—Attachment -of the thread against a wall or stick—Shooting of the lines of spiders—1. -Opinions of Redi, Swammerdam, and Kirby—2. Lister, Kirby, and White—3. -La Pluche and Bingley—4. D’Isjonval, Murray, and Bowman—5.—Experiments -of Mr. Blackwall—His account of the ascent of gossamer—6. Experiments -by Rennie—Thread supposed to go off double—Subsequent experiments—Nests, -Webs, and Nets of Spiders—Elastic satin nest of a spider—Evelyn’s -account of hunting spiders—Labyrinthic spider’s nest—Erroneous account -of the House Spider—Geometric Spiders—Attempts to procure silken filaments -from Spiders’ bags—Experiments of M. Bon—Silken material—Manner of its -preparations—M. Bon’s enthusiasm—His spider establishment—Spider-silk not -poisonous—Its usefulness in healing wounds—Investigation of M. Bon’s establishment -by M. Réaumur—His objections—Swift’s satire against speculators -and projectors—Ewbank’s interesting observations on the ingenuity of -spiders—Mason-spiders—Ingenious -door with a hinge—Nest from the West Indies with -spring hinge—Raft-building Spider—Diving Water-Spider—Rev. Mr. Kirby’s -beautiful description of it—Observations of M. Clerck—Cleanliness of Spiders—Structure -of their claws—Fanciful account of them patting their webs—Proceedings -of a spider in a steamboat—Addison—His suggestions on the compilation -of a “History of Insects”</td> -<td class="tocpage">138</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_X">CHAPTER X.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">FIBRES OR SILKEN MATERIAL OF THE PINNA.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">The Pinna—Description of—Delicacy of its threads—Réaumur’s observations—Mode -of forming the filament or thread—Power of continually producing new -threads—Experiments to ascertain this fact—The Pinna and its Cancer -Friend—Nature of their alliance—Beautiful phenomenon—Aristotle and Pliny’s -account—The Greek poet Oppianus’s lines on the Pinna, and its Cancer friend—Manner -of procuring the Pinna—Poli’s description—Specimens of the Pinna -in the British Museum—Pearls found in the Pinna—Pliny and Athenæus’s account—Manner -of preparing the fibres of the Pinna for weaving—Scarceness -of this material—No proof that the ancients were acquainted with the art -of knitting—Tertullian the first ancient writer who makes mention of the -manufacture of cloth from the fibres of the Pinna—Procopius mentions a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</span> -chlamys made of the fibres of the Pinna, and a silken tunic adorned with sprigs -or feathers of gold—Boots of red leather worn only by Emperors—Golden fleece -of the Pinna—St. Basil’s account—Fibres of the Pinna not manufactured into -cloth at Tarentum in ancient times, but in India—Diving for the Pinna at Colchi—Arrian’s -account</td> -<td class="tocpage">174</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">FIBRES, OR SILKEN MATERIAL OF THE PINE-APPLE.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Fibres of the Pine-Apple—Facility of dyeing—Manner of preparing the fibres for -weaving—Easy cultivation of the plant—Thrives where no other plant will -live—Mr. Frederick Burt Zincke’s patent process of manufacturing cloth from -the fibres of this plant—Its comparative want of strength—Silken material procured -from the Papyfera—Spun and woven into cloth—Cloth of this description -manufactured generally by the Otaheiteans, and other inhabitants of the South -Sea Islands—Great strength (supposed) of ropes made from the fibres of the -aloe—Exaggerated statements</td> -<td class="tocpage">185</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">MALLOWS.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub2">CULTIVATION AND USE OF THE MALLOW AMONG THE ANCIENTS.—TESTIMONY -OF LATIN, GREEK, AND ATTIC WRITERS.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">The earliest mention of Mallows is to be found in Job xxx. 4.—Varieties of the -Mallow—Cultivation and use of the Mallow—Testimony of ancient authors—Papias -and Isidore’s mention of Mallow cloth—Mallow cloth common in the -days of Charlemagne—Mallow shawls—Mallow cloths mentioned in the Periplus -as exported from India to Barygaza (Baroch)—Calidāsa the Indian dramatist, -who lived in the first century B. C.—His testimony—Wallich’s (the Indian -botanist) account—Mantles of woven bark, mentioned in the Sacontăla -of Calidāsa—Valcălas, or Mantles of woven bark, mentioned in the Ramayana, -a noted poem of ancient India—Sheets made from trees—Ctesias’ testimony—Strabo’s -account—Testimony of Statius Cæcilius and Plautus, who lived 169 -B. C. and 184 B. C.—Plautus’s laughable enumeration of the analogy of trades—Beauty -of garments of Amorgos mentioned by Eupolis—Clearchus’s testimony—Plato -mentions linen shifts—Amorgine garments first manufactured at -Athens in the time of Aristophanes</td> -<td class="tocpage">191</td> -</tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter1_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">SPARTUM OR SPANISH BROOM.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub2">CLOTH MANUFACTURED FROM BROOM BARK, NETTLE, AND BULBOUS PLANT.—TESTIMONY -OF GREEK AND LATIN AUTHORS.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Authority for Spanish Broom—Stipa Tenacissima—Cloth made from -Broom-bark—Albania—Italy—France—Mode -of preparing the fibre for weaving—<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</span>Pliny’s -account of Spartum—Bulbous plant—Its fibrous coats—Pliny’s translation -of Theophrastus—Socks and garments—Size of the bulb—Its genus or -species not sufficiently defined—Remarks of various modern writers on this plant—Interesting -communications of Dr. Daniel Stebbins, of Northampton, Mass. -to Hon. H. L. Ellsworth</td> -<td class="tocpage">202</td> -</tr> - -</tbody> -</table> - -<hr class="hrtocpart1" /> - -<h2>PART SECOND.<br /> -<small>ORIGIN AND ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE SHEEP.</small></h2> - -<hr class="hrtocpart2" /> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> -<tbody> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter2_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">SHEEP’S WOOL.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub2">SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS OF -THE SCRIPTURES, ETC.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">The Shepherd Boy—Sheep-breeding in Scythia and Persia—Mesopotamia and -Syria—In Idumæa and Northern Arabia—In Palestine and Egypt—In Ethiopia -and Libya—In Caucasus and Coraxi—The Coraxi identified with the -modern Caratshai—In Asia Minor, Pisidia, Pamphylia, Samos, &c.—In Caria -and Ionia—Milesian wool—Sheep-breeding in Thrace, Magnesia, Thessaly, -Eubœa, and Bœotia—In Phocis, Attica, and Megaris—In Arcadia—Worship -of Pan—Pan the god of the Arcadian Shepherds—Introduction of his worship -into Attica—Extension of the worship of Pan—His dances with the nymphs—Pan -not the Egyptian Mendes, but identical with Faunus—The philosophical -explanation of Pan rejected—Moral, social, and political state of the Arcadians—Polybius -on the cultivation of music by the Arcadians—Worship of Mercury -in connection with sheep-breeding and the wool trade—Present state of Arcadia—Sheep-breeding -in Macedonia and Epirus—Shepherds’ dogs—Annual -migration of Albanian shepherds</td> -<td class="tocpage">217</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter2_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS -OF THE SCRIPTURES, ETC.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Sheep-breeding in Sicily—Bucolic poetry—Sheep-breeding in South Italy—Annual -migration of the flocks—The ram employed to aid the shepherd in conducting -his flock—The ram an emblem of authority—Bells—Ancient inscription -at Sepino—Use of music by ancient shepherds—Superior quality of Tarentine -sheep—Testimony of Columella—Distinction of the coarse and soft kinds—Names -given to sheep—Supposed effect of the water of rivers on wool—Sheep-breeding -in South Italy, Tarentum, and Apulia—Brown and red wool—Sheep-breeding -in North Italy—Wool of Parma, Modena, Mantua, and Padua—Ori<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</span>gin -of sheep-breeding in Italy—Faunus the same with Pan—Ancient sculptures -exhibiting Faunus—Bales of wool and the shepherd’s dress—Costume, appearance, -and manner of life of the ancient Italian shepherds</td> -<td class="tocpage">256</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter2_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS -OF THE SCRIPTURES, ETC.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Sheep-breeding in Germany and Gaul—In Britain—Improved by the Belgians -and Saxons—Sheep-breeding in Spain—Natural dyes of Spanish wool—Golden -hue and other natural dyes of the wool of Bætica—Native colors of Bætic -wool—Saga and chequered plaids—Sheep always bred principally for the -weaver, not for the butcher—Sheep supplied milk for food, wool for clothing—The -moth</td> -<td class="tocpage">282</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter2_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">GOATS-HAIR.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub2">ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE GOAT—ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES, ETC.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Sheep-breeding and goats in China—Probable origin of sheep and goats—Sheep -and goats coeval with man, and always propagated together—Habits of Grecian -goat-herds—He-goat employed to lead the flock—Cameo representing a -goat-herd—Goats chiefly valued for their milk—Use of goats’-hair for coarse -clothing—Shearing of goats in Phrygia, Cilicia, &c.—Vestes caprina, cloth of -goats’-hair—Use of goats’-hair for military and naval purposes—Curtains to -cover tents—Etymology of Sack and Shag—Symbolical uses of sack-cloth—The -Arabs weave goats’-hair—Modern uses of goats’-hair and goats’-wool—Introduction -of the Angora or Cashmere goat into France—Success of the -Project</td> -<td class="tocpage">293</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter2_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">BEAVERS-WOOL.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Isidorus Hispalensis—Claudian—Beckmann—Beavers’-wool—Dispersion of Beavers -through Europe—Fossil bones of Beavers</td> -<td class="tocpage">309</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter2_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">CAMELS-WOOL AND CAMELS-HAIR.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Camels’-wool and Camels’-hair—Ctesias’s account—Testimony of modern travellers—Arab -tent of Camels’-hair—Fine cloths still made of Camels’-wool—The -use of hair of various animals in the manufacture of beautiful stuffs by the ancient -Mexicans—Hair used by the Candian women in the manufacture of broidered -stuffs—Broidered stuffs of the negresses of Senegal—Their great beauty</td> -<td class="tocpage">312</td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> - -<hr class="hrtocpart1" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xix">[Pg xix]</span></p> - -<h2>PART THIRD.<br /> -<small>ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE.</small></h2> - -<hr class="hrtocpart2" /> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> -<tbody> -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter3_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub1">GREAT ANTIQUITY OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE IN INDIA—UNRIVALLED -SKILL OF THE INDIAN WEAVER.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Superiority of Cotton for clothing, compared with linen, both in hot and cold climates—Cotton -characteristic of India—Account of Cotton by Herodotus, -Ctesias, Theophrastus, Aristobulus, Nearchus, Pomponius Mela—Use of Cotton -in India—Cotton known before silk and called Carpasus, Carpasum, Carbasum, -&c.—Cotton awnings used by the Romans—Carbasus applied to linen—Last -request of Tibullus—Muslin fillet of the vestal virgin—Linen sails, &c., -called Carbasa—Valerius Flaccus introduces muslin among the elegancies in -the dress of a Phrygian from the river Rhyndacus—Prudentius’s satire on pride—Apuleius’s -testimony—Testimony of Sidonius Apollinaris, and Avienus—Pliny -and Julius Pollux—Their testimony considered—Testimony of Tertullian -and Philostratus—Of Martianus Capella—Cotton paper mentioned by Theophylus -Presbyter—Use of Cotton by the Arabians—Cotton not common anciently -in Europe—Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville’s testimony of the -Cotton of India—Forbes’s description of the herbaceous Cotton of Guzerat—Testimony -of Malte Brun—Beautiful Cotton textures of the ancient Mexicans—Testimony -of the Abbé Clavigero—Fishing nets made from Cotton by the -inhabitants of the West India Islands, and on the Continent of South America—Columbus’s -testimony—Cotton used for bedding by the Brazilians</td> -<td class="tocpage">315</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter3_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">SPINNING AND WEAVING—MARVELLOUS SKILL DISPLAYED IN THESE -ARTS.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Unrivalled excellence of India muslins—Testimony of the two Arabian travellers—Marco -Polo, and Odoardo Barbosa’s accounts of the beautiful Cotton textures -of Bengal—Cæsar Frederick, Tavernier, and Forbes’s testimony—Extraordinary -fineness and transparency of Decca muslins—Specimen brought by Sir -Charles Wilkins; compared with English muslins—Sir Joseph Banks’s experiments—Extraordinary -fineness of Cotton yarn spun by machinery in England—Fineness -of India Cotton yarn—Cotton textures of Soonergong—Testimony of -R. Fitch—Hamilton’s account—Decline of the manufactures of Dacca accounted -for—Orme’s testimony of the universal diffusion of the Cotton manufacture -in India—Processes of the manufacture—Rude implements—Roller gin—Bowing. -(Eli Whitney inventor of the cotton gin—Tribute of respect paid -to his memory—Immense value of Mr. Whitney’s invention to growers and manufacturers -of Cotton throughout the world.) Spinning wheel—Spinning without<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xx">[Pg xx]</span> -a wheel—Loom—Mode of weaving—Forbes’s description—Habits and remuneration -of Spinners, Weavers, &c.—Factories of the East India Company—Marvellous -skill of the Indian workman accounted for—Mills’s testimony—Principal -Cotton fabrics of India, and where made—Indian commerce in Cotton goods—Alarm -created in the woollen and silk manufacturing districts of Great Britain—Extracts -from publications of the day—Testimony of Daniel De Foe (Author -of <i>Robinson Crusoe</i>.)—Indian fabrics prohibited in England, and most -other countries of Europe—Petition from Calcutta merchants—Present condition -of the City of Dacca—Mode of spinning fine yarns—Tables showing -the comparative prices of Dacca and British manufactured goods of the same -quality</td> -<td class="tocpage">333</td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> - -<hr class="hrtocpart1" /> - -<h2>PART FOURTH.<br /> -<small>ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE LINEN MANUFACTURE.</small></h2> - -<hr class="hrtocpart2" /> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> -<tbody> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter4_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">FLAX.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub2">CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF FLAX BY THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS -OF THE SCRIPTURES, ETC.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Earliest mention of Flax—Linen manufactures of the Egyptians—Linen worn by -the priests of Isis—Flax grown extensively in Egypt—Flax gathering—Envelopes -of Linen found on Egyptian mummies—Examination of mummy-cloth—Proved -to be Linen—Flax still grown in Egypt—Explanation of terms—Byssus—Reply -to J. R. Forster—Hebrew and Egyptian terms—Flax in North -Africa, Colchis, Babylonia—Flax cultivated in Palestine—Terms for flax and -tow—Cultivation of Flax in Palestine and Asia Minor—In Elis, Etruria, Cisalpine -Gaul, Campania, Spain—Flax of Germany, of the Atrebates, and of the -Franks—Progressive use of linen among the Greeks and Romans</td> -<td class="tocpage">358</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter4_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tocsub1">HEMP.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Cultivation and Uses of Hemp by the Ancients—Its use limited—Thrace Colchis—Caria—Etymology -of Hemp</td> -<td class="tocpage">387</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Chapter4_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">ASBESTOS.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">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</td> -<td class="tocpage">390</td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxi">[Pg xxi]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak">APPENDICES.</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="hrtocpart2" /> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> -<tbody> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Appendix_A">APPENDIX A.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">ON PLINY’S NATURAL HISTORY.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">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</td> -<td class="tocpage">401</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Appendix_B">APPENDIX B.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">ON THE ORIGIN AND MANUFACTURE OF LINEN AND COTTON PAPER.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub2">THE INVENTION OF LINEN PAPER PROVEN TO BE OF EGYPTIAN ORIGIN—COTTON -PAPER MANUFACTURED BY THE BUCHARIANS AND ARABIANS, A. D. 704.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">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 manufacturer’s—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.)</td> -<td class="tocpage">404</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Appendix_C">APPENDIX C.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">ON FELT.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub2">MANUFACTURE AND USE OF FELTING BY THE ANCIENTS.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">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—<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxii">[Pg xxii]</span>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</td> -<td class="tocpage">414</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctitle"><a href="#Appendix_D">APPENDIX D.</a></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub1">ON NETTING.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tocsub2">MANUFACTURE AND USE OF NETS BY THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE -SCRIPTURES, ETC.</td> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="toctext">Nets were made of Flax, Hemp, and Broom—General terms for nets—Nets used -for catching birds—Mode of snaring—Hunting-nets—Method of hunting—Hunting-nets -supported by forked stakes—Manner of fixing them—Purse-net -or tunnel-net—Homer’s testimony—Nets used by the Persians in lion-hunting—Hunting -with nets practised by the ancient Egyptians—Method of hunting—Depth -of nets for this purpose—Description of the purse-net—Road-net—Hallier—Dyed -feathers used to scare the prey—Casting-net—Manner of throwing -by the Arabs—Cyrus king of Persia—His fable of the piper and the fishes—Fishing-nets—Casting-net -used by the Apostles—Landing-net (Scap-net)—The -Sean—Its length and depth—Modern use of the Sean—Method of fishing -with the Sean practised by the Arabians and ancient Egyptians—Corks and -leads—Figurative application of the Sean—Curious method of capturing an -enemy practised by the Persians—Nets used in India to catch tortoises—Bag-nets -and small purse-nets—Novel scent-bag of Verres the Sicilian prætor</td> -<td class="tocpage">436</td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xxiii">[Pg xxiii]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="LIST_OF_PLATES">LIST OF PLATES.</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="hrtocpart2" /> - -<table summary="TOI"> -<tbody> -<tr><td class="right">I.</td> - <td><a href="#Plate_I">Frontispiece—Chinese Looms.</a></td> - <td class="right"><i>to face page</i></td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="right">II.</td> - <td><a href="#Plate_II">Egyptian Looms, with the Processes of Spinning and Winding,</a></td> - <td class="right">93</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="right">III.</td> - <td><a href="#Plate_III">Silk Worm, Cocoons, Chrysalis, Moths, and Pinna</a></td> - <td class="right">118</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="right">IV.</td> - <td><a href="#Plate_IV">Spiders, with the Processes of Spinning and Weaving</a></td> - <td class="right">172</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="right">V.</td> - <td><a href="#Plate_V">Indian Loom, with the Process of Winding off the Thread</a></td> - <td class="right">315</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="right">VI.</td> - <td><a href="#Plate_VI">Egyptian Flax-gathering. Magnified Fibres of Flax and Cotton</a></td> - <td class="right">359</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="right">VII.</td> - <td><a href="#Plate_VII">Map, showing the Divisions of the Ancient World, coloured according - to the Raw Materials principally produced in them - for Weaving</a></td> - <td class="right">400</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="right">VIII.</td> -<td><a href="#Plate_VIII">Caps worn by Cynic Philosopher, Vulcan, Dædalus, Ulysses, -and a Desultor. Caps worn by Modern Greek Boy and -Fisherman. Mysian Cap or Phrygian Bonnet. Coins in the -British Museum</a></td> - <td class="right">415</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="right">IX.</td> - <td><a href="#Plate_IX">Statue of Endymion. Hats worn by Shepherds and Athenian -Ephebi. Coins in the British Museum</a></td> - <td class="right">434</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="right">X.</td> -<td><a href="#Plate_X">Hunting-scenes in bas-reliefs at Ince-Blundell. Egyptians with -the Drag-Net</a></td> - <td class="right">464</td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Part_FIRST">PART FIRST.<br /> -ANCIENT HISTORY OF SILK.</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_I">CHAPTER I.<br /> -SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING.</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Whether Silk is mentioned in the Old Testament—Earliest Clothing—Coats of -Skin, Tunic, Simla—Progress of Invention Chinese chronology relative to the -Culture of Silk—Exaggerated statements—Opinions of Mailla, Le Sage, M. -Lavoisnè, Rev. J. Robinson, Dr. A. Clarke, Rev. W. Hales, D.D., Mairan, -Bailly, Guignes, and Sir William Jones—Noah supposed to be the first emperor -of China—Extracts from Chinese publications—Silk Manufactures of the -island of Cos—Described by Aristotle—Testimony of Varro—Spinning and -Weaving in Egypt—Great ingenuity of Bezaleel and Aholiab in the production -of Figured Textures for the Jewish Tabernacle—Skill of the Sidonian women -in the Manufacture of Ornamental Textures—Testimony of Homer—Great -antiquity of the Distaff and Spindle—The prophet Ezekiel’s account of the -Broidered Stuffs, etc. of the Egyptians—Beautiful eulogy on an industrious -woman—Helen the Spartan, her superior skill in the art of Embroidery—Golden -Distaff presented her by the Egyptian queen Alcandra—Spinning a domestic -occupation in Miletus—Theocritus’s complimentary verses to Theuginis on her -industry and virtue—Taste of the Roman and Grecian ladies in the decoration -of their Spinning Implements—Ovid’s testimony to the skill of Arachne in -Spinning and Weaving—Method of Spinning with the Distaff—Described by -Homer and Catullus—Use of Silk in Arabia 500 years after the flood—Forster’s -testimony.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To please the flesh a thousand arts contend:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The miser’s heaps of gold, the figur’d vest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The gem, the silk-worm, and the purple dye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By toil acquir’d, promote no other end.—<i>Peristeph. Hymn.</i> x.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Whether silk is ever mentioned in the Old Testament -cannot perhaps be determined.</p> - -<p>In Ezek. xvi. 10 and 13, “silk” is used in the common -English bible for משי, which occurs no where except here, -but which, as appears from the context, certainly meant some -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> -valuable article of female dress. Le Clerc and Rosenmüller -translate it “serico;” Cocceius, Schindler, Buxtorf, in their -Lexicons, and Dr. John Taylor in his Concordance, give the -same interpretation. Augusti and De Wette in their German -translation make it signify “<i>a silken veil</i>.” Others give different -interpretations. The only ground, on which silk of -any kind is supposed to be meant, is that in the Alexandrine -or Septuagint version משי is translated τρίχαπτον, and τρίχαπτον -is explained by Hesychius to mean “the <i>silken</i> web fitted to -be placed over the hair of the head” (τὸ βομβύκινον ὕφασμα ὑπὲρ τῶν -τριχῶν τῆς κεφαλῆς ἁπτόμενον), and that other ancient Greek lexicographers -also suppose a silken garment to be meant.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> But the -meaning of τρίχαπτον is in reality as obscure as that of משי. -Jerome could not discover it, and concluded that the word was -invented by the Greek translator. It is now extant no where -else except in a passage of the comic Pherecrates preserved in -Athenæus. Schneider, followed by Passow, supposes it to -mean some garment made of hair, and quotes to this effect -the explanation of Pollux (2. 24.), πλέγμα ἐκ τριχῶν. Although, -therefore, the term in question may possibly have denoted -some elegant and costly ornament for the head, made at least -partly of silk, yet this opinion appears to rest altogether upon -the assumption, first, that the ancient lexicographers are accurate -in their use of the epithet βομβύκινον, and secondly, that -the Alexandrine version is accurate in adopting the word - τρίχαπτον.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> See Schleusner, Lexicon in LXX., v. -Τρίχαπτον.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In Isaiah xix. 9, according to King James’s Translators -and Bishop Lowth, mention is made of those “<i>that work in -fine flax</i>,” in the original עבדי פשתים שריקות. Rosenmüller -adopts nearly the same interpretation, which is founded -upon the use of the verb שרק or סרק in the Chaldee and -Syriac dialects to denote the operation of <i>combing</i> flax, wool, -hair, and other substances. In this sense the word has been -taken by the author of the Alexandrine Version, τοὺς ἐργαζομένους -τὸ λίνον τὸ σχιστὸν; by Symmachus, who instead of σχιστὸν uses - κτενιστὸν; and by Jerome, “qui operabantur linum <i>pectentes</i>.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p> - -<p>In the Targum of Jonathan and in the Syriac Version the -same root is taken to denote silk; רסריקין פלחי כתנא Targ. ܥܒܕܝ ܟܬܢܐ ܕܣܪܩܝܢ -Syr. Both of these seem to admit -of the following literal translation, “<i>those who make silken -tunics</i>,” or in Latin, “<i>Factores tunicarum e sericis</i>.”</p> - -<p>Kimchi supposes שריקות to mean silk webs, observing -that silk is called אל שרק by the Arabs. The same opinion -has been adopted by Nicholas Fuller<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>, Buxtorf, and other -modern critics. Kennicott, however, arranges the words in -two lines as follows,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><big>ובשו עבדי פשתים</big></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><big>שריקות וארגים הורי</big></div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - -<p>According to this arrangement, which seems most suitable to -the rules of grammatical construction, we have three co-ordinate -phrases in the plural number, denoting three different -classes of artificers. The second, שריקות, would by its termination -denote <i>female</i> artificers, viz. women employed in -<i>combing</i> wool, flax, or other substances. On the whole we -are inclined to adopt this explanation of the word, as it appears -to be attended with the least difficulty, either grammatical -or etymological.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Miscellanea Sacra, l. ii. c. 11.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Silk is mentioned Prov. xxxi. 22. in King James’s Translation, -i. e. the common English version, and in the margin -of Gen. xli. 42. But the use of the word is quite unauthorized.</p> - -<p>After a full examination of the whole question Braunius<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> -decides that there is no mention of silk in the whole of the -Old Testament, and that it was unknown to the Hebrews in -ancient times.</p> - -<p>“There can be no doubt,” says Professor Hurwitz, “that -manufactures and the arts must have attained a high degree -of perfection at the time when Moses wrote; and that many -of them were known long before that period, we have the evidence -of Scripture. It is true that inventions were at first -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span> -few, and their progress very slow, but they were suited to the -then condition and circumstances of man, as is evident even -in the art of clothing. Placed in the salubrious and mild air -of paradise, our first parents could hardly want any other covering -than what decency required. Accordingly we find that -the first and only article of dress was the חגורה <i>chagora</i>, the -belt, (not aprons, as in the established version). The materials -of which it was made were fig leaves; (Gen. iii. 7.) the -same tree that afforded them food and shelter, furnished them -likewise with materials for covering their bodies. But when -in consequence of their transgressions they were to be ejected -from their blissful abode, and forced to dwell in less favourable -regions, a more substantial covering became necessary, -their merciful Creator made them (i. e. inspired them with -the thoughts of making for themselves) כתנות עור coats of -skins. (Gen. iii. 21.) The original word is כתנת <i>c’thoneth</i>, -whence the Greek χιτὼν the tunic, a close garment that was -usually worn next the skin, it reached to the knees, and had -sleeves (in after times it was made either of wool or linen.) -After man had subdued the sheep (Hebrew כבשׂ <i>caves</i> from -כגש to subdue<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>) and learned how to make use of its wool, -we find a new article of dress, namely the שמלה <i>simla</i>, an -upper garment: it consisted of a piece of cloth about six yards -long and two or three wide, in shape not unlike our blankets. -This will explain Gen. ix. 23, ‘And Shem and Japheth took -a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went -backward and covered the nakedness of their father.’ It -served as a dress by day, as a bed by night, (Exod. xxii. 26,) -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span> -‘If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou -shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down; for that -is his covering only; it is his raiment for his skin: wherein -shall he sleep?’ And sometimes burdens were carried in it, -(Exod. xii. 34,) ‘And the people took their dough before it -was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their -clothes upon their shoulders.’</p> - -<p>“In the course of time various other garments came into -use, as mentioned in several other parts of Scripture. The -materials of which these garments were usually made are -specified in Leviticus xiii. 47-59, ‘The garment also that -the plague of the leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment -or a linen garment, whether it be in the <i>warp</i> or <i>woof</i>, -of linen or of woollen; whether in a skin, or in anything -made of skin, &c.’”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> De vestitu Heb. Sacerdotum, l. 1. cap. viii. § 8.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> There is not the least shadow of truth in support of such a deduction; and -particularly so since the general tenor of the Scriptures leads to a very different -conclusion. We are, therefore, not authorized to give our support to any such -hypothesis. The history of the Sheep and Goat is so interwoven with the history -of man, that those naturalists have not reasoned correctly, who have thought it -necessary to refer the first origin of either of them to any wild stock at all. Such -view is, we imagine, more in keeping with the inferences to be drawn from Scripture -History with regard to the early domestication of the sheep. Abel, we are -told, was a keeper of sheep, and it was one of the firstlings of his flock that he -offered to the Lord, and which, proving a more acceptable sacrifice, excited the -implacable and fatal jealousy of his brother Cain. (See Part ii. pp. <a href="#Page_217">217</a> and <a href="#Page_217">293</a>.)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In our search for the distant origin of any art or science, or -in looking through the long vista of ages remote even to nations -extinct before our own, we are favored with satisfactory -evidence so long as we are accompanied with authentic records: -beyond, all is dark, obscure, tradition, fable. On such ground -it would be credulous or rash in the extreme to repeat as our -own, an affirmation, when that rests on the single testimony -of one party or interest, especially when that is of a very questionable -character. It is even safer, when history or well authenticated -records fail us, to appeal to philosophy, or to the -well known laws of mind, from which all arts and science -spring. The former favors us with the commanding evidence -of certainty and decision; and though the latter may only afford -the testimony of analogy, yet, is its probability more safe, -at least, than what rests on misguided calculations or on the -legendary tales of artifice and fiction.</p> - -<p>We have, however, authentic testimony that the <i>inventive</i> -faculty existed at a very early period. The peculiar condition -of man at that time must have afforded many imperative occasions -for its exertion. Hence we read that “Jabal was the -father of such as dwell in tents” (<i>i. e.</i> <i>inventor</i> of tent-making); -that “Jubal, his brother, was the father” (inventor) of -musical instruments: such as the <i>kinnor</i>, harp, or stringed instruments, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> -and the <i>ugab</i>, organ, or wind instruments; that -“Tubal-cain was the instructor of every artificer in brass and -iron, the first smith on record, or one to teach how to make -instruments and utensils out of brass and iron; and that the -sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah, whom the Targum of -Jonathan ben Uzziel affirms to have been the <i>inventrix</i> of -plaintive or elegiac poetry<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>. Here is then an account of the -<i>inventive</i> faculty being in exercise 3504 years before the -Christian era; or 1156 years prior to the deluge; or 804 -years before the earliest period assigned to the Chinese for the -discovery of silk. And of whatever arts or sciences existing -amongst men prior to the deluge, there is no difficulty in conceiving -the possibility of the transmission of the leading and -most essential parts, at least, to the post-diluvians, by the family -of Noah.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> As a proof that the inventive faculty, as to every thing truly useful to man, -originally proceeded from <i>the only “Giver of every good and perfect gift,”</i> consult -Isa. xxviii. 24-29: and also a beautiful comment by Dr. A. Clarke on, -“And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, <i>whom I have filled</i> with -the spirit of wisdom.” Exod. xxviii. 3: and also on, “I have filled him with the -spirit of God in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner -of workmanship; to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and -in brass; and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work -in all manner of curious workmanship.” Exod. xxxi. 3, 4, and 5.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>But instead of giving our unqualified assent to what has -been servilely copied from book to book from the most accessible -account, we shall advert to the great discrepancy relative to -Chinese chronology, amongst those who have had equal access -to their records. Thus the time of Fohi, the first emperor, has -been said to be 2951 B. C., by some 2198 B. C., and by others -2057, or about 300 years after the deluge: of Hoang-ti, 2700 -B. C., by Mailla it is quoted at 2602 B. C., by Le Sage at -2597 B. C., and by Robinson and others at 1703 B. C. Similar -disagreements might, would our limits allow, be observed -concerning the rest, and particularly of the emperors, Hiao-wenti, -Chim-ti, Ming-ti, Youen-ti, Wenti, Wou-ti, and Hiao-wou-ti. -Even in more modern times, and relative to a character -so notorious as Confucius, no less than three dates are -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> -equally affirmed to be true. As to Hoang-ti, who is said to -have begun <i>the culture of silk</i>, we are inclined to prefer the -latter account, 1703 B. C., which makes him contemporary -with Joseph, when prime minister over the land of Egypt.</p> - -<p>As a confirmation of this, it may be stated, that by referring -to the account given of nine<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> of the patriarchs at this period, -we shall find that the average age of human life, <i>before much -greater</i>, soon after rapidly declined. Now the average duration -of the reigns of the first three<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Chinese emperors, including -Hoang-ti, was 118 years; of the five that immediately succeeded, -only 68 years. After this, until the Christian era, the average -duration of a single reign did not exceed 23 years, and -thence until the present time not 13 years. Since, therefore, -the average duration of the reign of the first three emperors -bears an evident and fit proportion to that of the age of man -at the period specified, though not at any other before or after, -being in the former case as much too small as it would in the -latter be too great, the opinion now offered is the only one that -can be consistent with these striking facts; and, if duly considered, -presents an argument strongly corroborating this view -of the subject.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph: -Gen. xi. 16-26; xlvii. 28; and l. 26.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> Fohi, Eohi Chinun, and Hoang-ti.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>To attempt to establish any greater certainty, in a case of -this nature, the Chinese during the dynasty of Tschin, having, -to conceal the truth, destroyed everything authentic, would be -in vain. It would be even more rational to have recourse to -the Vedas, or sacred books of the Brahmins, or to records in -the Sanscrit, were it not a well known fact, that nearly all -ancient nations, <i>except the Jews</i>, actuated by the same ambition, -have betrayed a wish to have their origin traced as far -back as the creation. And in the gratification of this passion -none are so notoriously pre-eminent as the Egyptians, Hindoos, -and Chinese.<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> For them the limits of the creation itself have -been too narrow, and days, weeks, and even months too short, -unless multiplied into years.<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> See Dr. A. Clarke’s remarks: end of Gen.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> See pp. 68, 74, 119 and 294.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> -The chronology relative to the early culture of silk, as -found in Chinese documents, for several irrefragable objections -already assigned, is exceedingly questionable, and therefore -we are by no means pledged to affirm that either in the -authenticity of the books, or in the correctness of the dates have -we any faith. M. Lavoisnè dates the commencement of the -Chinese dynasties at A. M.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> 1816, <i>or 159 years after the deluge</i>. -The Rev. J. Robinson of Christ Col., Cam., at A. M. -1947. We have already given as strong reasons, as under the -extreme incertitude of the case, can, perhaps, be offered, for -preferring the latter; the important points may be briefly -stated, thus:</p> - -<table summary="timeline"> -<tbody> -<tr><td>End of the deluge</td> - <td class="tdr"><a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>1657 A. M.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Fohi, first emperor, began to reign</td> - <td class="tdr">1947 A. M.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Noah died</td> - <td class="tdr">2007 A. M.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Eohi Chinun, second emperor, began to reign</td> - <td class="tdr">2061 A. M.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Hoang-ti, the third emperor, began to reign</td> - <td class="tdr">2201 A. M.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Hoang-ti after establishing the silk culture, died</td> - <td class="tdr">2301 A. M.</td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> - -<p> -Hoang-ti was therefore contemporary with Joseph when administering -the affairs of Egypt.<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> But would we know what -account the Chinese themselves give relative to the earliest -introduction of the silk culture, we shall find it in the French -version of the Chinese Treatises, by M. Stanislas Julien, or in -the following words of pages 77 and 78, as translated and -published in 1838, at Washington, under the title of “Summary -of the principal Chinese Treatises upon the Culture of -the Mulberry, and the rearing of Silk-worms.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> A. M. signifies <i>Anno Mundi</i>, that is in the year of the World. The Year of -Our Lord always commences on the first day of January, the day on which -Christ was circumcised, being eight days old. From the Creation until the birth -of Christ, was 4004 years.</p> - -<p>Tirin places the birth of Christ in the 36th year of Herod, the 40th of Augustus, -the 28th from the battle of Actium, the 749th of Rome, and the 4th of the -193d Olympiad.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> It will here not be improper to observe that the Samaritan text and Septuagint -version of the Hebrew, carry the deluge as far back as to the year 3716 before -Christ; or 1000 years before the Chinese account of Hoang-ti. On this subject -see the New Analysis of Chronology, by the Rev. W. Hales, D.D. 4to., 3 vol.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> Joseph died in the 2369th year from the Creation.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> -In the book on silk-worms, we read: “The lawful wife of -the emperor Hoang-ti, named <i>Si-ling-chi</i>, began the culture of -silk. It was at that time that the emperor Hoang-ti invented -the art of making garments(!).” The same fact is mentioned -more in detail in the general history of China, by P. Maillà, -in the year 2602, before our era (4447 years ago).</p> - -<p>“This great prince (Hoang-ti) was desirous that Si-ling-chi, -his legitimate wife, should contribute to the happiness of -his people. He charged her to examine the silk-worms, and -to test the practicability of using the thread. Si-ling-chi had -a large quantity of these insects collected, which she fed herself, -in a place prepared for that purpose, and discovered not -only the means of raising them, but also the manner of reeling -the silk, and of employing it to make garments.”</p> - -<p>“It is through gratitude for so great a benefit,” says the -history, entitled <i>Wai-ki</i>, “that posterity has deified Si-ling-chi, -and rendered her particular honors under the name of -the goddess of silk-worms.” (Memoirs on the Chinese, vol. -13, p. 240.)</p> - -<p>We have seen that the most probable account relative to the -time of Fohi, said to have been the first Chinese emperor, is -that he reigned 2057 years before the Christian era, or in the -year of the world 1947. “According to the most current -opinion,” says M. Lavoisnè, “China was founded by one of -the colonies formed at the dispersion of Noah’s posterity under -the conduct of Yao, who took for his colleague Chun, afterwards -his successor. But most writers consider Fohi to have -been Noah himself(!).”</p> - -<p>Now the deluge terminated A. M. 1657, and Noah lived -after the deluge 350 years<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>, and therefore died A. M. 2007; -and as Fohi is said to have reigned 114 years, before Eohi -Chun or Chinun succeeded him, he was contemporary, at -least, with Noah. The ark rested on Mount Ararat, which is -generally allowed to be one of the mountains of Armenia, to -the east of the head of the Tigris. And here the same author -remarks, that “in rather less than a century and a half, after -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> -the birth of Peleg, it is supposed that Noah, being then about -his 840th year, <i>wearied with the growing depravity of his -descendants, retired with a select company to a remote -corner of Asia, and there began what in after ages has -been termed the Chinese monarchy</i>.”<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> This view of the subject, -we believe, coincides perfectly with the reputable testimonies -presented by Mairan, Bailly, Guignes, and Sir William -Jones, and demonstrates that the transit of more central aborigines, -since the deluge, to the extremes of China, was perfectly -feasible,<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> and a matter of even high probability.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> Gen. ix. 28.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> Clarke’s “Treatise on the Mulberry-tree, and Silk-worm,” pp. 14, 18, 20, -21, 27, and 34.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> See <a href="#Page_67">chap. iv. p. 67</a>. Also <a href="#Plate_VII">Plate VII.</a> (Map.)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The first ancient author, who affords any evidence respecting -the use of silk, is Aristotle. He does not, however, appear -to have been accurately acquainted with the changes of the -silk-worm; nor does he say, that the animal was bred or the -raw material produced in Cos. He only says, “Pamphile, -daughter of Plates, is reported to have first woven it in Cos.” -(See Chapters <a href="#Chapter1_II">ii.</a> <a href="#Chapter1_III">iii.</a> and <a href="#Chapter1_IV">iv.</a> of this Part.)</p> - -<p>Long before the time of Aristotle a regular trade had been -established in the interior of Asia, which brought its most -valuable productions, and especially those which were most -easily transported, to the shores opposite this flourishing island. -Nothing therefore is more likely than that the raw silk from -the interior of Asia was brought to Cos and there manufactured. -We shall see hereafter from the testimony of Procopius, -that it was in like manner brought some centuries later to be -woven in the Phœnician cities, Tyre and Berytus.</p> - -<p>The arts of spinning and weaving, which rank next in importance -to agriculture, having been found among almost all -the nations of the old and new continents, even among those -little removed from barbarism, are reasonably supposed to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> -have been invented at a very remote period of the world’s -history<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>. They evidently existed in Egypt in the time of -Joseph (1700 years before the Christian era), as it is recorded -that Pharaoh “arrayed him in vestures of fine linen.” (Genesis -xli. 42.) Two centuries later, the Hebrews carried with -them on their departure from that ancient seat of civilization, -the arts of <i>spinning</i>, <i>dyeing</i>, <i>weaving</i>, and <i>embroidery</i>; for -when Moses constructed the tabernacle in the wilderness, “the -women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and -brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, -and of scarlet, and of fine linen.” (Exod. xxxv. 25.) -They also “spun goats’ hair;” and Bezaleel and Aholiab -“worked all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the -cunning workman, and of <i>the embroiderer, in blue, and of -purple, and in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver</i>.” -These passages contain the earliest mention of woven clothing, -which was linen, the national manufacture of Egypt. -The prolific borders of the Nile furnished from the remotest -periods, as at the present time, abundance of the finest flax<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>; -and it appears, from the testimony both of sacred and profane -history, that linen continued to be almost the only kind of -clothing used in Egypt till after the Christian era<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a>. The -Egyptians exported their “linen yarn,” and “fine linen,” to -the kingdom of Israel, in the days of Solomon, (2 Chron. i. -16; Prov. vii. 16;) their “fine linen with broidered work,” to -Tyre, (Ezek. xxvii. 7.)</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> According to Pliny, Semiramis, the Assyrian queen, was believed to have -been the inventress of the art of weaving. Minerva is in some of the ancient -statutes represented with a distaff, to intimate that she taught men the art of spinning; -and this honor is given by the Egyptians to Isis, by the Mohammedans to -a son of Japhet, by the Chinese to the consort of their emperor Yao, and by the -Peruvians to Mamaoella, wife to Manco-Capac, their first sovereign. These -traditions serve only to carry the invaluable arts of spinning and weaving up to -an extremely remote period, long prior to that of authentic history.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> Paintings representing the gathering and preparation of flax have been found -on the walls of the ancient sepulchres at Eleithias and Beni Hassan, in Upper -Egypt, and are described and copied by Hamilton.—“Remarks on several parts -of Turkey, and on ancient and modern Egypt,” pp. 97 and 287, plate 23.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> Herodotus, book ii. c. 37, 81. (See <a href="#Plate_VI">Plate vi</a>.)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The women of Sidon before the Trojan war, were especially -celebrated for the skill in embroidery: and Homer, who lived -900 years B. C., mentions Helen <i>as being engaged in embroidering -the combats of the Greeks and Trojans</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> -The transition from vegetable fibre to the use of animal -staples, such as wool and hair, could not have been very difficult; -indeed, as already stated, it took place at a period of -which we possess no very authentic written record.</p> - -<p>The instrument used for spinning in all countries, from the -earliest times, was the distaff and spindle. This simple apparatus -was put by the Greek mythologists into the hands of -Minerva and the Parcæ; Solomon employs upon it the industry -of the virtuous woman; to the present day the distaff is -used in India, Egypt, and other eastern countries.</p> - -<p>The ancient spindle or distaff was a very simple instrument. -The late Lady Calcott informs us, that it continued -even to our own days to be used by the Hindoos in all its -primitive simplicity. “I have seen,” she says, “the rock or -distaff formed simply of the leading shoot of some young -tree, carefully peeled, it might be birch or elder, and, further -north, of fir or pine; and the spindle formed of the beautiful -shrub Euonymus, or spindle-tree.”<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> The superior fineness of some Indian muslins, and their quality of retaining, -longer than European fabrics, an appearance of excellence, has occasioned a belief -that the cotton wool of which they are woven is superior to any known elsewhere; -this, however, is so far from being the fact, that no cotton is to be found -in India which at all equals in quality the better kinds produced in the United -States of America. The excellence of India muslins must be wholly ascribed to -the skilfulness and patience of the workmen, as shown in the different processes -of spinning and weaving. (See <a href="#Plate_V">Plate v</a>.) Their yarn is spun upon the distaff, -and it is owing to the dexterous use of the finger and thumb in forming the -thread, and to the moisture which it thus imbibes, that its fibres are more perfectly -incorporated than they can be through the employment of any mechanical -substitutes.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Spinning among the Egyptians, as among our ancestors -of no very distant age, was a domestic occupation in which -ladies of rank did not hesitate to engage. The term “spinster” -is yet applied to unmarried ladies of every rank, and -there are persons yet alive who remember to have seen the -spinning wheel an ordinary piece of furniture in domestic -economy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span></p> - -<p>We are told that “Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt -and linen yarn; the king’s merchants received the linen yarn -at a price.” (1 Kings, x. 28.) And the linen of Egypt was -highly valued in Palestine, for the seducer, in Proverbs, says, -“I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved -works, with fine linen of Egypt.” (Prov. vii. 16.) The -prophet Ezekiel also declares that the export of the textile -fabrics was an important branch of Phœnician commerce; -for in his enumeration of the articles of traffic in Tyre, he -says: “Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that -which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple -from the isles of Elisha was that which covered thee.” -(Ezek. xxvii. 7.)</p> - -<p>It deserves to be remarked that the prophet here joins -Egypt with the isles of Elisha or Elis, that is, the districts of -western Greece, and thus confirms the ancient tradition recorded -by Herodotus of some Egyptian colonists having settled -in that country, which the sceptics of the German school -of history have thought proper to deny.<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> Spinning was -wholly a female employment; it is rather singular that we -find this work frequently performed by a large number collected -together, as if the factory system had been established -3000 years ago.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> The sceptical school of history, founded by Niebuhr, in Germany, and extended -by his disciples to a sweeping incredulity, far beyond what was contemplated -by the founder, has labored hard to prove, that the Greek system of civilization -was indigenous, and that the candid confession of Herodotus, attributing -to Egyptian colonies the first introduction of the arts of life into Hellas, was an -idle tale, or a groundless tradition. But the examination of the monuments has -proved that Greek art originated in Egypt; and that the elements of the architectural, -sculptural, and pictorial wonders which have rendered Greece and Italy -illustrious, were derived from the valley of the Nile.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>We have, however, many specimens of spinning as a domestic -employment. Indeed, attention to the spindle and -distaff forms a leading feature in king Lemuel’s description -of a virtuous woman. “Who can find a virtuous woman? -for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> -doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. -She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. -She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her -hands. She is like the merchant’s ships; she bringeth her -food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and -giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. -She considereth a field, and buyeth it; with the fruit of her -hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with -strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that -her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. -She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the -distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the <i>poor</i>; yea, she -reacheth forth her hands to the <i>needy</i>. She is not afraid of -the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed -with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her -clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the -gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She -maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto -the merchant.” (Prov. xxxi. 10-24.)</p> - -<p>Hamilton and Wilkinson have already shown that many -of the descriptions of combats we meet in the Iliad appear to -have been derived from the battle pieces on the walls of the -Theban palaces, which the poet himself pretty plainly intimates -that he had visited. The same observation may be -applied to most of Homer’s pictures of domestic life. We find -the lady of the mansion superintending the labors of her servants, -and using the distaff herself. Her spindle made of -some precious material, richly ornamented, her beautiful -work-basket, or rather vase, and the wool dyed of some bright -hue to render it worthy of being touched by aristocratic fingers, -remind us of the appropriate present which the Egyptian -queen, Alcandra, made to the Spartan Helen; for the -beauty of that frail fair one scarcely is less celebrated than her -skill in embroidery and every species of ornamental work. -After Polybus had given his presents to Menelaus, who stopped -at Egypt on his return from Troy,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Alcandra, consort of his high command,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A golden distaff gave to Helen’s hand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And that rich vase, with living sculpture wrought,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which, heap’d with wool, the beauteous Phylo brought;</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>The silken fleece empurpled for the loom,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rivall’d the hyacinth in vernal bloom.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Odyssey</i>, iv.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the hieroglyphics over persons employed with the spindle -on the Egyptian monuments, it is remarkable that the word -<i>saht</i>, which in Coptic signifies to twist, constantly occurs. -The spindles were generally of wood, and in order to increase -their impetus in turning, the circular head was occasionally of -gypsum, or composition: some, however, were of a light plaited -work, made of rushes, or palm leaves, stained of various -colors, and furnished with a loop of the same materials, for -securing the twine after it was wound<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a>. Sir Gardner Wilkinson -found one of these spindles at Thebes, with some of the -linen thread upon it, and is now in the Berlin Museum.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> The ordinary distaff does not occur in these subjects, but we may conclude -they had it. Homer mentions one of gold, given to Helen by “Alcandra the -wife of Polybus,” who lived in Egyptian Thebes.—Od. iv. 131.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Theocritus has given us a very striking proof of the pleasure -which the women of Miletus took in these employments; -for, when he went to visit his friend Nicias, the Milesian physician, -to whom he had previously addressed his eleventh and -thirteenth Idylls, he carried with him an ivory distaff as a -present for Theugenis, his friend’s wife. He accompanied his -gift with the following verses, which modestly commend the -matron’s industry and virtue, and, at the same time, throw an -interesting light on the domestic economy of the ladies of Miletus:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O Distaff, friend to warp and woof,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Minerva’s gift in man’s behoof,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whom careful housewives still retain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And gather to their households gain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With me repair, no vulgar prize,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the famed towers of Nileus rise<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where Cytherea’s swayful power</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is worship’d in the reedy bower.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thither, would Jove kind breezes send,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I steer my course to meet my friend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nicias, the Graces’ honor’d child,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Adorn’d with sweet persuasion mild,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That I his kindness may requite—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May be delighted, and delight.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thee, ivory distaff, I provide,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A present for his blooming bride;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With her thou wilt sweet toil partake</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And aid her <i>various vests</i> to make.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For Theugenis the shepherds shear</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sheep’s soft fleeces twice a year,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So dearly industry she loves</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And all that wisdom points, approves,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I ne’er design’d to bear thee hence</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the dull house of Indolence;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For, in that city thou wert framed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which Archias built, Corinthian named,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair Syracuse, Sicilia’s pride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where troops of famous men abide.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dwell thou with him whose art can cure</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each dire disease that men endure;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thee to Miletus now I give,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where pleasure-crown’d Ionians live;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That Theugenis by thee may gain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair honor with the female train;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And thou renew within her breast</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Remembrance of her muse-charm’d guest.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Admiring thee, each maid will call</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The favor great, the present small;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For love the smallest gift commends,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All things are valued by our friends.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Idyll</i>, xxviii.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> Miletus was called “the towers of Nileus,” from its having been founded by -Nileus, the son of the celebrated king Codrus, who devoted himself for the safety -of Athens. Nileus was so indignant at the abolition of royalty on his father’s -death, that he migrated to Ionia.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span> -The Roman and Grecian ladies displayed not less taste in -the decoration of their various spinning implements, than -those of modern times in the ornaments of their work-table. -The <i>calathus</i> or <i>qualus</i> was the basket in which the wool -was kept for the fair spinsters. It was usually made of wicker-work. -Thus Catullus in his description of the nuptials of -Peleus and Thetis, says:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The softest fleeces, white as driven snow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beside their feet in osier baskets glow.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Poema</i>, lxiv.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> -Homer asserts that the Egyptian queen Alcandra presented -Helen with a silver work-basket as well as a golden distaff -(Odyss. iv.); and from the paintings on ancient vases, we -see that the <i>calathi</i> of ladies of rank were tastefully wrought -and richly ornamented. From the term <i>qualus</i> or <i>quasillus</i>, -equivalent to <i>calathus</i>, the Romans called the female slaves -employed in spinning <i>quasillariæ</i>.</p> - -<p>The material prepared for spinning was wrapped loosely -round the distaff, the wool being previously combed, or the flax -hackled by processes not very dissimilar to those used at the -present day amongst the peasantry in the west of Ireland. -The ball thus formed on the distaff required to be arranged -with some neatness and skill, in order that the fibres should -be sufficiently loose to be drawn out by the hand of the spinner. -Ovid declares, that Arachne’s skill in this simple process -excited the wonder of the nymphs who came to see her triumphs -in the textile art, not less than the finished labors of -the loom.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oft, to admire the niceness of her skill,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The nymphs would quit their fountain, shade, or hill:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thither from green Tymolus they repair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And leave the vineyards, their peculiar care;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thither from fair Pactolus’ golden stream,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Drawn by her art, the curious Naids came.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor would the work, when finish’d, please so much</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As while she wrought to view each graceful touch;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whether the shapeless wool in balls she wound,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or with quick motion turn’d the spindle round.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Met</i>, vi.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The distaff was generally about three feet in length, commonly -a stick or reed, with an expansion near the top for -holding the ball. It was sometimes, as we have shown, -composed of richer materials. The distaff was usually held -under the left arm, and the fibres were drawn out from the -projecting ball, being, at the same time, spirally twisted by the -forefinger and thumb of the right hand. The thread so produced -was wound upon the spindle until the quantity was as -great as it would carry.</p> - -<p>The spindle was made of some light wood, or reed, and was -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> -generally from eight to twelve inches in length. At the top -of it was a slit, or catch, to which the thread was fixed, so -that the weight of the spindle might carry the thread down to -the ground as fast as it was finished. Its lower extremity was -inserted into a whorl, or wheel, made of stone, metal, or some -heavy material which both served to keep it steady and to promote -its rotation. The spinner, who, as we have said before, -was usually a female, every now and then gave the spindle a -fresh gyration by a gentle touch so as to increase the twist of -the thread. Whenever the spindle reached the ground a length -was spun; the thread was then taken out of the slit, or clasp, -and wound upon the spindle; the clasp was then closed again, -and the spinning of a new thread commenced. All these circumstances -are briefly mentioned by Catullus, in a poem from -which we have already quoted:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The loaded distaff, in the left hand placed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With spongy coils of snow-white wool was graced;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From these the right hand lengthening fibres drew</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which into thread ’neath nimble fingers grew.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At intervals a gentle touch was given</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By which the twirling whorl was onward driven.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then, when the sinking spindle reach’d the ground,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The recent thread around its spire was wound,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until the clasp within its nipping cleft</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Held fast the newly-finish’d length of weft.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In order to understand this description of Catullus, it is necessary -to bear in mind, that as the bobbin of each spindle -was loaded with thread, it was taken off from the whorl and -placed in a basket until there was a sufficient quantity for the -weavers to commence their operations.</p> - -<p>Homer incidentally mentions the spool or spindle on which -the weft-yarn was wound, in his description of the race at the -funeral-games in honor of Patroclus:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent18">Oileus led the race;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The next Ulysses, measuring pace with pace</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Behind him, diligently close he sped,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As closely following as the running thread</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The spindle follows, and displays the charms</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of the fair spinner’s breast, and moving arms.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Iliad</i>, xxiii.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span></p> - -<p>In India women of all castes prepare the cotton thread for -the weaver, spinning it on a piece of wire, or a very thin rod -of polished iron with a ball of clay at one end; this they turn -round with the left hand, and supply the cotton with the right; -the thread is then wound upon a stick or pole, and sold to the -merchants or weavers; for the coarser thread the women make -use of a wheel very similar to that of the Irish spinster, -though upon a smaller construction. (For further information -on the manufactures of India, their present state, &c., see -<a href="#Part_THIRD">Part III</a>.)</p> - -<p>The Reverend Mr. C. Forster of Great Britain, has lately -published a very curious work on Arabia, being the result of -many years’ untiring research in that part of the world; from -which we learn the very interesting fact, that the ancient -Arabians were skilled in the manufacture of <i>silken textures</i>, -at as remote a period as within 500 years of the flood!</p> - -<p>Mr. Forster has, it appears, succeeded in deciphering many -very remarkable inscriptions found on some ancient monuments -near Adon on the coast of Hadramant. These records, it is -said, restore to the world its earliest written language, and carry -us back to the time of Jacob, and within 500 years of the -flood.</p> - -<p>The inscriptions are in three parts. The longest is of ten -lines, engraved on a smooth piece of rock forming one side of -the terrace at Hisn Ghorab. Then there are three short lines, -found on a small detached rock on the summit of the little hill. -There are also two lines found near the inscriptions, lower -down the terrace. They all relate to one transaction, an incident -in Adite history. The tribe of Ad, according to Mr. -Sale, were descended from Ad the son of Aws or Uz, the son -of Aram, the son of Shem, the son of Noah. The event recorded -is the rout and entire destruction of the sons of Ac, an -Arab tribe, by the Aws or tribe of Ad, whom they invaded. In -Mr. Forster’s book fac similes are given of the inscription; the -Aditie and the Hamyaritie alphabet; and a glossary containing -every word in them, its derivation, and its explanation; with -notes of copious illustration upon every point which they involve. -The first inscription of ten lines is thus translated:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot hanging2"> - -<p>We dwelt, living long luxuriously in the zananas of this spacious mansion; our -condition exempt from misfortune and adversity. Rolled in through our channel.</p> - -<p>The sea, swelling against our castle with angry surge; our fountains flowed with -murmuring fall, above</p> - -<p>The lofty palms; whose keepers planted dry dates in our valley date-grounds; -they sowed the arid rice.</p> - -<p>We hunted the young mountain-goats and the young hares, with gins and snares; -beguiling we drew forth the fishes.</p> - -<p>We walked with slow, proud gait, IN NEEDLE-WORKED, MANY-COLORED -SILK VESTMENTS, IN WHOLE SILKS, IN GRASS-GREEN -CHEQUERED ROBES<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a>!</p> - -<p>Over us presided kings, far removed from baseness, and stern chastisers of reprobate -and wicked men. They noted down for us according to the doctrine of -Heber,</p> - -<p>Good judgments, written in books to be kept; and we proclaimed our belief in miracles, -in the <i>resurrection</i>, in the <i>return into the nostrils of the breath of life</i>.</p> - -<p>Made an inroad robbers, and would do us violence; we rode forth, we and our -generous youth, with stiff and sharp-pointed spears; rushing onward.</p> - -<p>Proud champions of our families and wives; fighting valiantly upon coursers with -long necks, dun-colored, iron-gray, and bright bay.</p> - -<p>With our swords still wounding and piercing our adversaries, until charging home, -we conquered and crushed this refuse of mankind.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> Silk is the only material used for human clothing which Mohammed, the impostor, -introduces among the luxuries of Paradise. (See the Koran, chap. 35.)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>On the subject of these inscriptions, Mr. Forster, in the dedication -of his book to the Archbishop of Canterbury, thus remarks: -“What Job (who, living in the opposite quarter of -Arabia, amid the sands of the great Northern desert, had no -lasting material within reach on which to perpetuate his -thoughts,) so earnestly desired, stands here realized.” “Oh -that my words were now written! Oh that they were printed -in a Book! That (like the kindred creed of the lost tribe of -Ad) they were <i>graven with an iron pen, and lead, in the -rock forever</i>. (For mine is a better and brighter revelation -than theirs.) For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that -he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though, -after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in the flesh shall I -see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, -and not another.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> -That the Arabians should have understood the manufacture -of silken textures at as remote a period as that supposed by Mr. -Forster, viz., 500 years after the flood, is, to say the least of it, -exceedingly questionable, yet it cannot be denied that we are -indebted to them for many useful inventions, and among which -may be mentioned the art of making <i>cotton paper</i><a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a>. It is no -less true that we first received our cotton-wool from countries -where the Arabic language was spoken.</p> - -<p>To the Arabs also we are indebted for that almost indispensable -article of apparel, the <i>shirt</i>, the Arabic name for which is -<i>camees</i>, whence the Italian <i>camiscia</i>, and the French <i>chemise</i><a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a>.</p> - -<p>In the attempt here made to trace from the dark ages of -antiquity the progress of trades and manufactures so widely -diffused over the civilised world as those of cotton, linen, silk, -wool, &c., <i>chronological order</i> is followed as closely as the -nature of the inquiry will permit.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> See <a href="#Appendix_B">Appendix B.</a></p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> For further information on Arabia, see Parts <a href="#Part_SECOND">II.</a> and <a href="#Part_THIRD">III.</a></p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_II">CHAPTER II.<br /> -<small>HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE CONTINUED -TO THE FOURTH CENTURY.</small></h3> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="h3sub">SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING.—HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE -ATTAINED IN THESE ARTS.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Testimony of the Latin Poets of the Augustan -age—Tibullus—Propertius—Virgil—Horace—Ovid—Dyonisius -Perigetes—Strabo. Mention of silk by authors in -the first century—Seneca the Philosopher—Seneca the Tragedian—Lucan—Pliny—Josephus—Saint -John—Silius Italicus—Statius—Plutarch—Juvenal—Martial—Pausanias—Galen—Clemens -Alexandrinus—Caution to Christian -converts against the use of silk in dress. Mention of silk by authors in the -second century—Tertullian—Apuleius—Ulpian—Julius Pollux—Justin. Mention -of silk by authors in the third century—Ælius Lampidius—Vopiscus—Trebellius -Pollio—Cyprian—Solinus—Ammianus Marcellinus—Use of silk by -the Roman emperors—Extraordinary beauty of the textures—Use of water to -detach silk from the trees—Invectives of these authors against extravagance in -dress—The Seres described as a happy people—Their mode of traffic, etc.—(Macpherson’s -opinion of the Chinese.)—City of Dioscurias, its vast commerce in -former times.—(Colonel Syke’s account of the Kolissura silk-worm—Dr. Roxburgh’s -description of the Tusseh silk-worm.)</p> -</div> - -<p>The next Authors, who make mention of silk, are the Latin -poets of the Augustan age, Tibullus and Propertius, Virgil, -Horace, and Ovid. The Parthian war, and the increased intercourse -between the Roman empire and the kingdoms of the -East, had been the means of recently introducing every kind -of silken goods into more general use, although these manufactures -were still so rare as to be the objects of curiosity and admiration, -and were therefore well adapted to be brought in -among the embellishments of poetical imagery.</p> - -<p>The appearance of the silken flags attached to the gilt -standards of the Parthians (Florus iii. 11.) must have been a -very striking sight for the army of Crassus, contributing both -to inflame their cupidity and to alarm them with a sense of the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> -power of their opponents. The conflict here referred to took -place in the year 54 B. C. In about 30 years after this date -the Roman empire obtained its greatest extension. In the language -of Petronius Arbiter (c. 119.),</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Th’ insatiate Roman spread his conquering arms</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er land and sea, where’er heaven’s light extends.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>After these words he says, that among the richest productions -of distant climates the Seres sent their “new fleeces.” -The remotest countries thus contributed to increase the luxury -of Rome, and we shall now see how silk, one of the most costly -and the most admired of its recent acquisitions, was used by its -poets to represent the polish of elevated life and to adorn their -language with rich and beautiful allusions. The webs, which -they mention, are either those still obtained from Cos, or those -imported from the country of the Seres.</p> - -<h5>TIBULLUS.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A Coan vest for girls.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. ii. 4.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She may thin garments wear, which female Coan hands</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have woven, and in stripes dispos’d the golden bands.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. ii. 6.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The latter of these two passages is remarkable as showing -that the Coan women practised the elegant art of interweaving -gold thread in their silken webs. The gold was no doubt displayed -in transverse stripes.</p> - -<h5>PROPERTIUS.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Why thus, my life, display thy braided hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And heave beneath thin Coan webs thy bosom fair?</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. i. 2.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the next passage Propertius is speaking of his own Poetry, -and alludes to his frequent mention of Coan garments.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">If bright she walk in Coan vest array’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Through all this book will Coan be display’d.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. ii. 1.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span></p> - -<h5>ON A STATUE OF VERTUMNUS.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">My nature suits each changing form:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Turn’d into what you please, I’m fair.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Clothe me in Coan, I’m a decent lass,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Put on a toga, for a man I pass.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. iv. 2.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The texture of the Coan Minerva.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. iv. 5.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Who gives no Coan robe, but verse instead,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Artless shall be his lyre, his verses dead.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Ibid.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The same poet (L. iv. 8. 23.) mentions “Serica carpenta,” -chariots with silk curtains; and the following line (L. i. 14. 22.) -shows, that couches with ornamented silk covers were then in -use:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Quid revelant variis Serica textilibus?</p> -</div> - -<p>Propertius also mentions silk under the name of the animal, -which produced it:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Shines with the produce of th’ Arabian worm.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. ii. 3. 15.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In this line, as well as in some of those before quoted, he alludes -to the use of silk by females of indifferent character. He -probably uses the epithet <i>Arabian</i>, because the Roman merchants -obtained silk from the Arabs, who received it from -Persia.</p> - -<h5>VIRGIL.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Soft wool from downy groves the Æthiop weaves,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Seres comb their fleece from silken leaves.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Georg.</i> ii. 120, 121.—Sotheby’s Translation.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The poet is here enumerating the chief productions of different -countries, and therefore mentions cotton and silk. The -idea, that silk webs were manufactured from thin fleeces obtained -from trees, will be found recurring in many of the subsequent -citations. It may have been founded on reports brought -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> -by the soldiers of Crassus, or by others who visited the interior -of Asia about the same period.</p> - -<h5>HORACE.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor Coan purples, nor the blaze</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of jewels can bring back the days,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which, fix’d by time, recorded stand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By all, who read the Fasti, scann’d.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Od.</i> <i>l.</i> iv. 13. (<i>ad Lycen.</i>) 13-16.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As if uncloth’d, she stands confess’d</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In a translucent Coan vest.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Sat.</i> i. 2. 101.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>These passages allude to the fineness and transparency of -silken webs, which in the time of Horace were worn at Rome -only by prostitutes, or by those women who aimed at being as -attractive and luxurious as possible in their attire.</p> - -<p>The former passage shows, that the silks manufactured in -Cos were dyed with the murex, “Coæ purpuræ.”</p> - -<p>The expression “Sericos pulvillos” (<i>Epod.</i> 8. 15.) has been -supposed to denote small cushions covered with silk. But the -epithet “Sericos” implies nothing more than that they were obtained -from the Seres, who supplied the Romans with skins as -well as silk<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>; and leather seems to have been a more proper -substance than silk for making cushions.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> Plin. xxxiv. cap. 24.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>OVID.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sive erit in Tyriis, Tyrios laudabis amictus,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sive erit in Cois, Coa decere puta.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Aurata est: ipso tibi sit pretiosior auro;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gausapa si sumsit, gausapa sumta proba.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Ars Amat.</i> ii. 297-300.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Whatever clothing she displays,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From Tyre or Cos, that clothing praise:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If gold shows forth the artist’s skill,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Call her than gold more precious still:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or if she choose a coarse attire,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">E’en coarseness, worn by her, admire.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> -In another passage (<i>Amores</i> i. 14. 5.) Ovid compares the -thin hairs of a lady to the silken veils of the Seres,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Veils such as color’d Seres wear.</p> -</div> - -<p>We now proceed to the testimonies of authors who wrote -either in Greek or Latin at the latter part of the Augustan age, -or immediately after it.</p> - -<h5>DYONISIUS PERIEGETES.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent8">Καὶ ἔθνεα βάρβαρα Σηρῶν,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Οἵτε βοὰς μὲν ἀναίνονται καὶ ἴφια μῆλα,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Αἰόλα δὲ ξαίνοντες ἐρήμης ἄνθεα γαίης,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Εἵματα τεύχουσιν πολυδαίδαλα, τιμήεντα,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Εἰδόμενα χροιῇ λειμωνίδος ἄνθεσι ποίης·</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Κείνοις οὔτι κεν ἔργον ἀραχνάων ἐρίσειεν. (<i>l.</i> 755.)</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>And the barbarous nations of the Seres, who renounce the care of sheep and -oxen, but comb the variously colored flowers of the desert land to make precious -figured garments, resembling in color the flowers of the meadow, and rivalling -(in fineness) the work of spiders.—Yates’s Translation.</p> -</div> - -<p>It is worthy of observation that Dyonisius speaks expressly -not only of the fineness of the thread, but of the <i>flowered texture</i> -of the silk.</p> - -<h5>STRABO.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ Σηρικὰ, ἔκ τι νων φλοιῶν ξαινομένης βύσσου.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. xv. 695. (v. vi. p. 40. <i>Tzschucke.</i>)</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>This is repeated by Eustathius on Dyonisius Periegetes<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a>. -The account seems to have been taken by Strabo, perhaps inaccurately, -from Nearchus. It is doubtful, whether Σηρικὰ denoted -silken webs in this passage. But whatever Strabo meant, -he supposed the raw material to be scraped from the bark of -trees<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> L. 1107. p. 308, Bernhardy.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> Book ii. ch. 3. p. 307.</p> -</div> - -</div> -<p>As contemporary with the authors last quoted, Dyonisius and -Strabo, we may here mention the law passed by the Roman -Senate early in the reign of Tiberius, “Ne vestis Serica viros -fœdaret.” <i>Taciti Annales</i>, ii. 33. <i>Dion. Cass.</i> <i>l.</i> 57. p. 860. - -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> -<i>Reim. Suidas in v.</i>Τιβέριος<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>. Silk was to be worn by women -only.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> Dio Cassius (l. 43. p. 358. Rheim.) mentions as a report, that Julius Cæsar -employed silk curtains (παραπετάσματα Σηρικὰ) to add to the splendor of his triumph.</p> - -</div> - -</div> -<p>The next emperor Caligula had silk curtains to his throne -(<i>Dion. Cass. l.</i> 59. p. 915. <i>Reim.</i>), and he wore silk as part of -his dress, when he appeared in public. Dio Cassius particularly -mentions, that, when he was celebrating a kind of triumph at -Puteoli, he put on what he alleged to be the <i>thorax</i> of Alexander, -and over that a silken chlamys, dyed with the murex, -and adorned with gold and precious stones. On the following -day he wore a tunic interwoven with gold<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a>. The use of -shawls and tunics of silk was, however, except in the case -of the extravagances of a Caligula, still confined to the female -sex. Under the earlier emperors it is probable, that silk -was obtained in considerable quantities for the wardrobe of the -empress, where it was preserved from one reign to another, until -in the year 176 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the philosopher, in -consequence of the exhausted state of his treasury, sold by public -auction in the Forum of Trajan the imperial ornaments and -jewels together with the golden and silken robes of the Empress<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> In describing the effeminate dress of the emperor Caligula, Suetonius tells us -(<i>cap.</i> 52), that he often went into public, wearing bracelets and long sleeves, and -sometimes in a garment of silk and a cyclas.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> Jul. Capitol. c. xvii. p. 65. Bip.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>FIRST CENTURY.</h4> - -<h5>SENECA, THE PHILOSOPHER.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Posse nos vestitos esse sine commercio Serum.—<i>Epist.</i> 91.</p> - -<p>We may clothe ourselves without any commerce with the Seres.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Video Sericas vestes, si vestes vocandæ sunt, in quibus nihil est, quo defendi aut -corpus aut denique pudor possit: quibus sumtis mulier parum liquidò nudam se -non esse jurabit. Hæc ingenti summâ ab ignotis etiam ad commercium gentibus -accersunter, ut matronæ nostræ ne adulteris quidem plus sui in cubiculo quam in -publico ostendant.—<i>De Beneficiis, L.</i> vii. <i>c.</i> 9.</p> - -<p>I see silken (Seric) garments, if they can be called garments, which cannot -afford any protection either for the body or for shame: on taking which a woman -will scarce with a clear conscience deny, that she is naked. These are sent for -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> -at an enormous price from nations, to which our commerce has not yet extended, -in order that our matrons may display their persons to the public no less than to -adulterers in their chamber!—Yates’s Translation.</p> -</div> - -<p>The Seres must be supposed to have dwelt somewhere in the -centre of Asia. Perhaps those geographers who represent Little -Bucharia as their country<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a>, are nearest the truth, and thus -far neither Greeks nor Romans had penetrated. Silk was -brought to them “from nations, to which even their commerce -had not yet extended.” Hence their inaccurate ideas respecting -its origin<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> The position of Serica is discussed by Latreille in his paper hereafter cited. -See also Mannert. iv. 6. 6, 7. Brotier, Mém. de l’Acad. des Inscrip. tom. 46. -John Reinhold Forster (<i>De Bysso</i>, p. 20, 21.) thinks that Little Bucharia was -certainly the ancient Serica. Sir John Barrow (<i>Travels in China</i>, p. 435-438.) -thinks the Seres were not the Chinese.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> The first author who speaks of the Seres as a distinct nation, is Mela, iii. 7. -He describes them as a very honest people, who brought what they had to sell, -laid it down and went away, and then returned for the price of it. The same -account is given by Eustathius, on Dyonisius, l. 752. p. 242, Bernhardy.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<h5>SENECA, THE TRAGEDIAN.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nec Mæonià distinguit acu,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quæ Phœbeis subditus Euris</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Legit Eois Ser arboribus.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Herc. Œtæus</i>, 664.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor with Mæonian needle marks the web,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gather’d by Eastern Seres from the trees.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Seres, illustrious for their fleece.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Thyestes</i>, 378.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Remove, ye maids, the vests, whose tissue glares</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With purple and with gold; far be the red</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Tyrian murex, and the shining thread,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which furthest Seres gather from the boughs.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Hyppolitus</i>, 386. (<i>Phædra loquitur.</i>)</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>At a very early period the art of dyeing had been carried to -a very great degree of perfection in Phœnicia. The method -of dyeing woollen cloths purple was, it is said, first discovered at -Tyre. This color, the most celebrated among the ancients, -appears to have been brought to a degree of excellence, of -which we can form but a very faint idea:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span></p> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“In oldest times, when kings and hardy chiefs</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In bleating sheep-folds met, for purest wool</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Phœnicia’s hilly tracts were most renown’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And fertile Syria’s and Judæa’s land,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hermon, and Seir, and Hebron’s brooky sides,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Twice with the murex, crimson hue, they ting’d</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shining fleeces—hence their gorgeous wealth;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And hence arose the walls of ancient Tyre<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a>.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> Old Tyre was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar in the second year after the -destruction of Jerusalem, or 584 B. C.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<h5>LUCAN.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Candida Sidonio perlucent pectora filo,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quod Nilotis acus percussum pectine Serum</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Solvit, et extenso laxavit stamina velo.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. x. 141.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her snowy breast shines through Sidonian threads,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">First by the comb of distant Seres struck,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Divided then by Egypt’s skilful toil,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And with embroidery transparent made.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The poet is describing the dress of Cleopatra. He supposes -her to have worn over her breast a piece of silk, woven by the -Seres, imported through Sidon into Egypt, and then embroidered. -By the last process, in which the Egyptians greatly excelled, -the threads were in part separated, so as to exhibit the appearance -of lace, and to allow the white breast of the queen to -be visible through the texture.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Amidst the braidings of her flowing hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The spoils of orient rocks and shells appear:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like midnight stars, ten thousand diamonds deck</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The comely rising of her graceful neck;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of wondrous work, a thin transparent lawn</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er each soft breast in decency was drawn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where still by turns the parting threads withdrew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And all the panting bosom rose to view.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her robe, her every part, her air confess</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The power of female skill exhausted in her dress.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Pharsalia</i>, x.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In glowing purple rich the coverings lie,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Twice had they drunk the noblest Tyrian dye</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Others, as Pharian artists have the skill</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To mix the party-color’d web at will,</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">With winding trails of various silks were made,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose branching gold set off the rich brocade.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Ibid.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>With this description we compare that of Seneca, which represents -silk as embroidered in Asia Minor, with the “Mæonian -needle.”</p> - -<h5>PLINY</h5> - -<p>speaks copiously and repeatedly of the manufacture of silk. -Nevertheless we learn from him scarce anything, which we did -not know from the earlier authorities. His accounts are taken -from Aristotle, from Varro, and probably also from persons who -accompanied the Parthian expeditions, or who engaged in the -trade with inner Asia. But according to his usual manner, -when he speaks of what he has not himself seen, he confounds -accounts from different witnesses, which are inconsistent with -one another. He asserts that the bombyx was a native of Cos; -but it is not probable that the women of that island would, in -such case, have recourse to the laborious operation of converting -foreign finished goods into threads for their own weaving. -It is, therefore, only reasonable to suppose that whatever manufacture -was carried on from the raw material, was, like that -of Tyre or Berytus, composed of unwrought silk imported from -the East. It is mentioned both by Theophanes and Zonares, -the Byzantine historians, that before silk-worms were brought to -Constantinople in the middle of the sixth century, no person in -that capital knew that silk was produced by a worm; a tolerably -strong evidence that none were reared so near to Constantinople -as Cos.</p> - -<p>Pliny’s account of the Coan bombyx is evidently a cloud of -fable and absurdity, in which, however, we may discern a few -lines of truth, probably derived from the accounts of the silk-worm -of the Seres.</p> - -<h5>JOSEPHUS</h5> - -<p>says, that the emperors Titus and Vespasian wore silk dresses<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a>, -when they celebrated at Rome their triumph over the Jews.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> De Bello Jud. vii. 5. 4.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></p> - -<h5>SAINT JOHN.</h5> - -<p>Silk (Σηρικὸν) occurs but once in the New Testament, Rev. -xviii. 12. It is here mentioned in a curious enumeration of all -the most valuable articles of foreign traffic.</p> - -<h5>SILIUS ITALICUS.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Seres lanigeris repetebant vellera lucis. <i>Punica.</i> vi. 4.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Seres took fleeces from the woolly groves.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent20">Munera rubri</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Præterea Ponti, depexaque vellera ramis,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Femineus labor. <i>Ib.</i> xiv. 664.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The produce of the Erythræan seas,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And fleeces comb’d by women from the trees<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Videre Eoi (monstrum admirabile!) Seres</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lanigeros cinere Ausonio canescere lucos.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Ib.</i> xvii. 595, 596.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Seres’ woolly groves, O wondrous sight!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the far East, were with Italian ashes white.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a>See latter part of <a href="#Chapter1_VIII">Chapter viii.</a> Part First.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In the last passage Silius is describing the effects of the recent -eruption of Mount Vesuvius, A. D. 79. That its ashes -should reach the country of the Seres, whether it was in Persia -or China, would indeed have been “Monstrum admirabile!”</p> - -<h5>STATIUS.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Seric (i. e. <i>silken</i>) palls.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Sylvæ</i>, iii. 4. 89.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>PLUTARCH</h5> - -<p>dissuades the virtuous and prudent wife from wearing silk<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a>. -He mentions, that webs of silk and fine linen were at the same -time thin and compact or close<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> Conjugailia Præcepta, tom. vi. p. 550. ed. Reiske.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> De Pythiæ Orac. c. iv. p. 557. Reiske.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span></p> - -<h5>JUVENAL</h5> - -<p>speaks of women,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent22">Quarum</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Delicias et panniculus bombycinus urit. <i>Sat.</i> vi. 259.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose beauty e’en a silken veil o’erheats.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>MARTIAL.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nec vaga tam tenui discursat aranea tela,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tam leve nec bombyx pendulus urget opus. <i>L.</i> viii. 33.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The spider traces not so thin a line,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor does the pendent silk-worm spin so fine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Fœmineum lucet sic per bombycina corpus,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Calculus in nitida sic numeratur aqua. <i>L.</i> viii. 68.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus through her silk a lady’s body looks,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus count we pebbles in the sparkling brooks.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">De Pallatinis dominæ quod Serica prelis. <i>L.</i> xi. 9.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Here Martial alludes to the employment of presses (<i>prela</i>) for -preserving the garments of silk and other precious materials, -belonging to the Empress, in the same way, in which we now -use presses to keep table-linen. He says to a lady (L. ix. 38.),</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nec dentes aliter, quam Serica, nocte reponas.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your teeth at night, like silks, you lay aside.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In another passage (L. xi. 27.) he speaks of silken goods -(<i>Serica</i>) as procurable in the Vicus Tuscus at Rome: and -lastly in L. xiv. <i>Ep.</i> 24, he mentions ribbons or fillets of silk as -used for adorning the hair.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Tenuia ne madidi violent bombycina crines,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Figat acus tortas, sustineatque comas.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Lest your moist hair defile the ribbons thin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Twist it in knots, and fix it with a pin.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>PAUSANIAS,</h5> - -<p>a native of Asia Minor, and an inquisitive traveller in the -second century, gives the following distinct account of Sericum -according to the ideas received among the Greeks in his time.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>The threads from which the Seres make webs, are not the produce of bark, but -are obtained in the following manner. There is an animal in that country, which -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> -the Greeks call <i>Ser</i>, but which <i>they</i> call by some other name. Its size is twice -that of the largest beetle. In other respects it resembles the spiders, <i>which weave -under the trees</i>. It has also the same number of feet as the spider, namely, -eight<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a>. In order to breed these creatures, the Seres have houses adapted both for -summer and winter. The produce of the animal is a fine thread twisted about its -legs. The Seres feed it four years on “panicum.” In the fifth year they give it -green reed, of which it is so fond as to eat of it until it bursts, and after this the -greatest part of the thread is found within its body<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> This does not apply to the silk-worm, which has sixteen legs, in pairs: six -proper legs before, and ten holders behind. (See Figure 1. <a href="#Plate_III">Plate iii.</a>)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> <i>L.</i> vi. 26. p. 125. ed. Siebel.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The most interesting circumstance, mentioned by Pausanias, -is the breeding of the silk-worms within doors in houses adapted -both for summer and winter. There seems no reason to -doubt the truth of this fact; and, if admitted, it proves, that -their country, the Serica of the ancients, lay so far North, or -was so elevated, as to have a great difference of temperature in -summer and in winter. It is remarkable, that in China the -worms are now reared in small houses, and this practice has -long prevailed in that country<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> Barrow’s Travels in China, p. 437, &c. Résumé des Traités Chinois, &c. -traduit par Julien, p. 70-72. 77-80. The practice is here shown to have prevailed -as early as the fifth century B. C.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<h5>GALEN</h5> - -<p>recommends silk thread for tying blood-vessels in surgical operations, -observing that the opulent women in many parts of the -Roman empire possessed such thread, especially in the great -cities<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a>. He also mentions cloths of silk and gold in his treatise, -c. 9. (<i>Hippocratis et Galeni Opp. ed. Chartier</i>, tom. vi. p. -533.):</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> Methodus Medendi, l. xiii. c. 22.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Of this kind are the shawls <i>interwoven with gold</i>, the materials of which are -brought from afar, and which are called Seric or silk.”</p> -</div> - -<h5>CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS,</h5> - -<p>dissuading the Christian convert from luxury in dress, thus -speaks:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Εἰ δὲ συμπεριφέρεσθαι χρὴ, ὀλίγον ἐνδοτέον αὐταῖς μαλακωτέροις χρῆσθαι τοῖς ὑφάσμασιν· -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> -μόνον τὰς μεμωρημένας λεπτουργίας, καὶ τὰς ἐν ταῖς ὑφαῖς περιέργους πλοκὰς ἐκποδὼν μεθιστάντας· -νῆμα χρυσοῦ, καὶ σῆρας Ἰνδικοὺς, καὶ τοὺς περιέργους βόμβυκας χαίρειν ἐῶντας, ὃς σκώληξ -φύεται τὸ πρῶτον· εἶτα ἐξ αὐτοῦ δασεῖα ἀναφαίνεται κάμπη. μεθ’ ἣν εἰς τρίτην μεταμόρφωσιν -νεοχμοῦται βομβύλιον· οἱ δὲ νεκύδαλον αὐτὸ καλοῦσιν· ἐξ οὗ μακρὸς τίκτεται στήμων, -καθάπερ ἐκ τῆς ἀράχνης ὁ τῆς ἀράχνης μίτος.—<i>Pædag.</i> ii. 10.</p> - -<p>But, if it is necessary to accommodate ourselves to the women, let us concede to -them the use of cloths, which are a little softer, only refusing that degree of fineness, -which would imply folly, and such webs as are <i>excessively labored</i> and <i>intricate</i>; -bidding farewell to gold thread, and to the Indian Seres, and that industrious -bombyx, which is first a worm, then puts on the appearance of a hairy caterpillar, -and hence passes, in the third place, into a Bombylius, or, as some call -it, a Necydalus; and out of which is produced a long thread, in the same manner -as the thread of the spider.—<i>Yates’s Translation.</i></p> -</div> - -<p>The use of the epithet “Indian” in this passage may be accounted -for from the circumstance, that in the time of the -writer silken goods were brought to Alexandria and other cities -of Egypt from India. Clemens has evidently borrowed this -description from Aristotle.</p> - -<h4>SECOND CENTURY.</h4> - -<h5>TERTULLIAN.</h5> - -<p>thus describes the Bombyx:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Vermiculi genus est, qui per aërem liquando aranearum horoscopis idoneas -sedes tendit, dehinc devorat, mox alvo reddere; proinde si necaveris, animata jam -stamina volves.</p> - -<p>It is a kind of worm, which extends abodes like the <i>dials of spiders</i> by floating -them through the air. It then devours them so as to restore them to its stomach. -Therefore, if you kill it, you will roll living threads. (See <a href="#Chapter1_IX">chap. ix</a>.)</p> -</div> - -<p>In the same treatise (<i>De Pallio</i>, c. 4.) we find the following -notice:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Such as Hercules was in the silk of Omphale.</p> -</div> - -<p>Soon after, the same author, speaking of Alexander the -Great, says,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Vicerat Medicam gentem, et victus est Medicâ veste:——pectus squamarum -signaculis disculptum, textu pellucido tegendo, nudavit: et anhelum adhuc ab -opere belli, ut mollius, ventilante serico extinxit. Non erat satis animi tumens -Macedo, ni illum etiam vestis inflatior delectâsset.</p> - -<p>He had conquered the Medes, and was conquered by a Median garment. -When his breast exhibited the sculptured resemblances of scales, he covered it -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> -with a pellucid texture, which rather laid it bare; panting from the work of war, -he cooled and mollified it by the use of silk, exposing it to the wind. It was not -sufficient for the Macedonian to have a tumid mind; he required to be delighted -also with an inflated garment.</p> -</div> - -<p>He afterwards says of a philosopher,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>He went wearing a garment of silk, and sandals of brass.</p> -</div> - -<p>Again he says of a low character, “<i>She exposes her silk to -the wind</i>.”</p> - -<p>In his treatise on Female Attire he mentions silk in relation -to Milesian wool, and he concludes that treatise in the following -terms:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Manus lanis occupate, pedes domi figite, et plus quam in auro placebitis. Vestite -vos serico probitatis, byssino sanctitatis, purpurâ pudicitiæ.</p> - -<p>Employ your hands with wool; keep your feet at home. Thus will you please -more than if you were in gold. Clothe yourselves with the silk of probity, with -the fine linen of sanctity, and with the purple of modesty.</p> -</div> - -<p>Lastly, this author says (<i>Adv. Marcionem</i>, <i>l.</i> i. p. 372.),</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Imitare, si potes, apis ædificia, formicæ stabula, aranei retia, bombycis stamina.</p> - -<p>Imitate, if thou canst, the constructions of the bee, the retreats of the ant, the -nets of the spider, the threads of the silk-worm.</p> -</div> - -<h5>APULEIUS.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Prodeunt, mitellis, et crocotis, et carbasinis, et bombycinis injecti. * * * Deamque, -serico contectam amiculo, mihi gerendam imponunt. <i>Metamorphoseon</i>, <i>l.</i> -viii. <i>p.</i> 579, 580. <i>ed. Oudendorpii.</i></p> - -<p>They came forward, wearing ribbons, and cloths of a saffron color, of cotton, -and of silk, loosely thrown over them. * * * And they place on me the Goddess -covered with a small silken scarf, to be carried by me.</p> - -<p>Hic incinctus baltheo militem gerebat; illum succinctum chlamyde, copides et -venabula venatorem fecerant; alius soccis obauratis, indutus serica veste, mundoque -pretioso, et adtextis capite crinibus, incessu perfluo feminam mentiebatur. -<i>Ibid.</i> <i>l.</i> xi. <i>p.</i> 769.</p> - -<p>One performed the part of a soldier, girt with a sword; another had his chlamys -tucked up by a belt, and carried scimitars and hunting-poles, as if engaged -in the chace; another, wearing gilt slippers, a silken tunic, precious ornaments, -and artificial hair, by his flowing attire represented a woman.</p> -</div> - -<h5>ULPIAN.</h5> - -<p>Vossius, in his <i>Etymologicum Linguæ Latinæ</i>, in the -learned and copious article <span class="smcap">Sericum</span>, says, “Inter <i>sericum</i> et -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> -<i>bombycinum</i> discrimen ponit Ulpianus, l. xxiii. de aur. arg. -leg. ‘Vestimentorum sunt omnia lanea, lineaque, vel serica, -vel bombycina.’”</p> - -<h5>JULIUS POLLUX.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>The Bombyces are worms, which emit from themselves threads, like the spider. -Some say, that the Seres collect their webs from animals of this kind. L. vii. 76. -p. 741.—<i>Kühn.</i></p> -</div> - -<h5>JUSTIN</h5> - -<p>evidently refers to the use of silken garments in his account of -the customs of the Parthians, where he says,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>They formerly dressed after their own fashion. After they became rich, they -adopted the pellucid and flowing garments of the Medes. L. xli. c. 2.</p> -</div> - -<p>All doubt, whether the transparent garments, mentioned by -Justin, were of silk, must be removed by the authority of Procopius, -from whom we shall hereafter cite ample and important -testimony in reference to the time when he lived, and who in -the two following passages expressly states, that the webs, -called by the Greeks in his time <i>Seric</i>, were more anciently denominated -<i>Median</i>.</p> - -<p>Among the valuable and curious effects of the emperor -Commodus, which after his death (A. D. 192.) were sold by his -successor Pertinax, was a garment with a woof of silk, of a -bright yellow color, the appearance of which was more beautiful -than if the material had been interwoven with threads of -gold<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> Vestis subtegmine serico, aureis filis insignior.—Jul. Capitolini Pertinax, c. 8. -in Scrip. Hist. Augustæ.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>THIRD CENTURY.</h4> - -<p>The authorities now quoted supply evidence respecting the -use of silk among the Greeks and Romans down to the end of -the second century. It is rarely mentioned by any writer belonging -to the following century<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a>; so far as we have discovered, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> -only by the three historians now to be quoted, by Cyprian, and -by Solinus. But we have from these historians some remarkable -accounts of the regard paid to it by the emperors Heliogabalus, -Alexander Severus, Aurelian, Claudius II., Tacitus, and -Carinus, all of whom reigned in the third century.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> Mannert (Geogr. iv. 6. 7. p. 517.) attributes the excessive dearness of silk in -the third century to the victories of the Persians, which at that time cut off all -direct communication between Serica and the western world.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ælius Lampridius</span> says (c. 26.), that the profligate and -effeminate emperor Heliogabalus was the first Roman, who -wore cloth made wholly of silk, the silk having been formerly -combined with other less valuable materials, and, in consequence -of his example, the custom of wearing silk soon became general -among the wealthy citizens of Rome. He mentions (c. 33) -among the innumerable extravagances of this emperor, that -he had prepared a silken rope of purple and scarlet colors to -hang himself with.</p> - -<p>Of the emperor Alexander Severus he says (c. 40), that he -himself had few garments of silk, that he never wore a tunic -made wholly of silk, and that he never gave away cloth made -of silk mixed with less valuable materials.</p> - -<p>The following is the testimony of Flavius Vopiscus in his life -of the emperor Aurelian.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Aurelian neither had himself in his wardrobe a garment wholly of silk, nor -gave one to be worn by another. When his own wife begged him to allow her to -have a single shawl of purple silk, he replied, Far be it from us to permit thread -to be reckoned worth its weight in gold. For a pound of gold was then the price -of a pound of silk. c. 45.</p> -</div> - -<p>Although the above mentioned restrictions in the use of silk -may be partly accounted for from the usual severity of Aurelian’s -character, yet the facts here stated abundantly show the -rarity and high value of this material in that age.</p> - -<p>Flavius Vopiscus further states, that the emperor Tacitus made -it unlawful for men to wear silk unmixed with cheaper materials. -Carinus, on the other hand, made presents of silken -garments, as well as of gold and silver, to Greek artificers, and -to wrestlers, players, and musicians.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebellius Pollio</span>, in his life of Claudius II. (c. 14 <i>and</i> -17.), twice mentions white garments of silk mixed with cheaper -materials, which were destined for that emperor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span></p> - -<h5>CYPRIAN,</h5> - -<p>Bishop of Carthage in the third century, inveighs in the following -terms against the use of silk:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Tu licet indumenta peregrina et vestes sericas induas, nuda es. Auro te licet et -margaritis gemmisque condecores, sine Christi decore deformis es. <i>De Lapsis</i>, <i>p.</i> -135. <i>ed. Fell.</i></p> - -<p>Although thou shouldest put on a tunic of foreign silk, thou art naked; although -thou shouldest beautify thyself with gold, and pearls, and gems, without -the beauty of Christ thou art unadorned.</p> -</div> - -<p>Also in his treatise on the dress of Virgins he says,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Sericum et purpuram indutæ, Christum induere non possunt: auro et margaritis -et monilibus adornatæ, ornamenta cordis et pectoris perdiderunt.</p> - -<p>Those who put on silk and purple, cannot put on Christ: women, adorned with -gold and pearls and necklaces, have lost the ornaments of the heart and of the -breast.</p> -</div> - -<p>In the same place he gives us a translation of the well-known -passage of Isaiah enumerating the luxuries of female -attire among the Jews: “In that day the Lord will take away -the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and -their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, the chains, -and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and the -ornaments of the legs, and the head-bands, and the tablets, -and the ear-rings, the rings, and nose-jewels, the changeable -suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the -crisping pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, -and the veils.” Isaiah in. 18-23.</p> - -<h5>SOLINUS,</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Primos hominum Seres cognoscimus, qui, aquarum aspergine inundatis frondibus, -vellera arborum adminiculo depectunt liquoris, et lanuginis teneram subtilitatem -humore domant ad obsequium. Hoc illud est sericum, in quo ostentare potius -corpora quàm vestire, primò feminis, nunc etiam viris persuasit luxuriæ -libido. <i>Cap.</i> 1.</p> - -<p>The Seres first, having inundated the foliage with aspersions of water, combed -down fleeces from trees by the aid of a fluid, and subdued to their purposes the -tender and subtile down by the use of moisture. The substance so prepared is -silk; that material in which at first women, but now even men, have been persuaded -by the eagerness of luxury rather to display their bodies, than to clothe -them.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p> - -<h5>AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS.</h5> - -<p>This historian describes the Seres as “a quiet and inoffensive -people who, avoiding all quarrels with their neighbors, are -exempt from the distresses and alarms of war, and not being -under the necessity of using offensive arms, do not even know -their use, and occupy a fertile country under a delicious and -healthy climate. He represents them as passing their happy -life in the most perfect tranquillity and the most delicious repose -amidst shady thickets refreshed by pleasant zephyrs, and -where the soil furnishes so soft a wool, that after having been -sprinkled with water and combed, it forms cloths resembling -silk.”</p> - -<p>Marcellinus proceeds to describe the Seres as being content -with their own felicitous condition, and so reserved in their intercourse -with the rest of mankind, that when foreigners venture -within their boundaries for wrought and unwrought silk, -and other valuable articles, they consider the price offered in -silence, and transact their business without exchanging a word; -a mode of traffic which is still practised in some eastern countries.</p> - -<p>Macpherson, in the Annals of Commerce, a very valuable -work, thinks that according to all appearances, the Seres were -themselves the authors of this story, in order to make strangers -believe that their country enjoyed all these benefits by the -peculiar blessing of heaven, and that no other nation could -participate in them.</p> - -<p>The remarks of Solinus and Ammianus conspire to show, -how much more common silk had become about the end of -the third century, being then worn, at least with a warp of -cheaper materials, by men as well as by women, and not -being confined to the noble and the wealthy. These authors -likewise dilate upon the use of showers of water to detach silk -from the trees on which it was found. According to Pliny and -Solinus, water was also employed after the silk was gathered -from the trees<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a>: and probably the fact was so. Silk, as it -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> -comes from the worm, contains a strong gum, which would be -dissolved by the showers of water dashed against the trees, -and thus the cocoons, being loosened from the leaves and twigs, -would be easily collected. In the subsequent processes, water -would be further useful in enabling the women to spin the silk -or to wind it upon bobbins.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> “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 <i>three hundred nations</i> used to resort to it <i>speaking different languages</i>; -and that business was afterwards transacted on our part through the medium of -<i>one hundred and thirty</i> interpreters.”</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>It may be observed that in this use of water art only follows -nature. When the moth is ready to leave its cell, it always -softens the extremity of it by emitting a drop of fluid, and thus -easily obtains for itself a passage. In the third volume of the -Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society (p. 543.), Colonel -Sykes gives the following account of the process by which the -moth of the Kolisurra silk-worm liberates itself from confinement. -“It discharges from its mouth a liquor, which dissolves -or loosens that part of the cocoon adjoining to the cord which -attaches it to the branch, causing a hole, and admitting of the -passage of the moth. The solvent property of this liquid is -very remarkable; for that part of the cocoon, against which it -is directed, although previously as hard as a piece of wood, becomes -soft and pervious as wetted brown paper.”</p> - -<p>In the seventh volume of the Linnæan Transactions, is an -account by Dr. Roxburgh of the Tusseh silk-worm. Both -species are natives of Bengal. The cocoons require to be immersed -in cold water before the silk can be obtained from them. -In the latter species it is too delicate to be wound from the cocoons, -and is therefore spun like cotton. Thus manufactured -it is so durable, that the life of one person is seldom sufficient -to wear out a garment made of it, and the same piece descends -from mother to daughter. (See <a href="#Chapter1_VIII">Chap. VIII.</a> of this Part.)</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_III">CHAPTER III.<br /> -<small>HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE FROM THE -THIRD TO THE SIXTH CENTURY.</small></h3> - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="h3sub">SPINNING, DYEING, AND WEAVING.—HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE -ATTAINED IN THESE ARTS.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Fourth century—Curious account of silk found in the Edict of Diocletian—Extravagance -of the Consul Furius Placidus—Transparent silk shifts—Ausonius describes -silk as the produce of trees—Quintus Aur Symmachus, and Claudian’s testimony -of silk and golden textures—Their extraordinary beauty—Pisander’s description—Periplus -Maris Erythræi—Dido of Sidon. Mention of silk in the -laws of Manu—Rufus Festus Avinus—Silk shawls—Marciannus Capella—Inscription -by M. N. Proculus, silk manufacturer—Extraordinary spiders’ webs—Bombyces -compared to spiders—Wild silk-worms of Tsouen—Kien and Tiao-Kien—M. -Bertin’s account—Further remarks on wild silk-worms. Christian -authors of the fourth century—Arnobius—Gregorius Nazienzenus—Basil—Illustration -of the doctrine of the resurrection—Ambrose—Georgius -Pisida—Macarius—Jerome—Chrysostom—Heliodorus—Salmasius—Extraordinary -beauty of the silk and golden textures described by these authors—Their invectives -against Christians wearing silk. Mention of silk by Christian authors in -the fifth century—Prudentius—Palladius—Theodosian Code—Appollinaris Sidonius—Alcimus -Avitus. Sixth century—Boethius. (Manufactures of Tyre -and Sidon—Purple—Its great durability—Incredible value of purple stuffs -found in the treasury of the King of Persia.)</p> -</div> - -<h4>FOURTH CENTURY.</h4> - -<p>Some curious evidence respecting the use of silk, both unmixed -with linen and with the warp of linen, or some inferior -material, is found in the <span class="smcap">Edict of Diocletian</span>, which was -published A. D. 303 for the purpose of fixing a maximum of -prices for all articles in common use throughout the Roman -Empire<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a>. The passage pertaining to our present subject, is as -follows:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span></p> - -<table summary="Prices Latin"> -<tr><td>Sarcinatori in veste soubtili replicat(u)ræ</td> -<td>* sex</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Eidem aperturæ cum subsutura olosericræ</td> -<td>* quinquaginta</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Eidem aperturæ cum subsutura su(b)sericæ</td> -<td>* triginta</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>(Sub)suturæ in veste grossiori</td> -<td>* quattuor.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table summary="Prices English"> -<tr> - <td></td> - <td>Denarii<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47].</a> -</td> - </tr> -<tr> - <td class="hanging2">To the Tailor for lining a fine vest</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - </tr> -<tr> - <td class="hanging2">To the same for an opening and an edging with silk</td> - <td class="tdr">50</td> - </tr> -<tr> - <td class="hanging2">To the same for an opening and an edging with stuff made of a mixed tissue of silk and flax -</td> -<td class="tdr">30</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="hanging2">For an edging on a coarser vest</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tdr" colspan="2"><i>Colonel Leake’s translation.</i></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> It was edited A. D. 1826, by Colonel Leake, as a sequel to his Journal of a -Tour in Asia Minor, and is also published in Tr. of the Royal Society of Literature, -vol. i. p. 181.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> A Roman coin of the value of about sixteen or seventeen cents, called Denarii -from the letter X upon it; which denoted <i>ten</i>.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>This document proves, in exact conformity with the passages -quoted from Solinus and Ammianus, that silk had come into -general use at the commencement of the fourth century. It is -also manifest from this extract, that silk was employed in giving -to garments a greater proportion of intricacy and ornament -than had been in use before.</p> - -<p>The authors who make mention of silk in the fourth and following -centuries are very numerous. We shall first take the -heathen authors, and then the Christian writers, whose observations -often have some moral application, which gives them an -additional interest.</p> - -<p>The unknown author of the Panegyric on the emperor Constantine, -pronounced A. D. 317, thus mentions silk as characterizing -oriental refinement.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Facile est vincere timidos et imbelles, quales amœna Græcia et deliciæ Orientis -educunt, vix leve pallium et sericos sinus vitando sole tolerantes.</p> - -<p>It is easy to vanquish the timid and those unused to war, the offspring of pleasant -Greece and the delightful East, who, whilst they avoid the heat of the sun, -can scarcely bear even a light shawl and folds of silk.</p> -</div> - -<p>The testimony of the Roman historian <span class="smcap">Flavius Vopiscus</span>, -in reference to the practice of the emperor Aurelian and the -dearness of silk during his reign, has already been produced. -This author, in his life of the same emperor, makes the following -remarks on a display of silk which he had himself recently -witnessed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>We have lately seen the Consulate of Furius Placidus celebrated in the Circus -with so great eagerness for popularity, that he seemed to give not prizes, but patrimonies, -presenting tunics of linen and silk, borders of linen, and even horses, -to the great scandal of all good men.</p> -</div> - -<p>The exact period here referred to is no doubt the Consulship -of Placidus and Romulus, A. D. 343.</p> - -<p>In the Epistles of <span class="smcap">Alciphron</span> (i. 39.) Myrrhine, a courtesan, -loosens her girdle, which probably fastened her upper garment -or shawl. Her <i>shift</i> was silk, and so transparent as to show -the <i>color</i> of her skin.</p> - -<h5>AUSONIUS</h5> - -<p>satirizes a rich man of mean extraction, who nevertheless -made lofty pretensions to nobility of birth, pretending to be descended -from Mars, Romulus, and Remus, and who therefore -caused their images to be embossed upon his plate and <i>woven</i> -in a silken shawl.—Epig. 26.</p> - -<p>In the following line, he alludes to the production of silk in -the usual terms:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Vellera depectit nemoralia vestifluus Ser.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Idyll.</i> 12.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Ser remote, in flowing garments drest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Combs down the fleeces, which the trees invest.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>QUINTUS AUR SYMMACHUS.</h5> - -<p>This distinguished officer, in a letter to the Consul Stilicho, -apologizes in the following terms for his delay in sending a contribution -of Holoseric pieces, that is, webs wholly made of silk, -to the public exhibitions.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Others have deferred supplying the water for the theatre and the Holoseric -pieces, so that I have examples in my favor.—<i>Epist.</i> <i>l.</i> iv. 8.</p> -</div> - -<p>In a letter to Magnillus (<i>l.</i> v. 20.) he speaks of Subseric -pieces, webs made only in part of silk, as presents;</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>At your instigation the Subseric pieces have been supplied, which my men -kept back after the price had been settled; and likewise everything else pertaining -to the prizes which were to be given.</p> -</div> - -<h5>CLAUDIAN</h5> - -<p>mentions silk in numerous passages. This poet, in describing -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> -the consular robes of the two brothers Probinus and Olybrius -(A. D. 395.), represents the Gabine Cincture, by which the toga -was girt over the breast, as made of silk.</p> - -<p>In the following passage he represents the two brothers, -Honorius and Arcadius, as dividing the empire of the world between -them and receiving tributes of its productions from the -most distant regions:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Vestri juris erit, quicquid complectitur axis.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Vobis rubra dabunt pretiosas æquora conchas,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Indus ebur, ramos Panchaia, vellera Seres.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>De III. Cons. Honorii</i>, <i>l.</i> 209-211.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To you the world its various wealth shall send:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their precious shells the Erythrean seas;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">India its iv’ry, Araby its boughs,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The distant Seres fleeces from the trees.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In a poem, which immediately succeeds this in the order of -time, Claudian describes a magnificent toga, worn by Honorius -on being appointed a fourth time consul, by saying, that it received -its color (<i>the Tyrian purple</i>) from the Phœnicians; its -woof (<i>of silk forming stripes or figures</i>) from the Seres; and -its weight (<i>produced by Indian gems</i>) from the river Hydaspes<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a>. -Again, in his poem on the approaching marriage of -Honorius and Maria, he mentions yellow silk curtains (<i>l.</i> 211.) -as a decoration of the nuptial chamber.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> De IV. Cons. Honorii, i. 600, 601.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Again he says (<i>in Eutrop.</i> <i>l.</i> i. <i>v.</i> 225, 226. 304. <i>l.</i> ii. <i>v.</i> -337.):</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent10">Te grandibus India gemmis,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Te foliis Arabes ditent, te vellere Seres.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Let India with her gems thy wealth increase,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Arabs with their leaves, the Seres with their fleece.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>He also mentions with delight the use of gold in dress, as -well as of silk. The following passage represents the manner -in which Proba, a Roman matron, near the end of the fourth -century, expressed her affectionate congratulations on the elevation -of her two sons to the Consulship, by preparing robes <i>interwoven -with gold</i> for the ceremony of their installation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With joy elated at this proud success,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their venerable mother now prepares</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The golden trabeas, and the cinctures bright</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With Seric fibres shorn from woolly trees:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her well-train’d thumb protracts the length’ning gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And makes the metal to the threads adhere.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>In Probini et Olybrii Consulatum</i>, <i>l.</i> 177-182.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>From these verses we learn that Proba had herself acquired -the art of <i>covering the thread with gold</i>, and that she then -used her gold thread in the <i>woof</i> to form the stripes or other -ornaments of the consular trabeæ. These are afterwards called -stiff togas (<i>togæ rigentes</i>, <i>l.</i> 205.), on account of the -rigidity imparted to them by the gold thread.</p> - -<p>The same poet gives an elaborate description of a Trabea -which he supposes to have been woven by the Goddess Rome -with the aid of Minerva for the use of the Consul Stilicho. -Five different scenes are said to have been <i>woven</i> in this admirable -robe (<i>regentia dona, graves auro trabeas</i>), and certain -parts of them were wrought in gold<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> In I. Cons. Stilichonis, L. ii. 330-359.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Again, Claudian supposes Thetis to have woven scarfs of gold -and purple for her son Achilles:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Ipsa manu chlamydes ostro texebat et auro. (<i>Ep.</i> 35.)</p> -</div> - -<p>The epigram in which this line occurs, seems to imply that -Serena, mother-in-law of the Emperor Honorius, wove garments -of the same kind for him.</p> - -<p>Maria, the daughter of the above-mentioned Stilicho, was -bestowed by him upon Honorius, but died shortly after, about -A. D. 400. In February, 1544, the marble coffin, containing -her remains, was discovered at Rome. In it were preserved a -garment and a pall, which, on being burnt, yielded 36 <i>pounds -of gold</i>. There were also found a great number of glass vessels, -jewels, and ornaments of all kinds, which Stilicho had -given as a dowry to his daughter<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a>. We may conclude, that -the garments discovered in the tomb of Maria were <i>woven</i> by -the hands of her mother Serena, since the epigram of Claudian -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> -proves that she wove robes of a similar description for Honorius, -and probably on the same occasion. Anastasius Bibliothecarius -says, that when Pope Paschal was intent on finding -the body of St. Cæcilia, having performed mass with a view -to obtain the favor of a revelation on the subject, he was directed -A. D. 821 to a cemetery on the Appian Way near Rome, -and there found the body enveloped in cloth of gold<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a>. Although -there is <i>no</i> reason to believe, that the body found by Paschal -was the body of the saint pretended, yet it may have been the -body of a Roman lady who had lived some centuries before, -and probably about the time of Honorius and Maria.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> Surii Comment. Rerum Gest. ab anno 1500, &c.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> “Aureis vestitum indumentis.” <span class="smcap">De Vitis Rom.</span> Pontificum Mogunt. 1602, -p. 222.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Pisander, who belonged to the same period (900 B. C.) with -Homer, speaks of the <i>Lydians</i> as <i>wearing tunics adorned -with gold</i>. Lydus observes, that the Lydians were supplied -with gold from the sands of the Pactolus and the Hermus<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> De Magistratibus Rom. L. iii. § 64.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Virgil also represents the use of gold in weaving, as if it had -existed in Trojan times. One of the garments so adorned -was manufactured by <i>Dido</i>, the <i>Sidonian</i>, one by Andromache, -and another was in the possession of Anchises<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a>. In -all these instances the reference is to the habits of Phœnice, -Lycia, or other parts of Asia.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> Æn. iii. 483.; iv. 264.; viii. 167.; xi. 75.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>He describes an ape ludicrously attired in a silk jacket; and, -inveighing against the progress of luxury, he speaks of some -to whom even silk garments were a burthen. In elaborate -descriptions of the figured consular robes (the Trabeæ) of Honorius -and Stilicho, he mentions the <i>reins and other trappings -of horses</i>, as being wrought in silk<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> Rubra Serica, De VI. Cons. Honor. I. 577. Serica Fræna. In I. Cons. Stilichonis -1. ii. V. 350.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The frequent allusions to silk in the complimentary poems -of Claudian, receive illustration from various imperial laws, -which were promulgated in the same century, and in part by -the very emperors to whom his flattery is addressed, and which -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span> -are preserved in the <span class="smcap">Code of Justinian</span>. Their object was -not to encourage the silk manufacture, but, on a principle very -opposite to that of modern times, to make it an imperial monopoly. -The admiration excited by the splendor and elegance -of silk attire was the ground, on which it was forbidden that -any individual of the <i>male sex</i> should wear even a silken border -upon his tunic or pallium, with the exception of the emperor, -his officers and servants. To confine the enjoyment of -these luxuries more entirely to the imperial family and court, -all private persons were strictly forbidden engaging in the -manufacture, gold and silken borders were to be made only in -the imperial Gynæcea<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> See the Corpus Juris Civilis, Lugduni 1627, folio, tom. v. Codex Justiniani, -l. x. tit. vii. p. 131. 134.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>THE PERIPLUS MARIS ERYTHRÆI.</h5> - -<p>In this important document on ancient geography and commerce, -we find repeated mention of silk in its raw state, in that -of thread, and woven<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>. These articles were conveyed down -the Indus to the coast of the Erythrean Sea. They were also -brought to the great mart of Barygaza, which was on the -Gulf of Cambay near the modern Surat, and to the coast of -Lymirica, which was still more remote. The author of the -Periplus states, that they were carried by land through Bactria -to Barygaza from a great city called <i>Thina</i>, lying far towards -the North in the interior of Asia. He of course refers to some -part of Serica. It is remarkable, that he makes no mention -of silk as the native production of India.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> Arriani Opp., vol. ii. Blancardi, pp. 164. 170. 173. 177.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Silk is mentioned in two passages of the laws of Manu, viz. -XI. v. 168, and XII. v. 64. It is, however, observed by Heeren, -who quotes passages of the Ramayana that make mention -of silk, that garments of this material are there represented as -worn only on festive occasions, and that they were undoubtedly -Seric or Chinese productions<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a>. Indeed it appears that -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> -the cloth made from the thread of the native worms of Hindostan, -although highly valued for strength and durability, is -not remarkable for fineness, beauty, or splendor.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> Ideen über die Politik, &c. der alten Welt, i. 2. pp. 647. 648. 665-668. 677. -3rd edition. Göttingen, 1815.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>RUFUS FESTUS AVIENUS.</h5> - -<p>This author, adopting the common notion of his time, supposes -the Seres to spin thread from fleeces which were produced -upon the trees. He also mentions silk shawls (<i>Serica pallia</i>, -<i>l.</i> 1008.) as worn by the female Bacchantes of Ionia in their -processions in honor of Bacchus; and it is worthy of remark, -that they are not mentioned in the original passage of Dionysius, -the author whom Avienus translates, so that we may -reasonably infer, that the use of them on these occasions was -introduced between the time of Dionysius (about 30 B. C.) and -that of Avienus (A. D. 400).</p> - -<h5>MARTIANUS CAPELLA.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Beyond these (<i>the Anthropophagi</i>) are the Seres, who asperse their trees with -water to obtain the down, which produces silk. L. vi. <i>p.</i> 223. <i>ed. Grotii</i>, 1599.</p> -</div> - -<p>The following Inscription is given in Gruter, Tom. iii. p. -<span class="allsmcap">DCXLV</span>. It was found at Tivoli, and expresses that M. N. -Proculus, <i>silk-manufacturer</i>, erected a monument to Valeria -Chrysis, his excellent and deserving wife.</p> - -<p class="center">D. M.<br /> -VALERIAE. CHRYSIDI.<br /> -M. NVMIVS. PROCVLVS.<br /> -<small>SERICARIVS.<br /> -CONJVGI. SVAE.<br /> -<span class="gesperrt">OPTIMÆ. BENEM.</span><br /> -FECIT.</small> -</p> - -<p>Before proceeding to the Christian writers of the 4th and following -centuries we may now introduce the remarks of Servius -on the passage formerly quoted from Virgil. He is supposed to -have written about A. D. 400.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Among the Indians and Seres there are on the trees certain worms, called -Bombyces, which draw out very fine threads after the manner of spiders; and -these threads constitute silk.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> -It will be seen hereafter, that these “Indian Seres” were the -inhabitants of Khotan in Little Bucharia.</p> - -<p>The frequent comparison of Bombyces to spiders by the ancients -suggests the inquiry whether they employed the thread -of any kind of spider to make cloth, as was attempted in -France by M. Bon. The failure of his attempt is sufficient, -as it appears, to show, that the extensive manufacture of garments -from this material must have been scarcely possible in -ancient times. It is also to be observed, that the ancients, -when they compare the silk-worm to the spider, refer to the -spider’s <i>web</i>, whereas M. Bon, not finding the web strong -enough, made his cloth from the thread with which the spider -envelopes its eggs<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> The most extraordinary account of a spider’s web, which we have ever seen, -is that given by Lieutenant W. Smyth. He says, “We saw here (<i>viz.</i> at Pachiza, -on the river Huayabamba in Peru) a gigantic spider’s web suspended to the -trees: it was about 25 <i>feet in height</i>, and near 50 <i>in length</i>; the threads were -very strong, and it had the empty sloughs of thousands of insects hanging on it. -It appeared to be the habitation of a great number of spiders of a larger size than -we ever saw in England.” Narrative of a Journey from Lima to Para, London, -1836, p. 141.</p> - -<p>For some interesting notices of the great spider of Brazil the reader is referred -to Caldcleugh’s Travels in South America, London 1825, vol. i. ch. 2. p. 41; and -to the Rev. R. Walsh’s Notices of Brazil, London 1830, vol. ii. p. 300, 301. Mr. -Caldcleugh “<i>assisted in liberating from a spider’s net a bird of the size of a -swallow, quite exhausted with struggling, and ready to fall a prey to its indefatigable -enemies</i>.” Mr. Walsh had his light straw hat removed from his head -by a similar web extending from tree to tree in an opening through which he had -occasion to pass. He wound upon a card several of the threads composing the -web; and he observes, that, as these spiders are gregarious, the difficulties experienced -by M. Bon from the ferocity of the solitary European spiders in killing -and devouring one another, would not exist if the attempt were made to obtain -clothing from the former.</p> - -<p>In the forests of Java Sir George Staunton “found webs of spiders, woven -with threads of so strong a texture as not easily to be divided without a cutting -instrument.”—Account of Lord Macartney’s Embassy to China, London 1797, -vol. i. ch. 7. p. 302. (See <a href="#Chapter1_IX">Chap. IX.</a>)</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>But, although we have no reason to believe, that the web of -any spider was anciently employed to make cloth, yet these -accounts may have referred to worms, possibly varieties of the -silk-worm, which spun long threads floating in the air. The -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> -common silk-worm spins and suspends itself by its thread, long -before it begins its cocoon. It appears probable, therefore, that -there may have been wild varieties of this creature, or perhaps -other species of the same genus, which in the earlier stages of -their existence spun threads long enough for use. We ground -this conjecture partly on the following passage from Du Halde’s -History of China<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> Vol. ii. p. 359, 360, 8vo. edition, London, 1736.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The province of Chan-tong produces a particular sort of silk, which is found -in great quantities on the trees and in the fields. It is spun and made into a stuff -called <i>Kien-tcheou</i>. This silk is made by little insects that are much like caterpillars. -They do not spin an oval or round cocoon, like the silk-worms, but very -long threads. These threads, as they are driven about by the winds, hang upon -the trees and bushes, and are gathered to make a sort of silk, which is coarser -than that made of the silk spun in houses. But these worms are wild, and eat -indifferently the leaves of mulberry and other trees. Those who do not understand -this silk would take it for unbleached cloth, or a coarse sort of drugget.</p> - -<p>“The worms, which spin this silk, are of two kinds: the first, much larger and -blacker than the common silk-worms, are called <i>Tsouen-kien</i>; the second, being -smaller, are named <i>Tiao-kien</i>. The silk of the former is of a reddish gray, that -of the latter darker. The stuff made of these materials is between both colors, it -is very close, does not <i>fret</i>, is very lasting, washes like linen, and, when it is good, -receives no damage by spots, even though oil were to be shed on it.</p> - -<p>“This stuff is much valued by the Chinese, and it is sometimes as dear as -satin or the finest silks. As the Chinese are very skilful at counterfeiting, they -make a false sort of <i>Kien-tcheou</i> with the waste of the Tche-kiang silk, which -without due inspection might easily be taken for the genuine article.”</p> -</div> - -<p>This account affords a remarkable illustration of many of -the expressions of the ancient writers, such as “Bombyx pendulus -urget opus,” <i>Martial</i>; “Per aerem liquando aranearum -horoscopis idoneas sedes tendit,” <i>Tertullian</i>; “In aranearum -morem tenuissima fila deducunt,” <i>Servius</i>.</p> - -<p>In further illustration of the subject, and as tending to show -that the <i>Kien-tcheou</i> is manufactured from the thread of a -silk-worm, modified in its habits and perhaps in its organization -by circumstances, we shall now quote a few passages from a work -having the following title: “<i>China; its costume, arts, manufactures, -&c., edited from the originals in the cabinet of -M. Bertin, with observations by M. Breton. Translated -from the French. London, 1812.</i>” <i>Vol.</i> iv. <i>p.</i> 55, <i>&c.</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The wild silk-worms are found in the hottest provinces of China, especially -near Canton. They live indifferently on all sorts of leaves, particularly on those -of the ash, the oak, and the fagara, and spin a greyish and rarely white silk. -The coarse cloth manufactured from it is called <i>Kien-tcheou</i>, will bear washing, -and on that account persons of quality do not disdain to wear clothes of it. With -this silk also the strings of musical instruments are made, because it is stronger -and more sonorous.</p> - -<p>“Entomologists treat but very superficially of the habits of the wild silk-worms, -while they dwell in minute detail on the method of rearing them in Provence.</p> - -<p>“It is between the nineteenth and twenty-second day of their existence, that -they undertake the great work of spinning their cocoon. They curve a leaf -into a kind of cup, and then form a cocoon as large and nearly as hard as a hen’s -egg! This cocoon has one end open like a reversed funnel; it is a passage for -the butterfly, which is to come out.</p> - -<p>“The oak-worms are slower in making their cocoon than those of the fagara -and ash, and they set about it differently. Instead of bending a single leaf, they -roll themselves in two or three and spin their cocoon. It is larger, but the silk is -inferior in quality, and of course not so valuable.</p> - -<p>“The cocoons of wild silk-worms are so strong and compact, that the insects -encounter great difficulty in extricating themselves, and therefore remain inclosed -from the end of the summer, to the spring of the following year. These butterflies, -unlike the domestic insect, fly very well.—The domestic silk-worm is but a -variety of the wild species. It is fed on the leaves of the mulberry tree.” (See -<a href="#Chapter1_VIII">chap. VIII.</a>)</p> -</div> - -<p>The circumstance that the worms were sometimes fed with -oak-leaves is mentioned in Du Halde’s History of China, -vol. ii. p. 363.</p> - -<p>Here then we have a justification of the ancients in asserting, -both that the silk-worms produced <i>long threads and webs floating -in the air like those of spiders</i>, and that they fed upon -the leaves of the oak, the ash, and many other trees. It may -be recollected, that Pliny expressly mentions both the oak -(<i>quercus</i>) and the ash (<i>fraxinus</i>).</p> - -<p>Until very lately the use of silk among the ancients was investigated -only by philologists. Within a few years M. Latreille, -an entomologist of the highest distinction, has directed his attention -to the subject and has examined particularly the above-cited -passages of Aristotle, Pliny, and Pausanias<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a>. He never -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> -supposes the ancient Sericum to have been the produce of anything -except the silk-worm. But of this there are several varieties, -partly perhaps natural, and partly the result of domestication. -He endeavors to explain some parts of Pliny’s description -by showing their seeming correspondence with some of the -practices actually observed by the Orientals in the management -of silk-worms.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> M. Latreille’s paper is published in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, tome -xxiii. pp. 58-84.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>An account of the wild silk-worms of China is to be found -in the “Mémoires concernant l’Histoire, les Sciences, les Arts, -&c., des Chinois,” compiled by the missionaries of Peking<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a>. -This account is principally derived from the information of Father -D’Incarville, one of the missionaries. It coincides generally -with the accounts already quoted from Du Halde and -Breton. We extract the following particulars as conveying -some further information:</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> Tome ii. pp. 579-601. Paris, 1777, 4to. This Memoir is reprinted with -abridgments as an Appendix to Stanislas Julien’s Translation of the Chinese -Treatise on the Breeding of Silk-worms, Paris, 1837, 8vo.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The Chinese annals from the year 150 B. C. to A. D. 638 make frequent -mention of the great quantity of silk produced by the wild worms, and observe -that their cocoons were as large as eggs or apricots.”</p> -</div> - -<p>The following passage is also deserving of attention: “Le -papillon de ces vers sauvages, dit le Père d’Incarville, est à ailes -vitrées.” This information, if correct, would prove that there -was at least one kind of wild silk-worms in China, which was -a different species from the Phalæna Mori; for that has no -transparent membranes in its wings, and would not be likely to -receive them in consequence of any change in its mode of life.</p> - -<p>We now proceed to take the Christian authors of the fourth -and following centuries in the order of time.</p> - -<h5>ARNOBIUS (A. D. 306.)</h5> - -<p>thus speaks of the heathen gods:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>They want the covering of a garment: the Tritonian virgin must spin a thread -of extraordinary fineness, and according to circumstances put on a tunic either of -mail, or silk<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> Adv. Gentes, l. iii. p. 580, ed. Erasmi.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span></p> - -<h5>GREGORIUS NAZIENZENUS, CL., A. D. 370.</h5> - -<p>The following passage contains, we believe, the earliest allusion -to the use of silk in the services of the Christian Church.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Ἄλλοι μὲν χρυσόν τε καὶ ἄργυρον, οἱ δὲ τὰ Σηρῶν</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Δῶρα φέρουσι θεῷ νήματα λεπταλέα.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Καὶ Χριστῷ θυσίην τὶς ἁγνὴν ἀνέθηκεν ἑαυτον·</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Καὶ σπένδει δακρύων ἄλλος ἁγνὰς λιβάδας.</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Ad Hellenium pro Monachis Carmen.</i> <i>tom.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 106. <i>ed. Par.</i> 1630.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Silver and gold some bring to God</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or the fine threads by Seres spun:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Others to Christ themselves devote,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A chaste and holy sacrifice,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And make libations of their tears.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Yates’s Translation.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>BASIL, CL., A. D. 370.</h5> - -<p>Although this celebrated author was a native of Asia Minor, -and had studied in Syria and Palestine, he appears to have -known the silk-worm only from books and by report. His description -of it in the following passage, in which we first find -the beautiful illustration of the doctrine of a <i>resurrection</i> from -the change of the chrysalis, is chiefly copied from Aristotle’s account -as formerly quoted.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Τί φάτε οἱ ἀπιστοῦντες τῷ Παύλῳ περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἀλλοιώσεως, ὁρῶντες πολλὰ -τῶν ἀερίων τὰς μορφὰς μεταβάλλοντα; ὁποῖα καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰνδικοῦ σκώληκος ἱστορεῖται τοῦ -κερασφόρου· ὃς εἰς κάμπην τὰ πρῶτα μεταβαλὼν, εἶτα προϊὼν βομβυλιὸς γίνεται, καὶ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ -ταύτης ἵσταται τῆς μορφῆς, ἀλλὰ χαύνοις καὶ πλατέσι πετάλοις ὑποπτεροῦται. Ὅταν οὖν -καθέζησθε τὴν τούτων ἐργασίαν ἀναπηνιζόμεναι αἱ γυναῖκες, τὰ νήματα λέγω, ἃ πέμπουσιν -ὑμῖν οἱ Σῆρες πρὸς τὴν τῶν μαλακῶν ἐνδυμάτων κατασκευὴν, μεμνημέναι τῆς κατὰ τὸ ζῶον -τοῦτο μεταβολῆς, ἐναργῆ λαμβάνετε τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἔννοιαν, καὶ μὴ ἀπιστεῖτε τῇ ἀλλαγῇ, -ἣν Παῦλος ἅπασι κατεπαγγέλλεται.—<i>Hexahemeron</i>, <i>p.</i> 79. <i>A. Ed. Benedict.</i></p> - -<p>What have you to say, who disbelieve the assertion of the Apostle Paul concerning -the change at the resurrection, when you see many of the inhabitants of -the air changing their forms? Consider, for example, the account of the horned -worm of India, which (i. e. the silk-worm) having first changed into a caterpillar -(<i>eruca</i>, or <i>veruca</i>), then in process of time becomes a cocoon (<i>bombylius</i>, or <i>bombulio</i>), -and does not continue even in this form, but assumes light and expanded -wings. Ye women, who sit winding upon bobbins the produce of these animals, -namely the threads, which the Seres send to you for the manufacture of fine garments, -bear in mind the change of form in this creature; derive from it a clear -conception of the resurrection; and discredit not that transformation which Paul -announces to us all.—Yates’s Translation.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> -When St. Basil says of the new-born moth, that “it assumes -light and expanded wings,” the beauty of the comparison -in illustrating the Christian doctrine of the resurrection -is enhanced, when we consider that in its <i>wild</i> state the moth -flies very well, although, when domesticated, its flight is weak -and its wings small and shrivelled<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a>: but still more beautiful -does the figure become, if we suppose a reference to those -larger and more splendid Phalænæ which produce the coarser -kinds of silk in India, and probably in China also.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> The Phalæna Atlas, apparently a native of China, measures eight inches -across the wings from tip to tip.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Basil is the <i>first</i> writer, who distinctly mentions the change -of the silk-worm from a Chrysalis to a moth. In his application -of that fact he addresses himself to his countrywomen in -Asia Minor, and his language represents them sitting and -winding on bobbins the raw silk obtained from the Seres and -designed to be afterwards woven into cloth.</p> - -<p>Between these two authors, Aristotle and Basil, we observe -a difference of phraseology which appears deserving of notice. -While they both describe the women, not as spinning the -silk, but as <i>winding it on bobbins</i>, they designate the material -so wound by two different names. Basil uses the term - νήματα, which might be meant to imply that the silk came -from the Seres in skeins as it comes to us from China: Aristotle, -on the contrary, uses the term βομβύκια, which can only -refer to the state of silk before it is wound into skeins. -As it might appear impossible to convey it in this state to -Cos, we shall here insert from the authorities already quoted, -the Chinese Missionaries, an account of the process by which -the cocoons are prepared for winding, and it will then be seen, -that the cocoons might have been transported to any part of -the world.</p> - -<p>“To prepare the cocoons of the wild silk-worms, the -Chinese cut the extremities of them with a pair of scissors. -They are then put into a canvass bag, and immersed for an -hour or more in a kettle of boiling lye, which dissolves the -gum. When this is effected, they are taken from the kettle; -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> -pressed to expel the lye, and then laid out to dry. Whilst -they are still moist, the chrysalises are extracted; each cocoon -is then turned inside out, so as to make a sort of cowl. It is -necessary only, to put them again into lukewarm water, -after which ten or twelve of them are capped one upon another -like so many thimbles, to insert a small distaff through -them, when the silk may be reeled off.”</p> - -<p>Basil, in one of his Homilies, (<i>Opp. tom.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 53. 55. <i>ed. -Benedict.</i>) inveighs against the ladies of Cæsarea, who employed -themselves in weaving gold; and he is no less indignant -at their husbands who adorned even their horses with -cloths of gold and scarlet as if they were bridegrooms.</p> - -<p>The author of a Treatise “De disciplinâ et bono pudicitiæ,” -which is usually published with Cyprian, and which may be -referred to the fourth or fifth century, thus speaks (<i>Cypriani -Opera, ed. Erasmi, p.</i> 499.):</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>To weave gold in cloth is, as it were, to adopt an expensive method of spoiling -it. Why do they interpose stiff metals between the delicate threads of the warp?</p> -</div> - -<p>The same censure is implied in the following address of Alcimus -Avitus to his sister.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Non tibi gemmato posuere nonilia collo,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nec te contexit, neto quæ fulguratauro</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Vestis, ductilibus concludens fila talentis:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nec te Sidonium bis coeti muricis ostrum</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Induit, aut rutilo perlucens purpura succo,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mollia vel tactu quæ mittunt vellera Seres:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nec tibi transfossis fixerunt auribus aurum.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">No threaded gems have pressed thy sparkling neck:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No cloth, with lines incased in ductile gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or twice with the Sidonian murex dyed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Has glittered on thee: thou hast never worn</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The fleeces soft which distant Seres send:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor are thy ears transfixed for pendent gold.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The effect of such exhortations as the preceding, was to induce -piously disposed persons to apply pieces of gold cloth to -<i>public</i> and <i>sacred</i>, instead of private purposes. After this -period we find continual instances of their use in the decoration -of churches and in the robes of the priesthood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span></p> - -<h5>AMBROSE, CL. A. D. 374.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Sericæ vestes, et auro intexta velamina, quibus divitis corpus ambitur, damna -viventium, non subsidia defunctorum sunt.—<i>De Nabutho Jezraelitâ</i>, <i>cap.</i> i. <i>tom.</i> -i. <i>p.</i> 566. <i>Ed. Bened.</i></p> - -<p>Silken garments, and veils interwoven with gold, with which the body of the -rich man is encompassed, are a loss to the living, and no gain to the dead.</p> -</div> - -<p>Here we think it not out of place to introduce the account of -the silk-worm by Georgius Pisida, who flourished about A. D. -640, although he lived at Constantinople after the breeding -of silk-worms had been introduced there. According to him -the silk-worm pines or moulders almost to nothing in its tomb, -and then returns to its former shape. The verses are however -deserving of attention for their elegance, and for the repetition -of Basil’s idea, which Ambrose has left out, of the analogy between -the restoration of the silk-worm and the resurrection of -man.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ποῖος δὲ καὶ σκωλήκα Σηρικὸν νόμος</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Πείθει τὰ λαμπρόκλωστα νήματα πλέκειν,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἃ, τῇ βαφῇ χρωσθέντα τῆς ἁλουργίδος,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Χαυνοῖ τὸν ὄγκον τῶν κρατούντων ἐμφρόνως;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Μνήμη γὰρ αὐτοὺς εὐλαβῶς ὑποτρέχει,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ὅτι πρὸ αὐτῶν τῆς στολῆς ἡ λαμπρότης</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Σκώληκος ἦν ἔνδυμα καὶ φθαρτὴ σκέπη,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ὃς, τῇ καθ’ ἡμᾶς μαρτυρῶν ἀναστάσει,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Θνῆσκει μὲν ἔνδον τῶν ἑαυτοῦ νημάτων,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Τὸν αὐτὸν οἶκον καὶ ταφὴν δεδεγμένος,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Σχεδὸν δὲ παντὸς τοῦ κατ’ αὐτὸν σαρκίου</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Σαπέντος ἢ ῥυέντος ἢ τετηγμένου,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Χρονόυ καλοῦντος ἐκ φθορᾶς ὑποστρέφει,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Καὶ τὴν πάλαι μόρφωσιν ἀῤῥήτως φύει</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἐν τῷ περιττεύσαντι μικρῷ λειψάνῳ,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Πρὸς τὴν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς σωματούμενος πλάσιν.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>l.</i> 1265-1282.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">What law persuades the Seric worm to spin</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Those shining threads, which, dyed with purple hue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Inflate, yet check the pride of mighty men?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For, whilst they blaze in grand attire, the thought</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Steals on,—This splendid robe once cloth’d a worm:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Type of our resurrection from the grave,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It dies within the tomb itself has spun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That perishing abode, which is at once</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Its house and tomb; in which it rots away,</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Till at the call of time it gladly leaves</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Corruption, and its ancient shape resumes.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A little remnant of its mould’ring flesh,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By processes unspeakable and dark,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Restores the wonders of its earliest form.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Yates’s Translation.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>MACARIUS, CL., A. D. 373.</h5> - -<p>This author gives us an additional proof (<i>Homil.</i> 17, § 9,) that -the use of silken clothing was characteristic of dissolute women.</p> - -<h5>JEROME, CL., A. D. 378.</h5> - -<p>This great author mentions silk in numerous passages.</p> - -<p>In his translation of Ezekiel xxvii. he has supposed silk -(<i>sericum</i>) to be an article of Syrian and Phœnician traffic as -early as the time of that prophet.</p> - -<p>In his beautiful and interesting Epistle to Læta on the Education -of her Daughter (<i>Opp. Paris</i>, 1546, <i>tom.</i> i. <i>p.</i> 20. C.), -he says:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Let her learn also to spin wool, to hold the distaff, to place the basket in her -bosom, to twirl the spindle, to draw the threads with her thumb. Let her despise -the webs of silk-worms, the fleeces of the Seres, and gold beaten into threads. -Let her prepare such garments as may dispel cold, not expose the body naked, -even when it is clothed. Instead of gems and silk, let her love the sacred -books, &c.</p> - -<p>Because we do not use garments of silk, we are reckoned monks; because we -are not drunken, and do not convulse ourselves with laughter, we are called restrained -and sad: if our tunic is not white, we immediately hear the proverb, He -is an impostor and a Greek.—<i>Epist. ad Marcellum, De Ægrotatione Blesillæ, -tom.</i> i. <i>p.</i> 156, <i>ed. Erasmi</i>, 1526.</p> - -<p>You formerly went with naked feet; now you not only use shoes, but even -ornamented ones. You then wore a poor tunic and a <i>black</i> shirt under it, dirty -and pale, and having your hand callous with labor; now you go adorned with -linen and silk, and with vestments obtained from the Atrebates and from Laodicea.—<i>Adv. -Jovinianum, l.</i> ii. <i>Opp. ed. Paris</i>, 1546, <i>tom.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 29.</p> -</div> - -<p>In the following he further condemns the practice of wrapping -the bodies of the dead in cloth of gold:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Why do you wrap your dead in garments of gold? Why does not ambition -cease amidst wailings and tears? Cannot the bodies of the rich go to corruption -except in silk?—<i>Epist.</i> L. ii.</p> - -<p>You cannot but be offended yourself, when you admire garments of silk and -gold in others.—<i>Epist.</i> L. ii. No. 9, <i>p.</i> 138, <i>ed. Par.</i> 1613, <i>12mo.</i></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span></p> - -<h5>CHRYSOSTOM, CL., A. D. 398.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἀλλὰ σηρικὰ τὰ ἱμάτια; ἀλλὰ ῥακίων γέμουσα ἡ ψυχή.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Comment. in Psalm 48. tom.</i> v. <i>p.</i> 517. <i>ed. Ben.</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Does the rich man wear silken shawls? His soul however is full of tatters.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Καλὰ τὰ σηρικὰ ἱμάτια, ἀλλὰ σκωλήκων ἐστὶν ὕφασμα.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">(<i>Quoted by Vossius, Etym. Lat. p.</i> 466.)</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Silken shawls are beautiful, but the production of worms.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Chrysostom also inveighs against the practice of embroidering -shoes with silk thread, observing that it was a shame even to -wear it woven in shawls. Such is the change of circumstances, -that now even the poorest persons of both sexes, if decently -attired, have silk in their shoes.</p> - -<h5>HELIODORUS, CL., A. D. 390.</h5> - -<p>This author, describing the ceremonies at the nuptials of -Theagenes and Chariclea, says, “The ambassadors of the -Seres came, bringing the thread and webs of their spiders, one -of the webs dyed <i>purple</i> (!), the other white.” <i>Æthiopica, -lib.</i> x. <i>p.</i> 494. <i>Commelini.</i></p> - -<p>Salmasius (<i>in Tertullianum de Pallio, p.</i> 242.) quotes the -following passage from <i>an uncertain author</i>.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ παρόντος βίου τερπνότης Ἰνδικῷ σκωληκιῷ, ὅπερ τῷ φυλλῷ τοῦ δένδρου -συντυλιχθὲν, καὶ τῇ τροφῇ ἀσχοληθὲν, συνεπνίγη ἐν αὐτῷ τοῦ μεταξίου κουκουλίῳ.</p> - -<p>The pleasure of the present life is like the Indian worm, which, having involved -itself in the leaf of the tree and having been satisfied with food, chokes itself -in the cocoon of its own thread.—Yates’s Translation.</p> -</div> - -<p>This writer, whoever he was, appears to have had a correct -idea of the manner in which the silk-worm wraps itself in a -leaf of the tree, on which it feeds, and spins its tomb within<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> In the Royal Museum of Natural History at Leyden are eight or ten cocoons -of the Phalæna Atlas from Java. They consist of a strong silk, and are formed -upon the leaves of a kind of Ficus. The first layer of the cocoon covers the -whole of a leaf, and receives the exact impress of its form. Then two or three -other layers are distinctly perceptible. Two or three leaves are joined together to -form the cocoon. In regard to the looseness of the layers these cocoons do not -correspond to M. Breton’s description of the cocoons of the wild silk-worms of -China, which are very strong and compact, and therefore more resemble those of -the Phalæna Paphia.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span></p> - -<h4>FIFTH CENTURY.</h4> - -<h5>PRUDENTIUS, CL., A. D. 405.</h5> - -<p>The following sentence occurs in a speech of St. Lawrence -at his martyrdom:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Hunc, qui superbit serico,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quem currus inflatum vehit;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hydrops aquosus lucido</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tendit veneno intrinsecus.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Peristeph. Hymn.</i> ii. <i>l.</i> 237-240.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">See him, attir’d in silken pride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Inflated in his chariot ride;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The lucid poison works within,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dropsy distends his swollen skin.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In another Hymn to the honor of St. Romanus we find the -following lines:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Aurum regestum nonne carni adquiritur?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Inlusa vestis, gemma, bombyx, purpura,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In carnis usum mille quæruntur dolis.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Peristeph. Hymn.</i> x.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To please the flesh a thousand arts contend:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The miser’s heaps of gold, the figur’d vest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The gem, the silk-worm, and the purple dye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By toil acquir’d, promote no other end.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the same Hymn (<i>l.</i> 1015.) Prudentius describes a heathen -priest sacrificing a bull, and dressed <i>in a silken toga</i> which is -held up by the Gabine cincture (<i>Cinctu Gabino Sericam fultus -togam</i>). Perhaps, however, we ought here to understand that -the cincture only, not the whole toga, was of silk. It was used -to fasten and support the toga by being drawn over the breast.</p> - -<p>In two other passages this poet censures the progress of luxury -in dress, and especially when adopted by men.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Sericaque in fractis fluitent ut pallia membris<br /> -<span class="indent6"><i>Psychomachia, l.</i> 365.</span></p> - -<p>The silken scarfs float o’er their weaken’d limbs.</p> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sed pudet esse viros: quærunt vanissima quæque</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quîs niteant: genuina leves ut robora solvant,</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span></p> - <div class="verse indent0">Vellere non ovium, sed Eoo ex orbe petitis</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ramorum spoliis fluitantes sumere amictus,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gaudent, et durum scutulis perfundere corpus.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Additur ars, ut fila herbis saturata recoctis</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Inludant varias distincto stamine formas.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ut quæque est lanugo feræ mollissima tactu,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pectitur. Hunc videas lascivas præpete cursu</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Venantem tunicas, avium quoque versicolorum</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Indumenta novis texentem plumea telis:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ilium pigmentis redolentibus, et peregrino</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pulvere femineas spargentem turpitur auras.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Hamartigenia, l.</i> 286-298.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They blush to be call’d men: they seek to shine</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In ev’ry vainest garb. Their native strength</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To soften and impair, they gaily choose</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A flowing scarf, not made of wool from sheep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But of those fleeces from the Eastern world,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The spoil of trees. Their hardy frame they deck</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All o’er with tesselated spots: and art</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is added, that the threads, twice dyed with herbs,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May sportively intwine their various hues</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And mimic forms, within the yielding warp.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whatever creature wears the softest down,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They comb its fleece. This man with headlong course</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hunts motley tunics which inflame desire,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Invents new looms</i>, and weaves a feather’d vest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which with the plumage of the birds compares:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That, scented with cosmetics, basely sheds</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Effeminate foreign powder all around.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>PALLADIUS.</h5> - -<p>A work remains under the name of Palladius on “The -Nations of India and the Brachmans.” Whether it is by the -same Palladius, who wrote the Historia Lausiaca, is disputed. -But, as we see no reason to doubt, that it may have been written -as early as his time, we introduce here the passages, which -have been found in it, relating to the present subject. The author -represents the Bramins as saying to Alexander the Great, -“You envelope yourselves in soft clothing, like the silk-worms.” -(<i>p.</i> 17. <i>ed. Bissœi.</i>) It is also asserted, that Alexander did not -pass the Ganges, but went as far as Serica, where the silk-worms -produce raw-silk (p. 2.).</p> - -<p>In the London edition this tract is followed by one in Latin, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> -bearing the name of St. Ambrose and entitled <span class="smcap">De moribus -Brachmanorum</span>. It contains nearly the same matter with -the preceding. The writer professes to have obtained his information -from “Musæus Dolenorum Episcopus,” meaning, as -it appears from the Greek tract, Moses, Bishop of Adule, of -whom he says,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Sericam ferè universam regionem peragravit: in quâ refert arbores esse, quæ -non solum folia, sed lanam quoque proferunt tenuissimam, ex quâ vestimenta con -ficiuntur, quæ Serica nuncupantur. <i>p.</i> 58.</p> - -<p>He travelled through nearly all the country of the Seres, in which, he says, -that there are trees producing not only leaves, but the finest wool, from which -are made the garments called Serica.</p> -</div> - -<p>These notices are not devoid of value as indicating what -were the first steps to intercourse with the original silk country. -It may however be doubted, whether the last account here -quoted is a modification of the ideas previously current among -the Greeks and Romans, or whether it arose from the mistakes -of Moses himself, or of other Christian travellers into the interior -of Asia, <i>who confounded the production of silk with -that of cotton</i>.</p> - -<h5>THE THEODOSIAN CODE,</h5> - -<p>published A. D. 438, mentions silk (<i>sericam et metaxam</i>) in -various passages.</p> - -<h5>APOLLINARIS SIDONIUS, CL., A. D. 472.</h5> - -<p>Describing the products of different countries, this learned author -says (<i>Carmen.</i> v. <i>l.</i> 42-50),</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent30">Fert</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Assyrius gemmas, Ser vellera, thura Sabæus.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Th’ Assyrian brings his gems, the Ser</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His fleeces, the Sabean frankincense.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In a passage (<i>Carmen.</i> xv.), he mentions a pall,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent12">Cujus bis coctus aheno</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Serica Sidonius fucabat stamina murex.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Tyrian murex, twice i’ th’ cauldron boil’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Had dyed its silken threads.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The expression here used, indicates that the silk thread was -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> -brought from the country of the Seres to be dyed in Phœnice. -In Horace we have already noticed the “Coæ purpuræ.”</p> - -<p>A passage from the Burgus Pontii Leontii (<i>Carmen.</i> xxii.), -shows that the same article (<i>Serica fila</i>) was imported into -Gaul.</p> - -<p>In the same author (<i>l.</i> ii. <i>Epist. ad Serranum</i>) we meet -with “Sericatum toreuma.” The latter word probably denoted -a carved sofa or couch. The epithet “sericatum” may have -referred to its silken cover.</p> - -<p>The same author describes Prince Sigismer, who was about -to be married, going in a splendid procession and thus clothed:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Ipse medius incessit, flammeus cocco, rutilus auro, lacteus serico.</p> - -<p> -<i>L.</i> iv. <i>Epist. p.</i> 107. <i>ed. Elmenhorstii</i>.<br /> -</p> - -<p>He himself marched in the midst, his attire flaming with coccus, glittering -with gold, and of milky whiteness with silk.</p> -</div> - -<p>Describing the heat of the weather, he says:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>One man perspires in cotton, another in silk.</p> - -<p> -<i>L.</i> ii. <i>Epist.</i> 2.<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<p>Lastly, in the following lines he alludes to the practice of -giving silk to the successful charioteers at the Circensian -games:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Emp’ror, just as powerful, ordains</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That silks with palms be given, crowns with chains:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus marks high merit, and inferior praise</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In brilliant <i>carpets</i> to the rest conveys.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Carmen.</i> xxiii. <i>l.</i> 423-427.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>ALCIMUS AVITUS, CL., A. D. 490.</h5> - -<p>Describing the rich man in the parable of Lazarus, this -author says:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ipse cothurnatus gemmis et fulgidus auro</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Serica bis coctis mutabat tegmina blattis.</div> - <div class="verse indent4"><i>L.</i> iii. 222.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In jewell’d buskins and a blaze of gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Silk shawls, or twice in scarlet dipt, he wore.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Avitus also mentions “the soft fleeces sent by the Seres.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span></p> - -<h4>SIXTH CENTURY.</h4> - -<h5>BOETHIUS, CL., A. D. 510</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor honey into wine they pour’d, nor mix’d</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bright Seric fleeces with the Tyrian dye.</div> - <div class="verse indent4"><i>De Consol. Philos.</i> ii.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The Tyrians are chiefly known to us in commercial history -for their skill in dyeing; the Tyrian purple formed one of the -most general and principal articles of luxury in antiquity: but -dyeing could scarcely have existed without weaving, and -though we have no direct information respecting the Tyrian -and Sidonian looms, we possess several ancient references to -their excellence, the less suspicious because they are incidental. -Homer, for instance, when Hecuba, on the recommendation of -the heroic Hector, resolves to make a rich offering to Minerva, -describes her as selecting one of Sidonian manufacture as the -finest which could be obtained.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Phrygian queen to her rich wardrobe went</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where treasured odors breathed a costly scent;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There lay the vestures of no vulgar art—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sidonian maids embroider’d every part,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whom from soft Sidon youthful Paris bore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With Helen, touching on the Tyrian shore.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Here, as the queen revolved with careful eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The various textures and the various dyes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She chose a veil that shone superior far,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And glow’d refulgent as the morning star.</div> - <div class="verse indent4"><i>Iliad</i>, vi.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Tyre appears to have been the only city of antiquity which -made dyeing its chief occupation, and the staple of its commerce. -There is little doubt that purple, the sacred symbol of -royal and sacerdotal dignity, was a color discovered in that -city; and, that it contributed to its opulence and grandeur. -It is related that a shepherd’s dog, instigated by hunger, having -broken a shell on the sea shore, his mouth became stained -with a color, which excited the admiration of all who saw it, -and that the same color was afterwards applied with great success -to the dyeing of wool. According to some of the ancient -writers, this discovery is placed in the reign of Phœnix, second -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> -King of Tyre (five hundred years before the Christian era); -others fix it in that of Minos, who reigned 939 years earlier or, -1439 B. C. The honor of the invention of dyeing purple, is -however, generally awarded to the Tyrian Hercules, who presented -his discovery to the king of Phœnicia; and the latter -was so jealous of the beauties of this new color, that he forbade -the use of it to all his subjects, reserving it for the garments of -royalty alone. Some authors relate the story differently: Hercules’ -dog having stained his mouth with a shell, which he had -broken on the seashore, Tysus, a nymph of whom Hercules -was enamored, was so charmed with the beauty of the color, -that she declared she would see her lover no more until he had -brought garments dyed of the same. Hercules, in order to -gratify his mistress, collected a great number of the shells, and -succeeded in staining a robe of the color she had demanded. -“Colored dresses,” says Pliny<a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a>, “were known in the time of -Homer (900 B. C.), from which the robes of triumph were borrowed.” -Purple habits are mentioned among the presents -made to Gideon, by the Israelites, from the spoils of the kings -of Midan. Ovid, in his description of the contest in weaving -between Minerva and Arachne, dwells not only on the beauty -of the figures which the rivals wove, but also mentions the delicacy -of shading by which the various colors were made to harmonize -together:</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="label">[65]</a> Plin. viii. 48.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then both their mantles button’d to their breast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their skilful fingers ply with willing haste,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And work with pleasure, while they cheer the eye</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With glowing purple of the Tyrian dye:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or justly intermixing shades with light,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their colorings insensibly unite</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As when a shower, transpierced with sunny rays,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Its mighty arch along the heaven displays;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From whence a thousand different colors rise</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose fine transition cheats the clearest eyes;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So like the intermingled shading seems</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And only differs in the last extremes.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their threads of gold both artfully dispose,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, as each part in just proportion rose, - <div class="verse indent0">Some antic fable in their work disclose.—<i>Metam.</i> vi.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> -The Tyrian purple was communicated by means of several -species of univalve shell-fish. Pliny gives us an account of two -kinds of shell-fish from which the purple was obtained. The -first of these was called <i>buccinum</i>, the other <i>purpura</i><a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a>. A -single drop of the liquid dye was obtained from a small vessel -or sac, in their throats, to the amount of only <i>one drop</i> from -<i>each</i> animal! A certain quantity of the juice thus collected -being heated with sea salt, was allowed to ripen for three days, -after which it was diluted with five times its bulk of water, kept -at a moderate heat for six days more, occasionally skimmed, -to separate the animal membranes, and when thus clarified, -was applied directly as a dye to white wool, previously prepared -for this purpose, by the action of lime-water, or of a species of -lichen called fucus. Two operations were requisite to communicate -the finest Tyrian purple; the first consisted in plunging -the wool into the juice of the purpura, the second into that of -the buccinum. Fifty drachms of wool required one hundred -of the former liquor, and two hundred of the latter. Sometimes -a preliminary tint was given with cocus, the kermes of -the present day, and the cloth received merely a finish from -the precious animal juice. The color appears to have been -very durable; for Plutarch observes in his life of Alexander<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a>, -that, at the taking of Susa, the Greeks found in the royal -treasury of Darius a quantity of purple stuffs of the value of -five thousand talents, which still retained its beauty, though it -had lain there for one hundred and ninety years<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="label">[66]</a> Plin. Lib. vi. c. 36.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="label">[67]</a> Plutarch, chap. 36.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="label">[68]</a> The true value of the talent cannot well be ascertained, but it is known that -it was different among different nations. The Attic talent, the weight, contained -60 Attic minæ, or 6000 Attic drachmæ, equal to 56 pounds, 11 ounces, English -troy weight. The mina being reckoned equal to £3 4<i>s.</i> 7<i>d.</i> sterling, or $14 33 -cents; the talent was of the value of £193 15<i>s.</i> sterling, about $861. Other -computations make it £225 sterling.</p> - -<p>The Romans had the great talent and the little talent; the great talent is -computed to be equal to £99 6<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i> sterling, and the little talent to £75 sterling.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Talent</i>, among the Hebrews, was also a gold coin, the same with a shekel -of gold; called also stater, and weighing only four drachmas. But the Hebrew -talent of silver, called <i>cicar</i>, was equivalent to three thousand shekels, or one -hundred and thirteen pounds, ten ounces, and a fraction, troy weight.—<i>Arbuthnot.</i></p> -</div> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br /> -<small>HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE CONTINUED -FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF SILK-WORMS INTO -EUROPE, A.D. 530, TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.</small></h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">A. D. 530.—Introduction of silk-worms into Europe—Mode by which it was -effected—The Serinda of Procopius the same with the modern Khotan—The -silk-worm never bred in Sir-hind—Silk shawls of Tyre and Berytus—Tyrannical -conduct of Justinian—Ruin of the silk manufactures—Oppressive conduct -of Peter Barsames—Menander Protector—Surprise of Maniak the Sogdian ambassador—Conduct -of Chosroes, king of Persia—Union of the Chinese and Persians -against the Turks—The Turks in self-defence seek an alliance with the -Romans—Mortification of the Turkish ambassador—Reception of the Byzantine -ambassador by Disabul, king of the Sogdiani—Display of silk textures—Paul -the Silentiary’s account of silk—Isidorus Hispalensis. Mention of silk by -authors in the seventh century—Dorotheus, Archimandrite of Palestine—Introduction -of silk-worms into Chubdan, or Khotan—Theophylactus Simocatta—Silk -manufactures of Turfan—Silk known in England in this century—First -worn by Ethelbert, king of Kent—Use of by the French kings—Aldhelmus’s -beautiful description of the silk-worm—Simile between weaving and virtue. -Silk in the eighth century—Bede. In the tenth century—Use of silk by -the English, Welsh, and Scotch kings. Twelfth century—Theodorus Prodromus—Figured -shawls of the Seres—Ingulphus describes vestments of silk -interwoven with eagles and flowers of gold—Great value of silk about this -time—Silk manufactures of Sicily—Its introduction into Spain. Fourteenth -century—Nicholas Tegrini—Extension of the Silk manufacture through Europe, -illustrated by etymology—Extraordinary beauty of silk and golden textures -used in the decoration of churches in the middle ages—Silk rarely mentioned -in the ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth centuries.</p> -</div> - -<p>We now come to the very interesting account of the first introduction -of silk-worms into Europe, which is given by Procopius -in the following terms. (<i>De Bello Gothico</i>, iv. 17.)</p> - -<p>“About this time (A. D. 530.) two monks, having arrived -from India, and learnt that Justinian was desirous that his -subjects should no longer purchase raw silk from the Persians, -went to him and offered to contrive means, by which the Romans -would no longer be under the necessity of importing this -article from their enemies the Persians or any other nation. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> -They said, that they had long resided in the country called -Serinda, one of those inhabited by the various Indian nations, -and had accurately informed themselves how raw silk might -be produced in the country of the Romans. In reply to the -repeated and minute inquiries of this Emperor, they stated, -that the raw silk is made by worms, which nature instructs -and continually prompts to this labor; but that to bring the -worms alive to Byzantium would be impossible; that the -breeding of them is quite easy; that each parent animal produces -numberless eggs, which long after their birth are covered -with manure by persons who have the care of them, and being -thus warmed a sufficient time, are hatched. The Emperor -having promised the monks a handsome reward, if they would -put in execution what they had proposed, they returned to India -and brought the eggs to Byzantium, where, having hatched -them in the manner described, they fed them with the leaves -of the <i>Black Mulberry</i>, and thus enabled the Romans thenceforth -to obtain raw silk in their own country.”</p> - -<p>The same narrative, abridged from Procopius, is found in -Manuel Glycas (<i>Annal. l.</i> iv. <i>p.</i> 209.), and Zonares (<i>Annal. l.</i> -xiv. <i>p.</i> 69. <i>ed. Du Cange.</i>). In the abstract given by Photius -(<i>Biblioth. p.</i> 80. <i>ed. Rotham</i>) of the history of Theophanes -Byzantinus, who was a writer of nearly the same age with Procopius, -we find a narrative, in which the only variation is, that -a Persian brought the eggs to Byzantium in the hollow stem -of a plant. The method now practised in transporting the -eggs from country to country is to place them in a bottle not -more than half full, so that by being tossed about, they may be -kept cool and fresh. If too close, they would probably be heated -and hatch on the journey<a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="label">[69]</a> Transactions of the Society for encouraging Arts, Manufactures, &c., vol. -xliii. p. 236.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The authors who have hitherto treated of the history of the -silk-worm, have supposed the Serinda of Procopius to be the -modern Sir-hind, a city of Circar in the North of Hindostan<a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a>. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> -Notwithstanding the striking similarity of names, we think it -more likely that Serinda was adopted by Procopius as another -name for Khotan in Little Bucharia. The ancients included -Khotan among the Indian nations<a id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a>: and that they were right -in so doing is established from the facts, that Sanscrit was the -ancient language of the inhabitants of Khotan; that their alphabetical -characters, their laws, and their literature resembled -those of the Hindoos; and that they had a tradition of being Indian -in their origin<a id="FNanchor_72" href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a>. Since, therefore, Khotan was also included -in the ancient Serica, a term probably of wide and rather -indefinite extent<a id="FNanchor_73" href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a>; the name <i>Serinda</i> would exactly denote -the origin and connexions of the race which occupied -Khotan.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_70" href="#FNanchor_70" class="label">[70]</a> In this they have followed D’Anville, Antiquité Géographique de l’Inde, -Paris, 1775, p. 63.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_71" href="#FNanchor_71" class="label">[71]</a> In proof of this we refer to Heeren, Ideen, i. l. p. 358-387, on the Indian -tribes which constituted one of the Persian Satrapies, and in which the inhabitants -of Khotan appear to have been included; and also to Cellarii Antiqui Orbis -Notitia, l. iii. c. 23. § 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_72" href="#FNanchor_72" class="label">[72]</a> Rémusat, Hist. de la Ville de Khotan, p. 32. Note 1. and p. 37.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_73" href="#FNanchor_73" class="label">[73]</a> De Guignes (Hist. Gen. des Huns, tome i. p. v.) expresses his opinion, that -Serica, besides the North of China, included the countries towards the West, which -were conquered by the Chinese, viz. Hami, Turfan, and other neighboring territories. -Rennell (Mem. of a map of Hindostan) agrees with D’Anville, <i>that Serica -was at the Northwest angle of the present empire of China</i>. Heeren decides -in favor of the same opinion, supposing Serica to be identical with the modern -Tongut. Comment. Soc. Reg. Scient. Gottingensis, vol. xi. p. 106. 111. Gottingæ, -1793.</p> - -<p>Pausanias observes that the Seres, in order to breed the insects which produced -silk, had houses adapted both for summer and winter, which implies that there -was a vast difference between the summer and winter temperature of their country. -A late oriental traveller says of the climate of Khotan, “In the summer, -when melons ripen, it is very hot in these countries; but, during winter, extremely -cold.”—Wathen’s Memoir on Chinese Tartary and Khotan, in Journal of -the Asiatic Society of Bengal, December 1835, p. 659.</p> - -<p>On referring to the map, <a href="#Plate_VII">Plate VII.</a>, the reader will see the position of Serica -indicated at its Eastern extremity. As that map is limited to the <i>Orbis Veteribus -Cognitus</i>, only a small space on its border is marked as the country of silk -indicated by the yellow color. It is, nevertheless, pretty certain that silk may be -justly placed next in order to wool.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>On the other hand, although Sir-hind is termed “an ancient -city” by Major Rennell<a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a>, we cannot find any evidence that the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> -silk-worm was ever bred there. So far is this from being the -case, that it appears to be a country very ill adapted for the production -of silk<a id="FNanchor_75" href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a>. It may indeed be true, as stated by Latreille, -that Sir-hind was colonized from Khotan, and it may be mentioned -as a remarkable circumstance in confirmation of this -supposition, that there is a town called Kotana a little way to -the North East of the City of Sir-hind. But, supposing this -account to be correct, it is highly probable that the settlement -of Sir-hind as a colony of Khotan did not take place till after -the year 530, when the breeding of silk-worms was according -to Procopius introduced into Europe from “Serinda.” Rather -more than 120 years before this time India was visited by the -Chinese traveller, Fa Hian, who on his way passed some -months with great delight and admiration in Khotan; and the -special object of whose journey was to see and describe all the -cities of India where Buddhism was professed. The inhabitants -of Khotan being wholly devoted to that delusion, the -same system must have been established in its colony; and, -since this zealous pilgrim crossed India at no great distance -from the spot where Sir-hind afterwards stood, we cannot doubt -that he would have mentioned it, if it had existed in his age. -He says not a word about it; and the time is comparatively so -short between his visit to India and the date of the introduction -of silk-worms into Europe, that we can scarcely suppose Sir-hind, -the colony of Khotan and consequently the seat of Buddhism, -to have been in existence either at the former or latter period<a id="FNanchor_76" href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_74" href="#FNanchor_74" class="label">[74]</a> Memoir of a Map of Hindostan.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_75" href="#FNanchor_75" class="label">[75]</a> “The S. W. portion of the Circar Sir-hind is extremely barren, being covered -with low scrubby wood, and in many places destitute of water. About A. D. -1357 Feroze the Third cut several canals from the Jumna and the Sutlege in -order to fertilize this naturally arid country.”—Walter Hamilton’s Description of -Hindostan, vol. i. p. 465.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_76" href="#FNanchor_76" class="label">[76]</a>Foĕ Kouĕ Ki, ou Relation des royaumes bouddhiques: Voyage dans la Tartarie, -dans l’Afghanistan, et dans l’Inde; traduit du Chinois et commenté par -Rémusat, Klaproth, et Landresse. Paris, 1836, 4to.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>In another passage of his history (<i>Bell. Pers.</i> 1. 20.) Procopius -throws some light upon our subject by stating that in -consequence of the monopoly of the trade in raw silk by the -Persians, Justinian attempted to obtain it through the Æthiopians -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> -of Arabia, but found this to be impracticable, as the -Persian merchants frequented the ports to which the Indians -resorted, and from them purchased all their cargoes.</p> - -<p>Procopius further states (<i>Hist. Arcana, c.</i> 25.), that <i>silk -shawls</i> had long been manufactured in the Phœnician cities -Tyre and Berytus (to which all who were concerned in the -silk trade, either as merchants or manufacturers, consequently -resorted, and from whence goods were carried to every part of -the earth); but that in the reign of Justinian the manufacturers -in Byzantium and other Greek cities raised the prices of -their goods, alleging that the Persians had also advanced theirs, -while the imposts were increased among the Romans. Justinian, -pretending to be much concerned at the high prices, forbade -any one in his dominions to sell silk for more than eight -<i>aurei</i> per pound, threatening confiscation of goods against any -one who transgressed the law. To comply was impossible, -since they were required to sell their goods at a price lower than -that for which they bought them. They therefore abandoned -the trade, and secretly sold the remnant of their goods for what -they could get. The Empress Theodora, on being apprised of -this, immediately seized the goods and fined the proprietors a -hundred <i>aurei</i> besides. It was then determined, that the silk -manufacture should be carried on solely by the Imperial Treasurer. -<span class="smcap">Peter Barsames</span> held the office, and conducted himself -in relation to this business in the most unjust and oppressive -manner, so that the silk-trade was ruined not only in Byzantium -but also at Tyre and Berytus, while the Emperor, -Empress and their Treasurer amassed great wealth by the -monopoly.</p> - -<h5>MENANDER PROTECTOR, A. D. 560-570.</h5> - -<p>In an account of an embassy sent to Constantinople by the -Avars of Sarmatia, this author states, that the Emperor Justinian -endeavored to excite their admiration by a display of -splendid couches, gold chains, and garments of silk<a id="FNanchor_77" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_77" href="#FNanchor_77" class="label">[77]</a> Corp. Hist. Byzant. ed. 1729. tom. i. p. 67.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The establishment of the Turkish power in Asia, about the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> -middle of the sixth century, together with subsequent wars, had -greatly interrupted the caravan trade between China and -Persia. On the return of peace, the Sogdians, an Asiatic people, -who had the greatest interest in the revival of the trade, -persuaded the Turkish sovereign, whose subjects they were become, -to send an embassy to Chosroes, king of Persia, to open -a negotiation for this purpose. Maniak, a Sogdian prince, who -was ambassador, being instructed to request that the Sogdians -might be allowed to supply the Persians with silk; presented -himself before the Persian monarch in the double character of -merchant and envoy, carrying with him many bales of silken -merchandise, for which he hoped to find purchasers among the -Persians. But Chosroes, who thought the conveyance by sea -to the Persian Gulf more advantageous to his subjects than this -proposed traffic, was not disposed to lend a favorable ear to the -legation, and rather uncourteously showed his contempt for the -Sogdian traders. He bought up all the silk which the ambassador -had carried with him, and immediately burned it before -them; thus giving the most convincing proof of the little value -which it had in his estimation.</p> - -<p>After this the Persians and Chinese united against the Turks, -who, to strengthen themselves, sought an alliance with the -Emperor Justin. Maniak was again appointed ambassador, -and sent to negotiate the terms of the alliance; but disappointment, -though from a dissimilar cause, attended this his second -embassy. The sight of silk-worms, and the establishment for -manufacturing their produce, in Constantinople, were to him as -unwelcome as unexpected; he however concealed his mortification, -and, with perhaps an overstrained civility, acknowledged, -that the Romans were already become as expert as the Chinese -in both the management of silk-worms and manufacture of -their silk<a id="FNanchor_78" href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a>; and when in the fourth year of Justin II. (<i>i. e.</i> A. D. -569.) they went on the same mission to Byzantium, they found -that here also there was no demand, since silk-worms were -bred there already. Soon after this we learn· that the Byzantines -sent an embassy to Disabul, King of the Sogdiani, who -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span> -received the ambassadors in tents covered with variously-colored -silks.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_78" href="#FNanchor_78" class="label">[78]</a> Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. xlii.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<h5>PAUL, THE SILENTIARY, A. D. 562,</h5> - -<p>mentions silk thread, used in adorning the vestments in the -church of St. Sophia at Constantinople. (P. ii. l. 368.) The -note of the Editor, Du Cange, on the description of the pall, -(577.), contains various quotations from ecclesiastical writers, -which mention “vela rubea Serica;” “vela alba holoserica -rasata;” “vela serica de blattin.” These quotations show, -that silk had been introduced into general use for the -churches.</p> - -<h5>ISIDORUS HISPALENSIS, CL., A. D. 575.</h5> - -<p>The etymological work of Isidore of Seville may be regarded -as a kind of encyclopedia, exhibiting the general state -of knowledge and art at the time when he wrote. Hence the -following descriptive extracts are well deserving of attention.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Bombyx frondium vermis, ex cujus texturâ Bombycinum conficitur. Appellatur -autem hoc nomine ab eo quod evacuetur dum fila generat, et aer solus in eo -remanet.—<i>Origin. l.</i> xii. <i>c.</i> 5.</p> - -<p>Bombyx, a worm which lives upon the leaves of trees, and from whose web -silk is made. It is called Bombyx, because it empties itself in producing threads, -and nothing but air remains within it.</p> - -<p>The cloth called <i>Bombycina</i>, derives its name from the silk-worm (<i>Bombyx</i>), -which emits very long threads; the web woven from them is called Bombycinum, -and is made in the island of Cos.</p> - -<p>That called <i>Serica</i> derives its name from silk (<i>sericum</i>), or from the circumstance, -that is was first obtained from the Seres.</p> - -<p><i>Holoserica</i> is all of silk: for <i>Holon</i> means <i>all</i>.</p> - -<p><i>Tramoserica</i> has a warp of linen; and a woof (<i>trama</i>) of silk.—L. xix. c. 22.</p> -</div> - -<p>Touching these extracts we would remark, that the testimony -of Isidore must not be considered as proving, that the -silk manufacture still existed in Cos. His statement was no -doubt merely copied from Varro or Pliny, or founded upon the -authority of other writers long anterior to his own age. It is -indeed probable that silk-worms had by this time been brought -into Greece, but that he was ignorant of the fact.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span></p> - -<h4>SEVENTH CENTURY.</h4> - -<h5>DOROTHEUS, ARCHIMANDRITE OF PALESTINE, A. D. 601.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐνδεδυμένος ὁλοσήρικον.—<i>Doctr.</i> 2, <i>as quoted in Cod. Theodos. Gothofredi. -L. Bat.</i> 1665.</p> - -<p>For as a man wearing a tunic entirely of silk.</p> -</div> - -<h5>THEOPHYLACTUS SIMOCATTA, A. D. 629.</h5> - -<p>This author, in his Universal History (<i>l.</i> vii. c. 9.), informs us -that the silk manufacture was carried on at Chubdan, with the -greatest skill and activity, which was probably the same as -Khotan, or, as it was called in his time, Ku-tan<a id="FNanchor_79" href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_79" href="#FNanchor_79" class="label">[79]</a> Itinéraire de Hiuan Thsang, Appendice ii. à Foe Koue Ki, p. 399.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>We have, moreover, the following account of the origin of -the growth and manufacture of silk in that country (p. 55, 56.).</p> - -<p>“The monastery of Lou-che (<i>occupied by Buddhists</i>) is to -the south-west of the royal city. Formerly the inhabitants of -this kingdom had neither mulberries nor silk-worms. They -heard of them in the East country, and sent an embassy to ask -for them. The King of the East refused the request, and issued -the strictest injunctions to prevent either mulberries or -silk-worms’ eggs from being conveyed across the border. Then -the King of Kiu-sa-tan-na (<i>i. e.</i> <i>Koustana</i>, or <i>Khotan</i>) asked -of him a princess in marriage. This having been granted, the -king charged the officer of his court who went to escort her, to -say, that in his country there were neither mulberry-trees nor -cocoons, and that she must introduce them, <i>or be without silk -dresses</i>. The princess, having received this information, obtained -the seed both of mulberries, and silk-worms, which -she concealed in her head-dress. On arriving at the frontier, -the officers searched every where, but dare not touch the turban -of the princess. Having arrived at the spot, where the -monastery of Lou-che was afterwards erected, she deposited -the seed both of the mulberries and worms. The trees were -planted in the spring, and she afterwards went herself to assist -in gathering the leaves. At first the worms were fed upon the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> -leaves of other plants, and a law was enacted, that no worms -were to be destroyed or sacrificed until their quantity was sufficiently -great. The monastery was founded to commemorate so -great a benefit, and some trunks of the original mulberry-trees -can yet be seen there<a id="FNanchor_80" href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_80" href="#FNanchor_80" class="label">[80]</a> It may be observed, that the folds of the turban are not unfrequently used in -the East to convey articles of value. See Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor, by -Charles Fellows, London, 1839, p. 216.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the following passage (<i>Règne Animal, par Cuvier, tom.</i> -v. <i>p.</i> 402.,) Latreille mentions Turfan as an important city as -far as it affected the early silk-trade. In other respects his account -coincides with that already given.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“La ville de Turfan, dans la petite Bucharie, fut long-temps le rendez-vous -des caravanes venant de l’Ouest, et l’entrepôt principal des soieries de la Chine. -Elle était la métropole des Sères de l’Asie supérieure, ou de la Sérique de Ptolémée. -Expulsés de leurs pays par les Huns, les Sères s’établirent dans la grande -Bucharie et dans l’Inde. C’est d’une de leurs colonies, du Ser-hend (<i>Ser-indi</i>), -que des missionaires Grecs transportèrent, du temps de Justinien, les œufs du ver -à soie à Constantinople.”</p> - -<p>The City of Turfan in Little Bucharia was for a long time the rendezvous of -the caravans coming from the West, and the principal market for Chinese silks. -It was the metropolis of the Seres of Upper Asia, or the Serica of Ptolemy. The -Seres having been expelled their country by the Huns, established themselves in -Great Bucharia and in India. It is from one of their colonies (of Ser-indi), that -the Grecian Missionaries, in the time of Justinian, brought the eggs of the silk-worm -to Constantinople.</p> -</div> - -<p>A diploma of <span class="smcap">Ethelbert</span>, King of Kent, mentions “Armilausia -holoserica,” proving that silk was known in England -at the end of the sixth century<a id="FNanchor_81" href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a>. The usual dress of the -earliest French kings seems to have been a linen shirt and -drawers of the same material next to the skin; over these a -tunic, probably of fine wool, which had a border of silk, ornamented -sometimes with gold or precious stones; and upon this -a sagum, which was fastened with a fibula on the right shoulder. -Eginhart informs us, that Charlemagne wore a tunic, or -vest, with a silken border (<i>limbo serico</i>)<a id="FNanchor_82" href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_81" href="#FNanchor_81" class="label">[81]</a> Dugdale’s Monasticon, vol. i. p. 24. Adelung’s Glossarium Manuale, v. Armilausia.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_82" href="#FNanchor_82" class="label">[82]</a> Examples of it may be seen, I. in the two figures of Charlemagne, executed -in mosaic during his life-time, one of which is preserved in the Penitentiary of St. -John Lateran at Rome, and both of these are described by Spon in his Miscellanea -Eruditæ Antiquitatus (p. 284.); II. in the figure of Charles the Bald, the -grandson of Charlemagne, which is in the splendid copy of the Latin Gospels -made for his use, now preserved in the library at Munich, and which may be -seen engraved in Sanft’s Dissertation on that MS. (p. 42.); III. in the figure of -an early French king engraved from a MS. by Baluzius in his Capitularia Regum -Francorum (tom. ii. p. 1308.); and IV. in the first volume of Montfaucon’s -Monumens de la Monarchie Française.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span></p> - -<h5>ALDHELMUS, CL., A. D. 680.</h5> - -<p>This author, who died Abbot of Sherburn, was among the -most learned men of his age. In his Ænigmas, which are -written in tetrastics, we find the following description of the -silk-worm. As it is scarcely possible that he could have seen -this creature, we have cause to admire both the ingenuity and -general accuracy of his lines. The ascending to the tops of -thorns or shrubs, such as “genistæ,” to which the animal may -attach its cocoon (<i>globulum</i>), has not been noticed by any -earlier author.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent12">De Bombycibus.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Annua dum redeunt texendi tempora telas,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lurida setigeris replentur viscera filis;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Moxque genistarum frondosa cacumina scando,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ut globulus fabricans cum fati sorte quiescam.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Maxima Bibl. Vet. Patrum, tom.</i> xiii. <i>p.</i> 25.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Soon as the year brings round the time to spin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My entrails dark with hairy threads are fill’d:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then to the leafy lops of shrubs I climb,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Make my cocoon, and rest by fate’s decree.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In a book written by this author, in praise of virginity, he -observes, That chastity alone did not form an amiable and perfect -character, but required to be accompanied and adorned by -many other virtues; and this observation he further illustrates -by the following simile taken from the art of weaving: “As it -is not a web of one uniform color and texture, without any -variety of figures, that pleaseth the eye and appears beautiful, -<i>but one that is woven by shuttles, filled with threads of purple, -and many other colors, flying from side to side, and -forming a variety of figures and images</i>, in different compartments, -with admirable art.”—<i>Bibliotheca Patrum, tom.</i> xiii.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span></p> - -<h4>EIGHTH CENTURY.</h4> - -<h5>BEDE, CL., A. D. 701.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Joseph autem mercatus est sindonem, et deponens eum involvit sindone. (<i>Marc.</i> -xv. 46.)—Et ex simplici sepultura domini ambitio divitum condemnatur, qui ne in -tumulis quidem possunt carere divitiis. Possumus autem juxta intelligentiam spiritalem -hoc sentire, quod corpus domini non auro, non gemmis et serico, sed linteamine -puro obvolvendum sit, quanquam et hoc significet, quod ille in sindone munda -involvat Jesum, qui pura eum mente susceperit. Hinc ecclesiæ mos obtinuit, -ut sacrificium altaris non in serico, neque in panno tincto, sed in lino terreno celebretur, -sicut corpus est domini in sindone munda sepultum, juxta quod in gestis -pontificalibus a beato Papâ Silvestro legimus esse statutum.—<i>Expos. in Marcum, -tom.</i> v. <i>p.</i> 207. <i>Col. Agrip.</i> 1688.</p> - -<p>But Joseph bought a linen cloth, and, taking him down, wrapped him in the -linen cloth. (Mark xv. 46.)—The simple burial of our Lord condemns the ambition -of rich men, who cannot be without wealth even in their tombs. That his -body is to be wrapped not in gold, not in silk and precious stones, but in pure -linen, may be understood by us spiritually. It also intimates, that he incloses -Jesus in a clean linen cloth, who receives him with a pure mind. Hence the -custom of the church has obtained, to celebrate the sacrifice of the altar, not in -silk, nor in dyed cloth, but in earthy flax, as the body of our Lord was buried in -a clean linen cloth; for so we read in the pontifical acts, that it was decreed by -the blessed Pope Silvester.</p> -</div> - -<p>The latter portion of this extract, wherein we are informed -of the origin of the practice, universally adopted, of covering -the Eucharist with a white linen cloth, must be a <i>later</i> addition. -Pope Silvester lived, as the reader will perceive, long -<i>after</i> the time of Bede.</p> - -<p>Bede, in his History of the Abbots of Wearmouth, states -that the first abbot and founder of the monastery, Biscop, surnamed -Benedict, went a fifth time to Rome for ornaments and -books to enrich it, and on this occasion (A. D. 685.) brought -two <i>scarfs</i>, or palls, of incomparable workmanship, composed -entirely of silk, with which he afterwards purchased the land -of three families situated at the mouth of the Wear<a id="FNanchor_83" href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a>. This -shows the high value of silken articles at that period.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_83" href="#FNanchor_83" class="label">[83]</a> Bedæ Hist. Eccles. &c. cura Jo. Smith. Cantab. 1722. p. 297. Mr. Sharon -Turner, speaking of Bede, says, “His own remains were inclosed in silk. Mag. -Bib. xvi. p. 88. It often adorned the altars of the church; and we read of a present -to a West-Saxon bishop of a casula, not entirely of silk, but mixed with goat’s -wool.” Ibid. p. 50. He refers to p. 97. of the same volume, as mentioning “pallia -holoserica.”—History of the Anglo-Saxons, vol. iii. book vii. chap. 4. p. 48, 49.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span></p> - -<h4>TENTH CENTURY.</h4> - -<p>About the year 970 Kenneth, king of Scotland, paid a visit -in London to Edgar, king of England. The latter sovereign, -to evince at once his friendship and munificence, bestowed upon -his illustrious guest silks, rings, and gems, together with one -hundred ounces of pure gold<a id="FNanchor_84" href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_84" href="#FNanchor_84" class="label">[84]</a> Lingard’s Hist. of England, vol. i. 241. London, 1819, 4to.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Perhaps we may refer to the same date the composition of -the “Lady of the Fountain,” a Welsh tale, recently translated -by Lady Charlotte Guest<a id="FNanchor_85" href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a>. At the opening of this poem King -Arthur is represented sitting in his chamber at Caer-leon upon -Usk. It is said,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>In the centre of the chamber, King Arthur sat upon a seat of green rushes, -over which was spread a covering of flame-colored satin, and a cushion covered -with the same material was under his elbow.</p> -</div> - -<p>The mention of silk and satin is frequent in this tale.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_85" href="#FNanchor_85" class="label">[85]</a> The Mabinogion, from the Llyfr Coch o Hergest and other ancient Welsh -manuscripts; with an English translation and notes. By Lady Charlotte Guest. -Part I. The Lady of the Fountain. Llandovery, 1838.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>GERBERT, CL., A. D. 970.</h5> - -<p>This author, who became Pope Silvester, mentions garments -of silk (sericas vestes) in a passage which has been already -quoted (see <a href="#Chapter2_V">Part II. chap. V.</a>).</p> - -<h4>TWELFTH CENTURY.</h4> - -<h5>THEODORUS PRODROMUS,</h5> - -<p>a romance writer in the twelfth century, mentions the <i>figured -shawls</i> (πέπλα) manufactured by the Seres.</p> - -<p>The breeding of silk-worms in Europe appears to have been -confined to Greece from the time of the Emperor Justinian -until the middle of the twelfth century. The manufacture -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> -of silk was also very rare in other parts of Europe, being probably -practised only as a recreation and accomplishment for -ladies. But in the year 1148 Roger I., King of Sicily, having -taken the cities of Corinth, Thebes, and Athens, thus got into -his power a great number of silk-weavers, took them away -with the implements and materials necessary for the exercise -of their art, and forced them to reside at Palermo<a id="FNanchor_86" href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a>. Nicetas -Choniates<a id="FNanchor_87" href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a>, referring to the same event, speaks of these artisans -as of both sexes, and remarks that in his time those who -went to Sicily might see the sons of Thebans and Corinthians -employed in weaving velvet stoles <i>interwoven with gold</i>, and -serving like the Eretrians of old among the Persians<a id="FNanchor_88" href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_86" href="#FNanchor_86" class="label">[86]</a> Otto Frisingen, Hist. Imp. Freder. l. i. c. 33. in Muratori, Rerum Italicarum -Scriptores, tom. vi. p. 668.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_87" href="#FNanchor_87" class="label">[87]</a> In Manuel Comnenus, l. ii. c. 8., tom. xii. of the Scriptores Hist. Byzantinæ, -p. 51. ed. Ven.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_88" href="#FNanchor_88" class="label">[88]</a> Hugo Falcandus, who visited this manufactory A. D. 1169, represents it as -being then in the most flourishing condition, producing great quantities of silks, -both plain and figured, of many different colors, and enriched with gold.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We find in the writings of Ingulphus several curious accounts -of vestments of silk, interwoven with eagles and flowers -of gold. This author, in his history, mentions that among -other gifts made by Witlaf, king of Mercia, to the abbey of -Croyland, he presented <i>a golden curtain, embroidered with -the siege of Troy</i>, to be hung up in the church on his birth-day<a id="FNanchor_89" href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a>. -At a later period, 1155, a pair of richly worked sandals, -and three mitres, the work of Christina, abbess of Markgate, -were among the valuable souvenirs presented by Robert, -abbot of St. Albans, to Pope Adrian IV.<a id="FNanchor_90" href="#Footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_89" href="#FNanchor_89" class="label">[89]</a> Ingulphus, p. 487, edit. 1596.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_90" href="#FNanchor_90" class="label">[90]</a> Adrian IV., was the only Englishman that ever sat in St. Peters chair. His -name was Nicolas Breakspear: he was born of poor parents at Langley, near St. -Albans. Henry II., on his promotion to the papal chair, sent a deputation of an -abbot and three bishops to congratulate him on his election; upon which occasion -he granted considerable privileges to the abbey of St. Albans. With the exception -of the presents named above, he refused all the other valuable ones which -were offered him, saying jocosely,—“I will not accept your gifts, because when -I wished to take the habit of your monastery you refused me.” To which the -abbot pertinently and smartly replied,—“It was not for us to oppose the will of -Providence, which had destined you for greater things.”</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> -Without digressing from our subject to question the right -of the royal marauder thus tyrannously to sever these unoffending -artisans from the ties of country and of kindred, we -may yet be allowed to express some satisfaction at the consequences -of his cruelty. It is well for the interests of humanity -that blessings, although unsought and remote, do sometimes -follow in the train of conquest; that wars are not always limited -in their results to the exaltation of one individual, the -downfall of another, the slaughter of thousands, and misery -of millions, but occasionally prove the harbingers of peaceful -arts, heralds of science, and in short deliverers from the yoke -of slavery or superstition.</p> - -<p>In twenty years from this forcible establishment of the manufacture, -the silks of Sicily are described as having attained a -decided excellence; as being of diversified patterns and colors; -some fancifully interwoven with gold tastefully embellished -with figures; and others richly adorned with pearls. The industry -and ingenuity thus called forth, could not fail to exercise -a beneficial influence over the character and condition of -the Sicilians.</p> - -<p>From Palermo the manufacture of silk extended itself -through all parts of Italy and into Spain. We learn from -Roger de Hoveden, that the manufacture flourished at Almeria -in Grenada about A. D. 1190<a id="FNanchor_91" href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_91" href="#FNanchor_91" class="label">[91]</a> “Deinde per nobilem civitatem, quæ dicitur Almaria, ubi fit nobile sericum et -delicatum, quod dicitur sericum de Almaria.” Scriptores post Bedam, p. 671.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>FOURTEENTH CENTURY.</h4> - -<p>According to Nicholas Tegrini<a id="FNanchor_92" href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a>, the silk manufacture afterwards -flourished in Lucca; and the weavers, having been -ejected from that city in the earlier part of the fourteenth century, -carried their art to Venice, Florence, Milan, Bologna, and -even to Germany, France, and Britain.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_92" href="#FNanchor_92" class="label">[92]</a> Vita Castruccii, in Muratori, Rer. Ital. Scriptores, t. xi. p. 1320.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>We have seen from different historical testimonies, that silk -was known to the inhabitants of France and England as early -as the sixth century. The fact of its introduction into all parts -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span> -of the North of Europe is manifest from the use of words for -silk in several northern languages. These words appear, according -to the inquiries of the learned orientalists, Klaproth -and Abel Rémusat<a id="FNanchor_93" href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a>, to have been derived from those Asiatic -countries, in which silk was originally produced. In the language -of Corea silk is called <i>Sir</i>; in Chinese <i>Se</i>, which may -have been produced by the usual omission of the final <i>r</i>. In -the Mongol language silk is called <i>Sirkek</i>, in the Mandchou -<i>Sirghè</i>. In the Armenian the silk-worm is called <i>Chèram</i>. -In Arabic, Chaldee, and Syriac, silk was called Seric<a id="FNanchor_94" href="#Footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a>. From -the same source we have in Greek and Latin Σηρικὸν, Sericum.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_93" href="#FNanchor_93" class="label">[93]</a> Journal Asiatique, 1823, tom. ii. p. 246. Julius Klaproth (Tableau Historique -de l’Asie, Paris, 1826, p. 57, 58.) says, that in the year 165 B. C. the inhabitants -of the country called by us Tangut, who constituted a powerful kingdom, -were attacked by the Hioung Nou, and driven to the West, where they fixed -themselves in Transoxiana, and that these events led to an uninterrupted communication -with Persia and India, especially in regard to the silk trade. Klaproth -considers that the Seres of the ancients were the Chinese; but he appears to -include under that term all the nations which were brought into subjection to the -Chinese.</p> - -<p>Professor Karl Ritter (Erdkunde, Asien, Band iv. 2 te Auflage, Berlin, 1835, -p. 437.) observes, in allusion to the authority just quoted, that all the names of -the silk-worm and its products are to be accounted for on the supposition (which -he considers the true one) that they were first known and cultivated in China, -and from thence extended through central Asia into Europe.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_94" href="#FNanchor_94" class="label">[94]</a> See Schindler’s Pentaglott, p. 1951, D.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>In the more modern European languages we find two sets -of terms for silk, the first evidently derived from the oriental -Seric, but with the common substitution of <i>l</i> for <i>r</i>, the second -of an uncertain origin. To the first set belong,</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" summary="Silk Terms"> -<tr><td><i>Chelk</i>,</td> - <td>silk, in Slavonian.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td><i>Silke</i>,</td> - <td>—— in Suio-Gothic and Icelandic<a id="FNanchor_95" href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a>.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td><i>Silcke</i>,</td> - <td>—— in Danish.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Siolc or Seolc,</td> - <td>—— in Anglo-Saxon. Also Siolcen or Seolcen, silken; Eal, reolcen, <i>Holosericus</i>; Seolcpynm, silk-worm<a id="FNanchor_96" href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a>.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td><i>Silk</i>,</td> - <td>—— in English<a id="FNanchor_97" href="#Footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span></td> - </tr> -<tr><td><i>Sirig</i>,</td> - <td>—— in Welsh<a id="FNanchor_98" href="#Footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a>.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>To the second set belong,</p> - -<table summary="Silk Names"> -<tr><td><i>Seda</i>,</td> - <td>silk, in the Latin of the middle ages.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td><i>Seta</i>,</td> - <td>—— in Italian.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td><i>Seide</i>,</td> - <td>—— in German.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td><i>Side</i>,</td> - <td>—— in Anglo-Saxon. Also Sidene, silken, Ælfric as quoted by Lye; Sidpypm, silk-worm, Junius, l. c.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td><i>Sidan</i>,</td> - <td>—— in Welsh.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td><i>Satin</i>,</td> - <td>—— in French and English<a id="FNanchor_99" href="#Footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a>.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_95" href="#FNanchor_95" class="label">[95]</a> <i>Silki trojo ermalausa</i>, a silk tunic without sleeves. Knitlynga Saga, p. 114, -as quoted by Ihre, Glossar. Suio-Goth. v. Armalausa.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_96" href="#FNanchor_96" class="label">[96]</a> Ælfric’s Glossary (made in the tenth century), p. 68. Appendix to Sumner’s -Dictionary.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_97" href="#FNanchor_97" class="label">[97]</a> Nicholas Fuller (Miscellanea, p. 248.) justly observes, Vocabulum Anglicanum -Selk non nisi Sericum authorem generis sui agnoscit. Selk enim nuncupatum -est quasi Selik pro Serik, literæ r in l facili commutatione factâ.</p> - -<p>Minshew and Skinner give the same etymology.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_98" href="#FNanchor_98" class="label">[98]</a> Junius, Etymologicum, v. <i>Silk</i>. It appears doubtful, however, whether Junius -is here to be depended on.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_99" href="#FNanchor_99" class="label">[99]</a> Ménage, Diction. Etym. de la Langue Française, tom. ii. p. 457, ed. Joult.</p> - </div> - </div> - -<p>According to Abel Rémusat (<i>Journal Asiat. l. c.</i>) the merchandise -of Eastern Asia passed through Slavonia to the North -of Europe in the middle ages, even without the mediation of -Greece or Italy. This may account for the use of the terms -of the first class, while it is possible that those of the second -have been derived from the South of Europe, from whence we -have seen that silken commodities were also occasionally transported -to the North.</p> - -<p>To the evidence now produced from <i>authors</i> and <i>printed -documents</i> respecting the history of silk from the earliest times -to the period of its universal extension throughout Europe, another -species of proof may be added, viz. that afforded by Relics -preserved in churches, and by other remains of the antiquities -of the middle ages. As examples of this method for illustrating -the subject, the following articles may be enumerated.</p> - -<p>I. The relics of St. Regnobert, Bishop of Bayeux in the -seventh century. These consist of a <i>Casula</i>, or <i>Chasuble</i>, a -<i>Stole</i>, and a <i>Maniple</i>. They are yet preserved in the cathedral -of Bayeux, and worn by the Bishop on certain annual festivals. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> -They are of silk <i>interwoven with gold</i>, and <i>adorned -with pearls</i><a id="FNanchor_100" href="#Footnote_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_100" href="#FNanchor_100" class="label">[100]</a> See John Spencer Smythe’s Description de la Chasuble de Saint Regnobert, -in the Procès Verbal de l’Académie Royale des Sciences, Arts, et Belles Lettres, -de la Ville de Caen, Séance d’Avril 14, 1820.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>II. Portions of garments of the same description with those -of St. Regnobert were discovered A. D. 1827 on opening the -tomb of St. Cuthbert in the Cathedral of Durham. They are -preserved in the library of that church, and accurately described -by the Rev. James Raine, the librarian, in a quarto volume.</p> - -<p>III. The scull-cap of St. Simon, said to have been made -in the tenth century, and now preserved in the Cathedral of -Treves. Its border is <i>interwoven with gold</i>.</p> - -<p>In regard to these interesting relics, they may with confidence -be looked upon as specimens of the manufacture of silk -from the <i>seventh</i> to the <i>twelfth</i> century.</p> - -<p>IV. In the Cathedral at Hereford is a charter of one of the -Popes with the bull (the leaden seal), attached to it by silken -threads. Silk was early used for this purpose in the South of -Europe<a id="FNanchor_101" href="#Footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a>. The Danish kings began to use silk to append the -waxen seals to their charters about the year 1000<a id="FNanchor_102" href="#Footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_101" href="#FNanchor_101" class="label">[101]</a> Mabillon, de Re Diplomaticâ, l. ii. cap. 19. § 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_102" href="#FNanchor_102" class="label">[102]</a> Diplomatarium Arna-Magnæanum, a Thorkelin, tom. i. p. xliv.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>V. Silk, in the form of velvet, may be seen on some of the -ancient armor in the Tower of London.</p> - -<p>VI. The binding of ancient manuscripts affords specimens -of silk. A French translation of Ludolphus Saxo’s Life of -Christ in four folio volumes, among Dr. William Hunter’s -MSS. at Glasgow, still has its original binding covered with -red velvet, which is probably as old as the <i>fourteenth</i> century. -A curious source of information on the art of book-binding at -that period is the Inventory, or Catalogue of the library collected -by that ardent lover of books, Charles V. of France. -As this catalogue particularly describes the bindings of about -1200 volumes, many of which were very elaborate and splendid, -it enables us to judge of the use made of all the most valuable -stuffs and materials which could be employed for this purpose, -and under the head of silk we find the following: “soie,” -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span> -silk; “veluyau,” velvet; “satanin,” satin; “damas,” damask; -“taffetas,” taffetas; “camocas;” “cendal;” and “drap d’or,” -cloth of gold, having probably a basis or ground of silk<a id="FNanchor_103" href="#Footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a>.</p> - -<p>From the few examples of ancient Catholic vestments that -have escaped destruction, the generality of persons are but -little acquainted with the extreme beauty of the embroidery -worked for ecclesiastical purposes during the Middle Ages. -The countenances of the images were executed with perfect -expression, like miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. Every -parochial church, previous to the Reformation, was furnished -with complete sets of frontals and hangings for the altars. One -of the great beauties of the ancient embroidery was its appropriate -design; each flower, leaf, and device having a significant -meaning with reference to the festival to which the vestment -belonged. Such was the extreme beauty of the English -vestments in the reign of Henry III., that Innocent IV. forwarded -bulls to many English bishops, enjoining them to send -a certain quantity of embroidered vestments to Rome, for the -use of the clergy<a id="FNanchor_104" href="#Footnote_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_103" href="#FNanchor_103" class="label">[103]</a> See Inventaire de l’Ancienne Bibliothèque du Louvre, fait en l’année 1373. -Paris, 1836, 8vo.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_104" href="#FNanchor_104" class="label">[104]</a> The art of embroidery seems to have attained a higher degree of perfection -in France, than any other country in Europe;—it is not, however, so much practised -now. Embroiderers formerly composed a great portion of the working population -of the largest towns; laws were specially framed for their protection, -some of which would astonish the working people of the present day. They -were formed into a company as early as 1272, by Etienne Boileau, Prévot de -Paris, under their respective names of “Brodeurs, Découpeurs, Egratigneurs, and -Chasubliers.”</p> - -<p>In the last and preceding centuries, when embroidery, as an article of dress -both for men and women, was an object of considerable importance, the Germans, -and more particularly those of Vienna, disputed the palm of excellence -with the French. At the same period, Milan and Venice were also celebrated -for their embroidery; but the prices were so extravagantly high, that according -to Lamarre, its use was forbidden by sumptuary laws.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_V">CHAPTER V.<br /> -<small>SILK AND GOLDEN TEXTURES OF THE ANCIENTS.</small></h3> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="h3sub">HIGH DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ATTAINED IN THIS MANUFACTURE. - </p> - </div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Manufacture of golden textures in the time of Moses—Homer—Golden tunics of -the Lydians—Their use by the Indians and Arabians—Extraordinary display -of scarlet robes, purple, striped with silver, golden textures, &c., by Darius, -king of Persia—Purple and scarlet cloths interwoven with gold—Tunics and -shawls variegated with gold—Purple garments with borders of gold—Golden -chlamys—Attalus, king of Pergamus, <i>not</i> the inventor of gold thread—Bostick—Golden -robe worn by Agrippina—Caligula and Heliogabalus—Sheets interwoven -with gold used at the obsequies of Nero—Babylonian shawls intermixed -with gold—Silk shawls interwoven with gold—Figured cloths of gold and Tyrean -purple—Use of gold in the manufacture of shawls by the Greeks—4,000,000 -sesterces (about $150,000) paid by the Emperor Nero for a Babylonish -coverlet—Portrait of Constantius II.—Magnificence of Babylonian carpets, -mantles, &c.—Median sindones.</p> -</div> - -<p>The use of gold in <i>weaving</i> may be traced to the earliest -times, but seems to be particularly characteristic of oriental -manners.</p> - -<p>It was employed in connexion with woollen and linen thread -of the finest colors to enrich the ephod, girdle, and breast-plate -of Aaron<a id="FNanchor_105" href="#Footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a>. The sacred historian goes so far as to describe the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> -mode of preparing the gold to be used in weaving: “And they -did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work -it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the -fine linen, with cunning work.”—Ex. xxxix. 2-8. The historian -certainly does not intend to describe the process of wire-drawing, -nor probably the art of making gold thread. It -seems likely, that neither of these ingenious manufactures -were invented in his time. The queen described in Ps. xiv., -wears “clothing of wrought gold<a id="FNanchor_106" href="#Footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a>.” Homer mentions a golden -girdle, (Od. ε. 232. κ. 543.). He also describes an upper garment, -which Penelope made for Ulysses before going to Illium. -On the front part of it a beautiful hunting piece was wrought -in gold. It is thus described. “A dog holds a fawn with its -fore feet, looking at it as it pants with fear and strives to make -its escape.” This, he says, was the subject of universal admiration<a id="FNanchor_107" href="#Footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_105" href="#FNanchor_105" class="label">[105]</a> “And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. -And they shall make the ephod <i>of gold</i>, <i>of blue</i>, and <i>of purple</i>, <i>of scarlet</i>, and -<i>fine twined linen</i>, with <i>cunning work</i>. It shall have the two shoulder-pieces -thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. And -the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according -to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine -twined linen. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the -names of the children of Israel: six of their names on one stone, and the other -six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. With the work -of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet shalt thou engrave the -two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be -set in ouches of gold. And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of -the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall -bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. And -thou shalt make ouches of gold; and two chains of pure gold at the ends; of -<i>wreathen work</i> shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the -ouches. And thou shalt make the breast-plate of judgment with cunning work; -after the work of the ephod shalt thou make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, -and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen shalt thou make it.”—Ex. xxviii. 5-15.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_106" href="#FNanchor_106" class="label">[106]</a> “The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought -gold.”—Ps. xlv. 13.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_107" href="#FNanchor_107" class="label">[107]</a> Od. τ. 225-235.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Pisander, who probably lived at the same period with Homer, -speaks of the Lydians as wearing tunics adorned with gold. -Lydus, who has preserved this expression of the ancient cyclic -poet, observes that the Lydians were supplied with gold from -the sands of the Pactolus and the Hermus<a id="FNanchor_108" href="#Footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_108" href="#FNanchor_108" class="label">[108]</a> De Magistratibus Rom. L. iii. § 64.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Virgil also represents the use of gold in weaving, as if it had -existed in Trojan times. One of the garments so adorned was -made by Dido, the Sidonian, another by Andromache, and a -third was in the possession of Anchises<a id="FNanchor_109" href="#Footnote_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a>. In all these instances -the reference is to the habits of Phœnice, Lycia, or other parts -of Asia.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_109" href="#FNanchor_109" class="label">[109]</a> Æin. iii. 483.; iv. 264.; viii. 167.; xi. 75.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Among all the Asiatics, none were more remarkable than -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> -the Persians for the display of textures of gold, as well as every -other kind of luxury in dress. A tiara interwoven with gold -was one of the presents which Xerxes gave as an expression of -his gratitude to the citizens of Abdera (<i>Herod.</i> viii. 120.). -The Indians also employed the same kind of ornament (<i>Strabo</i>, -L. xv. <i>c.</i> i. § 69.); and the Periegesis (<i>l.</i> 881.) of Priscian attributes -the use of it to the Arabians<a id="FNanchor_110" href="#Footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_110" href="#FNanchor_110" class="label">[110]</a> In Europe the nearest approach to oriental habits in regard to dress was made -by the Gauls. Their principal men wore collars, armlets, and bracelets of gold, -and clothes enriched with the same metal.—<i>Strabo</i>, L. iv. cap. 4. § 5.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The history of Alexander the Great affords frequent traces -of the use of cloth <i>interwoven with gold</i> in Persia. Garments -made of such cloth were among the most splendid of the -spoils of Persepolis<a id="FNanchor_111" href="#Footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_111" href="#FNanchor_111" class="label">[111]</a> <i>Diod. Sic.</i> L. xvii. 70. <i>p.</i> 214. <i>Wessel.</i></p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Justin (L. xii.) says that Alexander, to avoid offending the -Persians, ordered his principal attendants to adopt for their -dress “longam vestem auream purpureamque.” The dress -prescribed was therefore of fine woollen cloth, or probably of -silk, dyed purple, and <i>interwoven with gold</i>. Among the vast -multitudes which preceded the King of Persia when he advanced -to oppose Alexander, was the band of ten thousand -called the Immortals, whose dress was carried to the ‘ne plus -ultra’ of barbaric splendor, some wearing golden collars, others -“cloth variegated with gold.” Some idea of the extravagance -and pomp of the Persians on this occasion may be formed from -the following passage, taken from Rollin’s “Ancient History.”</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The order Darius observed in his march was as follows. Before the army -were carried silver altars, on which burned the fire, called by them sacred and -eternal; and these were followed by the magi, singing hymns, and 365 youths <i>in -scarlet robes</i>. After these proceeded a consecrated car, drawn by white horses -and followed by one of an extraordinary size, which they called “The horse of the -sun.” The equerries were dressed in white, each bearing in his hand a golden -rod. Next appeared ten sumptuous chariots, enriched with curious sculptures in -gold and silver; and then the vanguard of the horse, composed of twelve different -nations, in various armor. This body was succeeded by those of the Persians, -called “The Immortals,” amounting to 10,000, who surpassed the rest of the -barbarians in the extravagant richness and splendor of their dress; for they all -wore <i>collars of gold</i>, and were clothed in robes <i>of gold tissue</i>, having large -sleeves, garnished with precious stones. About thirty paces from them came the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> -king’s relations or cousins, to the number of 15,000, apparelled like women, and -more remarkable for the pomp of their dress than the glitter of their arms; and after -these Darius attended by his guards, seated on a chariot, as on a throne. The -chariot was enriched, on both sides, with images of the gods in gold and silver; -and from the middle of the yoke, which was covered with jewels, rose two statues, -a cubit in height; the one representing War, the other Peace, having between -them a golden eagle with wings extended. The king was attired in <i>a garment -of purple striped with silver</i>; over which was a long robe, glittering with gold -and precious stones, and whereon two falcons were represented as if rushing from -the clouds at each other. Around his waist he wore <i>a golden girdle</i>, from whence -hung scimitar, the scabbard of which was covered with gems. On each side of -Darius walked 200 of his nearest relations, followed by 10,000 horsemen, whose -lances were plated with silver, and tipped with gold. After these marched 30,000 -foot, the rear of the army, and, lastly, 400 horses belonging to the king.</p> - -<p>“About 100 paces from the royal divisions of the army came Sisygambis, the -mother of Darius, seated on a chariot, and his consort on another, with female attendants -of both queens riding on horseback. Afterwards came fifteen chariots, -in which were the king’s children, and their tutors. Next to these were the royal -concubines, to the number of 360, all attired like so many queens. These were -followed by 600 mules, and 300 camels, carrying the king’s treasure, and guarded -by a body of bowmen. After these came the wives of the crown officers, and the -lords of the court; then the suttlers, servants; and, lastly, a body of light armed -troops, with their commanders.”</p> -</div> - -<p>At the nuptials of Alexander purple and scarlet cloths, <i>interwoven -with gold</i>, were expanded over the guests: and a -pall of the same description covered the golden sarcophagus -made to contain his body. Among the splendid ornaments of -the tent erected not long after at Alexandria by Ptolemy Philadelphus, -there were tunics interwoven with gold: and in the -procession on the same occasion, the colossal statues of Bacchus -and his nurse Nysa were attired; the former in a shawl; the -latter in a tunic variegated with gold. Probably we may refer -to the same country and age the “golden tunic” mentioned in -one of the Arundle marbles (No. xxii. 2.). Also the tent pitched -by Arsace with hangings of gold and purple tissues, and -the robe of similar materials worn by Arsace herself, as described -by Heliodorus (<i>Æthiop.</i> vii.), relate to the customs of -the same country.</p> - -<p>Another of the successors of Alexander, viz. Demetrius -Poliorcetes, wore purple garments with <i>borders of gold</i><a id="FNanchor_112" href="#Footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_112" href="#FNanchor_112" class="label">[112]</a> Plutarch, Demet. 41.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> -Themistius describes a portrait of one of the kings of Persia, -who wore, together with the tiara and the collar or necklace, -<i>a purple shawl interwoven with gold</i> (<i>Orat.</i> 24. <i>p.</i> 369. <i>ed.</i> -Dindorf.).</p> - -<p>During the periods to which the preceding evidence has allusion, -it is not probable that cloth of gold was in use among the -Greeks and Romans except to a very limited extent. Nevertheless -it does not appear to have escaped the avidity for every -species of excellence, which in early times distinguished the inhabitants -of Magna Græcia. For, when Pythagoras became -a teacher of wisdom and philosophy at Crotona, among other -lessons of frugality he persuaded the matrons to put off their -“golden garments” with other fashionable ornaments, and deposit -them in the temple of Juno as offerings to the goddess<a id="FNanchor_113" href="#Footnote_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a>. -In a passage attributed to Menander we meet with the mention -of a “golden or purple chlamys” as a suitable offering to -the gods<a id="FNanchor_114" href="#Footnote_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a>. Hedylus of Samos, a writer of the same age, describes -a woman of loose morals, by name Niconoe, as wearing -a tunic striped with gold (<i>Brunck’s Analecta</i>, i. 483.).</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_113" href="#FNanchor_113" class="label">[113]</a> Justin, L. XX. c. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_114" href="#FNanchor_114" class="label">[114]</a> Menandri Reliquiæ, à Meineke, p. 306. Böckh, Gr. Trag. Principes, p. 157.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Attalus, king of Pergamus, is said by Pliny (L. viii. cap. 48.) -to have invented the art of embroidering with gold thread<a id="FNanchor_115" href="#Footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a>. -Nevertheless we have seen, that gold was thus used long before -the time of Attalus. But there can be no doubt, that he established -and maintained a great manufacture of these stuffs -at Pergamus; thus contributing greatly to improve the art, -and bring these cloths into more general use.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_115" href="#FNanchor_115" class="label">[115]</a> See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The next passage is from Dr. Bostock’s translation of the -33rd Book, ch. xix. “Gold may be spun or woven like wool, -without the latter being mixed with it. We are informed by -Verrius, that Tarquinius Priscus rode in triumph in a tunic of -gold; and we have seen Agrippina, the wife of the Emperor -Claudius, when he exhibited the spectacle of a naval combat, -sitting by him covered with a robe made <i>entirely</i> of <i>woven -gold</i>. In what are called the Attalic stuffs, the gold is woven -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> -with some other substance. This art was the invention of one -of the kings of Asia.”</p> - -<p>In Book xxxv. c. 36. Pliny says that Zeuxis, to display his -wealth at Olympia, caused his name to be woven <i>in gold</i> in -the compartments of his outer garment.</p> - -<p>Caligula once wore a tunic interwoven with gold. Heliogabalus -was far more profuse in regard to this kind of splendor. -White sheets, <i>interwoven with gold</i>, were used at the funeral -obsequies of Nero<a id="FNanchor_116" href="#Footnote_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a>. We may here observe, that the use of gold -in dress almost invariably accompanied that of silk. The -same Emperors who took delight in the one, indulged themselves -with the other also. On the contrary, Alexander Severus, -as we shall show when treating of linen in Part IV., was -economical in both these respects.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_116" href="#FNanchor_116" class="label">[116]</a> Suetonius, Nero, 50.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In Chapters II. and III., we quoted several passages which -make mention of cloth of gold, from Tibullus, Ovid, Seneca -the Tragedian, Lucan, Dio Cassius, Claudian, Virgil, Gregorius -Nazienzenus, and Basil, all of which speak of cloth of gold. -Ovid mentions purple garments variously colored and interwoven -with gold, as belonging to Bacchus.—<i>Met.</i> iii. 556.</p> - -<p>Publius Syrus was a writer of the same period. In the following -fragment preserved by Petronius Arbiter, he compares -the train of the peacock to Babylonian stuffs enriched with -gold and various colors:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thy food the peacock, which displays his spotted train,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As shines a Babylonian shawl with feather’d gold!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Shawls, interwoven with gold, are mentioned by Galen<a id="FNanchor_117" href="#Footnote_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a>, and -by Valerius Flaccus<a id="FNanchor_118" href="#Footnote_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a>; also by Lucan in the following passage, -where he is describing the furniture of Cleopatra’s palace (x. -125, 126.):</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Part shines with feather’d gold, part sheds a blaze</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of scarlet, <i>intermixed</i> by <i>Pharian looms</i>!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_117" href="#FNanchor_117" class="label">[117]</a> Quoted in Chapter II.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_118" href="#FNanchor_118" class="label">[118]</a> Auro depicta chlamys.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The following passages also contain evidence on the same -subject.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span></p> - -<h5>SENECA, THE PHILOSOPHER.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>As yet figured cloths did not exist: gold was not woven, it was not even extracted -from the ground.—<i>Epist.</i> 91.</p> -</div> - -<h5>LUCIAN</h5> - -<p>describes the tragic actors, when they performed the part of -kings, as wearing a chlamys interwoven with gold<a id="FNanchor_119" href="#Footnote_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_119" href="#FNanchor_119" class="label">[119]</a> Somnium, vol. ii. p. 742. ed. Hemsterhusii.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<h5>APULEIUS.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>They carefully spread over the couches, cloths figured with gold and Tyrian -purple.—<i>Met.</i></p> -</div> - -<h5>PHILOSTRATUS</h5> - -<p>depicts Midas wearing a golden robe<a id="FNanchor_120" href="#Footnote_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_120" href="#FNanchor_120" class="label">[120]</a> Imag. i. 22.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<h5>NEMESIANUS.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>In thy scarf’s woof much sportive gold display.—<i>Cyneg.</i> 91.</p> -</div> - -<p>The poet is addressing Diana and describing her attire.</p> - -<h5>AUSONIUS.</h5> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Weave flexile gold within thy shawls, O Greece<a id="FNanchor_121" href="#Footnote_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a>.</p> -</div> - -<p>This is the <i>first</i> passage since the time of Homer, which mentions -Greece as concerned in weaving with gold. But Ausonius -probably alluded to the Greeks of Asia Minor, as, besides -the evidence produced from Basil, we have seen that Pergamus -was one of the most noted places for these productions, which -were on that account called “Attalicæ vestes<a id="FNanchor_122" href="#Footnote_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a>.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span> -When Ausonius was appointed Consul at Rome A. D. 379, -his friend and former pupil, the Emperor Gratian, sent him as -a present a toga in which was inserted a figure of Constantius -II., <i>wrought in gold</i>.—Ausonii Gratiarum Actio, § 53.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_121" href="#FNanchor_121" class="label">[121]</a> Epigram 37.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_122" href="#FNanchor_122" class="label">[122]</a> “I find evidence that kings wore the <i>striped toga</i>; that figured cloths were -in use even in the days of Homer; and that these gave rise to the <i>triumphal</i>. -To produce this effect with the needle was the invention of the Phrygians, on -which account cloths so embroidered have been called <i>Phrygionic</i>. In the same -part of Asia king Attalus discovered the art of inserting a woof of gold(?); from -which circumstance the <i>Attalic</i> cloths received their name(?). Babylon first obtained -celebrity by its method of <i>diversifying the picture with different colors</i>, -and gave its name to textures of this description. But to weave with <i>a great -number of leashes</i>, so as to produce the cloths called <i>polymita</i> (the polymita were -damask cloths), was <i>first</i> taught in Alexandria; to divide by squares (<i>plaids</i>) in -Gaul. Metellus Scipio brought it as an accusation against Cato, that even in his -time Babylonian <i>coverlets</i> for triclinia were sold for 800,000 sesterces (about -$30,000), although the emperor Nero lately gave for them no less than 4,000,000 -sesterces (about $150,000). The <i>prætextæ</i> 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 moths -during the space of 560 years.”—<i>Plin. H. N.</i> viii. 64. (See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>CLAUDIAN</h5> - -<p>mentions with delight the use of gold in dress as well as of -silk. His testimony has been given in chapter III. of this -Part.</p> - -<h5>SIDONIUS APOLLINARIS</h5> - -<p>mentions the gold in the dress of Prince Sigismer. His testimony -is also given in chapter III.</p> - -<h5>CORIPPUS,</h5> - -<p>describing the accession of Justin II. to the Empire (A. D. 565), -mentions (L. ii.) his tunic enriched with gold as part of his imperial -costume.</p> - -<h5>PAULINUS.</h5> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Misceturque ostro mollitum in fila metellum.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>De Vita Martini</i>, L. iii.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We find the following law in the Codex Justinianus:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nemo vir auratas in tunicis aut in lincis habeat paragaudas: nisi hi tantummodo,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">quibus hoc propter Imperiale ministerium concessum est.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Corpus Juris Civilis</i>, tom. v. tit. viii. leg. 2.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The “aurata paragauda” was a border of gold lace or -thread. It appears that ladies might wear it on their tunics, -while men were only permitted to use it in token of their official -character as being in the service of the emperor. In allusion -to these or similar regulations, Ælius Lampridius (34) -says of the emperor Alexander Severus,</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Auratam vestem ministerium nullus vel in publico convivio habuit.</p> -</div> - -<p>The testimony of Ambrose, Jerome, and Basil has been -given in Chapter III., which see.</p> - -<p>From the book of Joshua we learn that the woven stuffs of -Babylon were not confined to domestic use, but exported into -foreign countries. The two chief productions of Babylonian -looms were <i>carpets</i> and <i>shawls</i>. One of the principal objects -of luxury in Asia from the remotest ages, were nowhere so -finely woven, and in such rich colors as at Babylon. On the -Babylonian carpets were woven or depicted representations of -those fabulous animals the dragon and griffin, together with -other unnatural combinations of form, probably originating in -India, and with which we have become acquainted by the -ruins of Persepolis. It was by means of the Babylonian manufactures, -that the knowledge of these fanciful and imaginary -beings, was conveyed to the Western world, and from them -transferred to the Greek vases. “A mantle of Shinar,” or as -our translators have rendered it, “A Babylonish garment,” -was secreted by Achan from the spoils of Jericho; and the -delinquent speaks of this as being the most valuable part of his -plunder<a id="FNanchor_123" href="#Footnote_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a>. Next to carpets and shawls, the Babylonian garments -called <i>Sindones</i> were held in the highest estimation. The -most costly <i>Sindones</i>, were so much valued for their fineness -of texture and brilliancy of color, as to be compared to those of -Media, and set apart for royal use; they were even to be found -at the tomb of Cyrus, which was profusely decorated with every -species of furniture in use among the Persian monarchs during -their lives.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_123" href="#FNanchor_123" class="label">[123]</a> “When I saw among the spoils <i>a goodly Babylonish garment</i>, and two -hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I -coveted them, and took them, and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst -of my tent, and the silver under it.”—Joshua vii. 21.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Plate_2">[Plate II]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp43" id="Plate_II" style="max-width: 80em;"> - <div class="caption"><p class="right"><i>Plate II</i></p></div> - <img class="w100" src="images/plate_ii.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>From Champollion</i></p> - <p class="center"><big>EGYPTIAN LOOMS</big>,<br /> - with the processes of Spinning and Winding. - </p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br /> -<small>SILVER TEXTURES, &c., OF THE ANCIENTS.</small></h3> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="h3sub">EXTREME BEAUTY OF THESE MANUFACTURES.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Magnificent dress worn by Herod Agrippa, mentioned in Acts xii. 21—Josephus’s -account of this dress, and dreadful death of Herod—Discovery of ancient Piece-goods—Beautiful -manuscript of Theodolphus, Bishop of Orleans, who lived in -the ninth century—Extraordinary beauty of Indian, Chinese, Egyptian, and -other manufactured goods preserved in this manuscript—Egyptian arts—Wise -regulations of the Egyptians in relation to the arts—Late discoveries in Egypt -by the Prussian hierologist, Dr. Lepsius—Cloth of glass.</p> -</div> - -<p>The Evangelist Luke, in Acts xii. 21. speaks of the “royal -apparel,” in which Herod Agrippa, king of Judea, was arrayed -when he received the ambassadors of Tyre and Sidon, sitting -in great state upon his throne at Cæsarea. “And upon a set -day, Herod arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and -made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, -saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately -the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave -not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up -the ghost.”</p> - -<p>Josephus describes the same garment, which was a tunic, -as “all made of <i>silver</i>, and wonderful in its texture.” He -adds, that the king appeared in this dress at break of day in -the theatre, and that the silver, illuminated by the first rays -of the sun, glittered in such a manner as to terrify the beholders, -so that his flatterers began to call out aloud, saluting him -as a god. <i>He was then seized with the painful and loathsome -distemper, of which he soon after died<a id="FNanchor_124" href="#Footnote_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a>.</i></p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_124" href="#FNanchor_124" class="label">[124]</a> <i>Ant. Jud.</i> L. xix. <i>cap.</i> 8. § 2. p. 871. <i>Hudson</i>.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>We extract the following curious account of the discovery -of Ancient Piece-goods and manufactured stuffs from a late -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> -number of an English publication called the “Mining Review.”</p> - -<p>Discovery of ancient Piece-goods and manufactured stuffs.—“It -is more than a thousand years since Theodolphus, Bishop -of Orleans, gave to Notre Dame du Puy en Velay a beautiful -manuscript, containing the ancient Testament, the chronography -of St. Isidor, and other pieces, the whole distributed into -138 articles; which he presented in token of gratitude for his -deliverance from the prison of Angers, where he was confined -in the year 835. It was on Palm Sunday that year, while -Louis Le Debonnaire was passing, that he began to sing a -well-known Canticle, which the Catholic church <i>has since -then</i> introduced into its ceremonies. This precious manuscript, -in a state of perfect preservation, is to be seen in the -archives of the Bishopric of the Puy en Velay, department of -the Haute Loire. A portion of the manuscript is written on -leaves of common parchment, in letters of red and black, with -a few of gold intermixed. The other portion is inscribed on -leaves of parchment, dyed purple, with <i>letters of gold</i> and -<i>silver</i>, among which are observed, ornaments of different kinds -and colors, designated the “<i>Byzantine style</i>.” The manuscript, -remarkable for its beauty and preservation, is still more -valuable for the manufactured stuffs which it contains. When -Theodolphus composed his manuscript, with the intention of -preserving from contact and friction the gold and silver characters -(which, in time, would have tended to displace and obliterate -them), he placed between each page a portion of the -manufactured tissues peculiar to the era in which he lived. -These specimens of the silk, and other pieces of goods of the -time are thus curiously preserved<a id="FNanchor_125" href="#Footnote_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a>. Till lately, little attention -was paid to these tissues, which are principally of India manufacture, -bearing scarcely <i>any analogy</i> to the products of the -<i>modern loom</i>. Some are CASHMERE SHAWLS of those -patterns, which the French call <i>broucha</i> and <i>espouline</i>, and are -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span> -made in the Indian fashion, but with this difference, that they -are limited to <i>four</i> colors, and demonstrate the greatest antiquity -by the primitive simplicity of their colors and design. -Others are CRAPES and GAUZES, against the luxury of -whose transparent tissues, the fathers of the church at that -time so perseveringly fulminated their censures. The rest -consist of <i>muslins</i> and <i>China-crape of exquisite beauty</i>. -The components of the majority of these tissues are of goats’ -or camels’ hair of exceeding delicacy and fineness. Like the -manufactured stuffs of ancient Egypt, painted on the walls of -its palaces and tombs, or substantially preserved amidst the -envelopes of mummies, the designs are limited to four colors, -which are in fact the <i>four sacred ones of China</i>, <i>India</i>, -<i>Egypt</i>, and the <i>Hebrew Tabernacle</i>. Nevertheless, the -Egyptian designs, <i>identical with those of India</i>, are many -of them of exquisite beauty. The consummate skill of the -silk and cotton manufacturers of ancient Egypt, 4000 years -ago, <i>the beauty and richness of their fabrics</i>—the little alteration -which has taken place in the economy or machinery of -the factories, as well as in their product, has been recently demonstrated -in the great work of Champollion. All the details -of the silk and cotton factories of Egypt, under the Pharaohs -of the 18th dynasty (which then monopolized the commerce -of the world, and sent a colony of weavers, from the overburthened -population of Lower Egypt, to found Athens, and the -subsequent civilization of Europe), are laid open with vivid accuracy -in that splendid work<a id="FNanchor_126" href="#Footnote_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a>, and brought with all their startling -analogies before the eye of the modern reader by drawings -from the temples, palaces, and tombs which it contains. It -proves, indeed, that there is ”<i>nothing new under the sun</i>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_125" href="#FNanchor_125" class="label">[125]</a> A shred of gold cloth is preserved in the Museum of Antiquities at Leyden, -which is supposed to have been discovered in one of the ancient tombs at Tarquinia -in Etruria. In this tissue the gold forms a compact covering over bright -yellow silk.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_126" href="#FNanchor_126" class="label">[126]</a>See <a href="#Plate_II">Plate II.</a></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>That the Egyptians excelled in science and art is evident -from their monuments, paintings, and sculptures, whereon they -are depicted. It is also proved by Scripture, which speaks of -the “wisdom of Egypt” with reference to art; and from the -fact that Egypt was deemed by other nations the fountain of -arts and sciences, and that their philosophers were wont to resort -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> -thither to collect some of the “droppings of Egyptian wisdom.” -According to Diodorus, all trades vied with each other -in improving their own particular branch, no pains being -spared to bring each to perfection. To promote the more effectually -this object, it was enacted that no artisan should follow -any trade or employment but that defined bylaw, and <i>pursued -by his ancestors</i>. No tradesman was permitted to meddle -with political affairs, or hold any civil office in the state, <i>lest -his thoughts should be distracted by the inconsistency of his -pursuits</i>, or the jealousy and displeasure of the master in -whose service he was employed. They foresaw that without -such a law constant interruptions would take place, in consequence -of the necessity or desire of becoming conspicuous in a -public station; that their proper occupations would be neglected, -and many would be led by <i>vanity</i> and <i>self-sufficiency</i> to interfere -in matters which were out of their sphere. They considered, -moreover, that to pursue more than one avocation would -be detrimental to their own interests, and those of the community -at large; and that, when men, from a motive of avarice, -engage in numerous branches of art, the general result is, that -they are unable to excel in any. If any artisan interfered in -political matters, or engaged in any employment other than the -one to which he had been brought up, a severe punishment -was immediately inflicted upon him.</p> - -<p>The eminent German hierologist, Dr. Lepsius, now employed -in Egypt by the Prussian government, after mentioning, in -a recent letter, the many discoveries he had made of ancient -ruins, tombs, &c., writes as follows:</p> - -<p>“With the exception of about twelve, which belong to a later -period, all these tombs were erected contemporaneously with, or -soon after, the building of the great pyramid, and consequently -their dates throw an invaluable light on the study of human -civilization in the most remote period of antiquity. The <i>sculptures</i> -in relief are surprisingly numerous, representing whole -figures, some the size of life, and others of various dimensions. -The <i>paintings</i> are on back grounds of the finest chalk. They -are numerous and beautiful beyond conception—<i>as fresh and -perfect as if finished yesterday</i>! The pictures and sculptures -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span> -on the walls of the tombs, represent, for the most part, -scenes in the lives of the deceased persons, whose wealth in -cattle, fish-boats, servants, &c., is ostentatiously displayed before -the eye of the spectator. All this gives an insight into the details -of private life among the ancient Egyptians. By the help -of these inscriptions I think I could, without difficulty, make a -“Court Calendar” of the reign of King Cheops<a id="FNanchor_127" href="#Footnote_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a>. In some instances -I have traced the graves of father, son, grandson, and -even great-grandson—all that now remains of the distinguished -families, which five thousand years ago, formed the nobility of -the land.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_127" href="#FNanchor_127" class="label">[127]</a> We do not find in these researches, that the ancients were acquainted with -the arts of spinning and weaving glass, or of giving it any required shade of color. -This invention, therefore, must be considered as belonging to the nineteenth century, -and the honor of the discovery is due to M. Dubus Bonnel, an ingenious -Frenchman, a native of Lille, and for which he obtained patents in Great Britain, -and various countries of the European continent in 1837.</p> - -<p>“When we figure to ourselves an apartment decorated with cloth of glass, and -resplendent with lights, we must be convinced that it will equal in brilliancy all -that the imagination can conceive; and realise, in a word, the wonders of the -enchanted palaces mentioned in the Arabian tales. The lights flashing from the -polished surface of the glass, to which any color or shade may be given, will -make the room have the appearance of an apartment composed of pearls, mother-of-pearl, -diamonds, garnets, sapphires, topazes, rubies, emeralds, or amethysts, -&c., or, in short, of all those precious stones united and combined in a thousand -ways, and formed into stars, rosettes, boquets, garlands, festoons, and graceful undulations, -varied almost ad infinitum.”—L’Echo du Monde Savant, &c. No. 58, -Feb. 15, 1837.—<i>Translated from the French.</i></p> - -<p>The warp is composed of silk, forming the body and groundwork on which -the pattern in glass appears, as effected by the weft. The requisite flexibility of -glass thread for manufacturing purposes is to be ascribed to its extreme fineness; -as not less than from fifty to sixty of the original threads (spun by steam engine -power) are required to form one thread of the weft. The process is slow; for no -more than a yard of cloth can be produced in twelve hours. The work, however, -is extremely beautiful and comparatively cheap, inasmuch as no similar stuff, -where bullion is really introduced, can be purchased for anything like the price -for which this is sold; added to this, it is, as far as the glass is concerned, imperishable. -Glass is more durable than either gold or silver, and, besides, possesses -the advantage of never tarnishing.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br /> -<small>DESCRIPTION OF THE SILK-WORM, &c.</small> -</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Preliminary observations—The silk-worm—Various changes of the silk-worm—Its -superiority above other worms—Beautiful verses on the May-fly, illustrative -of the shortness of human life—Transformations of the silk-worm—Its -small desire of locomotion—First sickness of the worm—Manner of casting its -Exuviæ—Sometimes cannot be fully accomplished—Consequent death of the -insect—Second, third, and fourth sickness of the worm—Its disgust for food—Material -of which silk is formed—Mode of its secretion—Manner of unwinding -the filaments—Floss-silk—Cocoon—Its imperviousness to moisture—Effect of -the filaments breaking during the formation of the cocoon—Mr. Robinet’s curious -calculation on the movements made by a silk-worm in the formation of a -cocoon—Cowper’s beautiful lines on the silk-worm—Periods in which its various -progressions are effected in different climates—Effects of sudden transitions -from heat to cold—The worm’s appetite sharpened by increased temperature—Shortens -its existence—Various experiments in artificial heating—Modes of artificial -heating—Singular estimate of Count Dandolo—Astonishing increase of -the worm—Its brief existence in the moth state—Formation of silk—The silken -filament formed in the worm before its expulsion—Erroneous opinions entertained -by writers on this subject—The silk-worm’s Will.</p> -</div> - -<p>It can never be too strongly impressed upon a mind anxious -for the acquisition of knowledge, that the commonest things by -which we are surrounded are deserving of minute and careful -attention. The most profound investigations of Philosophy are -necessarily connected with the ordinary circumstances of our -being, and of the world in which our every-day life is spent. -With regard to our own existence, the pulsation of the heart, -the act of respiration, the voluntary movement of our limbs, -the condition of sleep, are among the most ordinary operations -of our nature; and yet how long were the wisest of men struggling -with dark and bewildering speculations before they could -offer anything like a satisfactory solution of these phenomena, -and how far are we still from an accurate and complete knowledge -of them! The science of Meteorology, which attempts -to explain to us the philosophy of matters constantly before our -eyes, as dew, mist, and rain, is dependent for its illustrations -upon a knowledge of the most complicated facts, such as the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span> -influence of heat and electricity upon the air; and this knowledge -is at present so imperfect, that even these common occurrences -of the weather, which men have been observing and -reasoning upon for ages, are by no means satisfactorily explained, -or reduced to the precision that every science should aspire -to. Yet, however difficult it may be entirely to comprehend -the phenomena we daily witness, everything in nature is full -of instruction. Thus the humblest flower of the field, although, -to one whose curiosity has not been excited, and whose understanding -has, therefore, remained uninformed, it may appear -worthless and contemptible, is valuable to the botanist, not -only with regard to its place in the arrangement of this portion -of the Creator’s works, but as it leads his mind forward to the -consideration of those beautiful provisions for the support of -vegetable life, which it is the part of the physiologist to study -and admire<a id="FNanchor_128" href="#Footnote_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_128" href="#FNanchor_128" class="label">[128]</a> “Insect Architecture,” vol. i. p. 9. London: Charles Knight & Co., Ludgate -St. 1845.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>This train of reasoning is peculiarly applicable to the economy -of insects. They constitute a very large and interesting -part of the animal kingdom. They are everywhere about us. -The <i>spider</i> weaves his curious web in our houses; the <i>caterpillar</i> -constructs his silken cell in our gardens; the <i>wasp</i> that -hovers over our food has a nest not far removed from us, which -she has assisted to build with the nicest art; the <i>beetle</i> that -crawls across our path is also an ingenious and laborious mechanic, -and has some curious instincts to exhibit to those who -will feel an interest in watching his movements; and the <i>moth</i> -that eats into our clothes has something to plead for our pity, for -he came, like us, naked into the world, and he has destroyed -our garments, not in malice or wantonness, but that he may -clothe himself with the same wool which we have stripped from -the sheep. An observation of the habits of these little creatures -is full of valuable lessons, which the abundance of the -examples has no tendency to diminish. The more such observations -are multiplied, the more we are led forward to the freshest -and the most delightful parts of knowledge; the more do -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> -we learn to estimate rightly the extraordinary provisions and -most abundant resources of a creative Providence; and the better -do we appreciate our own relations with all the infinite varieties -of Nature, and our dependence, in common with the -<i>ephemeron</i> that flutters its little hour in the summer sun, upon -that Being in whose scheme of existence the humblest as well -as the highest creature has its destined purposes. “If you -speak of a <i>stone</i>,” says St. Basil, “if you speak of a <i>fly</i>, a -<i>gnat</i>, or a <i>bee</i>, your conversation will be a sort of demonstration -of his power whose hand formed them, for the wisdom of -the workman is commonly perceived in that which is of little -size. He who has stretched out the Heavens, and dug up the -bottom of the sea, is also He who has pierced a passage through -the sting of the bee for the ejection of its poison.”</p> - -<p>If it be granted that making discoveries is one of the most -satisfactory of human pleasures, then we may without hesitation -affirm, that the study of insects is one of the most delightful -branches of natural history, for it affords peculiar facilities -for its pursuit. These facilities are found in the almost inexhaustible -variety which insects present to the curious observer.</p> - -<p>There is, perhaps, no situation in which the lover of nature -and the observer of animal life may not find opportunities for -increasing his store of facts. It is told of a state prisoner under -a cruel and rigorous despotism, that when he was excluded -from all commerce with mankind, and was shut out from books, -he took an interest and found consolation in the visits of a -<i>spider</i>; and there is no improbability in the story. The operations -of that persecuted creature are among the most extraordinary -exhibitions of mechanical ingenuity; and a daily -watching of the workings of its instinct would beget admiration -in a rightly constituted mind. The poor prisoner had -abundant leisure for the speculations in which the spider’s web -would enchain his understanding. We have all of us, at one -period or other of our lives, been struck with some singular -evidence of contrivance in the economy of insects, which we -have seen with our own eyes. Want of leisure, and probably -want of knowledge, have prevented us from following up the -curiosity which for a moment was excited. And yet some such -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span> -accident has made men Naturalists, in the highest meaning of -the term. Bonnet, evidently speaking of himself, says, “I -knew a naturalist, who, when he was seventeen years of age, -having heard of the operations of the ant-lion, began by doubting -them. He had no rest till he had examined into them; and -he verified them, he admired them, he discovered new facts, and -soon became the disciple and the friend of the Pliny of -France<a id="FNanchor_129" href="#Footnote_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a>” (Réaumur). It is not the happy fortune of many to -be able to devote themselves exclusively to the study of nature, -unquestionably the most fascinating of human employments; -but almost every one may acquire sufficient knowledge to be -able to derive a high gratification from beholding the more common -operations of animal life. His materials for contemplation -are always before him.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_129" href="#FNanchor_129" class="label">[129]</a> Contemplation de la Nature, part ii. ch. 42.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The silk-worm is a species of caterpillar which, like all other -insects of the same class, undergoes a variety of changes during -the short period of its life; assuming, in each of three successive -transformations, <i>a form wholly dissimilar to that with -which it was previously invested</i>.</p> - -<p>Among the great variety of caterpillars, the descriptions of -which are to be found in the records of natural history, the -silk-worm occupies a place far above the rest. Not only is our -attention called to the examination of its various transformations, -by the desire of satisfying our curiosity as entomologists, -but our artificial wants incite us likewise to the study of its nature -and habits, that we may best and most profitably apply its -instinctive industry to our own advantage.</p> - -<p>It has been well observed by Pullein, a writer on this subject, -that “there is scarcely anything among the various wonders -which the animal creation affords, more admirable than the -variety of changes which the silk-worm undergoes;” but the -curious texture of that silken covering with which it surrounds -itself when it arrives at the perfection of its animal life, vastly -surpasses what is made by other animals of this class. All the -caterpillar kind do, indeed, pass through changes like those of -the silk-worm, and the beauty of many in their butterfly state -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> -greatly exceeds it; but the covering which they put on before -this mutation is poor and mean, when compared to that golden -tissue in which the silk-worm wraps itself. They, indeed, come -forth in a variety of colors, their wings bedropped with gold -and scarlet, yet are they but the beings of a summer’s day; -both their life and beauty quickly vanish, and they leave no -remembrance after them; but the silk-worm leaves behind it -such beautiful, such beneficial monuments, as at once to record -both the wisdom of their Creator and his bounty to man.”</p> - -<p>We may without impropriety, here introduce the following -truly beautiful comparison of the shortness of human life, as -well as in illustration of this part of our subject, as evidenced -in the May-fly.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The angler’s May-fly, the most short-lived in its perfect state of any of the -insect race, emerges from the water, where it passes its <i>aurelia</i> state, about six -in the evening, and dies about eleven at night.”—<span class="smcap">White’s</span> <i>Selborne</i>.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The sun of the eve was warm and bright</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When the May-fly burst his shell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he wanton’d awhile in that fair light</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’er the river’s gentle swell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the deepening tints of the crimson sky</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still gleam’d on the wing of the glad May-fly.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The colors of sunset pass’d away,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The crimson and yellow green,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the evening-star’s first twinkling ray</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the waveless stream was seen;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till the deep repose of the stillest night</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Was hushing about his giddy flight.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The noon of the night is nearly come—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">There’s a crescent in the sky;—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The silence still hears the myriad hum</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of the insect revelry.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The hum has ceas’d—the quiet wave</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is now the sportive May-fly’s grave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! thine was a blessed lot—to spring</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In thy lustihood to air,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sail about, on untiring wing,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Through a world most rich and fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To drop at once in thy watery bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like a leaf that the willow branch has shed.</div> - </div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And who shall say that his thread of years</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is a life more blest than thine!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Has his feverish dream of doubts and fears</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Such joys as those which shine</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the constant pleasures of thy way,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Most happy child of the happy May?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For thou wert born when the earth was clad</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With her robe of buds and flowers,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And didst float about with a soul as glad</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As a bird in the sunny showers;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the hour of thy death had a sweet repose,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like a melody, sweetest at its close.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor too brief the date of thy cheerful race—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Tis its use that measures time—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the mighty Spirit that fills all space</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With His life and His will sublime,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May see that the May-fly and the Man</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each flutter out the same small span;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the fly that is born with the sinking sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To die ere the midnight hour,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May have deeper joy, ere his course be run,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Than man in his pride and power;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the insect’s minutes be spared the fears</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the anxious doubts of our threescore years.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The years and the minutes are as one—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The fly drops in his twilight mirth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the man, when his long day’s work is done,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Crawls to the self-same earth.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Great Father of each! may <i>our</i> mortal day</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Be the prelude to an endless May<a id="FNanchor_130" href="#Footnote_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a>!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div></div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_130" href="#FNanchor_130" class="label">[130]</a> “See,” exclaims Linnæus, “the large, elegant painted wings of the butterfly, -four in number, covered with delicate feathery scales! With these it sustains -itself in the air a whole day, rivalling the flight of birds and the brilliancy of the -peacock. Consider this insect through the wonderful progress of its life,—how -different is the first period of its being from the second, and both from the parent -insect! Its changes are an inexplicable enigma to us: we see a green caterpillar, -furnished with sixteen feet, feeding upon the leaves of a plant; this is changed -into a chrysalis, smooth, of golden lustre, hanging suspended to a fixed point, -without feet, and subsisting without food; this insect again undergoes another -transformation, acquires wings, and six feet, and becomes a gay butterfly, sporting -in the air, and living by suction upon the honey of plants. What has Nature -produced more worthy of our admiration than such an animal coming upon the -stage of the world, and playing its part there under so many different masks?” -The ancients were so struck with the transformations of the butterfly, and its revival -from a seeming temporary death, as to have considered it an emblem of the -soul, the Greek word <i>psyche</i> signifying both the soul and a butterfly; and it is -for this reason that we find the butterfly introduced into their allegorical sculptures -as an emblem of immortality. Trifling, therefore, and perhaps contemptible, -as to the unthinking may seem the study of a butterfly, yet when we consider -the art and mechanism displayed in so minute a structure,—the fluids circulating -in vessels so small as almost to escape the sight—the beauty of the wings -and covering—and the manner in which each part is adapted for its peculiar -functions,—we cannot but be struck with wonder and admiration, and allow, -with Paley, that “the production of beauty was as much in the Creator’s mind in -painting a butterfly as in giving symmetry to the human form.”</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span> -Silk-worms proceed from eggs which are deposited during the -summer by a grayish kind of moth, of the genus palæna. -These eggs are about equal in size to a grain of mustard seed: -their color when first laid is yellow; but in three or four days -after, they acquire a bluish cast. In temperate climates, and -by using proper precautions, these eggs may be preserved during -the winter and spring, without risk of premature hatching. -The period of their animation may be accelerated or retarded -by artificial means, so as to agree with the time when the natural -food of the insect shall appear in ample abundance for its -support.</p> - -<p>All the curious changes and labors which accompany and -characterize the life of the silk-worm are performed within the -space of a very few weeks. This period varies, indeed, according -to the climate or temperature in which its life is passed; all -its vital functions being quickened, and their duration proportionally -abridged, by warmth. With this sole variance, its progressions -are alike in all climates, and the same mutations accompany -its course.</p> - -<p>The three successive states of being put on by this insect -are, that of the worm or caterpillar, of the chrysalis or aurelia, -and moth. In addition to these more decided transformations, -the progress of the silk-worm in its <i>caterpillar state</i> is marked -by <i>five distinct stages of being</i>.</p> - -<p>When first hatched, it appears as a small black worm about -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> -a quarter of an inch in length. Its first indication of animation -is the desire which it evinces for obtaining food, in search of -which, if not immediately supplied, it will exhibit more power -of locomotion than characterizes it at any other period. So -small is the desire of change on the part of these insects, that -of the generality it may be said, their own spontaneous will -seldom leads them to travel over a greater space than three -feet throughout the whole duration of their lives. Even when -hungry, the worm still clings to the skeleton of the leaf from -which its nourishment was last derived. If, by the continued -cravings of its appetite, it should be at length incited to the effort -necessary for changing its position, it will sometimes wander -as far as the edge of the tray wherein it is confined, and -some few have been found sufficiently adventurous to cling to -its rim; but the smell of fresh leaves will instantly allure them -back. It would add incalculably to the labors and cares of -their attendants, if silk-worms were endowed with a more rambling -disposition. So useful is this peculiarity of their nature, -that one is irresistibly tempted to consider it the result of design, -and a part of that beautiful system of the fitness of things, -which the student of natural history has so many opportunities -of contemplating with delight and admiration.</p> - -<p>In about eight days from its being hatched, its head becomes -perceptibly larger, and the worm is attacked by its first sickness. -This lasts for three days; during which time it refuses food, -and remains motionless as in a kind of lethargy. Some have -thought this to be sleep, but the fatal termination which so -frequently attends these sicknesses seems to afford a denial to this -hypothesis. The silk-worm increases its size so considerably, -and in so short a space of time,—its weight being multiplied -many thousand fold in the course of one month,—that if only -one skin had been assigned to it, which should serve for its -whole caterpillar state, it would with difficulty have distended -itself sufficiently to keep pace with the insect’s growth. The -economy of nature has therefore admirably provided the embryos -of other skins, destined to be successively called into use; -and this sickness of the worm, and its disinclination for food, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span> -may very probably be occasioned by the pressure of the skin, -now become too small for the body which it encases.</p> - -<p>At the end of the third day from its first refusal of food, the -animal appears, on that account, much wasted in its bodily -frame; a circumstance which materially assists in the painful -operation of casting its skin: this it now proceeds to accomplish. -To facilitate this moulting, a sort of humor is thrown off by the -worm, which, spreading between its body and the skin about to -be abandoned, lubricates their surfaces, and causes them to -separate the more readily. The insect also emits from its body -silken traces, which, adhering to the spot where it rests, serves -to confine the skin to its then existing position. These preliminary -steps seem to call for some considerable exertion, as after -them the worm remains quiet for a short space of time, to recover -from its fatigue. It then proceeds, by rubbing its head -among the leafy fibres surrounding it, to disencumber itself of -the scaly covering. Its next effort is to break through the skin -nearest to the head, which, as it is there the smallest, calls for the -greatest exertion; and no sooner is this accomplished and the -two front legs are disengaged, than the remainder of the body -is quickly drawn forth, the skin being still fastened to the spot -in the manner already described.</p> - -<p>This moulting is so complete, <i>that not only is the whole -covering of the body cast off, but that of the feet, the entire -skull, and even the jaws, including the teeth</i>. These several -parts may be discerned by the unassisted eye; but become very -apparent when viewed through a magnifying lens of moderate -power.</p> - -<p>In two or three minutes from the beginning of its efforts the -worm is wholly freed, and again puts on the appearance of -health and vigor; feeding with recruited appetite upon its leafy -banquet. It sometimes happens that the outer skin refuses to -detach itself wholly, but breaks and leaves an annular portion -adhering to the extremity of its body, from which all the struggles -of the insect cannot wholly disengage it. The pressure -thus occasioned induces swelling and inflammation in other -parts of the body; and, after efforts of greater or less duration, -death generally terminates its sufferings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> -Worms newly freed from their exuviæ are easily distinguished -from others by the pale color and wrinkled appearance of their -new skin. This latter quality, however, soon disappears, -through the repletion and growth of the insect, which continues -to feed during five days. At this time its length will be increased -to half an inch; when it is attacked by a second sickness, -followed by a second moulting, the manner of performing -which is exactly similar to the former. Its appetite then again -returns, and is indulged during other five days, in the course of -which time its length increases to three quarters of an inch: it -then undergoes its third sickness and moulting. These being -past in all respects like the former, and five more days of feeding -having followed, it is seized by its fourth sickness, and casts -its skin for the last time in the caterpillar state. The worm is -now about one and a half or two inches long. This last change -being finished, the worm devours its food most voraciously, and -increases rapidly in size during ten days.</p> - -<p>The silk-worm has now attained to its full growth, and is a -slender caterpillar from two and a half to three inches in length -(See Figure 1. <a href="#Plate_III">Plate III.</a>). The peculiarities of its structure -may be better examined now than in its earlier stages. It can -readily be seen that the worm has twelve membranous rings -round its body, parallel to each other; and which, answering to -the movements of the animal, mutually contract and elongate. -It has sixteen legs, in pairs: six in front, which are covered -with a sort of shell or scale, and are placed under the three first -rings, and cannot be either sensibly lengthened, or their position -altered. The other ten legs are called holders: these are membranous, -flexible, and attached to the body under the rings, being -furnished with little hooks, which assist the insect in -climbing. The skull is inclosed in a scaly substance, similar to -the covering of the first six legs. The jaws are indented or -serrated like the teeth of a saw, and their strength is great considering -the size of the insect. Its mouth is peculiar, having a -vertical instead of an horizontal aperture; and the worm is furnished -with eighteen breathing holes, placed at equal distances -down the body, nine on each side. Each of these holes is supposed -to be the termination of a particular organ of respiration. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> -On either side of the head, near to the mouth, seven small eyes -may be discerned. The two broad appearances higher upon -the head, which are frequently mistaken for eyes, are bones of -the skull. The two apertures through which the worm draws -its silken filament are placed just beneath the jaw, and close to -each other; these being exceedingly minute.</p> - -<p>At the period above-mentioned the desire of the worm for -food begins to abate: the first symptom of this is the appearance -of the leaves nibbled into small portions and wasted. It -soon after entirely ceases even to touch the leaves; appears -restless and uneasy; erects it head; and moves about from side -to side, with a circular motion, in quest of a place wherein it -can commence its labor of spinning. Its color is now light -green, with some mixture of a darker hue. In twenty-four -hours from the time of its abstaining from food, the material -for forming its silk will be digested in its reservoirs; its green -color will disappear; its body will have acquired a degree of -glossiness, and have become partially transparent towards its -neck. Before the worm is quite prepared to spin, its body will -have acquired greater firmness, and be in a trifling measure -lessened in size.</p> - -<p>“The substance,” says Mr. Porter, “of which the silk is -composed, <i>is secreted in the form of a fine yellow transparent -gum in two separate vessels of slender dimensions, wound, -as it were, on two spindles in the stomach; and if unfolded, -these vessels would be about ten inches in length</i><a id="FNanchor_131" href="#Footnote_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a>.” This -statement is proved to be erroneous, as the reader will perceive, -at the conclusion of this chapter.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_131" href="#FNanchor_131" class="label">[131]</a> Porter’s “Treatise on the Silk Manufacture,” p. 111.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>When the worm has fixed upon some angle, or hollow place, -whose dimensions agree with the size of its intended silken -ball or cocoon, it begins its labor by throwing forth thin and irregular -threads, see Figure 2. <a href="#Plate_III">Plate III.</a>, which are intended to -support its future dwelling.</p> - -<p>During the first day, the insect forms upon these a loose -structure of an oval shape, which is called floss silk, and within -which covering, in the three following days, it forms the firm -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> -and consistent yellow ball; the laborer, of course, always remaining -on the inside of the sphere which it is forming<a id="FNanchor_132" href="#Footnote_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_132" href="#FNanchor_132" class="label">[132]</a> If at this time any of the threads intended for the support of the cocoon -should be broken, the worm will find, in the progress of its work, that the ball, -not being properly poised, becomes unsteady, so that the insect is unable properly -to go forward with its labors. Under these circumstances the worm pierces and -altogether quits the unfinished cocoon, and throws out its remaining threads at -random wherever it passes; by which means the silk is wholly lost, and the -worm, finding no place wherein to prepare for its change, dies without having -effected it. It may sometimes happen, but such a thing is of unfrequent occurrence, -that the preparatory threads before mentioned are broken by another -worm working in the neighborhood, when the same unsatisfactory result will be -experienced.—<i>Obs. on the Culture of Silk</i>, <i>by</i> <span class="smcap">A. Stephenson</span>.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The silken filament, which when drawn out appears to be -one thread, is composed of two fibres, unwound through the -two orifices before described; and these fibres are brought together -by means of two hooks, placed within the silk-worm’s -mouth for the purpose. The worm rests on its lower extremity -throughout the unwinding operation, and employs its mouth -and front legs in the task of directing and uniting the two filaments. -The filament is not wound in regular concentric circles -round the interior surface of the ball, but in spots, going backwards -and forwards with a sort of wavy motion. This apparently -irregular manner of proceeding is plainly perceptible -when the silk is being reeled off the ball; which does not make -more than one or two entire revolutions while ten or twelve -yards of silk are being transferred to the reel<a id="FNanchor_133" href="#Footnote_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_133" href="#FNanchor_133" class="label">[133]</a> Mr. Robinet, of Paris, made the following curious calculation on the movements -a silk-worm must make in forming a cocoon supposed to contain a thread -of 1500 metres. It is known, says Mr. Robinet, that the silk-worm, in forming -his cocoon, does not <i>spin</i> the silken filament in concentric circles round the interior -surface of the ball, but in a zigzag manner. This it effects by the motions of -its head. Now if each one of these motions gives half a centimetre of the silken -filament; it follows that the worm must make 300,000 motions of its head to -form it; and if the labor requires 72 hours in the performance, the creature -makes 100,000 motions every 24 hours, 4,166 per hour, 69 per minute, and a little -more than one in a second!</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>At the end of the third or fourth day, the worm will have -completed its task; and we have then a <i>silk cocoon</i> (See Figure -3. <a href="#Plate_III">Plate III.</a>), with the worm imprisoned in its centre; the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> -cocoon being from an inch to an inch and a half long, and of a -yellow or orange color.</p> - -<p>When the insect has finished its labor of unwinding, it -smears the entire internal surface of the cocoon with a peculiar -kind of gum, very similar in its nature to the matter which -forms the silk itself; and this is no doubt designed as a shield -against rain or the humidity of the atmosphere, for the chrysalis -in its natural state; when of course it would be subject to -all varieties of weather. The silken filament of which the -ball is made up, is likewise accompanied, throughout its entire -length, by a portion of gum, which serves to give firmness and -consistency to its texture; and assists in rendering the dwelling -of the chrysalis impervious to moisture. This office it performs -so well, that when, for the purpose of reeling the silk -with greater facility, the balls are thrown into basins of hot -water, they swim on the top with all the buoyancy of bladders; -nor, unless the ball be imperfectly formed, does the water -penetrate within until the silk is nearly all unwound. In figure -4, <a href="#Plate_III">plate III.</a>, the cocoons are drawn two-thirds of the usual -size, and are shown with part of the outward floss silk removed.</p> - -<p>The continual emission of the silken material during the -formation of its envelope, together with its natural evaporation, -uncompensated by food, causes the worm gradually to contract -in bulk; it becomes wrinkled, and the rings of its body approach -nearer to each other and appear more decidedly marked. -When the ball is finished, the insect rests awhile from its toil, -and then throws off its caterpillar garb. If the cocoon be now -opened, its inhabitant will appear in the form of a chrysalis or -aurelia, in shape somewhat resembling a kidney-bean (See Figure -5. <a href="#Plate_III">plate III.</a>), but pointed at one end, having a smooth brown -skin. Its former covering, so dissimilar to the one now assumed, -will be found lying beside it.</p> - -<p>The account which has been given of the progressions of the -silk-worm shows, that, in its various modifications, <i>the animal -organization of the insect has been always tending towards -its simplification</i>. Count Dandolo, writing upon this subject, -observes, “Thus the caterpillar is in the first instance composed -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> -of animal, silky, and excremental particles; this forms the state -of the <i>growing caterpillar</i>: in the next stage it is composed -of animal and silky particles; it is then the <i>mature caterpillar</i>: -and lastly, it is reduced to the animal particles alone; and -is termed in this state the <i>chrysalis</i>. The poet Cowper, in -the following lines, beautifully illustrates this subject:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The beams of April, ere it goes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A worm, scarce visible, disclose;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All winter long content to dwell</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The tenant of his native shell.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The same prolific season gives</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sustenance by which he lives,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The mulberry leaf, a simple store,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That serves him—till he needs no more!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For, his dimensions once complete,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thenceforth none ever sees him eat;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Though till his growing time be past</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Scarce ever is he seen to fast.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That hour arrived, his work begins.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He spins and weaves, and weaves and spins;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till circle upon circle, wound</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Careless around him and around,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Conceals him with a veil though slight,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Impervious to the keenest sight.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus self-inclosed, as in a cask,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At length he finishes his task:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, though a worm when he was lost,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or caterpillar at the most,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When next we see him, wings he wears,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And in papilio pomp appears;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Becomes oviparous; supplies</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With future worms and future flies</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The next ensuing year—and dies!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Well were it for the world if all</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who creep about this earthly ball,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Though shorter-lived than most he be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Were useful in their kind as he.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It has been already noticed that the progressions of the insects -are accelerated by an increase of temperature; and some -variation will equally be experienced where different modes of -treatment are followed; and, in particular, where different -periods of the year are chosen in which to produce and rear the -worm. Malpighius, in his “Anatomy of the Silk-worm,” says, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> -that worms which he hatched in May were eleven days old ere -they were attacked by their first sickness; others hatched in -July were ten days, and those brought forth in August nine days, -before they refused their food, preparatory to their first moulting. -Eight days appear to be the most usual term for their first attack; -and by his judicious treatment count Dandolo shortened -even this term by two days. In Europe, except where recourse -is had to artificial aid, the term of the caterpillar state is usually -that which has been already mentioned.</p> - -<p>Sudden transitions from cold to heat, or vice versa, are highly -injurious to the silk-worm; but it can bear a very high degree -of heat, if uniformly maintained, without sustaining injury. -Count Dandolo observed, that “the greater the degree of heat -in which it is reared, the more acute are its wants, the more -rapid its pleasures, and the shorter its existence.” Monsieur -Boissier de Sauvagues made many experiments on this point. -One year, when by the early appearance of the mulberry -leaves, which were developed by the end of April, he was -forced to hurry forward the operations of his filature, he raised -the heat of the apartment in which the newly-hatched worms -were placed to 100°; gradually diminishing this during their -first and second ages to 95°. In consequence of the animal excitement -thus induced, there elapsed only nine days between -the hatching and the second moulting inclusively. It was the -general opinion of those cultivators who witnessed the experiment, -that the insects would not be able to exist in so intensely -heated an atmosphere. The walls of the apartment, and the -wicker hurdles on which the worms were placed, could scarcely -be touched from the great heat, and yet all the changes and -progressions went forward perfectly well, and a most abundant -crop of silk was the result.</p> - -<p>The same gentleman, on a subsequent occasion, exposed his -brood to the temperature of 93° to 95° during their first age; -of 89° to 91° in the second age; and remarked that the attendant -circumstances were the same as in his former experiment, -the changes of the worm being performed in the same -space of time; whence he came to the conclusion, that it is not -practicable to accelerate their progress beyond a certain point -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> -by any superadditions of heat. In both of these experiments -the quantity of food consumed, was as great as is usually given -during the longer period employed in the common manner of -rearing. After the second moulting had taken place in the -last experiment, the temperature was lowered to 82°; and it is -remarkable that the worms occupied only five days in completing -their third and fourth changes, although others which had -been accustomed to this lower degree from their birth occupied -seven or eight days for each of these moultings. It would therefore -seem that the constitution of the insects can be affected, -and an impetus given to their functions at the period of their -first animation, which accompanies them through their after -stages. So far from this forcing system proving injurious to the -health of silk-worms, M. de Sauvagues found that his broods -were unusually healthy; and that while the labors of cultivation -were abridged in their duration, much of the attendant -anxiety was removed.</p> - -<p>Like other caterpillars, the silk-worm is not a warm-blooded -animal, and its temperature is therefore always equal to that of -the atmosphere in which it is placed. In the silk-producing -countries, where modes of artificial heating have not been -studied practically and scientifically, the difficulty and expense -that must attend the prosecution of this heating system, form -abundant reasons why it cannot be generally adopted. The -great susceptibility of the insect to atmospheric influences -would also in a great degree render unsuitable the more common -arrangements for the purpose. The plan of warming -apartments by means of stoves, in its passage through which -the air becomes highly heated before it mixes with and raises -the general temperature of the air in the chamber, is liable to -this inconvenience,—that the portion so introduced, having its -vital property impaired by the burning heat through which it -has passed, injures, proportionably, the respirable quality of the -whole atmosphere; an effect which is easily perceptible by -those who inhale it. A better plan of heating has lately been -suggested, and is rapidly coming into practice, viz., of warming -buildings by a current of hot water (an American invention), -which is, by a very simple process, kept constantly flowing in -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> -close channels through the apartment, where it continually -gives off its heat by radiation; and the degree of this being -far below the point which is injurious to the vital quality of -air, the evil before alluded to is avoided. If the expense of fuel -be not too great, as compared with that of the labor which -would be saved by this invention, the adoption in silk countries -of such a mode of raising and regulating the temperature -might, probably, prove advantageous.</p> - -<p>The silk-worm remains in the form of a chrysalis, for periods -which, according to the climate or the temperature wherein it -may be placed, vary from fifteen to thirty days. In India, the -time is much shorter (See <a href="#Chapter1_VII">Chapter VIII</a>.); in Spain and Italy, -eighteen to twenty days. In France three weeks; and in the -climate of England, when unaccelerated by artificial means, -thirty days will elapse from the time the insect begins to spin -until it emerges in its last and perfect form. It then throws off -the shroud which had confined it in <i>seeming lifelessness</i>, and -appears as a large moth of a grayish-white color, furnished with -four wings, two eyes, and two black horns or antlers which -present a feathery appearance (See Figure 6. <a href="#Plate_III">plate III.</a>).</p> - -<p>If left until this period within the cocoon, the moth takes -immediate measures for its extrication: ejecting from its mouth -a liquor with which it moistens and lessens the adhesiveness -of the gum wherewith it had lined the interior surface of its -dwelling, and the insect is enabled, by frequent motions of its -head, to loosen, without breaking, the texture of the ball; then -using its hooked feet, it pushes aside the filaments and makes -a passage for itself into light and freedom. It is erroneously -said that the moth recovers its liberty by gnawing the silken -threads; but it is found, on the contrary, that if carefully unwound, -their continuity is by this means rarely broken.</p> - -<p>One of the most remarkable circumstances connected with -the natural history of silk-worms, is the degree in which their -bulk and weight is increased, and the limited time wherein -that increase is attained. Count Dandolo, who appears to -have neglected nothing that could tend to the right understanding -of the subject, and to the consequent improvement -of the processes employed, had patience enough to count and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span> -weigh many hundred thousand eggs, as well as follow out to -the ultimate result his inquiries respecting their produce. He -found that on an average sixty-eight sound silk-worm’s eggs -weighed one grain. One ounce<a id="FNanchor_134" href="#Footnote_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a>, therefore, comprised, 39,168 -eggs. But one twelfth part of this weight evaporates previous -to hatching, and the shells are equal to one fifth more. If, -therefore, from one ounce, composed of 576 grains, 48 grains be -deducted for evaporation, and 115 for the shells, 413 grains -will remain equal to the weight of 39,168 young worms; and, -at this rate, 54,526 of the insects when newly hatched, are -required to make up the ounce. After the first casting of the -skin, 3840 worms are found to have this weight, so that the -bulk and weight of the insects have in a few days been multiplied -more than <i>fourteen times</i>. After the second change 610 -worms weigh an ounce, their weight being increased in the intermediate -time six fold. In the week passed between the second -and third ages, the number of insects required to make up -the same weight, decreases from 610 to 144, their weight being -therefore more than quadrupled. During the fourth age, -a similar rate of increase is maintained: thirty-five worms now -weigh an ounce. The fifth age of the caterpillar comprises -nearly a third part of its brief existence, and has been described, -by an enthusiastic writer on the subject, as the happiest -period of its life, during which it rapidly increases in size, preparing -and secreting the material it is about to spin. When -the silk-worms are fully grown, and have arrived at their period -of finally rejecting food, six of them make up the weight of -an ounce. They have, therefore, since their last change, again -added to their weight <i>six fold</i>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_134" href="#FNanchor_134" class="label">[134]</a> This ounce contains 576 grains; 8.5325 of these grains equal seven grains -troy. One ounce avoirdupoise is therefore equal to about 533 grains, and between -11-12 and 11-13 ounce avoirdupoise equals one of the above ounces.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>It is thus seen that, in a few short weeks, the insect has -multiplied its weight more than <i>nine thousand fold</i>! From -this period, and during the whole of its two succeeding states -of being, the worm imbibes no nourishment, and gradually diminishes -in weight; being supported by its own substance, and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> -appearing to find sufficient occupation in forming its silken web, -and providing successors for our service, without indulging that -grosser appetite which forms the beginning and the end of their -desires during their caterpillar existence.</p> - -<p>The moth enjoys its liberty for only a very brief space. Its -first employment is to seek its mate; after which the female -deposits her eggs; and both in the course of two or three days -after, end their being.</p> - -<p>Formation of Silk. By M. H. Straus, of Durckheim.—“It -is generally admitted by naturalists that the thread of the -caterpillar is produced by a simple emission of liquid matter -through the orifice of the spinner, and that it acquires solidity -at once from the drying influence of the air. It was easy to -entertain such an hypothesis, for nothing is more simple than -the formation of a very fine thread by such a process. But a -little reflection will soon show us, even <i>à priori</i>, that it is not -possible; for how can we comprehend that so fine a fibre, liquid -at the instant of its issue from the aperture, should <i>instantly</i> -acquire such a consistence as to bear the weight of the animal -suspended by it, and at the same time that it is rapidly produced? -Though the fluid, holding the silk in solution, should -be quickly volatilised, it must still be a matter of conjecture, -how the animal suspended by this thread could be able to arrest -its issue, holding on only by the thread itself, for it cannot -pinch the thread, seeing that it is only in a liquid state inside, -and the thread cannot be glued to the edge of the opening, as -its rapid adhesion would prevent its issue while the animal is -spinning. A little examination would satisfy us that silk cannot -be produced in this manner, but that it is secreted in the -<i>form of silk</i> in the silk vessels, and that the spinning apparatus -<i>only winds it</i>. The thread is produced in the slender posterior -part of the vessel, the inflated portion of which consists -of the reservoir of ready formed silk, where it is found in the -form of a skein; each thread being rolled up so as to occupy -in the silk-worm (<i>Bombex mori</i>) a space of only about a sixth -part of the real length of the skein. The fact is shown by the -following experiment I made for the purpose of ascertaining -whether the silk is formed in the body of the caterpillars.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span></p> - -<p>‘<i>Take one of the animals when about to form its cocoon, -clean it in common vinegar, in which it may remain from -four to six hours, open it on the back and extract the silk -vessels, there being one on each side of the alimentary canal. -Take them up by the hinder end, just where they begin to -swell (further back the silk is not solid enough), and draw -them out. The membrane forming the vessel is easily torn -open, and the contents expand to six or seven times its original -length. The skein having attained its full length by -the letting out of its gathers, we obtain a cord perfectly equal -in size throughout, except at the end, where it is attenuated.</i> -This cord resembles a large horse-hair, and constitutes what -fishermen call “<i>Florence hair</i>.” I ought to add that in simply -drawing out the silk vessel, the Florence hair is found enveloped -in a golden yellow gummy matter, forming the glutinous -portion by which the worm fastens its thread. This must be -got rid of by drawing the cord through the fold formed on the -inside of the joint of the left fore finger, converted into a canal -by applying to it the end of the thumb. The glutinous substance -and the membranes being thus separated, we have the -<i>naked hair</i>. In this state, before the silk becomes dry and -hard, not only will it be indefinitely divided longitudinally, -which proves its fibrous structure, but in trying to split it by -drawing it transversely, <i>the little filaments of silk which form -it are perfectly separated</i>, making <i>a bundle of extremely fine -fibrils</i>.’</p> - -<p>We cannot better conclude this interesting portion of our -subject, than by quoting the following beautiful lines by Miss -H. F. Gould:—</p> - -<h4>THE SILK-WORM’S WILL.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">On a plain rush hurdle a silk-worm lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When a proud young princess came that way:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The haughty child of a human king,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Threw a sidelong glance at the humble thing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That took, with a silent gratitude,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From the mulberry leaf, her simple food;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And shrunk, half scorn and half disgust,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Away from her sister child of dust—</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Declaring she never yet could see</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Why a reptile form like this should be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And that she was not made with nerves so firm,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As calmly to stand by a “crawling worm!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">With mute forbearance the silk-worm took</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The taunting words, and the spurning look:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Alike a stranger to self and pride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She’d no disquiet from aught beside—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lived of a meekness and peace possessed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which these debar from the human breast.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She only wished, for the harsh abuse,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To find some way to become of use</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the haughty daughter of lordly man;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And thus did she lay a noble plan,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To teach her wisdom, and make it plain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That the humble worm was not made in vain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A plan so generous, deep and high,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That, to carry it out, she must even die!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“No more,” said she, “will I drink or eat!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll spin and weave me a winding-sheet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To wrap me up from the sun’s clear light,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And hide my form from her wounded sight.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In secret then, till my end draws nigh,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll toil for her; and when I die,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll leave behind, as a farewell boon,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the proud young princess, my whole cocoon,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To be reeled and wove to a shining lace,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And hung in a veil o’er her scornful face!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when she can calmly draw her breath</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Through the very threads that have caused my death;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When she finds, at length, she has nerves so firm</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As to wear the shroud of a crawling worm,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May she bear in mind, that she walks with pride</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the winding-sheet where the silk-worm died!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Plate_3">[Plate III]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp43" id="Plate_III" style="max-width: 28em;"> - <div class="caption"><p class="right"><i>Plate III</i></p></div> - <img class="w100" src="images/plate_iii.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> - <p class="center">Silk-Worm, Cocoons, Chrysalis, Moths and Pinna.</p> - </div> - </div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.<br /> -<small>GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHINESE MODE -OF REARING SILK-WORMS, &c.</small></h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Great antiquity of the silk-manufacture in China—Time and mode of pruning the -Mulberry-tree—Not allowed to exceed a certain height—Mode of planting—Situation -of rearing-rooms, and their construction—Effect of noise on the silk-worm—Precautions -observed in preserving cleanliness—Isan-mon, mother of -the worms—Manner of feeding—Space allotted to the worms—Destruction of -the Chrysalides—Great skill of the Chinese in weaving—American writers on the -Mulberry-tree—Silk-worms sometimes reared on trees—(M. Marteloy’s experiments -in 1764, in rearing silk-worms on trees in France)—Produce inferior -to that of worms reared in houses—Mode of delaying the hatching of the eggs—Method -of hatching—Necessity for preventing damp—Number of meals—Mode -of stimulating the appetite of the worms—Effect of this upon the quantity -of silk produced—Darkness injurious to the silk-worm—Its effect on the -Mulberry-leaves—Mode of preparing the cocoons for the reeling process—Wild -silk-worms of India—Mode of hatching, &c.—(Observations on the cultivation -of silk by Dr. Stebbins—Dr. Bowring’s admirable illustration of the mutual dependence -of the arts upon each other.)</p> -</div> - -<p>In China, the tradition of the silk culture is, as already -shown, carried back into the mythological periods, and dates -with the origin of agriculture itself. These two pursuits or -avocations, namely, husbandry and the silk-manufacture, form -the subject of one of the sixteen discourses to the people. It -is there observed, that “from ancient times the Son of Heaven -directed the plough: the Empress planted the mulberry-tree. -Thus have these exalted personages, not <i>above</i> the practice of -labor and exertion, set an example to all men, with a view to -leading the millions of their subjects to attend to their essential -interests.”</p> - -<p>In the work published by Imperial authority, entitled “Illustrations -of Husbandry and Weaving<a id="FNanchor_135" href="#Footnote_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a>,” there are numerous -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> -wood-cuts, accompanied by letter-press explanatory of the different -processes of farming and the silk-manufacture. The -former head is confined to the production of rice, the staple article -of food, and proceeds from the ploughing of the land to -the packing of the grain; the latter details all the operations -connected with planting the mulberry and gathering its leaves, -up to the final weaving of the silk.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_135" href="#FNanchor_135" class="label">[135]</a> The drawing, <a href="#Plate_I">plate I.</a> (Frontispiece) is a faithful copy of a loom represented -in this curious work. For this representation of a Chinese weaving engine, as -well as several translations, explanatory of the silk-manufacture, &c., we are indebted -to Walter Lowry, Esq., Sec. to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions -in this city; who kindly permitted us to copy it from the original plate, -forming a part of the interesting work above referred to, which is composed of -seventy-five volumes, and was, as we understand, presented to the Board by a -New York merchant. Many of the illustrations are extremely beautiful, reflecting -the highest credit upon the artisans of the “Celestial Empire.”</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The mulberry-tree is chiefly cultivated in Chĕ-kiang, which -province, together with the only three others that produce fine -silk, namely, Kiang-nân, Woo-pĕ, and Sze-chuen, is crossed by -the <i>thirtieth</i> parallel of latitude. Chĕ-kiang is a country -highly alluvial, intersected by numerous rivers and canals, with -a climate that corresponds pretty nearly to the same latitude as -that in the United States of America. The soil is manured -with mud, dug from the rivers, assisted with ashes or dung; -and the spaces between the trees are generally filled with millet, -pulse, or other articles of food. The time for pruning the -young trees, so as to produce fine leafy shoots, is at the commencement -of the year. About four eyes are left on every -shoot, and care is taken that the branches be properly thinned, -with a view to giving plenty of light and air to the leaves. In -gathering these, they make use of steps, as the young trees -could not support a ladder, and would besides be injured in their -branches by the use of one. The trees, with their foliage, are -carefully watched, and the mischiefs of insects prevented by -the use of various applications, among which are some essential -oils.</p> - -<p>The young trees of course suffer by being stripped of their -leaves, which are the <i>lungs</i> of plants, and this is an additional -reason for renewing them after a certain time. They endeavor -in part to counteract the evil effect, by pruning and lopping -the tree, so as to diminish the wood when the leaves have -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> -been gathered. It is surprising, however, to observe how soon -a tree in those climates will recover its leaves in the summer or -autumn, after having been entirely stripped of them by a typhoon -or hurricane. Fresh plants are procured by cuttings or -layers, and sometimes from seed. When the trees grow too -old for the production of the finest leaves, and show a greater -tendency to fruiting, they are either removed or so cut and -managed as to produce young branches.</p> - -<p>The principal object, in the cultivation of the mulberry, is to -produce the greatest quantity of young and healthy leaves -without fruit. For this reason the trees are not allowed to exceed -a certain age and height. They are planted on the plan -of a quincunx<a id="FNanchor_136" href="#Footnote_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a>, and said to be in perfection in about three -years.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_136" href="#FNanchor_136" class="label">[136]</a> In <i>gardening</i>, the <i>quincunx</i> order is a plantation of trees disposed in a -square, consisting of five trees, one at each corner and a fifth in the centre, which -order repeated indefinitely, forms a regular grove or wood, viewed by an angle of -the square or parallelogram, presents equal or parallel alleys.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Mr. Barrow, who observed the management of the trees and -silk-worms in Chĕ-kiang, confirms the usual Chinese accounts, -by saying that “the houses in which the worms are reared are -placed generally in the centre of each plantation, in order that -they may be removed as far as possible from every kind of -noise; experience having taught them that a sudden shout, or -the bark of a dog, is destructive of the young worms. A -whole brood has sometimes perished from the effects of a thunder-storm.”</p> - -<p>Some notion of the extent of the care required in the management -of the worms may be formed from the following extract, -taken from the Chinese work referred to at the beginning -of this chapter.</p> - -<p>“The place where their habitation is built must be retired, -free from noise, smells, and disturbances of every kind. The -least fright, makes great impressions on these sensitive creatures; -even the barking of dogs, &c., is capable of throwing -them into the utmost disorder.</p> - -<p>For the purpose of paying them every attention an affectionate -mother is provided, who is careful to supply their wants; -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> -she is called <i>Isan-mon</i>, ‘mother of the worms.’ She takes -possession of the chamber, but not before she has washed herself -and put on clean clothes, which have not the least repulsive -smell; she must not have eaten anything immediately before, -or handled any wild succory, the smell of which is very -prejudicial. She must be clothed in a plain habit, without any -lining, that she may be more sensible of the warmth of the -place, and accordingly increase or lessen the fire. She must -also carefully avoid making a smoke or raising a dust, which -would also be offensive.”</p> - -<p>Silk-worms require to be carefully humored before the time -of casting their slough. Every day is to them a year, having -in a manner, the four seasons; the morning being the Spring; -the middle of the day: Summer; the evening: Autumn; and -the night, Winter.</p> - -<p>The chambers are so contrived as to admit of the use of artificial -heat when necessary. Great care is taken of the sheets -of paper on which the eggs have been laid; and the hatching -is either retarded or advanced, by the application of cold or heat -according to circumstances, so as to time the simultaneous exit -of the young worms exactly to the period when the tender -spring-leaves of the mulberry are most fit for their nourishment.</p> - -<p>They proportion the food very exactly to the young worms -by weighing the leaves, which in the first instance are cut, but -as the insects become larger, are given to them whole. The -greatest precautions being observed in regulating the temperature -of the apartments. The worms are fed upon a species of -small hurdles of basket-work, strewed with leaves, which are -constantly shifted for the sake of cleanliness, the insects readily -moving off to a fresh hurdle with new leaves, as the scent attracts -them. In proportion to their growth, room is afforded to -them by increasing the number of these hurdles, the worms of -one being shifted to three, then to six, and so on until they attain -their greatest size. When they have cast their several -skins, reached their greatest size, and assumed a transparent -yellowish color, they are removed to places divided into compartments, -preparatory to casting forth their silken filaments.</p> - -<p>In the course of a week after the commencement of this operation, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> -the cocoons are complete, and it now becomes necessary -to take them in hand before the pupæ turn into <i>moths</i>, -which would immediately bore their way out, and spoil the cocoons. -When a certain number, therefore, have been laid aside -for the sake of future eggs, the chrysalides are killed by being -placed in jars under layers of salt and leaves, with a complete -exclusion of air. They are subsequently placed in moderately -warm water, which dissolves the glutinous substance that binds -the silk together, and the filament is wound off upon reels. -This is put up in bundles of a certain size and weight, and -either becomes an article of merchandise under the name of -“raw silk,” or is subjected to the loom, and manufactured into -various stuffs, for home or foreign consumption. The Chinese -notwithstanding the simplicity of their looms (see <a href="#Plate_I">frontispiece</a>), -will imitate <i>exactly</i> the newest and most elegant patterns from -France. They particularly excel in the production of <i>damasks</i>, -<i>figured-satins</i>, and <i>embroidery</i>. Their crape has never yet -been perfectly imitated; and they make a species of washing -silk, called at Canton “ponge,” which, the longer it is used, the -softer it becomes.</p> - -<p>The Chinese have from time immemorial been celebrated for -the beauty of their embroideries; indeed, it has been doubted -whether the art was not originally introduced into Europe by -them, through the Persians.</p> - -<p>From what has been said, it is evident that the raising of the -<i>mulberry-tree</i> should first engage the attention of the cultivator, -since its leaves form the almost exclusive nourishment of -the silk-worm. It is scarcely necessary that we should in a -work of this description enter more fully into the cultivation of -the mulberry-tree. This has already been so ably done by -Jonathan Cobb, Esq. of Dedham, Mass., Dr. Pascalis of New -York, Judge Comstock of Hartford, Conn., and E. P. Roberts, -Esq. of Baltimore, as to leave no stone unturned, or any want -upon the subject.</p> - -<p>In such parts of the Chinese empire where the climate is favorable -to the practice, and where alone, most probably, the -silk-worm is indigenous, it remains at liberty, feeding on the -leaves of its native mulberry-tree, and going through all its mutations -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span> -among the branches, uncontrolled by the hand and unassisted -by the cares of man. As soon, however, as the silken -balls have been constructed, they are appropriated by the universal -usurper, who spares only the few required to reproduce -their numbers, and thus furnish him with successive harvests<a id="FNanchor_137" href="#Footnote_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_137" href="#FNanchor_137" class="label">[137]</a> Mons. Marteloy of Montpelier, who made many experiments upon the rearing -of silk-worms, presented a memorial upon the subject to the French minister, -in compliance with whose recommendation, a few silk growers of Languedoc -caused an experiment to be publicly made in the open air, in the garden belonging -to the Jesuits’ college at Montpelier. The whole was placed under the direction -of Mons. Marteloy, who had 1200 livres assigned to him to defray the necessary -expenses. The experiment succeeded perfectly. This was in 1764. In -the following year a second trial was made, and 1800 livres were set apart for -the expenses. Owing, however, to the unfavorable nature of the season, this experiment -failed entirely, the heavy and incessant rains making it impossible to -keep the food of the worms in a sufficiently dry state. The rearing of silk-worms -in the open air was not again attempted in that quarter; but the partial success -led to the adoption among cultivators of a better system of ventilation, and the -production of silk was about this time very much extended throughout Languedoc.—<i>Obs. -on the Culture of Silk</i>, <i>by</i> <span class="smcap">A. Stephenson</span>.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>This silk, the spontaneous offering of nature, is not, however, -equal in fineness to that produced by worms under shelter, and -whose progressions are influenced by careful management. -Much attention is, therefore, bestowed by the Chinese in the -artificial rearing of silk-worms. One of their principal cares, -is to prevent the too early hatching of the eggs, to which the -nature of the climate so strongly disposes them. The mode -of insuring the requisite delay, is, to cause the moth to deposit -her eggs on large sheets of paper: these, immediately upon -their production, are suspended from a beam in the room, while -the windows are opened to expose them to the air. In a few -days the papers are taken down and rolled loosely up with the -eggs inside, in which form they are again hung during the -remainder of the summer and autumn. Towards the end of -the year they are immersed in cold water wherein a small portion -of salt has been dissolved. In this state the eggs are left -during two days; and on being taken from the salt and water -are first hung to dry, and then rolled up rather more tightly -than before, each sheet of paper being thereafter inclosed in a -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> -separate earthen vessel. Some persons, who are exceedingly -particular in their processes, use a lye made of mulberry-tree -ashes, and place the eggs likewise, during some minutes, on -snow-water.</p> - -<p>These processes appear efficacious for checking the hatching, -until the expanding leaves of the mulberry-tree give notice to -the silk-worm-rearer that he may take measures for bringing -forth his brood. For this purpose the rolls of paper are taken -from the earthen vessels, and hung up towards the sun, the -side to which the eggs adhere being turned from its rays, by -being placed inside, and thus allowing the heat to be transmitted -to them through the paper. In the evening the sheets are -rolled closely up and placed in a warm situation. The same -proceeding is repeated on the following day, when the eggs assume -a grayish color. On the evening of the third day, after -a similar exposure, they are found to be of a much darker color, -nearly approaching to black; and the following morning, on -the paper being unrolled, they are covered with worms. In the -higher latitudes the Chinese have recourse to the heat of stoves, -in order to promote the simultaneous hatching of the eggs.</p> - -<p>The apartments in which the worms are kept stand in dry -situations, in a pure atmosphere, and apart from all noise, which -is thought to be annoying to the worms, especially when they -are young. The rooms are made very close, but adequate -means of ventilation provided: the doors being open to the -south. Each chamber is provided with nine or ten rows of -frames, placed one above the other. On these frames, rush -hurdles are ranged; upon which the worms are fed through -their five ages. A uniform degree of heat is constantly preserved, -either by means of stoves placed in the corners of the -apartments, or by chafing-dishes which from time to time are -carried up and down the room. Flame and smoke being always -carefully avoided: cow-dung dried in the sun is preferred -by the Chinese to all other kinds of fuel for this purpose.</p> - -<p>The most unremitting attention is paid to the wants of the -worms, which are fed night and day. On their being hatched -they are furnished with forty meals for the first day, thirty are -given on the second day, and fewer on and after the third. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> -The Chinese believe that the growth of silk-worms is accelerated, -and their success promoted by the abundance of their -food, and therefore, in cloudy and damp weather, when the -insects are injuriously affected by the state of the atmosphere, -their appetites are stimulated by a wisp of very dry straw being -lighted and held over them, thus causing the cold and damp -air to be dissipated.</p> - -<p>The Chinese calculate that the same number of insects -which would, if they had attained the full size in twenty-three -or twenty-four days, produce twenty-five ounces of silk, would -give only twenty ounces if their growth occupied twenty-eight -days, and only ten ounces if forty days. In order, therefore, to -accelerate their growth, they supply them with fresh food every -half-hour during the first day of their existence, and then gradually -reduce the number of meals as the worms grow older. -It deserves to be remarked as a fact unnoticed in Natural Theology, -that the substance on which this valuable caterpillar -feeds, is the leaf of the mulberry-tree; and Providence, as if to -ensure the continuance of this useful species, has so ordained -it that no other insect will partake of the same food; thus ensuring -a certain supply for the little spinster.</p> - -<p>Many persons believe that light is injurious to silk-worms; -but, so far from this opinion being correct, the opposite belief -would probably be nearer to the truth. In its native state, the -insect is of course exposed to light, and suffers no inconvenience -on that account; and it has been observed by one who gave -much attention to the subject (Count Dandolo), that in his -establishment, “on the side on which the sun shone directly -on the hurdles, the silk-worms were stronger and more numerous -than in those places where the edge of the wicker hurdle -formed a shade.” The obscurity wherein the apartments are -usually kept has a very pernicious influence on the air: the -food of the worms emits in light oxygen, or vital air, while in -darkness it exhales carbonic acid gas, unfit for respiration. -This well-known fact occurs alike with all leaves similarly -circumstanced<a id="FNanchor_138" href="#Footnote_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a>. To the bad effects thus arising from the exclusion -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> -of the sun’s rays, another evil is added by the nature -of the artificial lights employed, being such as still further to -vitiate the air.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_138" href="#FNanchor_138" class="label">[138]</a> “There is in the order of nature a certain, and very surprising fact; when -the leaves of vegetables are struck by the sun’s rays, they exhale an immense -quantity of vital air necessary to the life of animals, and which they consume by -respiration.</p> - -<p>“These same leaves in the shade as well as in darkness exhale an immense -quantity of mephitic or fixed air, which cannot be inhaled without destruction of -life.</p> - -<p>“This influence of the sun does not cease even when the leaf has been recently -gathered; on the contrary, in darkness, gathered leaves will exhale a still greater -quantity of mephitic air.</p> - -<p>“Place one ounce of fresh mulberry leaves in a wide-necked bottle of the size -of a Paris pint, containing two pounds of liquid; expose this bottle to the sun; -about an hour afterwards, according to the intensity of the sun, reverse the bottle -and introduce a lighted taper in it; this done, the light will become brighter, -whiter, and larger, which proves that the vital air contained in the bottle has increased -by that which has disengaged itself from the leaves: to demonstrate this -phenomenon more clearly, a taper may be put in a similar bottle, that only contains -the air which has entered into it by its being uncorked. Shortly after the -first experiment, water will be found in the bottle which contained the mulberry -leaves; this water, evaporating from the leaves by means of the heat, hangs on -the sides, and runs to the bottom when cooling; the leaves appear more or less -withered and dry according to the liquid they have lost. In another similar bottle -place an ounce of leaves, and cork it exactly like the former; place it in obscurity, -either in a box, or wrap it in cloths, in short, so as totally to exclude -light; about two hours after, open the bottle, and put either a lighted taper or a -small bird into it; the candle will go out, and the bird will perish, as if they had -been plunged into water, which demonstrates that in darkness the leaves have -exhaled mephitic air, while in the sun they exhaled vital air”.—<span class="smcap">Count Dandolo’s</span> -<i>Treatise on the Art of Rearing Silk-worms</i>, <i>p.</i> 144.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>An almost incredible quantity of fluid is constantly disengaged -by evaporation from the bodies of the insects; and if -means be not taken to disperse this as it is produced, another -cause of unwholesomeness in the air arises. Noticing this, -Count Dandolo observes, “This series of causes of the deterioration -of the air which the worms must inhale, may be termed -a continual conspiracy against their health and life; and their -resisting it, and living throughout shows them to have great -strength of constitution.”</p> - -<p>In seven days from the commencement of the cocoons they -are collected in heaps; those which are designed to continue -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> -the breed being first selected and set apart on hurdles, in a -dry and airy situation. The next care, is to destroy the vitality -of the chrysalides in those balls which are to be reeled. -The most approved method of performing this, is to fill large -earthen vessels with cocoons, in layers, throwing in one-fortieth -part of their weight of salt upon each layer, covering the whole -with large dry leaves resembling those of the water-lilly, and -then closely stopping the mouths of the vessels. In reeling -their silk the Chinese separate the thick and dark from the -long and glittering white cocoons, as the produce of the former -is inferior.</p> - -<p>We are indebted to Dr. Ure for the two following articles -(<i>extracted from the Journal of the Asiatic Society, for January, -1837</i>), on wild silk-worms. The first article is from the -pen of Thomas Hugon, a resident of Nowgong, and relates to -wild silk-worms of Assam.</p> - -<p>“The Assamese select for breeding, such cocoons only as have -been begun to be formed in the largest number on the same -day, usually the second or third after the commencement; -those which contain males being distinguishable by a more -pointed end. They are put in a closed basket suspended from -the roof; the moths, as they come forth, having room to move -about, at the expiration of a day, the females (known only by -their large body) are taken out, and tied to small wisps of -thatching-straw, selected always from over the hearth, its darkened -color being thought more acceptable to the insect. If out -of a batch, there should be but few males; the wisps with the -females tied to them are exposed outside at night; and the -males thrown away in the neighborhood, find their way to -them. These wisps are hung upon a string tied across the -roof, to keep them from vermin. The eggs laid after the first -three days, are said to produce weak worms. The wisps are -taken out morning and evening, and exposed to the sun, and -in ten days after being laid, a few of them are hatched. The -wisps being then hung up to the tree, the young worms find -their way to the leaves. The ant, whose bite is fatal to the -worm in its early stages, is destroyed by rubbing the trunk of -the tree with molasses, and tying dead fish and toads to it, to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> -attract these rapacious insects in large numbers, when they are -destroyed with fire; a process which needs to be repeated several -times. The ground under the trees is also well cleared, to -render it easy to pick up and replace the worms which fall -down. They are prevented from coming to the ground, by -tying fresh plantain-leaves round the trunk, over whose slippery -surface they cannot crawl; and then transferred from -exhausted trees to fresh ones, on bamboo platters tied to long -poles. The worms require to be constantly watched and protected -from the depredations of both day and night birds, as -well as rats and other vermin. During their moultings, they -remain on the branches; but when about beginning to spin, -they come down the trunk, and being stopped by the plantain-leaves, -are there collected in baskets, which are afterwards put -under bunches of dry leaves, suspended from the roof, into -which the worms crawl, and form their cocoons—several being -clustered together: this accident, owing to the practice of crowding -the worms, which is most injudicious, rendering it impossible -to wind off their silk in continuous threads, as in the filatures -of Italy, France, and even Bengal. The silk is, therefore, -spun like flax, instead of being unwound in single filaments. -After four days the proper cocoons are selected for the next -breed, and the rest are reeled. The total duration of a breed -varies from sixty to seventy days; divided into the following -periods:—</p> - -<table summary="Breed Duration"> -<tr><td>Four moultings, with one day’s illness attending each,</td> - <td class="tdr">20</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>From fourth moulting to beginning of cocoon,</td> - <td class="tdr">10</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>In the cocoon 20, as a moth 6, hatching of eggs 10,</td> - <td class="tdr">36</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> - <td class="tdr">—</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> - <td class="tdr">66</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>“On being tapped with the finger, the body renders a hollow -sound; the quality of which shows whether they have come -down for want of leaves on the tree, or from their having ceased -feeding.</p> - -<p>“As the chrysalis is not soon killed by exposure to the sun, -the cocoons are put on stages, covered with leaves, and exposed -to the hot air from grass burned under them; they are next -boiled for about an hour in a solution of the potash, made from -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span> -incinerated rice-stalks; then taken out and put on a cloth folded -over them to keep them warm. The floss being removed by -hand, they are then thrown into a basin of hot water to be unwound; -which is done in a very rude and wasteful way.</p> - -<p>“The plantations for the mooga silk-worm in Lower Assam, -amount to 5000 acres, besides what the forests contain; and -yield 1500 maunds of 84 lbs. each per annum. Upper Assam -is more productive.</p> - -<p>“The cocoon of the <i>Koutkuri mooga</i> is of the size of a -fowl’s egg. It is a wild species, and affords filaments much -valued for fishing-lines.</p> - -<p>“The <i>Arrindy</i>, or <i>Eria</i> worm, and moth, is reared over a -great part of Hindostan, but entirely within doors. It is fed -principally on the <i>Hera</i>, or <i>Palma christi</i> leaves, and gives -sometimes 12 broods of spun silk in the course of a year. It -affords a fibre which looks rough at first; but when woven, -becomes soft and silky, after repeated washings. The poorest -people are clothed with stuff made of it, which is so durable as -to descend from mother to daughter. The cocoons are put in -a close basket, and hung up in the house, out of reach of rats -and insects. When the moths come forth, they are allowed to -move about in the basket for twenty-four hours; after which -the females are tied to long reeds or canes, twenty or twenty-five -to each, and then hung up in the house. Of the eggs -that are laid the first three days, about 200, only are kept; -then tied up for seed. When a few of the worms are hatched, -the cloths are put on small bamboo platters hung up in the -house, in which they are fed with tender leaves. After the -second moulting, they are removed to bunches of leaves suspended -above the ground, beneath which a mat is laid to receive -them when they fall. When they cease to feed, they are -thrown into baskets full of dry leaves, among which they form -their cocoons, two or three being often discovered joined together.</p> - -<p>“The <i>Saturnia trifenestrata</i> has a yellow cocoon of a remarkably -silky lustre. It lives on the soom-tree in Assam, but -seems not to be much used.”</p> - -<p>The second article is from the pen of Dr. Helfer, upon those -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> -wild silk-worms which are indigenous to India. Besides the -<i>Bombyx mori</i>, the Doctor enumerates the following seven species, -formerly unknown:—1. “The wild silk-worm of the central -provinces, a moth not larger than the <i>Bombyx mori</i>.” 2. -“The Joree silk-worm of Assam, <i>Bombyx religiosæ</i>, which -spins a cocoon of a fine filament, with much lustre. It lives -upon the pipul tree (<i>Ficus religiosa</i>), which abounds in India, -and ought therefore to be turned to account in breeding this -valuable moth.” 3. “<i>Saturnia silhetica</i>, which inhabits the -cassia mountains in Silhet and Dacca, where its large cocoons -are spun into silk.” 4. “A still larger <i>Saturnia</i>, one of the -greatest moths in existence, measuring <i>ten inches</i> from the <i>one -end of the wing to the other</i><a id="FNanchor_139" href="#Footnote_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a>; observed by Mr. Grant, in -<i>Chirra punjee</i>”. 5. “<i>Saturnia paphia</i>, or the Tusseh silk-worm, -is the most common of the native species, and furnishes -the cloth usually worn by Europeans in India. It has not -hitherto been domesticated, but millions of its cocoons are annually -collected in the jungles, and brought to the silk factories -near Calcutta and Bhagelpur. It feeds most commonly on the -hair-tree (<i>Zizyphus jujuba</i>), but it prefers the <i>Terminalia alata</i>, -or Assam tree, and the <i>Bombax heptaphyllum</i>. It is called -<i>Koutkuri mooga</i>, in Assam.” 6. “Another <i>Saturnia</i>, from -the neighborhood of Comercolly.” 7. “<i>Saturnia assamensis</i>, -with a cocoon of a yellow-brown color, different from all others, -called <i>mooga</i>, in Assam; which, although it can be reared in -houses, thrives best in the open air upon trees, of which seven -different kinds afford it food. The <i>Mazankoory mooga</i>, which -feeds on the Adakoory tree, produces a fine silk, which is nearly -white, and fetches 50 per cent. more than the fawn colored. -The trees of the first year’s growth produce by far the most -valuable cocoons. The mooga which inhabits the soom-tree, -is found principally in the forests of the plains, and in the villages. -The tree grows to a large size, and yields three crops -of leaves in the year. The silk is of a light fawn color, and -ranks next in value to the Mazankoory. There are generally -five breeds of mooga worms in the year; 1. In January and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> -February; 2. In May and June; 3. In June and July; 4. In -August and September; 5. In October and November; the first -and last being the most valuable.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_139" href="#FNanchor_139" class="label">[139]</a> See p. 40. Also p. 54. <a href="#Footnote_63">footnote [63]</a></p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Dr. Anderson informs us, that in Madras the silk-worm goes -through all its evolutions in the short space of twenty-two days. -It appears, however, that the saving of time, and consequently -labor, is the only economy resulting from the acceleration; as -the insects consume as much food during their shorter period of -life, as is assigned to the longer-lived silk-worms of Europe.</p> - -<p>We extract the following paper, with slight emendations, -from Ellsworth’s Report of the Patent Office for the year 1844, -being a communication from Dr. Stebbins of Northampton, -Mass<a id="FNanchor_140" href="#Footnote_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a>., to the Editor of the American Agriculturalist, as having -some bearing upon the present subject.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_140" href="#FNanchor_140" class="label">[140]</a> See Chapter XIII. <a href="#Page_211">p. 211.</a></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“As requested, I forward you a sketch of Mr. Gill’s cradle -for feeding silk-worms, (It is not necessary for us to give -a drawing of it in a work like the present, which is chiefly -intended for the general reader, and besides, this machine -is already sufficiently known to silk culturists.) I have five -patches of mulberry, (in all, ten or twelve acres,) two parcels -of which you have seen. The one adjoining my garden, by -estimation, may furnish foliage sufficient for a million and -a half of worms. The mulberries consist of the white, black, -alpine, broosa, moretta, alata, multicaulis, Asiatic, and large-leaf -Canton. The two latter I prefer for my own use—the -Canton for early feeding with foliage, and the Asiastic for -branch feeding. The Canton is highly approved of for producing -heavy and firm cocoons, which, by competent testimony -and experiments, have been found in favor of the Canton feed -as five to eight, and is the true species used by the Chinese, -as testified by a resident Missionary, the Rev. E. C. Bridgman, -and more recently by Dr. Parker, while on his late visit -to the United States. I consider the peanut variety of worms -the best for producing the most silk of a good quality.</p> - -<p>“From an elevated plat near my cocoonery, you had a view -of our extensive meadows spread out at the foot of Mount Holyoke. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span> -My cocoonery you have examined, with its fixtures for -feeding silk-worms—the mode of open feeding, ventilator, and -ventilating cradles. Since you left, the whole has been completed, -with hammocks suspended over the cradles, easily put in -motion, and so constructed that no offal can drop into the cradles -beneath, nor interfere with the rocking motion or winding; the -arrangement is much admired, and estimated to accommodate -half a million of worms, or more, to be fed simultaneously. -About half of the cocoonery has hurdles of lattice work, covered -in part with gauze netting four feet wide and the same -number of tiers in height. The cocoonery is supposed to be -sufficiently open on the sides, ends, and roof, to admit a free -circulation of pure air. The flooring is the natural earth.</p> - -<p>“The past winter has been uncommonly severe on grape-vines -and fruit; forest and mulberry trees; the Asiatic I found the -most hardy of any other, and the Canton the earliest in foliage. -On the 21st and 22d of May there were severe frosts, destroying -garden vegetables, and injuring some early mulberry foliage; -added to this, ice was formed in many places. The accounts -from Vermont and New Hampshire are so disastrous as to delay -early feeding; while in Northampton, June 14, at one of my -plantations, you saw silk-worms in the act of winding, and -others in a good state of forwardness. On the day of your departure, -I received a letter from a distant silk grower, a staunch -promoter of the <i>one early</i> and <i>open</i> crop system, that, on account -of the unpropitious season and condition of his trees, he -would delay fetching out his worms until the last of June, and -then make his great effort upon one crop.</p> - -<p>“To provide against premature hatching of silk-worms, or the -disaster of an early frost, it is advisable to have foliage gathered -and dried the year preceding; which, being pulverized and -moistened with water, may be given to the worms until new -foliage appears; and they will eat it freely.</p> - -<p>“To obtain the most and best foliage of the mulberry, it will -be necessary every Spring to cut or head them down within -three or four inches of the ground, and preserve the stalks for -<i>bark-silk</i>. I have a quantity of them saved with bark peeled -from the large Asiatics to be used for making <i>bark-silk</i>, in addition -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> -to a quantity of mulberry-leaves preserved for making -paper. The whole process, although not carried out, as yet, in -this country, with either, has been successfully accomplished in -France, from proof shown by M. Frassinet. I am endeavoring -to have it tested here, by subjecting both stalk and peeled -bark to the operation of steaming with soap and water, to facilitate -the separation of the bark from the wood, and the outside -cuticle from the fibrous substance of the bark, before trying the -operation of the brake for dressing, carding, spinning, &c. -Should it prove successful, it will be made public (See Mr. -Zinke’s process, <a href="#Chapter1_XI">Chapter XI.</a>). Hopes are entertained that -what has been done may be done again; that Yankee ingenuity -and perseverance may prove a match for foreign cheap labor(?).</p> - -<p>“The present time has been called the age of invention and -improvement. But if ”there is nothing new under the sun” -(a pretty fair illustration of this assertion of the wise man—Vide -Ecclesiastes i. 9, 10.—will be found in this work.); and -if what is, has been and may be again, then may we hope to -be benefitted by the reproduction of astonishing results in all -coming time; and even now, while there has been anxious inquiry -for some easy mode to separate the bark of the mulberry -from the wood, an <i>historical fact</i> has been recently communicated(?); -by which, some two hundred and forty years ago, in -the year 1600, an accident occurred, which resulted in the -manufacture of a handsome fabric from the fibrous bark of the -mulberry, with the inference that the bark had been previously -used for the manufacture of cordage, on account of the superior -strength of the fibrous bark over that of other materials -used for cordage<a id="FNanchor_141" href="#Footnote_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a>.</p> - -<p>“Under date of June 6, 1844, I have been favored with a letter -from the president of one of the most eminent literary institutions -of our country, who expresses his opinion of the progress -of silk culture as follows:</p> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> -<p>‘I am gratified to find a renewed and more general interest -excited at the present time. If this awaking up to a scientific -and practical consideration of the subject is not soon crowned -with signal success, I am satisfied it will not be for want of -enterprize or skill in our countrymen, but merely from the high -price of labor, compared with the scanty wages given in other -silk-growing countries. Even this consideration (though it -may retard for a while the complete success of this department -of productive industry), will not prevent its ultimate triumph.’</p> - -<p>“The above is the opinion of one of the most scientific men -of the age, who, in early life, was himself a silk grower. His -opinion accords with that of many others of high consideration -in the United States.</p> - -<p>“While viewing the flourishing condition of one of my mulberry -patches, you asked with what it had been manured? and -received for answer, <i>ashes</i>, and the <i>deciduous foliage</i>. The -foliage, you thought, could be gathered for making <i>paper</i>, and -answered, that there would be sufficient defective foliage left to -manure the land; the foliage is richer than any stable manure, -and stable manure should never be applied to the mulberry. I -have not had occasion the last five or six years to use even -ashes as a manure, but keep the land in good tilth by frequent -hoeing. If you found these mulberries more flourishing than -others you had seen, it may be attributed, in a great measure, -to frequent hoeing, and dressing with the decayed mulberry -foliage.</p> - -<p>“The soil is a light sandy loam; and, previous to its being -stocked with mulberry, would not yield the value of $10 in any -crop; and now, my feeder says, if his worms do well, he hopes -to get $800 for the crop! A part of this lot being stocked with -alpine, broosa, and Asiatic mulberry, of 6 to 10 feet in height, -in rows 3 feet apart; and having grown so vigorously as to -shade each other, and liable to have spotted leaves. I have, in -order to avoid this, and procure more, larger, and better foliage, -cut away or headed down every other row, within three or four -inches of the ground; and from the stumps have sprung up a -multitude of thrifty sprouts, now fit for use, and the leaves three -times larger than those on the standard trees, are so fresh and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span> -tender, that in some measure it is hoped, they may answer the -purpose of seedling foliage, so highly recommended by M. Frassinet, -who has the following encomium on <i>seedling</i> foliage: -‘that 100 pounds of such foliage is worth near 200 pounds of -old leaves to make the same quantity of cocoons; or in fact, -equivalent in value to nearly double the stock of other foliage.’ -I have caused considerable bark to be stripped from the Asiatic -trees cut away for manufacturing purposes; and M. Rouviere, -of Lyons, has proved that the bark of young shoots, submitted -to the same process as hemp, yields abundant silk-fibre to make -beautiful tissues (noticed at the close of Chapter XI.). I should -advise silk growers to preserve the shoots, have them barked -in the best way, and the silky fibre rotted, carded, spun, and -wove. M. Rouviere asserts that it will be not only fine and -strong, but take the most beautiful colors. Of the bark, ropes -and nets are made in the Morea, and may be applied to great -advantage in the manufacture of paper, together with the -foliage.</p> - -<p>“The Canton and Asiatic seed sown this year are in a flourishing -condition for plantation use, exclusive of several mulberry -plantations which will be for rent, or growing silk on shares, -next spring. Up to the first of July, worms have been uncommonly -healthy—the probable effect of more open ventilation -than in former years.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Dabney, consul at Fayal, (now in Boston) has two millions -of worms at present on feed. S. Whitmarsh, at Jamaica, -has 360 of what he calls <i>creolized native</i> eggs, in constant -feed, which go through the whole course to the cocoon in 24 -days. The eggs hatch in 10 days after being laid. He has -received the silk report, and made such improvement as to -save, in all, nine-tenths of the usual labor. The silk cause at -Jamaica occasions great interest in England for its prosperity -and success.”</p> - -<p class="right"> -<span class="smcap">D. Stebbins.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Northampton, Mass., <i>July</i>, 1844.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_141" href="#FNanchor_141" class="label">[141]</a> We have abundant testimony that the most beautiful fabrics, comprising -<i>mantles</i>, &c., as well as cordage, was produced from the bark of trees, as early -as the year 412 B. C. So that Mr. Stebbins’s “<i>historical fact</i>” is anticipated by -2012 years! (See <a href="#Chapter1_XII">Chapters XII</a>. and <a href="#Chapter1_XII">XIII</a>. of this Part.)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We will now conclude this Chapter with Dr. Bowling’s admirable -illustration, of the mutual dependence of the arts upon -each other:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Let us fancy that some thousand years ago, a mortal, wandering through an -oriental wood, saw a worm falling from a fruit-bearing tree—that he found this -little creature had reached the end of one of its stages of existence, and was laboriously -engaged in shrouding itself in an unknown substance, like a fine thread of -gold, out of which it constructed its tomb; that, attracted by the circumstance, -he found this shroud to consist of a thread hundreds of yards long, which a very -little attention enabled him to detach; he found he could strengthen the threads -by uniting them together, and they could be applied to various purposes of usefulness; -he thought of winding off the thread; the reel lends him the first assistance, -but he could not make the reel without the co-operation of a knife, or some such -instrument with a sharp edge. Thus the aid of art—of the produce of art—is -already called in. With this rude instrument he makes a machine which enables -him to reel off the thread coffin of the curious animal. In process of time, he -finds that this fine filament can be applied to the making of garments—garments -alike useful and ornamental. Now trace the progress of things by which, from -the narrow sphere of his observation and experiment, his success spreads through -the districts he inhabits, and from them to other lands, and becomes an object of -importance to communicate with the whole family of man. By and by the cocoon, -or its produce, finds its way to foreign countries, probably more enlightened -than his own, again to be operated on by a higher intelligence and more practised -skill. This associates the thread of the silk-worm with a ship, with ship-building, -and all its marvellous combinations.—Some wandering merchant probably conveyed -the raw material to Persia; some adventurous mariner to Greece or Italy, -or other regions where it gave a new impulse to science and to thought. But -consider for a moment, before the ship was launched upon the water, how many -elements were necessary for its production; think of how multitudinous and various -the materials which that ship required for its construction, before the products -of that remote country are brought to their ultimate markets for manufacture. -I refer to this particular topic, because it is associated with the prosperity -of the districts in which we are, and I wished to carry back your thoughts to the -germ whence that prosperity sprung.”—<span class="smcap">Bowring’s</span> <i>Lecture at the Poplar Institution</i>.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_IX">CHAPTER IX.<br /> -<small>THE SPIDER.</small></h3> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="h3sub">ATTEMPTS TO PROCURE SILKEN FILAMENTS FROM SPIDERS.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Structures of spiders—Spiders not properly insects, and why—Apparatus for spinning—Extraordinary -number of spinnerules—Great number of filaments composing -one thread—Réaumur and Leeuwenhoeck’s laughable estimates—Attachment -of the thread against a wall or stick—Shooting of the lines of spiders—1. -Opinions of Redi, Swammerdam, and Kirby—2. Lister, Kirby, and White—3. -La Pluche and Bingley—4. D’Isjonval, Murray, and Bowman—5. Experiments -of Mr. Blackwall—His account of the ascent of gossamer—6. Experiments -by Rennie—Thread supposed to go off double—Subsequent experiments—Nests, -Webs, and Nets of Spiders—Elastic satin nest of a spider—Evelyn’s -account of hunting spiders—Labyrinthic spider’s nest—Erroneous account -of the House Spider—Geometric Spiders—Attempts to procure silken filaments -from Spiders bags—Experiments of M. Bon—Silken material—Manner of its -preparations—M. Bon’s enthusiasm—His spider establishment—Spider-silk not -poisonous—Its usefulness in healing wounds—Investigation of M. Bon’s establishment -by M. Réaumur—His objections—Swift’s satire against speculators -and projectors—Ewbank’s interesting observations on the ingenuity of -spiders—Mason-spiders—Ingenious -door with a hinge—Nest from the West Indies with -spring hinge—Raft-building Spider—Diving Water-Spider—Rev. Mr. Kirby’s -beautiful description of it—Observations of M. Clerck—Cleanliness of Spiders—Structure -of their claws—Fanciful account of them patting their webs—Proceedings -of a spider in a steamboat—Addison—His suggestions on the compilation -of a “History of Insects.”</p> -</div> - -<p>Of spiders there are many species; most of them extend -their labors no farther than merely to make a web to ensnare -and detain their food. But others are known to go beyond -this, and spin a bag in the form of a cocoon, for the protection -of their eggs, nearly similar to that of the silk-worm.<a id="FNanchor_142" href="#Footnote_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a></p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_142" href="#FNanchor_142" class="label">[142]</a> Don Luis Nee observed on certain trees growing in Chilpancingo, Tixtala in -South America, ovate nests of caterpillars, eight inches long, which the inhabitants -manufacture into stockings and handkerchiefs.—Annals of Botany, 2d, p. -104.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Modern naturalists do not rank spiders among insects, because -they have no antennæ, and no division between the head -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> -and shoulders. They breathe by leaf-shaped gills, situated under -the belly, instead of spiracles in the sides; and have a heart -connected with these. But as spiders are popularly considered -insects, it will sufficiently suit our purpose to introduce them -here as such.</p> - -<p>Spiders are usually classed according to their difference of -color, whether black, brown, yellow, &c., or sometimes by the -number and arrangement of their eyes: of these organs some -possess no fewer than ten, others eight, and others again six<a id="FNanchor_143" href="#Footnote_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_143" href="#FNanchor_143" class="label">[143]</a> Porter’s “Treatise on the Silk Manufacture,” p. 168.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Some species of spiders are known to possess the power of not -merely forming a web, but also of spinning, for the protection -of their eggs, a bag somewhat similar in form and substance -to the cocoon of the silk-worm. The apparatus by which they -construct their ingenious fabrics, is much more complicated -than that which is common to the various species of caterpillars. -Caterpillars have only two reservoirs for the materials -of their silk; but the spider spins minute fibres from fine papillæ, -or small nipples placed in the hinder part of its body. These -papillæ serve the office of so many wire-drawing machines, from -which the silken threadlets are ejected. Spiders, according to -the dissections of M. Treviranus, have four principal vessels, -two larger and two smaller, with a number of minute ones at -their base. Several small tubes branch towards the reservoirs, -for carrying to them, no doubt, a supply of the secreted material. -Swammerdam describes them as twisted into many coils -of an agate color<a id="FNanchor_144" href="#Footnote_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a>. We do not find them coiled, but nearly -straight, and of a deep yellow color. From these, when broken, -threads can be drawn out like those spun by the spider, -though we cannot draw them so fine by many degrees.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_144" href="#FNanchor_144" class="label">[144]</a> Hill’s Swammerdam, part i. p. 23.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>From these little flasks or bags of gum, situated near the -apex of the abdomen, and not at the mouth as in caterpillars, -a tube originates, and terminates in the external spinnerets, -which may be seen by the naked eye in the form of five little -teats surrounded by a small circle, as represented in Fig. 8. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> -<a href="#Plate_IV">Plate IV.</a>; this figure shows the garden spider (<i>Epeira diadema</i>) -suspended by a thread proceeding from its spinneret.</p> - -<p>We have seen that the thread of the silk-worm is composed -of two filaments united, but the spider’s thread would appear, -from the first view of its five spinnerets, to be quintuple, and in -some species which have six teats, so many times more. It is not -safe, however, in our interpretations of nature to proceed upon -conjecture, however plausible, nor to take anything for granted -which we have not actually seen; since our inferences in such -cases are almost certain to be erroneous. If Aristotle, for example, -had ever looked narrowly at a spider when spinning, he -could not have fancied, as he does, that the materials which it -uses are nothing but wool stripped from its body. On looking, -then, with a strong magnifying glass, at the teat-shaped spinnerets -of a spider, we perceive them studded with regular rows -of minute bristle-like points, about a thousand to each teat, -making in all from five to six thousand. These are minute -tubes which we may appropriately term <i>spinnerules</i>, as each -is connected with the internal reservoirs, and emits a thread -of inconceivable fineness. Fig. 9. represents this wonderful -apparatus as it appears in the microscope.</p> - -<p>We do not recollect that naturalists have ventured to assign -any cause for this very remarkable multiplicity of the spinnerules -of spiders, so different from the simple spinneret of caterpillars. -To us it appears an admirable provision for their mode -of life. Caterpillars neither require such strong materials, nor -that their thread should dry as quickly. It is well known in -our manufactures, particularly in rope-spinning, that in cords -of equal thickness, those which are composed of many smaller -ones united are stronger than those spun at once. In the instance -of the spider’s thread, this principle must hold still more -strikingly, inasmuch as it is composed of fluid materials that -require to be dried rapidly, and this drying must be greatly -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> -facilitated by exposing so many to the air separately before -their union, which is effected at about the tenth of an inch -from the spinnerets. In Fig. 10. <a href="#Plate_IV">Plate IV</a>. each of the threads -shown is represented to contain one hundred minute threads, -the whole forming only one of the spider’s common threads. -In the figure the threads are, of course, greatly magnified, so -that, for the small space represented, the lines are shown as -parallel. The threadlets, or filaments as they come from the -papillæ, are too fine to be counted with any degree of accuracy, -but it is evident that very many are sent forth from each of the -larger papillæ. This fact tends to explain the power possessed -by the spider of producing threads having different degrees of -tenuity. By applying more or less of these papillæ against the -place whence it begins its web, the spider joins into one thread -the almost imperceptible individual filaments which it draws -from its body; the size of this thread being dependent on the -number of nipples employed, and regulated by that instinct -which teaches the creature to make choice of the degree of -exility most appropriate to the work wherein it is about to -engage.</p> - -<p>Réaumur relates that he has often counted as many as seventy -or eighty fibres through a microscope, and perceived that there -were yet infinitely more than he could reckon; so that he believed -himself to be far within the limit of truth in computing -that the tip of <i>each</i> of the five papillæ furnished 1000 separate -fibres: thus supposing that one slender filament of a spider’s -web is made up of 5000 fibres!</p> - -<p>Leeuwenhoeck, in one of his extraordinary microscopical observations -on a young spider, not bigger than a grain of sand, -upon enumerating the threadlets in one of its threads, calculated -that it would require <i>four millions</i> of them to be as thick -as a hair of his head!</p> - -<p>Another important advantage derived by the spider from the -multiplicity of its threadlets is, that the thread affords a much -more secure attachment to a wall, a branch of a tree, or any -other object, than if it were simple; for, upon pressing the -spinneret against the object, as spiders always do when they fix -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> -a thread, the spinnerules are extended over an area of some -diameter, from every hair’s breadth of which a strand, as rope-makers -term it, is extended to compound the main cord. Fig. -11. <a href="#Plate_IV">Plate IV</a>. exhibits, magnified, this ingenious contrivance. -Those who may be curious to examine it, will see it best when -the line is attached to any black object, for the threads, being -whitish, are, in otherwise, not so easily perceived.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Shooting of the lines.</span>—It has long been considered a -curious though difficult investigation, to determine in what -manner spiders, seeing that they are destitute of wings, transport -themselves from tree to tree, across brooks, and frequently -through the air itself, without any apparent starting point. On -looking into the authors who have treated upon this subject, -it is surprising how little there is to be met with that is new, -even in the most recent. Their conclusions, or rather their -conjectural opinions, are, however, worthy of notice; <i>for by -unlearning error, we the more firmly establish truth</i>.</p> - -<p>1. One of the earliest notions upon this subject is that of -Blancanus, the commentator on Aristotle, which is partly -adopted by Redi, by Henricus Regius of Utrecht, by Swammerdam<a id="FNanchor_145" href="#Footnote_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a>, -by Lehmann, as well as by Kirby and Spence<a id="FNanchor_146" href="#Footnote_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a>. “The -spider’s thread,” says Swammerdam, “is generally made up of -two or more parts, and after descending by such a thread, it ascends -by one only, and is thus enabled to waft itself from one -height or tree to another, even across running waters; the -thread it leaves loose behind it being driven about by the wind, -and so fixed to some other body.” “I placed,” says Kirby, -“the large garden spider (<i>Epeira diadema</i>) upon a stick about -a foot long, set upright in a vessel containing water.... -It let itself drop, not by a single thread, but by <i>two</i>, each distant -from the other about the twelfth of an inch, guided, as usual, -by one of its hind feet, and that one apparently smaller than -the other. When it had suffered itself to descend nearly to the -surface of the water, it stopped short, and by some means, -which I could not distinctly see, broke off, close to the spinners, -the smallest thread, which still adhering by the other end to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span> -the top of the stick, floated in the air, and was so light as to be -carried about by the slightest breath. On approaching a pencil -to the loose end of this line, it did not adhere from mere contact. -I, therefore, twisted it once or twice round the pencil, and -then drew it tight. The spider, which had previously climbed -to the top of the stick, immediately pulled at it with one of its -feet, and finding it sufficiently tense, crept along it, strengthening -it as it proceeded by another thread, and thus reached the -pencil.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_145" href="#FNanchor_145" class="label">[145]</a> Swammerdam, part i. p. 24.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_146" href="#FNanchor_146" class="label">[146]</a> Intr. vol. i. p. 415.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>1. “We have repeatedly witnessed this occurrence,” says Mr. -Rennie, “in the fields, and when spiders were placed for experiment, -as Kirby has described; but we very much doubt that -the thread broken is ever intended as a bridge cable, or that it -would have been so used in that instance, had it not been artificially -fixed and again accidentally found by the spider. According -to our observations, a spider never for an instant, abandons, -the thread which she dispatches in quest of an attachment, -but uniformly keeps trying it with her feet, in order to -ascertain its success. We are, therefore, persuaded, that when -a thread is broken in the manner above described, it is because -it has been spun too weak, and spiders may often be seen breaking -such threads in the process of netting their webs.”</p> - -<p>The plan, besides, as explained by these distinguished writers, -would more frequently prove abortive than successful, from the -cut thread not being sufficiently long. They admit, indeed, -that spiders’ lines are often found “a yard or two long, fastened -to twigs of grass not a foot in height.... Here, therefore, -some other process must have been used<a id="FNanchor_147" href="#Footnote_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_147" href="#FNanchor_147" class="label">[147]</a> Kirby and Spence, vol. i. Intr. p. 416.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>2. The celebrated English naturalist, Dr. Lister, whose -treatise upon the native spiders of that country, has been the -basis of every subsequent work on the subject, maintains that -“some spiders shoot out their threads in the same manner that -porcupines do their quills<a id="FNanchor_148" href="#Footnote_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a>; that whereas the quills of the latter -are entirely separated from their bodies, when thus shot out, -the threads of the former remain fixed to their anus, as the -sun’s rays to its body<a id="FNanchor_149" href="#Footnote_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a>.” A French periodical writer goes a little -farther, and says, that spiders have the power of shooting -out threads, <i>and directing them at pleasure towards a determined -point</i>, judging of the distance and position of the object -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> -by some sense of which we are ignorant<a id="FNanchor_150" href="#Footnote_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a>. Kirby also -says, that he once observed a small garden spider (<i>Aranea reticulata</i>) -“standing midway on a long perpendicular fixed -thread, and an appearance caught” his “eye, of what seemed -to be the emission of threads.” “I,” therefore, he adds, “moved -my arm in the direction in which they apparently proceeded, -and, as I had suspected, a floating thread attached itself to my -coat, along which the spider crept. As this was connected with -the spinners of the spider, it could not have been formed” by -breaking a “secondary thread<a id="FNanchor_151" href="#Footnote_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a>.” Again, in speaking of the -gossamer-spider, he says, “it first extends its thigh, shank, and -foot, into a right line, and then, elevating its abdomen till it becomes -vertical, <i>shoots its thread</i> into the air, and flies off from -its station<a id="FNanchor_152" href="#Footnote_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_148" href="#FNanchor_148" class="label">[148]</a> Porcupines do not shoot out their quills, as was once generally believed.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_149" href="#FNanchor_149" class="label">[149]</a> Lister, Hist. Animalia Angliæ, 4to. p. 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_150" href="#FNanchor_150" class="label">[150]</a> Phil. Mag. ii. p. 275.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_151" href="#FNanchor_151" class="label">[151]</a> Vol. i. Intr. p. 417.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_152" href="#FNanchor_152" class="label">[152]</a> Ibid. ii. p. 339.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Another distinguished naturalist, Mr. White of Selborne, in -speaking of the gossamer-spider, says, “Every day in fine -weather in autumn do I see these spiders shooting out their -webs, and mounting aloft: they will go off from the finger, if -you take them into your hand. Last summer, one alighted on -my book as I was reading in the parlor; ran to the top of the -page, and <i>shooting out a web</i>, took its departure from thence. -But what I most wondered at, was, that it went off with considerable -velocity in a place where no air was stirring; and I am -sure I did not assist it with my breath<a id="FNanchor_153" href="#Footnote_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_153" href="#FNanchor_153" class="label">[153]</a> Nat. Hist. of Selborne, vol. i. p. 327.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Having so often witnessed,” says Mr. Rennie, “the thread -set afloat in the air by spiders, we can readily conceive the way -in which those eminent naturalists were led to suppose it to be -ejected by some animal force acting like a syringe; but as the -statement can be completely disproved by experiment, we shall -only at present ask, in the words of Swammerdam—‘how can -it be possible that a thread so fine and slender should be shot -out with force enough to divide and pass through the air?—is -it not rather probable that the air would stop its progress, and -so entangle it and fit it to perplex the spider’s operations<a id="FNanchor_154" href="#Footnote_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a>?’” -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> -The opinion, indeed, is equally improbable with another suggested -by Dr. Lister, that the spider can retract her thread -within the abdomen, after it has been emitted<a id="FNanchor_155" href="#Footnote_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a>. De Geer<a id="FNanchor_156" href="#Footnote_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> very -justly joins Swammerdam in rejecting both of these fancies, -which, in our own earlier observations upon spiders, certainly -struck us as plausible and true. There can be no doubt, indeed, -that the animal has a voluntary power of permitting the material -to escape, or stopping it at pleasure, but this is not projectile.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_154" href="#FNanchor_154" class="label">[154]</a> Book of Nature, part i. p. 25.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_155" href="#FNanchor_155" class="label">[155]</a> Hist. Anim. Anglæ, 4to.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_156" href="#FNanchor_156" class="label">[156]</a> Mémoires, vol. vii. p. 189.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>3. “There are many people,” says the Abbé de la Pluche, -“who believe that the spider flies when they see her pass from -branch to branch, and even from one high tree to another; but -she transports herself in this manner; and places herself upon -the end of a branch, or some projecting body, and there fastens -her thread; after which, with her two hind feet, she squeezes -her dugs (<i>spinnerets</i>), and presses out one or more threads of -two or three ells in length, which she leaves to float in the air -till it be fixed to some particular place<a id="FNanchor_157" href="#Footnote_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a>.” Without pretending -to have observed this, Swammerdam says, “I can easily comprehend -how spiders, without giving themselves any motion, -may, by only compressing their spinnerets, force out a thread, -which being driven by the wind, may serve to waft them from -place to place<a id="FNanchor_158" href="#Footnote_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a>.” Others, proceeding upon a similar notion, -give a rather different account of the matter. “The spider,” -says Bingley, “fixes one end of a thread to the place where -she stands, and then with her hind paws <i>draws out</i> several -other threads from the nipples, which, being lengthened out -and driven by the wind to some neighboring tree or other object, -are by their natural clamminess fixed to it<a id="FNanchor_159" href="#Footnote_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_157" href="#FNanchor_157" class="label">[157]</a> Spectacle de la Nature, vol. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_158" href="#FNanchor_158" class="label">[158]</a> Book of Nature, pt. i. p. 25.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_159" href="#FNanchor_159" class="label">[159]</a> Animal Biography, vol. iii. p. 475, 3d edition.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Observation gives some plausibility to the latter opinion, as -the spider always actively uses her legs, though not to draw -out the thread, but ascertain whether it has caught upon any -object. The notion of her pressing the spinneret with her feet -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> -must be a mere fancy; at least it is not countenanced by anything -which we have observed.</p> - -<p>4. An opinion much more recondite is mentioned, if it was -not started, by M. D’Isjonval, that the floating of the spider’s -thread is electrical. “Frogs, cats, and other animals,” he says, -“are affected by natural electricity, and feel the change of weather; -but no other animal more than myself and spiders.” In -wet and windy weather he accordingly found that they spun -very short lines, “<i>but when a spider spins a long thread, -there is a certainty of fine weather for at least ten or twelve -days afterwards</i><a id="FNanchor_160" href="#Footnote_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a>.” A periodical writer, who signs himself -Carolan<a id="FNanchor_161" href="#Footnote_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a>, fancies that in darting out her thread the spider emits -a stream of air, or some subtle electric fluid, by which she -guides it as if by magic.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_160" href="#FNanchor_160" class="label">[160]</a> Brez, Flore des Insectophiles. Notes, Supp. p. 134.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_161" href="#FNanchor_161" class="label">[161]</a> Thomson’s Ann. of Philosophy, vol. iii. p. 306.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>A living writer (Mr. John Murray) whose learning and skill -in conducting experiments give no little weight to his opinions, -has carried these views considerably farther. “The aëronautic -spider,” he says, “can propel its thread both horizontally and -vertically, and at all relative angles, <i>in motionless air</i> and in -an <i>atmosphere agitated by winds</i>; nay more, the aërial traveller -can even dart its thread, to use a nautical phrase, in the -‘wind’s eye.’ My opinion and observations are based on many -hundred experiments.... The entire phenomena are -electrical. When a thread is propelled in a vertical plane, it -remains perpendicular to the horizontal plane always upright, -and when others are projected at angles more or less inclined, -their direction is invariably preserved; the threads never intermingle, -and when a pencil of threads is propelled, it ever presents -the appearance of a divergent brush. These are electrical -phenomena, and cannot be explained but on electrical -principles.”</p> - -<p>“In clear, fine weather, the air is invariably positive; and it -is precisely in such weather that the aëronautic spider makes -its ascent most easily and rapidly, whether it be in summer or -winter.” “When the air is weakly positive, the ascent of the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> -spider will be difficult, and its altitude extremely limited, and -the threads propelled will be but little elevated above the horizontal -plane. When negative electricity prevails, as in cloudy -weather, or on the approach of rain, and the index of De -Saussure’s hygrometer rapidly advancing towards humidity, the -spider is unable to ascend<a id="FNanchor_162" href="#Footnote_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_162" href="#FNanchor_162" class="label">[162]</a> Loudon’s Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 322.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Mr. Murray tells us, that “when a stick of excited sealing-wax -is brought near the thread of suspension, it is evidently -repelled; consequently, the electricity of the thread is of a -negative character,” while “an excited glass tube brought near, -seemed to attract the thread, and with it the aëronautic -spider<a id="FNanchor_163" href="#Footnote_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a>.” His friend, Mr. Bowman, further describes the aërial -spider as “shooting out four or five, often six or eight, extremely -fine webs several yards long, which waved in the breeze, diverging -from each other like a pencil of rays.” One of them -“had two distinct and widely diverging fasciculi of webs,” and -“a line uniting them would have been at right angles to the -direction of the breeze<a id="FNanchor_164" href="#Footnote_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_163" href="#FNanchor_163" class="label">[163]</a> Experim. Researches in Nat. Hist., p. 136.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_164" href="#FNanchor_164" class="label">[164]</a> Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 324.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Such is the chief evidence in support of the electrical theory,” -says Mr. Rennie; “but though we have tried these experiments, -we have not succeeded in verifying any one of them. -The following statements of Mr. Blackwall come nearer our -own observations.</p> - -<p>5. ‘Having procured a small branched twig,’ says Mr. -Blackwall, ‘I fixed it upright in an earthen vessel containing -water, its base being immersed in the liquid, and upon it I -placed several of the spiders which produce gossamer. Whenever -the insects thus circumstanced were exposed to a current -of air, either naturally or artificially produced, they directly -turned the thorax towards the quarter whence it came, even -when it was so slight as scarcely to be perceptible, and elevating -the abdomen, they emitted from their spinners a small portion -of glutinous matter, which was instantly carried out in a -line, consisting of four finer ones, with a velocity equal, or nearly -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> -so, to that with which the air moved, as was apparent from -observations made on the motion of detached lines similarly -exposed. The spiders, in the next place, carefully ascertained -whether their lines had become firmly attached to any object -or not, by pulling at them with the front pair of legs; and if -the result was satisfactory, after tightening them sufficiently, -they made them pass to the twig; then discharging from their -spinners, which they applied to the spot where they stood, a -little more of their liquid gum, and committing themselves to -these bridges of their own constructing, they passed over them -in safety, drawing a second line after them, as a security in case -the first gave way, and so effected their escape.</p> - -<p>‘Such was invariably the result when spiders were placed -where the air was liable to be sensibly agitated: I resolved, therefore, -to put a bell-glass over them; and in this situation they remained -seventeen days, evidently unable to produce a single -line by which they could quit the branch they occupied, without -encountering the water at its base; though, on the removal -of the glass, they regained their liberty with as much celerity -as in the instances already recorded.</p> - -<p>‘This experiment, which, from want of due precaution, has -misled so many distinguished naturalists, I have tried with several -geometric spiders, and always with the same success<a id="FNanchor_165" href="#Footnote_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a>.’”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_165" href="#FNanchor_165" class="label">[165]</a> Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 456.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Mr. Blackwall, from subsequent experiments, says he is -“confident in affirming, that in motionless air, spiders have not -the power of darting their threads even through the space of -half an inch<a id="FNanchor_166" href="#Footnote_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a>.” The following details are given in confirmation -of this opinion. Mr. Blackwall observed, the 1st of Oct., -1826, a little before noon, with the sun shining brightly, no -wind stirring, and the thermometer in the shade ranging from -55°.5 to 64°, a profusion of shining lines crossing each other at -every angle, forming a confused net-work, covering the fields -and hedges, and thickly coating his feet and ankles, as he -walked across a pasture. He was more struck with the phenomenon -because on the previous day a strong gale of wind had -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span> -blown from the south, and as gossamer is only seen in calm -weather, it must have been all produced within a very short -time.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_166" href="#FNanchor_166" class="label">[166]</a> Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 397.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>“What more particularly arrested my attention,” says Mr. -Blackwall, “<i>was the ascent of an amazing quantity of webs -of an irregular, complicated structure, resembling ravelled -silk of the finest quality, and clearest white; they were of -various shapes and dimensions, some of the largest measuring -upwards of a yard in length, and several inches in -breadth in the widest part; while others were almost as -broad as long, presenting an area of a few square inches -only</i>.</p> - -<p>“These webs, it was quickly perceived, were not formed in -the air, as is generally believed, <i>but at the earth’s surface</i>. -The lines of which they were composed, being brought into -contact by the mechanical action of gentle airs, adhered together, -till, by continual additions, they were accumulated into -flakes or masses of considerable magnitude, on which the ascending -current, occasioned by the rarefaction of the air contiguous -to the heated ground, acted with so much force as to -separate them from the objects to which they were attached, -raising them in the atmosphere to a perpendicular height of at -least several hundred feet. I collected a number of these webs -about mid-day, as they rose; and again in the afternoon, when -the upward current had ceased, and they were falling; but -scarcely one in twenty contained a spider: though, on minute -inspection, I found small winged insects, chiefly <i>aphides</i>, entangled -in most of them.</p> - -<p>“From contemplating this unusual display of gossamer, my -thoughts were naturally directed to the animals which produced -it, and the countless myriads in which they swarmed almost -created as much surprise as the singular occupation that -engrossed them. Apparently actuated by the same impulse, -all were intent upon traversing the regions of air; <i>accordingly, -after gaining the summits of various objects, as blades of -grass, stubble, rails, gates, &c., by the slow and laborious -process of climbing, they raised themselves still higher by -strengthening their limbs; and elevating the abdomen, by -bringing it from the usual horizontal position into one almost -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> -perpendicular, they emitted from their spinning apparatus -a small quantity of the glutinous secretion with which -they construct their webs</i>. This viscous substance being -drawn out by the ascending current of rarefied air into fine -lines several feet in length, was carried upward, until the spiders, -feeling themselves acted upon with sufficient force in that -direction, quitted their hold of the objects on which they stood, -and commenced their journey by mounting aloft.</p> - -<p>“Whenever the lines became inadequate to the purpose for -which they were intended, by adhering to any fixed body, they -were immediately detached from the spinners and so converted -into terrestrial gossamer, by means of the last pair of legs, and -the proceedings just described were repeated; which plainly -proves that these operations result from a strong desire felt by -the insects to effect an ascent<a id="FNanchor_167" href="#Footnote_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a>.” Mr. Blackwall has recently -read a paper (still unpublished) in the Linnæan Society, confirmatory -of his opinions.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_167" href="#FNanchor_167" class="label">[167]</a> Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 453.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>6. “Without going into the particulars,” says Mr. Rennie, -“of what agrees or disagrees in the above experiments with -our own observations, we shall give a brief account of what -we have actually seen in our researches. So far as we have -determined, then, all the various species of spiders, how different -soever the form of their webs may be, proceed in the circumstance -of shooting their lines precisely alike; but those which -we have found the most manageable in experimenting, are the -small gossamer spider (<i>Aranea obtextrix</i>, <span class="smcap">Bechstein</span>), known -by its shining blackish-brown body and reddish-brown semi-transparent -legs; but particularly the long-bodied spider (<i>Tetragnatha -extensa</i>, <span class="smcap">Latr.</span>), which varies in color from green -to brownish or grey—but has always a black line along the -belly, with a silvery white or yellowish one on each side. The -latter is chiefly recommended by being a very industrious and -persevering spinner, while its movements are easily seen, from -the long cylindrical form of its body and the length of its legs.</p> - -<p>“We placed the above two species with five or six others, including -the garden, the domestic, and the labyrinthic spiders, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span> -in empty wine-glasses, set in tea-saucers filled with water, to -prevent their escape. When they discovered, by repeated descents -from the brims of the glasses, that they were thus surrounded -by a wet ditch, they all set themselves to the task of -throwing their silken bridges across. For this purpose they -first endeavored to ascertain in what direction the wind blew, -or rather (as the experiment was made in our study) which -way any current of air set,—by elevating their arms <i>as we -have seen sailors do in a dead calm</i>. But, as it may prove -more interesting to keep to one individual, we shall first watch -the proceedings of the gossamer spider.</p> - -<p>“Finding no current of air on any quarter of the brim of the -glass, it seemed to give up all hopes of constructing its bridge -of escape, and placed itself in the attitude of repose; <i>but no -sooner did we produce a stream of air, by blowing gently -towards its position, than, fixing a thread to the glass, and -laying hold of it with one of its feet, by way of security, it -placed its body in a vertical position, with its spinnerets extended -outwards; and immediately we had the pleasure of -seeing a thread streaming out from them several feet in -length, on which the little aëronaut sprung up into the air</i>. -We were convinced, from what we thus observed, that it was -the double or bend of the thread which was blown into the -air; and we assigned as a reason for her previously attaching -and drawing out a thread from the glass, the wish to give the -wind a <i>point d’appui</i>—something upon which it might have -a <i>purchase</i>, as a mechanic would say of a lever. The bend -of the thread, then, on this view of the matter, would be carried -out by the wind,—would form the point of impulsion,—and, -of course, the escape bridge would be an ordinary line doubled.”</p> - -<p>Such is the opinion of Mr. Rennie, which is strongly corroborated -by what has been said by M. Latreille—than whom no -higher authority could be given. “When the animal,” says -he, “desires to cross a brook, she fixes to a tree or some other -object one of the ends of her first threads, in order that the wind -or a current of air may carry the other beyond the obstacle<a id="FNanchor_168" href="#Footnote_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a>;” -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span> -and as one end is always attached to the spinnerets, he must -mean that the double of the thread flies off. In his previous -publications, however, Latreille had contented himself with -copying the statement of Dr. Lister. “In order to ascertain -the fact,” says Mr. Rennie, “and put an end to all doubts, we -watched, with great care and minuteness, the proceedings of -the long-bodied spider above mentioned, by producing a stream -of air in the same manner, as it perambulated the brim of the -glass. It immediately, as the other had done, attached a thread -and raised its body perpendicularly, like a tumbler standing on -his hands with his head downwards; but we looked in vain for -this thread bending, as we had at first supposed, and going off -double. Instead of this it remained tight, while another thread, -or what appeared to be so, streamed off from the spinners, similar -to smoke issuing through a pin-hole, sometimes in a line, -and sometimes at a considerable angle, with the first, according -to the current of the air,—the first thread, extended from the -glass to the spinnerets, remaining all the while tight drawn in -a right line. It further appeared to us, that the first thread -proceeded from the pair of spinnerets nearest the head, while -the floating thread came from the outer pair,—though it is -possible in such minute objects we may have been deceived. -That the first was continuous with the second, without any -perceptible joining, we ascertained in numerous instances, by -catching the floating line and pulling it tight, in which case -the spider glides along without attaching another line to the -glass; but if she have to coil up the floating line to lighten it, -as usually happens, she gathers it into a packet and glues the -two ends tight together. Her body, while the floating line -streamed out, remained quite motionless, but we distinctly -saw the spinnerets not only projected, as is always done when -a spider spins, but moved in the same way as an infant moves -its lips when sucking. We cannot doubt, therefore, that this -motion is intended to emit (if eject or project be deemed words -too strong), the liquid material of the thread; at the same time, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> -we are quite certain that it cannot throw out a single inch of -thread <i>without the aid of a current of air</i>. A long-bodied -spider will thus throw out in succession as many threads as we -please, by simply blowing towards it; but not one where there -is no current, as under a bell-glass, where it may be kept till it -die, without being able to construct a bridge over water of an -inch long. We never observed more than one floating thread -produced at the same time; though other observers mention -several.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_168" href="#FNanchor_168" class="label">[168]</a> ——“L’un des bouts de ces premiers fils, afin que le vent ou un courant -d’air pousse l’autre extrémité de l’un d’eux au delà de l’obstacle.”—Dict. Classique -d’Hist. Nat., vol. i. p. 510.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>“The probable commencement, we think, of the floating line, -is by the emission of little globules of the glutinous material to -the points of the spinnerules—perhaps it may be dropped from -them, if not ejected, and the globules being carried off by the -current of air, drawn out into a thread. But we give this as -only a conjecture, for we could not bring a glass of sufficient -power to bear upon the spinnerules at the commencement of -the floating line.</p> - -<p>“In subsequent experiments we found, that it was not indispensable -for the spider to rest upon a solid body when producing -a line, as she can do so while she is suspended in the air by -another line. When the current of air also is strong, she will -sometimes commit herself to it by swinging from the end of the -line. We have even remarked this when there was scarcely a -breath of air.</p> - -<p>“We tried another experiment. We pressed pretty firmly -upon the base of the spinnerets, so as not to injure the spider, -blowing obliquely over them; but no floating line appeared. -We then touched them with a pencil and drew out several -lines an inch or two in length, upon which we blew in order to -extend them, but in this also we were unsuccessful, as they did -not lengthen more than a quarter of an inch. We next traced -out the reservoirs of a garden-spider (<i>Epeira diadema</i>), and -immediately taking a drop of the matter from one of them on -the point of a fine needle, we directed upon it a strong current -of air, and succeeded in blowing out a thick yellow line, as we -might have done with gum-water, of about an inch and a half -long.</p> - -<p>“When we observed our long-bodied spider eager to throw a -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> -line by raising up its body, we brought within three inches of -its spinnerets an excited stick of sealing-wax, of which it took -no notice, nor did any thread extend to it, not even when -brought almost to touch the spinnerets. We experienced the -same want of success with an excited glass rod; and indeed -had not anticipated any other result, as we have never observed -that either these attract or repel the floating threads, as Mr. -Murray has seen them do; nor have we ever noticed the end -of a floating thread separated into its component threadlets and -diverging like a brush, as he and Mr. Bowman describe (See -Fig. 11.). It may be proper to mention that Mr. Murray, in -conformity with his theory, explains the shooting of lines in a -current of air by the electric state produced by motion in consequence -of the mutual friction of the gaseous particles. But -this view of the matter does not seem to affect our statements.”</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Nests, Webs, and Nets of Spiders.</span>—“The neatest,” -says Mr. Rennie, “though the smallest spider’s nest which -we have seen, was constructed in the chink of a garden-post, -which we had cut out the previous summer in getting -at the cells of a carpenter-bee. The architect was one of the -larger hunting-spiders, erroneously said by some naturalists to -be incapable of spinning. The nest in question was about -two inches high, composed of a very close satin-like texture. -There were two parallel chambers placed perpendicularly, in -which position also the inhabitant reposed there during the day, -going, as we presume, only abroad to prey during the night. -But the most remarkable circumstance was, that the openings -(two above and two below) were so elastic, that they shut closely -together. We observed this spider for several months, but -at last it disappeared, and we took the nest out under the notion -that it might contain eggs; but found none, and therefore -concluded that it was only used as a day retreat.” The account -which Evelyn has given of these hunting spiders is so -interesting that we must transcribe it.</p> - -<p>“Of all sorts of insects,” says he, “none have afforded -me more divertisement than the <i>venatores</i> (hunters), which -are a sort of <i>lupi</i> (wolves) that have their dens in rugged -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> -walls and crevices of our houses; a small brown and delicately-spotted -kind of spiders, whose hinder legs are longer than the -rest. Such I did frequently observe at Rome, which, espying -a fly at three or four yards distance, upon the balcony where I -stood, would not make directly to her, <i>but crawl under the -rail, till being arrived to the antipodes, it would steal up, -seldom missing its aim; but if it chanced to want anything -of being perfectly opposite, would, at first peep, immediately -slide down again,—till taking better notice, it would -come the next time exactly upon the fly’s back: but if this -happened not to be within a competent leap, then would this -insect move so softly, as the very shadow of the gnomon -seemed not to be more imperceptible, unless the fly moved; -and then would the spider move also in the same proportion, -keeping that just time with her motion, as if the same soul -had animated both these little bodies; and whether it were -forwards, backwards, or to either side, without at all turning -her body, like a well-managed horse: but if the capricious -fly took wing and pitched upon another place behind -our huntress, then would the spider whirl its body so nimbly -about, as nothing could be imagined more swift: by which -means she always kept the head towards her prey, though, -to appearance, as immoveable as if it had been a nail driven -into the wood, till by that indiscernible progress (being arrived -within the sphere of her reach) she made a fatal leap, -swift as lightning, upon the fly, catching him in the pole, -where she never quitted hold till her belly was full, and then -carried the remainder home</i>.”</p> - -<p>One feels a little sceptical, however, when he adds, “I have -beheld them <i>instructing their young ones how to hunt</i>, which -they would sometimes discipline for not well observing; but -when any of the old ones did (as sometimes) miss a leap, <i>they -would run out of the field and hide themselves in their crannies, -as ashamed, and haply not to be seen abroad for four -or five hours after</i>; for so long have I watched the nature of -this strange insect, the contemplation of whose so wonderful -sagacity and address has amazed me; nor do I find in any -chase whatsoever more cunning and stratagem observed. I -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> -have found some of these spiders in my garden, when the -weather, towards spring, was very hot, but they are not so -eager in hunting as in Italy<a id="FNanchor_169" href="#Footnote_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_169" href="#FNanchor_169" class="label">[169]</a> Evelyn’s Travels in Italy.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>We have only to add to this lively narrative, that the hunting-spider, -when he leaps, takes good care to provide against -accidental falls by always swinging himself from a good strong -cable of silk, as Swammerdam correctly states<a id="FNanchor_170" href="#Footnote_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a>, and which anybody -may recognise, as one of the small hunters (<i>Salticus -scenicus</i>), known by its back striped with black and white like -a zebra.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_170" href="#FNanchor_170" class="label">[170]</a> Book of Nature, part i. p. 24.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Weston, the editor of “Bloomfield’s Remains,” falls into -a very singular mistake about hunting-spiders, imagining them -to be web-weaving ones which have exhausted their materials, -and are therefore compelled to hunt. In proof of this he gives -an instance which came under his own observation<a id="FNanchor_171" href="#Footnote_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a>!</p> - -<p>“As a contrast,” says Mr. Rennie, “to the little elastic satin -nest of the hunter, we may mention the largest with which we -are acquainted,—that of the labyrinthic spider (<i>Agelena labyrinthica</i>, -<span class="smcap">Walckenaer</span>). Our readers must often have seen -this nest spread out like a broad sheet in hedges, furze, and -other low bushes, and sometimes on the ground. The middle -of this sheet, which is of a close texture, is swung like a sailor’s -hammock, by <i>silken</i> ropes extended all around to the -higher branches; but the whole curves upwards and backwards, -sloping down to a long funnel-shaped gallery which is -nearly horizontal at the entrance, but soon winds obliquely till -it becomes quite perpendicular. This curved gallery is about a -quarter of an inch in diameter, is much more closely woven -than the sheet part of the web, and sometimes descends into a -hole in the ground, though oftener into a group of crowded -twigs, or a tuft of grass. Here the spider dwells secure, frequently -resting with her legs extended from the entrance of -the gallery, ready to spring out upon whatever insect may fall -into her sheet net. She herself can only be caught by getting -behind her and forcing her out into the web; but though we -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> -have often endeavored to make her construct a nest under our -eye, we have been as unsuccesful as in similar experiments with -the common house spider (<i>Aranea domestica</i>).</p> - -<p>“The house spider’s proceedings were long ago described by -Homberg, and the account has been copied, as usual, by almost -every subsequent writer. Goldsmith has, indeed, given some -strange mis-statements from his own observations, and Bingley -has added the original remark, that, after fixing its first thread, -creeping along the wall, and joining it as it proceeds, it ‘<i>darts -itself to the opposite side</i>, where the other end is to be fastened<a id="FNanchor_172" href="#Footnote_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a>!’ -Homberg’s spider took the more circuitous route of travelling -to the opposite wall, carrying in one of its claws the end -of the thread previously fixed, lest it should stick in the wrong -place. This we believe to be the correct statement, for as the -web is always horizontal, it would seldom answer to commit a -floating thread to the wind, as is done by other species. Homberg’s -spider, after stretching as many lines by way of <i>warp</i> as -it deemed sufficient between the two walls of the corner which -it had chosen, proceeded to cross this in the way our weavers do -in adding the <i>woof</i>, with this difference, that the spider’s threads -were only laid on, and not interlaced<a id="FNanchor_173" href="#Footnote_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a>. The domestic spiders, -however, in these modern days, must have forgot this mode of -weaving, for none of their webs will be found thus regularly -constructed!”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_171" href="#FNanchor_171" class="label">[171]</a> -Bloomfield’s Remains, vol. ii. p. 64, <i>note</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_172" href="#FNanchor_172" class="label">[172]</a> -Animal Biography, iii. 470, 471.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_173" href="#FNanchor_173" class="label">[173]</a> -Mem. de l’Acad. des Sciences, pour 1707, p. 339.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The geometric, or net-working spiders (See Fig. 12. <a href="#Plate_IV">Plate -IV</a>.) are as well known as any of the preceding; almost every -bush and tree in our gardens and hedge-rows having one or -more of their nests stretched out in a vertical position between -adjacent branches. The common garden spider (<i>Epeira diadema</i>), -and the long-bodied spider (<i>Tetragnatha extensa</i>), are -the best known of this order.</p> - -<p>“The chief care of a spider of this sort,” says Mr. Rennie, -“is, to form a cable of sufficient strength to bear the net she -means to hang upon it; and after throwing out a floating line -as above described, when it catches properly, she doubles and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> -redoubles it with additional threads. On trying its strength she -is not contented with the test of pulling it with her legs, but -drops herself down several feet from various points of it, as we -have often seen, swinging and bobbing with the whole weight -of her body. She proceeds in a similar manner with the rest -of the frame of her wheel-shaped net; and it may be remarked -that some of the ends of these lines are not simple, but in form -of a Y, giving her the additional security of two attachments -instead of one.”</p> - -<p>In constructing the body of the nest, the most remarkable -circumstance is the using of her limbs as a measure, to regulate -the distances of her <i>radii</i> or wheel-spokes (See Fig. 12. -<a href="#Plate_IV">Plate IV.</a>, which represents the geometric net of the “<i>Epeira -diadema</i>”), and the circular meshes interwoven into them. -These are consequently always proportional to the size of the -spider. She often takes up her station in the centre, but not -always, though it is so said by inaccurate writers; but she as -frequently lurks in a little chamber constructed under a leaf or -other shelter at the corner of her web, ready to dart down upon -whatever prey may be entangled in her net. The centre of -the net is said also to be composed of more viscid materials than -its suspensory lines,—a circumstance alleged to be proved by -the former appearing under the microscrope studded with globules -of gum<a id="FNanchor_174" href="#Footnote_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a>. “We have not been able,” says Mr. Rennie, -“to verify this distinction, having seen the suspensory lines as -often studded in this manner as those in the centre.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_174" href="#FNanchor_174" class="label">[174]</a> Kirby and Spence, Intr. i. 419.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>At the commencement of the last century a method was -discovered in France by Monsieur Bon, of procuring silk from -spiders’ bags, and its use was attempted in the manufacture of -several articles. Mr. Bon has, however, noticed only <i>two</i> kinds -of silk-making spiders, and these he has distinguished from -each other as having either long or short legs, the last variety -producing the finest quality of raw silk. According to this ingenious -observer, the silk formed by these insects is equally -beautiful, strong, and glossy with that formed by the silk-worm. -When first formed, the color of these spiders’ bags is gray, but, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> -by exposure to the air, they soon acquire a blackish hue. Other -spider bags might probably be found of different colors, and affording -silk of better quality, but their scarcity would render -any experiment with them difficult of accomplishment; for -which reason M. Bon confined his attention to the bags of the -common sort of the short-legged kind.</p> - -<p>These always form their bags in some place sheltered from -the wind and rain, such as the hollow trunks of trees, the corners -of windows or vaults, or under the eaves of houses. A -quantity of the bags was collected from which a new kind of -silk was made, said to be in no respect inferior to the produce -of the silk-worm. It took readily all kinds of dyes, and might -have been wrought into any description of silken fabric. Mr. -Bon had stockings and gloves made from it, some of which he -presented to the Royal Academy of Paris, and others he transmitted -to the Royal Society of London.</p> - -<p>This silk was prepared in the following manner:—Twelve or -thirteen ounces of the bags were beaten with a stick, until they -became entirely freed from dust. They were next washed in -warm water, which was continually changed, until it no longer -became clouded or discolored by the bags under process. After -this they were steeped in a large quantity of water wherein -soap, saltpetre, and gum-arabic had been dissolved. The -whole was then gently boiled during three hours, after which -the bags were rinsed in clear warm water to discharge the -soap. They were finally set out to dry, previous to the operation -of carding, which was then performed with cards differing -from those usually employed with silk, being much finer. -By these means silk of a peculiar ash color was obtained, -which was spun without difficulty. Mr. Bon affirmed that -the thread was both stronger and finer than common silk, and -that therefore fabrics similar to those made with the latter material -might be manufactured from this, there being no reason -for doubting that it would stand any trials of the loom, after -having undergone those of the stocking frame.</p> - -<p>The only obstacle, therefore, which appeared to prevent the -establishing of any considerable manufacture from these spider -bags was the difficulty of obtaining them in sufficient abundance. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> -Mr. Bon fancied that this objection could soon be overcome, -and that the art of domesticating and rearing spiders, as -practised with silk-worms, was to be attained. Carried away -by the enthusiasm of one who, having made a discovery, pursues -it with ardor undismayed by difficulties, he met every objection -by comparisons, which perhaps were not wholly and -strictly founded on fact. Contrasted with the spider, and to -favor his arguments, the silk-worm in his hands made a very -despicable figure. He affirmed that the female spider produces -600 or 700 eggs; while of the 100, to which number he limited -the silk-worm, not more than one-half were reared to produce -balls. That the spiders hatched spontaneously, without -any care, in the months of August and September; that the -old spiders dying soon after they have laid their eggs, the young -ones live for ten or twelve months without food, and continue -in their bags without growing, until the hot weather, by putting -their viscid juices in motion, induces them to come forth, -spin, and run about in search of food.</p> - -<p>Mr. Bon’s spider establishment, was managed in the following -manner:—having ordered all the short-legged spiders -which could be collected by persons employed for the purpose, -to be brought to him, he inclosed them in paper coffins and -pots; these were covered with papers, which, as well as the -coffins, were pricked over their surface with pin-holes to admit -air to the prisoners. The insects were duly fed with flies, and -after some time it was found on inspection that the greater -part of them had formed their bags. This advocate for the -rearing of spiders contended that spiders’ bags afforded much -more silk in proportion to their weight than those of the silk-worm; -in proof of which he observed, that thirteen ounces -yield nearly four ounces of pure silk, two ounces of which were -sufficient to make a pair of stockings; whereas stockings made -of common silk were said by him to weigh seven or eight -ounces.</p> - -<p>It was objected by some of Mr. Bon’s contemporaries, that -spiders were venomous; and this is so far true that a bite from -some of the species is very painful, producing as much swelling -as the smart sting of a nettle. Mr. Bon, however, asserted that -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span> -he was several times bitten, without experiencing any inconvenience; -if so, he was more fortunate or less sensitive than any -of the spider-tamers with whom we have been acquainted. It -was further asserted, that this venom extended itself to the silk -which the spider produced; but this assertion was utterly absurd, -as any one who has ever applied a cobweb to stop the -bleeding from a cut ought to have known. Mr. Bon declared -with perfect truth, that the silk, so far from being pernicious, -was useful in staunching and healing wounds, its natural gluten -acting as a kind of balsam.</p> - -<p>The honest enthusiasm of the projector, and the singularity -of a regular establishment being formed for rearing and working -spiders, excited a considerable share of public attention. It -was, indeed, an age of strange speculations, for nearly at the -same time a German gentleman broached a scheme for turning -tame squirrels and mice to account in spinning; and companies -were formed in England, with large nominal capitals to -carry out schemes still more preposterous. So important did -Mr. Bon’s project appear to the French Academy, that they -deputed the eminent naturalist, M. Réaumur, to investigate -the merits of this new silk-filament.</p> - -<p>After a long and patient examination M. Réaumur stated the -following objections to Mr. Bon’s plan for raising spider-silk, -which have ever since been regarded as insurmountable.</p> - -<p>1. The natural fierceness of spiders renders them unfit to be -bred together. On distributing four or five thousand of these -insects into cells or companies of from fifty to one or two hundred, -it was found that the larger spiders quickly <i>killed and -ate the smaller</i>, so that in a short space of time the cells were -depopulated, scarcely more than one or two being found in each -cell.</p> - -<p>2. The silk of the spider is inferior to that of the silk-worm -both in lustre and strength; and produces less material in proportion, -than can be made available for the purposes of the -manufacture. The filament of the spider’s-bag can support a -weight of only thirty-six grains, while that of the silk-worm -will sustain a weight of one hundred and fifty grains. Thus -four or five threads of the spider must be brought together to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span> -equal one thread of the silk-worm, and as it is impossible that -these should be applied so accurately over each other as not to -leave little vacant spaces between them, the light is not equally -reflected, and the lustre of the material is consequently inferior -to that in which a solid thread is used.</p> - -<p>3. A great disadvantage of the spider’s silk is, that it cannot -be wound off the ball like that of the silk-worm, but must necessarily -be carded. By this latter process, its evenness, which -contributes so materially to its lustre, is destroyed.</p> - -<p>The ferociousness and pugnacity of the spiders are not exaggerated; -they fight like furies. Their voracity, too, is almost -incredible, and it is very questionable whether the mere -collection of flies sufficient to feed a large number of the spiders -would not involve an amount of expense fatal to the project -as a lucrative undertaking. The strength of the spiders’ -filament is, if anything, overstated by Réaumur. Deficiency -of lustre arising from the carding of the filaments is common -to the spider-fabric and to spun silk; this objection would, perhaps, -not be of very great weight but for the decisive calculation -by which Réaumur showed the comparative amount of -production between the spider and the silk-worm.</p> - -<p>The largest cocoons weigh four, and the smaller three grains -each; spider-bags do not weigh above one grain each; and, -after being cleared of their dust, have lost two-thirds of this -weight; therefore the <i>work of twelve spiders</i> equals that of -<i>only one silk-worm</i>; and a pound of spider-silk would require -for its production 27,648 insects. But as the bags are wholly -the work of the females, who spin them as a deposit for their -eggs, it follows that 55,296 spiders must be reared to yield one -pound of silk: yet this will be obtained only from the best -spiders; those large ones ordinarily seen in gardens, &c., yielding -not more than a twelfth part of the silk of the others. -The work of 280 of these would therefore not yield more silk -than the produce of one industrious silk-worm, and 663,552 of -them would furnish only one pound of silk!</p> - -<p>Although Réaumur’s report completely extinguished Mr. -Bon’s project in France, it was revived in England two or -three times in the early part of the last century. Swift has -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span> -not neglected to make it a portion of his unrivalled satire -against speculators and projectors, in his account of Gulliver’s -visit to the Academy of Lagado:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“I went into another room, says he, where the walls and ceilings were all hung -round with cobwebs, except a narrow passage for the artist to go in and out. At -my entrance he called out to me not to disturb his webs. He lamented the fatal -mistake the world had been so long in, of using silk-worms, while we had such -plenty of domestic insects, who infinitely excelled the former, because they understood -how to weave as well as spin. And he proposed further, that, by employing -spiders, the charge of dyeing silk should be wholly saved; whereof I was fully -convinced, when he showed me a vast number of flies most beautifully colored, -wherewith he fed his spiders, assuring us that the webs would take a tincture from -them, and as he had them of all hues, he hoped to suit every body’s fancy, as soon -as he could find proper food for the flies, of certain gums, oils, and other glutinous -matter to give a strength and consistency to the threads.”</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Ingenuity of Spiders.</span>—Mr. Thomas Ewbank of -New York, in a letter to the Editor of the Journal of the -Franklin Institute, bearing date September 20th, 1842, gives us -the following interesting description of the ingenuity of the -Spider.</p> - -<p>“The resources of the lower animals have often excited admiration, -and though no comprehensive and systematic series of -observations have yet been made upon them(?), the time is, I -believe, not distant when the task will be undertaken—perhaps -within the next century. But whenever and by whomsoever -accomplished, the mechanism of animals will then form the -subject of one of the most interesting and <i>useful</i> volumes in -the archives of man.</p> - -<p>“Among insects, spiders have repeatedly been observed to -modify and change their contrivances for <i>ensnaring their -prey</i>. Those that live in fields and gardens often fabricate -their nets or webs vertically. This sometimes occurs in locations -where there is no object sufficiently near to which the -lower edge or extremity of the web can properly be braced; -and unless this be done, light puffs or breezes of wind are apt -to blow it into an entangled mass. Instead of being spread out, -like the sail of a ship, to the wind, it would become clewed over -the upper line, or edge, like a sail when furled up. Now how -would a human engineer act under similar circumstances? But -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span> -ere the reader begins to reflect(!), he should bear in mind that -it would not do to brace the web by running rigging from it to -some <i>fixed</i> or immovable object below—by no means;—for were -this done, it could not yield to impulses of wind; the rigging -would be snapped by the first blast, and the whole structure -probably destroyed.</p> - -<p>“Whatever contrivances human sagacity might suggest, they -could hardly excel those which these despised engineers sometimes -adopt. Having formed a web, under circumstances similar -to those to which we have referred, a spider has been known -to descend from it to the ground by means of a thread spun for -the purpose, and after selecting a minute pebble, or piece of -stone, has coiled the end of the thread round it. Having done -this, the ingenious artist ascended, and fixing himself on the -lower part of the web, hoisted up the pebble until it swung several -inches clear of the ground. The cord to which the weight -was suspended was then secured by additional ones, running -from it to different parts of the web, which thus acquired the -requisite tension, and was allowed, at the same time, to yield to -sudden puffs of wind without danger of being rent asunder.</p> - -<p>“A similar instance came under my notice a few days ago. -A large spider had constructed his web, in nearly a vertical position, -about six feet from the ground, in a corner of my yard. -The upper edge was formed by a strong thread, secured at one -end to a vine leaf, and the other to a clothes line. One part of -the lower edge was attached to a Penyan sun-flower, and another -to a trellis fence, four or five feet distant. Between these -there was no object nearer than the ground, to which an additional -brace line could be carried; but two threads, a foot asunder, -descended from this part of the web, and, eight or ten inches -below it, were united at a point. From this point, a single line, -four or five inches long, was suspended, and to its lower extremity -was the weight, a <i>living one</i>, viz. a worm, <i>three inches -long</i>, and <i>one-eighth of an inch thick</i>. The cord was fastened -around the middle of the victim’s body, and as no object was -within reach, all its writhings and efforts to escape were fruitless. -Its weight answered the same purpose as a piece of inanimate -matter, while its sufferings seemed not in the least to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> -disturb the unconcerned murderer, who lay waiting for his prey -above.</p> - -<p>“Whether the owner of the web found it a more easy task -to capture this unlucky worm and raise it, than to elevate a -stone of the same weight, may be a question(?). Perhaps in -seeking for the latter, the former fell in his way, and was seized -as the first suitable object that came to hand—like the human -tyrant, (Domitian) who, to show his skill in archery, planted -his arrows in the heads of men or cattle, in the absence of other -targets. It may be, however, that a piece of stone, earth, or -wood, of a suitable weight, was not in the vicinity of the web.</p> - -<p>“To observe the effect of this weight, I separated, with a -pair of scissors, the thread by which it was suspended, and instantly -the web sunk to half its previous dimensions—the lower -part became loose, and with the slightest current kept shaking -like a sail shivering in the wind. A fresh weight was not supplied -by the next morning; but instead of it two long brace -lines extended from the lower part of the web to two vine tendrils, -a considerable distance off. These I cut away to see what -device would be next adopted, but on going to examine it the -following day, I found the clothes line removed, and with it all -relics of the insect’s labors had disappeared.”</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mason-Spiders.</span>—A no less wonderful structure is composed -by a sort of spiders, natives of the tropics and the south -of Europe, which have been justly called mason-spiders by M. -Latreille. One of these (<i>Mygale nidulans</i>, <span class="smcap">Walckn</span>.), found -in the West Indies, “digs a hole in the earth obliquely downwards, -about three inches in length, and one in diameter. -This cavity she lines with a tough thick web, which, when -taken out, resembles a leathern purse; but what is most curious, -this house has a door with hinges, like the operculum of -some sea-shells, and herself and family, who tenant this nest, -open and shut the door whenever they pass and repass. This -history was told me,” says Darwin, “and the nest, with its door, -shown me by the late Dr. Butt, of Bath, who was some years -physician in Jamaica<a id="FNanchor_175" href="#Footnote_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_175" href="#FNanchor_175" class="label">[175]</a> Darwin’s Zoonomia, i. 253, 8vo. ed.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> -“The nest of a mason-spider, similar to this,” says Mr. Rennie, -“has been obligingly put into our hands by Mr. Riddle of -Blackheath. It came from the West Indies, and is probably -that of Latreille’s clay-kneader (<i>Mygale cratiens</i>), and one of -the smallest of the genus. We have since seen a pair of these -spiders in possession of Mr. William Mello, of Blackheath. -The nest is composed of very hard argillaceous clay, deeply -tinged with brown oxide of iron. It is in form of a tube, about -one inch in diameter, between six and seven inches long, and -slightly bent towards the lower extremity—appearing to have -been mined into the clay rather than built. The interior of -the tube is lined <i>with a uniform tapestry of silken web, of -an orange-white color</i>, with a texture intermediate between -India paper and very fine glove leather. But the most wonderful -part of this nest is its entrance, which we look upon as -the perfection of insect architecture. A circular door, about -the size of a crown piece, slightly concave on the outside and -convex within, is formed of more than a dozen layers of the -same web which lines the interior, closely laid upon one another, -and shaped so that the inner layers are the broadest, the -outer being gradually less in diameter, except towards the -hinge, which is about an inch long; and in consequence of all -the layers being united there, and prolonged into the tube, it -becomes the thickest and strongest part of the structure. The -elasticity of the materials, also, gives to this hinge the remarkable -peculiarity of acting like a spring, and shutting the door -of the nest spontaneously. It is, besides, made to fit so accurately -to the aperture, which is composed of similar concentric -layers of web, that it is almost impossible to distinguish the -joining by the most careful inspection. To gratify curiosity, -the door has been opened and shut hundreds of times, without -in the least destroying the power of the spring. When the -door is shut, it resembles some of the lichens (<i>Lecidea</i>), or the -leathery fungi, such as <i>Polyporus versicolor</i> (<span class="smcap">Micheli</span>), or, -nearer still, the upper valve of a young oyster-shell. The door -of the nest, the only part seen above ground, being of a blackish-brown -color, it must be very difficult to discover.”</p> - -<p>Another mason-spider (<i>Mygale cœmentaria</i>, <span class="smcap">Latr.</span>), found -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> -in the south of France, usually selects for her nest a place bare -of grass, sloping in such a manner as to carry off the water, -and of a firm soil, without rocks or small stones. She digs a -gallery a foot or two in depth, and of a diameter (equal -throughout) sufficient to admit of her easily passing. She -lines this <i>with a tapestry of silk glued to the walls</i>. The -door, which is circular, is constructed of many layers of earth -kneaded, and bound together with <i>silk</i>. Externally, it is flat -and rough, corresponding to the earth around the entrance, for -the purpose, no doubt, of concealment: on the inside it is convex, -<i>and tapestried thickly with a web of fine silk</i>. The -threads of this door-tapestry are prolonged, and strongly attached -to the upper side of the entrance, forming an excellent -hinge, which, when pushed open by the spider, shuts again by -its own weight, without the aid of spring hinges. When the -spider is at home, and her door forcibly opened by an intruder, -she pulls it strongly inwards, and even where half-opened often -snatches it out of the hand; but when she is foiled in this, she -retreats to the bottom of her den, as her last resource<a id="FNanchor_176" href="#Footnote_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a>. The -nest of this spider (the mason spider) is represented in <a href="#Plate_IV">Plate -IV.</a> Fig. 14., and shows the nest shut. Fig. 15., represents it -open. Fig. 16. the spider (<i>Mygale cœmentaria</i>). Fig. 17. -the eyes magnified. Figures 18 and 19 parts of the foot and -claw magnified. Rossi ascertained that the female of an allied -species (<i>Mygale sauvagesii</i>, <span class="smcap">Latr.</span>), found in Corsica, lived in -one of these nests, with a numerous posterity. He destroyed -one of the doors to observe whether a new one would be made, -which it was; but it was fixed immoveably, without a hinge; -the spider, no doubt, fortifying herself in this manner till she -thought she might re-open it without danger<a id="FNanchor_177" href="#Footnote_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_176" href="#FNanchor_176" class="label">[176]</a> Mém. Soc. d’Hist. Nat. de Paris, An. vii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_177" href="#FNanchor_177" class="label">[177]</a> Mém. Soc. d’Hist. Nat. de Paris, An. vii. p. 125, and Latreille, Hist. Nat. -Génér. viii. p. 163.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>“The Rev. Revett Shepherd has often noticed, in the fen -ditches of Norfolk, a very large spider (the species not yet determined) -which actually forms a <i>raft</i> for the purpose of obtaining -its prey with more facility. Keeping its station upon a -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span> -ball of weeds about three inches in diameter, probably held together -by slight silken cords, it is wafted along the surface of -the water upon this floating island, which it quits the moment -it sees a drowning insect. The booty thus seized it devours at -leisure upon its raft, under which it retires when alarmed by -any danger<a id="FNanchor_178" href="#Footnote_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a>.” In the spring of 1830, Mr. Rennie found a spider -on some reeds in the Croydon Canal, which agreed in appearance -with Mr. Shepherd’s.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_178" href="#FNanchor_178" class="label">[178]</a> Kirby and Spence, Intr. i. 425.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Among our native spiders there are several, which, not contented -with a web like the rest of their congeners, take advantage -of other materials to construct cells where, “<i>hushed in -grim repose</i>,” they “expect their insect prey.” The most -simple of those spider cells is constructed by a longish-bodied -spider (<i>Aranea holosericea</i>, <span class="smcap">Linn.</span>), which is a little larger -than the common hunting spider. It rolls up a leaf of the lilac -or poplar, precisely in the same manner as is done by the leaf-rolling -caterpillars, upon whose cells it sometimes seizes to save -itself trouble, having first expelled, or perhaps devoured, the -rightful owner. The spider, however, is not satisfied with the -tapestry of the caterpillar, <i>but always weaves a fresh set of -her own</i>, more close and substantial.</p> - -<p>Another spider, common in woods and copses (<i>Epeira quadrata?</i>) -weaves together a great number of leaves to form a -dwelling for herself, and in front of it she spreads her toils for -entrapping the unwary insects which stray thither. These, as -soon as caught, are dragged into her den, and stored up for a -time of scarcity. Here also her eggs are deposited and hatched -in safety. When the cold weather approaches, and the leaves -of her edifice wither, she abandons it for the more secure shelter -of a hollow tree, where she soon dies; but the continuation -of the species depends upon eggs, deposited in the nest before -winter, and remaining to be hatched with the warmth of the -ensuing summer.</p> - -<p>The spider’s den of united leaves, however, which has just -been described, is not always useless when withered and deserted; -for the dormouse usually selects it as a ready-made -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> -roof for its nest of dried grass. That those old spiders’ dens -are not accidentally chosen by the mouse, appears from the -fact, that out of about a dozen mouse-nests of this sort found -during winter in a copse between Lewisham and Bromley, -Kent (England), every second or third one was furnished with -such a roof.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Water Spider.</span>—We extract the following exquisitely -beautiful and interesting fact in nature, <i>connected with -diving operations</i>, from the Rev. Mr. Kirby’s Bridgewater -Treatise:—</p> - -<p>“The Water Spider is one of the most remarkable upon -whom that office (diving) is developed by her Creator. To -this end, her instinct instructs her to fabricate a kind of <i>diving-bell</i> -in the bosom of that element. She usually selects still -waters for this purpose. Her house is an <i>oval cocoon</i>, filled -with air, and lined with <i>silk</i>, from which threads issue in every -direction, and are fastened to the surrounding plants; in this -cocoon, which is open below, she watches for her prey, and even -appears to pass the winter, when she closes the opening. It is -most commonly, yet not always, entirely under water; but its -inhabitant has filled it with air for her respiration, which enables -her to live in it. She conveys the air to it in the following -manner: she usually swims upon her back, when her abdomen -is enveloped in a bubble of air, and appears like a globe of -quicksilver<a id="FNanchor_179" href="#Footnote_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a>; with this she enters her cocoon, and displacing an -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> -equal mass of water, again ascends for a second lading, till -she has sufficiently filled her house with it, so as to expel all -the water.</p> - -<p>“The males construct similar habitations by the same manœuvres. -How these little animals can envelope their abdomen -with an air-bubble, and retain it till they enter their cells, -is still one of Nature’s mysteries that have not been explained.</p> - -<p>“We, however, cannot help admiring, and adoring, the wisdom, -power, and goodness manifested in this singular provision, -enabling an animal that breathes the atmospheric air, to fill -her house with it under water, and which has instructed her in -a secret art, <i>by which she can clothe part of her body with air -as a garment</i>, and which she can put off when it answers her -purpose.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“This is a kind of attraction and repulsion which mocks all our inquiries.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_179" href="#FNanchor_179" class="label">[179]</a> Her singular economy was first, we believe, described by Clerck (Aranei -Suecici, Stockholm, 1757.), L. M. de Lignac (Mém. des Araign. Aquat., 12mo. -Paris, 1799.), and De Geer.</p> - -<p>“The shining appearance,” says Clerck, “proceeds either from an inflated -globule surrounding the abdomen, or from the space between the body and the -water. The spider, when wishing to inhale the air, rises to the surface, with its -body still submersed, and only the part containing the spinneret rising just to the -surface, when it briskly opens and moves its four teats. A thick coat of hair -keeps the water from approaching or wetting the abdomen. It comes up for air -about four times an hour or oftener, though I have good reason to suppose it can -continue without it for several days together.</p> - -<p>“I found in the middle of May one male and ten females, which I put into a -glass filled with water, where they lived together very quietly for eight days. I -put some duck-weed (<i>Lemna</i>) into the glass to afford them shelter, and the females -began to stretch diagonal threads in a confused manner from it to the sides -of the glass about half way down. Each of the females afterwards fixed a close -bag to the edge of the glass, from which the water was expelled by the air from -the spinneret, and thus a cell was formed capable of containing the whole animal. -Here they remained quietly, with their abdomens in their cells, and their bodies -still plunged in the water; and in a short time brimstone-colored bags of eggs appeared -in each cell, filling it about a fourth part. On the 7th of July several -young ones swam out from one of the bags. All this time the old ones had nothing -to eat, <i>and yet they never attacked one another</i>, as other spiders would have -been apt to do (Clerck, Aranei Suecici, cap. viii.).”</p> - -<p>“These spiders,” says De Geer, “spin in the water a cell of strong, <i>closely woven, -white silk</i> in the form of half the shell of a pigeon’s egg, or like a diving bell. -This is sometimes left partly above water, but at others is entirely submersed, and -is always attached to the objects near it by a great number of irregular threads. -It is closed all round, but has a large opening below, which, however, I found -closed on the 15th of December, and the spider living quietly within, with her -head downwards. I made a rent in this cell, and expelled the air, upon which -the spider came out; yet though she appeared to have been laid up for three -months in her winter quarters, she greedily seized upon an insect and sucked it. -I also found that the male as well as the female constructs a similar subaqueous -cell, and during summer no less than in winter (De Geer, Mém. des Insectes, vii. -312.).” “We have recently kept one of these spiders,” says Mr. Rennie, “for -several months in a glass of water, where it built a cell half under water, in which -it laid its eggs.”</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Thus it appears, that by the successive descents of the little -water-spider under the impulsion of its instinct, produce effects - -in its subaqueous pavilion equivalent to those produced in the -diving-bell, or diving helmet, by the successive strokes of the -condensing air-pump of scientific man!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> -In the language of the book of Psalms, this insect “LAYETH -THE BEAMS OF” her “CHAMBERS IN THE -WATERS,” and there secures her subaqueous chambers in the -manner described.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cleanliness of Spiders.</span>—“When we look at the viscid -material,” says Mr. Rennie, “with which spiders construct their -lines and webs, and at the rough, hairy covering (with a few -exceptions) of their bodies, we might conclude, that they would -be always stuck over with fragments of the minute fibres -which they produce. This, indeed, must often happen, did -they not take careful precautions to avoid it; for we have observed -that they seldom, if ever, leave a thread to float at random, -except when they wish to form a bridge. When a spider -drops along a line, for instance, in order to ascertain the strength -of her web, or the nature of the place below her, she invariably, -when she re-ascends, coils it up into a little ball, and -throws it away. Her claws are admirably adapted for this purpose, -as well as for walking along the lines, as may be readily -seen by a magnifying glass. Fig. 13. <a href="#Plate_IV">Plate IV.</a> shows the triple-clawed -foot of a spider, magnified, the others being toothed -like a comb, for gliding along the lines. This structure, however, -unfits it to walk, as flies can do, upon any upright polished -surface like glass; although the contrary<a id="FNanchor_180" href="#Footnote_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> is erroneously asserted -by the Abbé de la Pluche. Before she can do so, she is -obliged to construct a ladder of ropes, as Mr. Blackwall remarks<a id="FNanchor_181" href="#Footnote_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a>, -by elevating her spinneret as high as she can, and laying -down a step upon which she stands to form a second; and -so on, as any one may try by placing a spider at the bottom of -a very clean wine glass.</p> - -<p>“The hairs of the legs, however, are always catching bits of -web and particles of dust; but these are not suffered to remain -long. Most people may have remarked that the house-fly is -ever and anon brushing its feet upon one another to rub off the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> -dust, though we have not seen it remarked in authors that spiders -are equally assiduous in keeping themselves clean. They -have, besides, a very efficient instrument in their mandibles or -jaws, which, like their claws, are furnished with teeth; and a -spider which appears to a careless observer as resting idly, in -nine cases out of ten will be found <i>slowly combing her legs -with her mandibles, beginning as high as possible on the -thigh, and passing down to the claws</i>. The flue which she -thus combs off is regularly tossed away.</p> - -<p>“With respect to the house-spider (<i>A. domestica</i>), we are -told in books, that ‘she from time to time clears away the dust -from her web, and sweeps the whole by giving it a shake with -her paw, so nicely proportioning the force of her blow, that she -never breaks any thing<a id="FNanchor_182" href="#Footnote_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a>.’ That spiders may be seen shaking -their webs in this manner, we readily admit; though it is not, -we imagine, to clear them of dust, but to ascertain whether -they are sufficiently sound and strong.</p> - -<p>“We recently witnessed a more laborious process of cleaning -a web than merely shaking it. On coming down the Maine -by the steam-boat from Frankfort, in August 1829, we observed -the geometric-net of a conic spider (<i>Epeira conica</i>, <span class="smcap">Walck.</span>) -on the framework of the deck, and as it was covered with -flakes of soot from the smoke of the engine, we were surprised -to see a spider at work on it; for, in order to be useful, this sort -of net must be clean. Upon observing it a little closely, however, -we perceived that she was not constructing a net, but -dressing up an old one; though not, we must think, to save -trouble, so much as an expenditure of material. Some of the -lines she dexterously stripped of the flakes of soot adhering to -them; but in the greater number, finding that she could not -get them sufficiently clean, she broke them quite off, bundled -them up, and tossed them over. We counted five of these -packets of rubbish which she thus threw away, though there -must have been many more, as it was some time before we discovered -the manœuvre, the packets being so small as not to be -readily perceived, except when placed between the eye and the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> -light. When she had cleared off all the sooted lines, she began -to replace them in the usual way; but the arrival of the boat -at Mentz put an end to our observations.” Bloomfield, the -poet, having observed the disappearance of these bits of ravelled -web, says that he observed a garden spider moisten the pellets -before swallowing them! Dr. Lister, as we have already seen, -thought the spider retracted the threads within the abdomen.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_180" href="#FNanchor_180" class="label">[180]</a> Spectacle de la Nature, i. 58.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_181" href="#FNanchor_181" class="label">[181]</a> Linn. Trans. vol. xv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_182" href="#FNanchor_182" class="label">[182]</a> Spectacle de la Nature, i. p. 61.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“I could wish,” says Addison, in ‘The Spectator,’ “our Royal Society would -compile a body of natural history, the best that could be gathered together from -books and observations. If the several writers among them took each his particular -species, and gave us a distinct account of its original, birth, and education; -its policies, hostilities, and alliances; with the frame and texture of its inward and -outward parts,—and particularly those which distinguish it from all other animals,—with -their aptitudes for the state of being in which Providence has placed them; -it would be one of the best services their studies could do mankind, and not a little -redound to the glory of the All-wise Creator.”—‘Spectator,’ No. iii.</p> - -<p>Although we do not consider Addison as a naturalist, in any of the usual meanings -of the term, yet it would be no easy task, even for those who have devoted their -undivided attention to the subject, to improve upon the admirable plan of study here -laid down. It is, moreover, so especially applicable to the investigation of insects, -that it may be more or less put in practice by any person who chooses, in whatever -station or circumstances he happens to be placed. Nay, we will go farther; for -since it agrees with experience and many recorded instances that individuals have -been enabled to investigate and elucidate particular facts, who were quite unacquainted -with systematic natural history, we hold it to be undeniable, that <i>any person of -moderate penetration, though altogether unacquainted with what is called “Natural -History</i>,” who will take the trouble to observe particular facts and endeavor to -trace them to their causes, has every chance to be successful in adding to his own -knowledge, and frequently in making discoveries of what was previously unknown. -It is related of M. Pélissan, while a prisoner in the Bastille, that he tamed a spider -by means of music. This in conjunction with Evelyn’s observations on hunting-spiders -is strong proof of our position, and show that though books are often -of high value to guide us in our observations, they are by no means indispensable -to the study of nature, inasmuch as the varied scene of creation itself forms an -inexhaustible book, which “even he who runneth may read.”</p> - -<p>“It will be of the utmost importance, in the study here recommended, to bear -in mind that an insect can never be found in any situation, nor make any movement, -without some motive, originating in the instinct imparted to it by Providence. -This principle alone, when it is made the basis of inquiry into such motives -or instincts, will be found productive of many interesting discoveries, which, -without it, might never be made. With this, indeed, exclusively in view, during -an excursion, and with a little attention and perseverance, every walk—nay, -every step—may lead to delightful and interesting knowledge.”—“<span class="smcap">Insect Architecture</span>,” -p. 219.</p> -</div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Plate_4">[Plate IV]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp42" id="Plate_IV" style="max-width: 28em;"> - <div class="caption"><p class="right"><i>Plate IV.</i></p></div> - <img class="w100" src="images/plate_iv.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> - - <p>Spiders, with the processes of Spinning and Weaving.</p> - </div> - </div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_X">CHAPTER X.<br /> -<small>FIBRES OR SILKEN MATERIAL OF THE PINNA.</small></h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">The Pinna—Description of—Delicacy of its threads—Réaumur’s observations—Mode -of forming the filament or thread—Power of continually producing new -threads—Experiments to ascertain this fact—The Pinna and its Cancer -Friend—Nature of their alliance—Beautiful phenomenon—Aristotle and Pliny’s -account—The Greek poet Oppianus’s lines on the Pinna, and its Cancer friend—Manner -of procuring the Pinna—Poli’s description—Specimens of the Pinna -in the British Museum—Pearls found in the Pinna—Pliny and Athenæus’s account—Manner -of preparing the fibres of the Pinna for weaving—Scarceness -of this material—No proof that the ancients were acquainted with the art -of knitting—Tertullian the first ancient writer who makes mention of the -manufacture of cloth from the fibres of the Pinna—Procopius mentions a -chlamys made of the fibres of the Pinna, and a silken tunic adorned with sprigs -or feathers of gold—Boots of red leather worn only by Emperors—Golden fleece -of the Pinna—St. Basil’s account—Fibres of the Pinna not manufactured into -cloth at Tarentum in ancient times, but in India—Diving for the Pinna at Colchi—Arrian’s -account.</p> -</div> - -<p>In the preceding chapter we have confined our remarks, -principally, to the various attempts made to obtain a silken or -filamentous material from the spider, and although those efforts -have not been crowned with that degree of success which would -render a speculation of the kind worthy of our attention in a -pecuniary point of view, yet, it must be conceded, that the subject -is scarcely the less interesting; and Mr. Bon, the gentleman -who first undertook the training of spiders, has at least -given us matter for further interesting speculation. It is now -about 104 years since Mr. Bon commenced his experiments.</p> - -<p>In this chapter, we shall proceed to describe the Pinna of the -ancients, and upon which human ingenuity has been more -successfully exercised in seeking, many feet below the surface -of the Ocean, for the slender filaments, the produce of an animal -in almost a vegetative state of existence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span> -The Pinna is a bivalve<a id="FNanchor_183" href="#Footnote_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a> shell-fish, which, when full grown, -is 18 inches long, and 6 wide at its broad end. It is found -near the shores of South Italy, Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia; -also in the Bay of Smyrna, and in the Indian Ocean. It does -not fasten itself to rocks in the same position as the muscle, but -sticks its sharp end into the mud or sand, while the rest of the -shell is at liberty to open in the water. In common with the -muscle, it has the power of spinning a viscid matter from its -body, conformably with that of the spider and caterpillar. Although -the pinna is vastly larger than the muscle, its shell being -sometimes found two feet long, the threads which it produces -are more delicate and slender than those of the muscle, being -in fineness and beauty scarcely inferior to the single filament -of the comparatively minute silk-worm. Threads so delicately -thin, as may readily be imagined, do not singly possess much -strength; but the little power of each is made up by the aggregate -of the almost infinite number which each fish puts forth -to secure itself in a fixed situation, and preserve it against the -rolling of the waves. The threads are, however, similar in -their nature to those of the muscle, differing only in their superior -fineness and greater length. These fish have, therefore, -been distinguished by some naturalists, the one as the silk-worm, -the other as caterpillar of the sea.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_183" href="#FNanchor_183" class="label">[183]</a> An animal having two valves, or a shell consisting of two parts which open -and shut.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>It has been from a very remote period well known, that muscles -have the power of affixing themselves either to rocks or the -shells of one another, in a very firm manner; yet their method -of effecting this was not understood until explained by the accurate -observations of M. Réaumur, the <i>first</i> naturalist who ascertained -that if, by any accident, the animals were torn from -their hold, they possessed the power of substituting other threads -for those which had been broken or injured. It was found by -him, that if muscles, detached from each other, were placed in -any kind of vessel and then plunged into the sea, they contrived -in a very short time to fasten themselves both to the -vessel’s side and one another’s shells: in this process, the extremity -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span> -of each thread seemed to perform the office of a hand -in seizing upon the body to which it would attach itself.</p> - -<p>The threads issue from the shell at that part where it naturally -opens, and in affixing themselves to any substance, form -numerous minute cables, by which the fish steadies itself in the -water. Each animal is provided with an organ, which it is -difficult to designate by any name, since it performs the office -of so many members, and is the only indicator of the existence -of vital powers in the creature. It is by turns a tongue, an -arm, and sometimes a leg. Its shape resembles that of a -tongue, and is, therefore, most frequently called by that name. -Whenever the fish requires to change its place, this member -serves to drag its body forward, together with its cumbrous habitation: -in performing a journey, the extremity of this organ, -which may then be styled a leg, is fixed to some solid body, -and being then contracted in length, the whole fish is necessarily -drawn towards the spot where it intends to station itself; -and by a repetition of these movements, the animal arrives at -its destination. It is not often that the organ is put to this use, -as the pinna is but little addicted to locomotion: some naturalists -indeed affirm that it is always stable. The purpose to -which the tongue is most frequently applied, is that of spinning -the threads. Although this body is flat, and in form similar to -a tongue through the greater part of its length, it becomes cylindrical -about the base or root, where it is much smaller than -in any other part: at this lower end are several ligatures of a -muscular nature, which keep the tongue firmly fixed against -the middle of the shell; four of these cords are very apparent, -and serve to move the tongue in any direction according to the -wants of the fish. Through the entire length of this member -there runs a slit, which pierces so deeply into its surface, as almost -to divide it into two longitudinal sections; this performs the -office of a canal for the liquor of which the threads are formed, -and serves to mould them into their proper form: the canal appears -externally like a small crack, being almost covered by the -flesh from either side, but internally it is much wider, and surrounded -by circular fibres. The channel thus formed extends -regularly from the tip to the base of the tongue, where it partakes -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span> -of the form of the member and becomes cylindric, producing -there a tube or pipe in which the canal terminates. The -viscid substance is moulded in this tube into the shape of a cord, -similar to the threads produced from it, though much thicker, -and from which all the minute fibres issue and disperse. The -internal surface of the tube, wherein the large cord is formed, is -furnished with glands for the secretion of the peculiar substance -employed in its production, and which is always in great abundance -in this animal as well as in muscles.</p> - -<p>Réaumur observed, “that although the workmanship of the -land and sea animals when completed is alike, the manner of -its production is very different. Spiders, caterpillars, &c., form -threads of any required length, by making the viscous liquor -of which the filament is formed pass through fine perforations -in the organ appointed for spinning. But the way in which -muscles form their thread is widely opposite; as the former resembles -the work of the wire-drawer<a id="FNanchor_184" href="#Footnote_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a>, so does the latter that of -the founder who casts metals in a mould.” The canal of the -organ destined for the muscle’s spinning is the mould in which -its thread is cast, and gives to it its determinate length.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_184" href="#FNanchor_184" class="label">[184]</a> This remark of M. Réaumur confirms the observations of M. H. Straus, quoted -in Chapter VII. that the thread of the silk-worm is not produced by a simple emission -of liquid matter through the orifices of the spinner, or that it acquires solidity -at once from the drying influence of the air. Indeed, silk cannot be produced in -this manner, but is <i>secreted in the form of silk in silk vessels</i>, and the spinning -apparatus, so called, only unwinds it. Mr. Straus’s observations on this head admit -of no argument. The discovery reduces all that has been heretofore written -upon the subject to the character of old lumber.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Réaumur learned the manner of the muscle performing the -operation of swimming by actually placing some of these fish -under his constant inspection. He kept them in his apartment -in a vessel filled with sea water, and distinctly saw them open -their shells and put forth their tongues. They extended and -contracted this organ several times, obtruding it in every direction, -as if seeking the fittest place whereon to fix their threads. -After repeated trials of this kind, the tongue of one was observed -to remain for some time on the spot chosen, and being -then drawn back with great quickness, a thread was very -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span> -easily discerned, fastened to the place: this operation was again -resumed, until all the threads were in sufficient number: one -fibre being produced at each movement of the tongue.</p> - -<p>The old threads were found to differ materially from those -newly spun, the latter being whiter, more glossy, and transparent -than the former, and it was thence discovered that it was -not the office of the tongue to transfer the old threads one by -one to the new spots where they were fixed, which course M. -Réaumur had thought was pursued. The old threads once -severed from the spot to which they had been originally fixed -were seen to be useless, and that every fibre employed by the -fish to secure itself in a new position was produced at the time -required; and, in short, that nature had endowed some fish, as -well as land insects, with the power of spinning threads, as -their natural wants and instincts demanded. This fact was incontrovertibly -established by cutting away, as close to the body -as they could with safety be separated, the old threads, which -were always replaced by others in a space of time as short as -was employed by other muscles not so deprived.</p> - -<p>“The pinna and its cancer friend” have on more than one -occasion been made subjects for poetry. There is doubtless -some foundation for the fact of the mutual alliance between -these aquatic friends which has been thus celebrated; yet some -slight coloring may have been borrowed from the regions of -fancy wherewith to adorn the verse, and even the prose history -of their attachment may be exposed to a similar objection.</p> - -<p>The scuttle-fish, a native of the same seas with the pinna, is -its deadly foe, and would quickly destroy it, were it not for its -faithful ally. In common with all the same species, the pinna is -destitute of the organs of sight, and could not, therefore, unassisted, -be aware of the vicinity of its dangerous enemy. A -small animal of the crab kind, itself deprived of a covering, but -extremely quick-sighted, takes refuge in the shell of the pinna, -whose strong calcareous valves affords a shelter to her guest, -<i>while he makes a return for this protection by going forth in -search of prey</i>. At these intervals the pinna opens her valves -to afford him egress and ingress: if the watchful scuttle-fish -now approach, the crab returns instanter with notice of the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> -danger to her hostess; who, timely warned, shuts her door and -keeps out the enemy. When the crab has, unmolested, succeeded -in loading itself with provisions, <i>it gives a signal by a -gentle noise at the opening of the shell</i>, and when admitted, -the two friends feast together on the fruit of its industry. It -would appear an arduous, nay, a task almost impossible for the -defenceless and diminutive crab, not merely to elude its enemies -and return home, but likewise obtain a supply of provender -sufficient to satisfy the wants of its larger companion. The -following different account of the nature of this alliance is more -credible:—</p> - -<p>Whenever the pinna ventures to open its shell, it is immediately -exposed to the attacks of various of the smaller kinds of -fish, which, meeting with no resistance to their first assaults, -acquire boldness and venture in. The vigilant guard, by a -gentle bite, gives notice of this to his companion, who, upon -such a hint, closes her shell, and having thus shut them in -makes a prey of those who had come to prey upon her: when -thus supplied with food, she never fails to share her booty with -so useful an ally.</p> - -<p>We are told that the sagacious observer, Dr. Hasselquist, in -his voyage, (about the middle of the last century,) to Palestine, -which he undertook for objects connected with the study of natural -history, beheld this curious phenomenon, which, although -well known to the ancients, had escaped the attention of the -moderns.</p> - -<p>It is related by Aristotle<a id="FNanchor_185" href="#Footnote_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a> that the pinna keeps a guard to -watch for her, which grows to her mouth, and serves as her -caterer: this he calls pinnophylax, and describes as a little fish -with claws like a crab. Pliny observes<a id="FNanchor_186" href="#Footnote_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a>, that the smallest species -of crab is called the pinnotores, and being from its diminutive -size liable to injury, has the prudence to conceal itself in -the shells of oysters. In another place he describes the pinna -as of the genus of shell-fish, with the further particulars that -it is found in muddy waters, always erect, and never without a -companion, called by some pinnatores, by others pinnophylax; -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span> -this being sometimes a small squill, and at others a crab, which -remains with the pinna for the sake of food.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_185" href="#FNanchor_185" class="label">[185]</a> Hist. lib. v. c. 15.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_186" href="#FNanchor_186" class="label">[186]</a> Lib. ix. 51. 66.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The description of the pinna by the Greek poet Oppianus, -who flourished in the second century, has been thus given in -English verse:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The pinna and the crab together dwell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For mutual succor in one common shell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They both to gain a livelihood combine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That takes the prey, when this has given the sign;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From hence this crab, above his fellows famed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By ancient Greeks was Pinnotores named.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It is said that the pinna fastens itself so strongly to the rocks, -that the men employed in fishing for it are obliged to use considerable -force to break the tuft of threads by which it is secured -fifteen, twenty, and sometimes even thirty feet below the -surface of the sea.</p> - -<p>It is fished up in the Gulf of Tarentum by the <i>Pernonico</i>, -which consists of two semicircular bars of iron fastened together -at the ends, at one of which is a wooden pole, at the other a -ring and cord. The fishermen conduct their boat over the -place, where the pinna is seen through the clear water, let -down the Pernonico, and, having loosened the pinna by embracing -it with the iron bars and twisting it round, draw it up -to the boat. The pinna is also obtained by diving. Poli, in -his splendid work on the Sicilian Testacea (<i>Parma</i>, 1795, -<i>folio</i>,) gives beautiful representations of the several species and -especially of the Pinna Nobilis<a id="FNanchor_187" href="#Footnote_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a>. The following description of -submarine scenery and operations, is so vivid and pleasing that -we quote it at length.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_187" href="#FNanchor_187" class="label">[187]</a> The figure (Fig. 7.) of the Pinna Nobilis, <a href="#Plate_III">Plate III.</a>, is reduced from Plate -XXXIV. in vol. ii.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Pinnis hujusmodi abundant præ cæteris litus Trinacriæ, sinus Tarentinus, -oraque maritima Crateris Neapolitani, potissimum ultra Promontorium Pausilypi. -Equidem persummâ adficimur animi jucunditate, quoties illarum piscationis recordamur, -quam vere jam inchoato inibi facere iterum iterumque consuevimus. Est -ad Insulam Nisitæ, quâ illa ad septentrionem vergit, respicitque contra Pausilypi -Promontorium, amœnissimi maris plaga, quoddam maris ocium. Ibi inter ingentes, -pulcherrimosque marinarum stirpium saltus, quibus plaga illa undique -virescit, oculosque animumque recreat, Pinnarum greges sponte gignuntur; quæ -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span> -mari tranquillo, umbrisque ab insulæ summitate cadentibus, ab iis qui cymbis insistunt, -ad triginta fermè pedum altitudinem, subrectæ, inque fundo arenoso defixæ -perspicuè cerni possunt. Urinatores igitur, sese mari submergentes, illis arripiendis -destinantur. Quoniam vero, ne reiteratis quidem ictibus, ab arenâ, ubi consitæ -sunt, educi queunt; arena etenim, et pondere suo et altissimâ aquarum mole -sibi incumbente fortiter stipata, urinatorum conatibus validè resistit; hi maris fundum -nacti, ibique veluti in solo sedentes, arenam Pinnæ circumjectam manibus -averrunt, Pinnamque deinceps ambabus manibus comprehensam divellere conantur. -Et si diutius, quam par est, spiritum cohibere nequeunt, ad summa æquorum -ascendunt, suberibusque aquæ innatantibus inibi de industriâ positis innituntur, -donec tandem aëris haustu recreati, maris fundum iterum petant, operamque penitus -absolvant. <i>v.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 230, 231.</p> - -<p>This species of Pinna is especially abundant on the shores of Sicily, in the -Gulf of Taranto, and in the Bay of Naples, particularly beyond the Cape of Posilipo. -It always fills my mind with the greatest delight to recollect the manner -of fishing for it, in which I have often taken a part at that spot in the commencement -of spring. On the northern shore of the Isle of Nisida opposite Posilipo, -is a most agreeable expanse of water, where the sea appears to be ever at -rest. Here, amidst those vast and most beauteous submarine forests, with which -the coast is decorated in every direction so as at once to charm the mind and refresh -the eye, the Pinna grows spontaneously in large groups, and in calm water, -when the shadows fall from the summit of the island, is clearly seen by persons -in boats growing nearly upright and fixed in the sandy bottom at the depth of -about thirty feet. There are divers, whose business it is to bring it up. But, -since it cannot be loosened even by repeated blows, (for the sand firmly resists -the attempts of the diver, being supported by its own weight and by the super-incumbent -water,) in these circumstances he sits down at the bottom of the sea, -brushes away with his fingers the earth which encompasses the shell, and then -endeavors to pull it up by seizing it with both hands. If he is thus likely to be -detained at the bottom for a longer time than he can hold his breath, he ascends -to the surface, supports himself <i>upon corks</i>, which are in readiness for him, and, -when he has sufficiently recovered himself by breathing, he again dives to the -bottom to complete his task.</p> -</div> - -<p>The specimens of Pinna in the British Museum show not -only the tuft, but also the pearls and the mother of pearl. Poli -found in one specimen of the Pinna Nobilis no less than twenty -pearls, of which he has given figures in his splendid work. -Pliny (l. ix. c. 35.) mentions the practice of diving for the Pinna -in the Mediterranean Sea in order to obtain pearls from it: -and Athenæus (l. iii. p. 93 Casaub.) has preserved extracts from -two historical writers, one of whom accompanied Alexander on -his Indian expedition, and who informs us, that the Pinna was -procured in the Indian seas, by diving and for the sake of the -pearls.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> -The Italians call the fibres <i>Lana Pesce</i> or <i>Lana Penna</i>, -i. e. <i>Fish Wool</i>, or <i>Pinna Wool</i>. It is not equally good in all -places. When the bottom of the sea is sandy, the shell with -its bunch of fibres may be easily extracted, and they are silky -and of a fine color. But in rushy and muddy bottoms so fast -do they stick as to be generally broken in drawing up, and are -of a blackish color without gloss.</p> - -<p>The Lana Penna is twice washed in tepid water, once in -soap and water, and again in tepid water, then spread on a table -to dry: while yet moist, it is rubbed and separated with the -hand, and again spread on the table. When quite dry, it is -drawn through a wide comb of bone, and then through a narrow -one. That which is destined for very fine works is also -drawn through iron combs, called <i>scarde</i> (<i>cards</i>). It is then -spun with a distaff and spindle.</p> - -<p>As it is impossible to procure much of this material of a -good quality, the manufacture is very limited, and the articles -produced, stockings and gloves, are expensive. They are esteemed -excellent preservatives against cold and damp, are soft -and very warm, and the finest of a brown cinnamon, or glossy -gold color. The manufacture is chiefly carried on at Taranto, -the ancient <i>Tarentum</i><a id="FNanchor_188" href="#Footnote_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_188" href="#FNanchor_188" class="label">[188]</a> Riedesel’s Travels through Sicily and Græcia Magna, translated by J. R. -Forster, London, 1773, p. 178-180. De Salis, Travels in the Kingdom of Naples. -Keppel Craven, Tour through the Southern Provinces of the Kingdom of -Naples, p. 185. D’Argenville, Lithol. et Conchologie, p. 183, and Plate 25.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The <i>Lana Penna</i>, having been spun, is now almost universally -knit. But, as it does not appear that the ancients -were acquainted with this process prior to the second century, -whatever garments they made of this material must have been -woven.</p> - -<p>The first proof we possess of its use among them is in Tertullian, -who lived in the second century (<i>De Pallio</i>, iii. <i>p.</i> -115, <i>Rigaltii</i>). Speaking of the materials for weaving, he -says,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Nec fuit satis tunicam pangere et serere, ni etiam piscari vestitum contigisset -nam et de mari vellera, quo mucosæ lanusitatis plautiores conchæ comant.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span> -Nor was it enough to comb and to sow the materials for a tunic. It was necessary -also to fish for one’s dress. For fleeces are obtained from the sea, where -shells of extraordinary size are furnished with tufts of mossy hair<a id="FNanchor_189" href="#Footnote_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a>. (See Fig. 7, -<a href="#Plate_II">Plate II.</a>)</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_189" href="#FNanchor_189" class="label">[189]</a> In this passage <i>piscari</i> is rather fancifully opposed to <i>pangere</i> and <i>serere</i>. -The former of these two terms (<i>pangere</i>) refers to tunics of wool, which was <i>pacta</i> -or <i>pexa</i>; the latter to tunics of cotton and flax, which were <i>sata</i>. The epithet -<i>plautiores</i>, (etymologically allied to <i>latiores</i>, and to πλατὺς,) well describes the -large size and expanded form of the Pinna.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Procopius informs us (<i>De Edif. lib.</i> iii. <i>c.</i> 1.), that Armenia -was governed by five hereditary satraps, who received their -<i>insignia</i> from the Roman Emperor. Among these was a -Chlamys made of the fibres of the Pinna. (Χλαμὺς ἡ ἐξ ἐρίων -πεποιημένη, οὐχ οἷα τῶν προβατίων ἐκπέφυκεν, ἀλλ’ ἐκ θαλάσσης συνειλεγμένων· πίννους τὰ -ζῶα καλεῖν νενομίκασι, ἐν οἷς ἡ τῶν ἐρίων ἔκφυσις γίνεται.) This chlamys was -fastened with a fibula of gold, in which a precious stone was -set, and three hyacinths were suspended from it by golden -chains (χρυσαῖς τε καὶ χαλαραῖς ἀλύσεσιν.) The chlamys was accompanied -by a silken tunic, adorned with sprigs or “<i>feathers</i>” of -gold. It is thus described:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Χιτὼν ἐκ μετάξης, ἐγκαλλωπίσμασι χρυσοῖς πανταχόθεν ὡραΐσμενος, ἃ δὴ νενομίκασι -πλούμμια καλεῖν.</p> -</div> - -<p>With the chlamys and tunic were worn boots of red leather, -such as only the emperors of Rome and Persia were allowed to -wear.</p> - -<p>St. Basil mentions with admiration “the golden fleece” of -the Pinna, which no artificial dye could imitate. Πόθεν τὸ χρυσοῦν -ἔριον αἱ πίνναι τρέφουσιν, ὅπερ οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀνθοβάφων ἐμιμήσατο.—<i>Hexaem.</i> vii.</p> - -<p>Whether the tuft of the Pinna was used for weaving before -the time of the authors, who have now been cited, seems -doubtful. As the Pinna is frequently mentioned by earlier -writers, both Greek and Latin<a id="FNanchor_190" href="#Footnote_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a>, but without any reference to -the use of its tuft, it may be regarded as probable, that this -kind of cloth was not invented before the time of Tertullian.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_190" href="#FNanchor_190" class="label">[190]</a> The passages are collected in Stephani Thesaurus L. Græcæ, ed. Valpy, -p. 7579.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>It is a no less curious question, Whence did the ancients obtain -the fibres of the Pinna, <i>and where was the manufacture -of them carried on</i>?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> -It has been commonly said at <i>Tarentum</i>, but apparently -for no other reason than that the Pinna is obtained and the -manufacture principally carried on at <i>Taranto</i> in modern -times. By referring to the authorities above quoted, it will be -seen that none of them makes any allusion to Tarentum. -Consequently we have no direct evidence, that this was the -seat of the ancient manufacture. On the contrary, we have -testimony, that fine cloths of this substance were made in -<i>India</i>, and thence imported into Greece and other countries.</p> - -<p>The author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, a document -of an age at least as late as the time of Tertullian, states -that the business of diving for the wool of the Pinna was prosecuted -near the city called <i>Colchi</i> in the south of India. Different -species of Pinna with tufts of fine silk are now no less -abundant in the Indian than the Mediterranean Sea. The -Periplus of the Erythrean Sea presents a sufficient proof, that -this beautiful substance was spun and woven by the Indians, -whereas we can only suppose from analogy that the manufacture -was carried on in ancient times by the Tarentines.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_XI">CHAPTER XI<br /> -<small>FIBRES, OR SILKEN MATERIAL OF THE PINE-APPLE.</small></h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Fibres of the Pine-Apple—Facility of dyeing—Manner of preparing the fibres for -weaving—Easy cultivation of the plant—Thrives where no other plant will -live—Mr. Frederick Burt Zincke’s patent process of manufacturing cloth from -the fibres of this plant—Its comparative want of strength—Silken material procured -from the Papyfera—Spun and woven into cloth—Cloth of this description -manufactured generally by the Otaheiteans, and other inhabitants of the South -Sea Islands—Great strength (supposed) of ropes made from the fibres of the -aloe—Exaggerated statements.</p> -</div> - -<p>This plant, which has hitherto been valued solely as ministering -to the luxuries of the table, has lately had a new interest -attached to it from the discovery of a fibre contained in -its leaves, possessing such valuable properties, that it will, in -all probability, soon form a new and important article of commerce.</p> - -<p>The fibres of the pine-apple plant are disposed in fasciculi, -each apparent fibre being an assemblage of fibres adhering together, -of such exceeding delicacy, as only to measure from -1/5000th to 1/7000th part of an inch in diameter; viewed under the -microscope, they bear considerable resemblance to silk, from -their glossy, even, and smooth texture. They appear altogether -destitute of joints, or other irregularities, and are remarkably -transparent, particularly when viewed in water: they are very -elastic, of considerable strength, and readily receive the most -delicate dyes. This last fact appears singular, when we bear -in mind the resistance, if we may be allowed the expression, -which flax offers to dyes. With much trouble, and by long -processes, flax will receive a few dark dingy colors: all light -and brilliant ones it wholly resists; they do not enter the fibre, -but merely dry upon it externally, and afterwards easily peel, -or rub off,—in short, it may be said to be <i>painted</i>, and not -dyed.</p> - -<p>The preparation of the pine-fibre is exceedingly simple. If -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span> -a leaf of this plant be examined, it will be found to consist of -an assemblage of fibres running parallel from one extremity of -the leaf to the other, embedded in the soft pabulum. All the -process necessary is to pass the leaf under a “tilt hammer,” the -rapid action of which, in a few seconds, completely crushes it, -without in the slightest degree injuring the fibre, which remains -in a large skein, and then requires to be rinsed out in -soft water, to cleanse it from impurities, and be afterwards dried -in the shade. So simple and rapid is the process, that a leaf, in -a quarter of an hour after being cut from the plant, may be in -a state fit for the purposes of the manufacturer, as a glossy, -white fibre, with its strength unimpaired by any process of maceration, -which, by inducing partial putrefaction, not only materially -injures the strength of flax, but also renders it of a -dingy color.</p> - -<p>The pine-plant abounds both in the East and West Indies, -and may be easily propagated from the crown; offsets from -round the base of the fruit, which often amount to upwards of -twenty in number; and from the young plants which spring -from the parent stem; its cultivation requires but little care or -expense, and is of such hardy growth, as to be almost independent -of those casualties of weather, which often prove so detrimental -to more delicate crops—it is one of those plants which -Nature has scattered so profusely through tropical regions, -whose leaves are thick and fleshy, to contain a large supply of -nourishment, and covered by a thick, glazed cuticle; admitting -of so little evaporation, that many of them will thrive upon a -barren rock, where no other plant would live. Also from the -large portion of oxalic acid which the leaves contain, no animal -will touch them, and are, therefore, exempt from the trespasses -of cattle, &c. Indeed no greater proof of the hardiness of the -plant can be given, than the fact, that in many places where -lands have been under tillage,—afterwards abandoned, and allowed -to return to a state of nature, the pine-apple plant exhibits -the only trace of former cultivation; every other cultivated -plant has died away before the encroachments of the surrounding wood, -while they alone remained increasing from year -to year, and spread into large beds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span> -Mr. Frederick Burt Zincke obtained a patent in England, -bearing date December 9, 1836, for the following mode of preparing -the filaments of this plant, the “<i>Bromelia ananas</i>.” -We give the patentee’s own description (with slight emendations), -as received from the patent office, London, and which is -as follows.</p> - -<p>“I (the said Frederick Burt Zincke) do hereby declare that -the nature of my said invention consists—Firstly, in preparing -or manufacturing the leaf of the plant, commonly called the -pine-apple, by bruising, beating, washing, and drying the same, -in such manner as to separate the long fibrous parts from the -cuticle pabulum, and other matter comprising the said leaf. -Secondly, in the application of the fibrous substance, so prepared -to various manufactures and purposes, for which silk, flax, -cotton, hemp, wool, and other fibrous materials are now used. -And further, I describe the manner in which my said invention -is to be performed by the following statement: For the purpose -of preparing the fibre, I cut the leaves from the pine-apple plant, -at any period from the time of their obtaining their full growth, -till the ripening of the fruit, for I find that if the leaves are -taken before they are full grown, the fibre is less strong, and if -suffered to remain on the plant, after the ripening of the fruit, -the fibre becomes harsh, and is more difficult to divest of the -extraneous matter. The small thorns having been trimmed -from the edge of the leaves, with a sharp knife, the leaves -should be crushed, so as to disengage the fibre from the other -matter composing the leaf, for which purpose the employment -of a mallet upon a block of wood, will fully answer the intended -purpose. This process of crushing is to be continued until -the fibre appears in an assemblage of long silky filaments, -with more or less of the pulpy and other matter of the leaf adhering -to them; to cleanse them from which they are to be -well rinsed in soft water, <i>immediately after having been -crushed</i> or beaten, and then the water should forthwith be -squeezed out of them, by drawing them between the edges of -two pieces of wood, placed parallel to each other, so as to admit -of the fibres being drawn out rather lightly between them, for -if the green matter is allowed to dry on the fibre, it of course -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> -becomes more difficult to cleanse. The washing must be carefully -performed, so as to prevent the fibre from becoming tangled -or knotted. The operation of washing or rinsing must be repeated -until the fibre be thoroughly cleansed. If it be found -difficult to clean the fibre from the extraneous matter, in consequence -of not collecting the leaves from the plant sufficiently -early, or from any other cause, the operation will be facilitated -by boiling the fibre, after it has been beaten, and partially purified -in a solution of soap in soft water. For this purpose the -fibre must be regularly disposed in any suitable vessel, so as to -prevent its becoming tangled, with sufficient water to cover it, -in which soap has been dissolved, in the proportion of about -5 lbs. to 50 lbs. of fibre, a light weight being then placed upon it, -to keep the fibre beneath the surface of the liquor; the whole -is then to be boiled for the space of three or four hours, and after -boiling, to be well rinsed out in soft water, and squeezed as -before directed. The fibre having been cleansed by these processes, -is to be <i>gradually dried in the shade</i>, and occasionally -shaken out, so as to prevent the too close adhesion of the filament -in drying, which would otherwise take place. The fibre -may be obtained free from the extraneous matter of the leaf -by other modes; but I prefer that which I have above described. -As to the second part of my said invention, it is only necessary -to observe that from the <i>superiority of this fibre in several respects -over those now in common use</i>(?), it is adapted to a -vast number of purposes, in which fibrous materials are now -employed; it is of a glossy white color, it receives dyes with facility, -it possesses great strength, and is divisible to an exceeding -degree of fineness, for upon examination each filament -that appears a single fibre, is, in fact, a bundle of very delicate -fibres, adhering more or less strongly together. These qualities -render it applicable to the manufacture of <i>shawls</i>, <i>drills</i>, <i>damask-linens</i>, -<i>plushes</i>, <i>carpets</i>, <i>rugs</i>, <i>lace</i>, <i>bonnets</i>, <i>paper</i>; as a -material for <i>rope</i>, <i>twine</i>, or <i>thread</i>, and a variety of other purposes -to which silk, cotton, flax hemp, wool, and other fibrous -materials are now applied. As a material for spinning in the -ordinary method in which flax is now spun through hot water, -this fibre requires to undergo the process generally in use for -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span> -bleaching flax. I find the period at which the bleaching can -be most conveniently performed, is when the fibre is in the -state called technically “a roving;” for the coarser yarns the -first stages of the bleaching process will be sufficient, but this -operation must be carried further, in proportion to the fineness -of the yarn intended to be spun. The effect of the bleaching -upon the fibre is, to disengage part of the adhesive matter, -which connects the fine filaments together, and render the -yarn susceptible of longation, between the receiving and delivering -rollers in spinning, after it has passed through the hot -water; I therefore claim as my invention, the preparing and -manufacturing into the fibres hereinbefore particularly described; -the leaf of the plant commonly called the pine-apple, by any -mode or modes of preparation, and also the application of the -said fibres, when prepared and manufactured, to the several -purposes hereinbefore also particularly specified, the same being -to the best of my knowledge (information, remembrance, and -belief), now and not heretofore practised.”</p> - -<p>M. de la Rouverie affirms, that he procured a beautiful vegetable -silk from the Papyfera or paper mulberry; cutting the -bark while the tree was in sap, beating it with mallets, and -steeping it in water; he obtained a thread from the fibres, almost -equal to silk in quality; and this was woven into a cloth -the texture of which appeared as if formed of that material. -The finest sort of cloth among the inhabitants of Otaheite, and -other of the South Sea Islands, is made of the bark of this -tree.</p> - -<p>According to M. Chevremont, Engineer of Mines, “ropes -made of aloes have <i>four times the resistance</i> of those of hemp -of the same diameter, and made by the same process(?). The -fibres of the aloe contain a resinous substance which protects -the ropes from the action of moisture: even at sea, and renders -the tarring of them unnecessary. They are lighter than hempen -ropes, and lose nothing of their strength by being wet(?). -When plunged into water, they are shortened only two per -cent., so that they become less rigid than ropes made of -hemp(?).”</p> - -<p>There appears to be a good deal of exaggeration in regard -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span> -to the great superiority of the fibres of these plants over cotton, -flax, &c. This is particularly the case in regard to Mr. Zincke, -for although he succeeded in producing some very beautiful -specimens of fabric, in conformity with the foregoing specification, -yet, the manufacture does not appear to make much progress, -chiefly on account of the <i>inferiority in point of strength -of the cloth</i>, more especially when bleached.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_XII">CHAPTER XII.<br /> -<small>MALLOWS.</small></h3> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="h3sub">CULTIVATION AND USE OF THE MALLOW AMONG THE ANCIENTS.—TESTIMONY -OF LATIN, GREEK, AND ATTIC WRITERS.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">The earliest mention of Mallows is to be found in Job xxx. 4.—Varieties of the -Mallow—Cultivation and use of the Mallow—Testimony of ancient authors—Papias -and Isidore’s mention of Mallow cloth—Mallow cloth common in the -days of Charlemagne—Mallow shawls—Mallow cloths mentioned in the Periplus -as exported from India to Barygaza (Baroch)—Calidāsa the Indian dramatist, -who lived in the first century B. C.—His testimony—Wallich’s (the Indian -botanist) account—Mantles of woven bark, mentioned in the Sacontăla -of Calidāsa—Valcălas or Mantles of woven bark, mentioned in the Ramayana, -a noted poem of ancient India—Sheets made from trees—Ctesias’ testimony—Strabo’s -account—Testimony of Statius Cæcilius and Plautus, who lived 169 -B. C. and 184 B. C.—Plautus’s laughable enumeration of the analogy of trades—Beauty -of garments of Amorgos mentioned by Eupolis—Clearchus’s testimony—Plato -mentions linen shifts—Amorgine garments first manufactured at -Athens in the time of Aristophanes.</p> -</div> - -<p>The earliest mention of mallows is that given in the book -of Job, in the following words: “For want and famine they -were solitary: fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate -and waste. Who cut up <i>mallows</i> by the bushes, and <i>juniper-roots</i> -for their meat.”—Job xxx. 4.</p> - -<p>We find in ancient authors of a more modern date, distinct -mention of three species of malvaceous plants, which are still -common in the South of Europe. These are, the Common -Mallow, <i>Malva Silvestris</i>, Linn.; the Marsh Mallow, <i>Althæa -Officinalis</i>, Linn.; and the Hempleaved Mallow, <i>Althæa Cannabina</i>, -Linn.</p> - -<p>The Common Mallow is called by the Latin writers <i>Malva</i>, -by the Greek Μαλάχη, or Μολόχη.</p> - -<p>This plant was used for food from the earliest times. Hesiod -represents living on Mallows and asphodel as the sign of -moderation, contentment, and simplicity of manners.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Νήπιοι, οὐδ’ ἴσασιν ὅσῳ πλέον ἥμισυ παντὸς,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Οὐδ’ ὅσον ἐν μαλάχῃ τε καὶ ἀσφοδέλῳ μέγ’ ὄνειαρ.—<i>Op. et Dies</i>, 41.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Fools! not to know how much more the half is than the whole, and how much -benefit there is in mallows and asphodel.</p> -</div> - -<p>A dish of these vegetables was probably the cheapest of all -kinds of food; they grew wild in the meadow and by the wayside, -and were gathered and dressed without any labor or -trouble.</p> - -<p>Various authors however mention the cultivation of the Common -Mallow in gardens. See Virgil, <i>Moretum</i>, 73. Pliny, -<i>Hist. Nat.</i> l. xix. c. 22 and 31. Isidori <i>Orig.</i> l. xvii. c. 10. -Papiæ <i>Vocabular.</i> v. <i>Malva. Geoponica</i>, xii. l. Palladuis, iii. -24. xi. ll.</p> - -<p>Dioscorides (<i>l.</i> ii. c. III.) calls it the Garden Mallow. Aristophanes -(<i>Plutus</i> 544.) mentions eating the shoots of mallows -instead of bread, intending by this to represent a vile and destitute -kind of living. Plutarch (<i>Septem Sapientum Convivium</i>) -says, “The mallow is good for food, and the Anthericus -is sweet.” According to Le Clerc ὁ ἀνθέρικος (<i>Anthericus</i>) -means the scapus of the asphodel: if he is right, this plant was -eaten as we now eat asparagus. It is also remarkable that on -this supposition Plutarch mentions the same two plants, which -are also mentioned together by Hesiod.</p> - -<p>According to Theophrastus (<i>Hist. Plant.</i> vii. 7. 2.) the mallow -was not eaten raw, as in a salad, but required to be cooked. -Cicero (<i>Epist. ad Fam.</i> vii. 26.) mentions the highly-seasoned -vegetables at a dinner given by his friend Lentulus. Having -been made ill by them, he says, that he, “who easily abstained -from oysters and lampreys, had been deceived by beet and -mallows.” Probably the leaves of the mallow were on this occasion -boiled, chopped, and seasoned, much in the same way -as spinach is now prepared in France.</p> - -<p>Moschus in the following well-known lines refers to the common -mallow together with other culinary vegetables:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Αἲ, αἲ, ταὶ μαλάχαι μὲν, ἐπὰν κατὰ κᾶπον ὄλωνται,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἠδὲ τὰ χλωρὰ σέλινα, τό τ’ εὐθαλὲς οὖλον ἄνηθον,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ὕστερον αὖ ζώοντι, καὶ εἰς ἔτος ἄλλο φυόντι.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Mallows, alas! die down, and parsley, and flourishing fennel;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then they spring up afresh, and live next year in the garden.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span>This is accurately true of the common mallow, the root of -which is perennial, so that the stems grow up and die down -again every year. Accordingly Theophrastus brings it as an -example of a plant <i>with annual stems</i><a id="FNanchor_191" href="#Footnote_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_191" href="#FNanchor_191" class="label">[191]</a> Hist. Plant. l. vii. c. 8. p. 142. Heinsii. 240. Schneider.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Horace in two passages signifies his partiality to mallows, -calling them “<i>leves</i>,” <i>light to digest</i>.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Let olives be my food, endive, and mallows light.</p> -<p class="right"><i>Od.</i> <i>l.</i> i. 31. <i>v.</i> 16.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Mallows, salubrious to a frame o’er-filled.</p> -<p class="right">Epod. 2. 57.</p> -</div> - -<p>Martial recommends this vegetable on account of its laxative -effect:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Utere lactucis, et mollibus utere malvis. (iii. 47.)</p> - -<p>Exoneratarus ventrem mihi villica malvas<br /> -Attulit, et varias, quas habet hortus, opes. (x. 48.) -</p> - -</div> - -<p>Diphilus of Siphnos (<i>as quoted by Athenæus</i>, <i>l.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 58. E. -<i>Casaub.</i>), after enumerating the medical virtues of the Common -Mallow, says, that “the wild was better than the cultivated -kind.”</p> - -<p>Without quoting other classical authorities, the ancient practice -may be illustrated by the observations of modern travellers, -who mention that the Common Mallow is still an article of consumption -in the same parts of the world.</p> - -<p>Biddulph, who visited Syria about the year 1600, says, he -“saw near Aleppo many poor people gathering mallows, and -three-leaved grass, and asked them what they did with it, and -they answered, that it was all their food, and that they boiled -it, and did eat it.” (<i>Collection of Voyages and Travels from -the Library of the E. of Oxford</i>, <i>p.</i> 807.)</p> - -<p>Dr. Sibthorp states, that the <i>Malva Silvestris</i> grows wild -in Cyprus, and is called Μόλωχα. He also says, “The wild mallow -is very common about Athens: the leaves are boiled and -eaten as a pot-herb, and an ingredient in the Dolma.” (<i>Memoirs -relating to European and Asiatic Turkey</i>, <i>edited by -Walpole</i>, <i>p.</i> 245.) Dr. Holland mentions both <i>Malva Silvestris</i> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> -and <i>Althæa Officinalis</i> among the officinal plants, which -he found in Cephalonia. (<i>Travels in Greece</i>, <i>p.</i> 543, <i>4to.</i>).</p> - -<p>The <i>Althæa Officinalis</i>, or Marsh Mallow, is called by the -Greek authors Ἀλθαία, by the Latin, Hibiscus. Theophrastus -says, that it went also under the name of wild mallow<a id="FNanchor_192" href="#Footnote_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a>. Whilst -the Common Mallow, though highly esteemed for its medicinal -virtues, was principally regarded as a substantial article of food; -the Marsh Mallow, on the contrary, seems to have been rarely -used except as an article of the Materia Medica<a id="FNanchor_193" href="#Footnote_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a>; and, as its -peculiar properties were likely to be more matured in the wild -than cultivated state, it does not appear to have been grown in -gardens<a id="FNanchor_194" href="#Footnote_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a>. Theophrastus describes it by comparing it with the -Common Mallow, and mentions its application, both internally -and externally, as a medicine<a id="FNanchor_195" href="#Footnote_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a>. Dioscorides (<i>l.</i> iii. <i>c.</i> 139.) gives -similar details. Besides mentioning the proper name of the -plant in Greek and in Latin, he calls it, “a kind of wild mallow.” -Palladius (<i>l.</i> xi. <i>p.</i> 184. <i>Bip.</i>) explains “<i>Hibiscus</i>” to -be the same as “<i>Althæa</i>.” See also Pliny, <i>l.</i> xx. <i>c.</i> 14. <i>ed. Bip.</i> -Virgil alludes to the use of it as fodder for goats, and as a material -for <i>weaving baskets</i><a id="FNanchor_196" href="#Footnote_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_192" href="#FNanchor_192" class="label">[192]</a> Hist. Plant. l. ix. cap. 15. p. 188. Heinsii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_193" href="#FNanchor_193" class="label">[193]</a> Calpurnius (Eclog. iv. 32,) mentions the “Hibiscus” as used for food, but -only by persons in a state of great destitution.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_194" href="#FNanchor_194" class="label">[194]</a> At a later period, however, we find the Althæa Officinalis under the name of -“<i>Ibischa Mis-malva</i>” in a catalogue of the plants, which Charlemagne selected -for cultivation in the gardens attached to his villas. See Sprengel, Hist. Rei -Herb. i. 220.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_195" href="#FNanchor_195" class="label">[195]</a> Hist. Plant. l. ix. cap. 19. p. 192. ed. Heinsii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_196" href="#FNanchor_196" class="label">[196]</a> Eclog. ii. 30. and x. 71. See Servius, Heyne, and J. II. Voss., <i>ad loc.</i></p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The Hemp-leaved Mallow, <i>Althæa Cannabina</i>, is once mentioned -by Dioscorides (<i>lib.</i> iii. <i>c.</i> 141.). Giving an account of -hemp, he distinguishes between the cultivated and the wild. -He says of the wild hemp, that the Romans called it <i>Cannabis -Terminalis</i><a id="FNanchor_197" href="#Footnote_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a>. After mentioning the medical properties of -the plant, Dioscorides says, that its bark was useful for making -ropes. The truth of this observation will be apparent to every -botanist. The plants belonging to the natural order <i>Malvaceæ</i> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span> -are all remarkable for the abundance of strong and beautiful -fibres in their bark<a id="FNanchor_198" href="#Footnote_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_197" href="#FNanchor_197" class="label">[197]</a> Meaning literally Hedge-hemp.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_198" href="#FNanchor_198" class="label">[198]</a> We have the following testimony respecting the actual fabrication of mallow-cloth -in modern times:</p> - -<p>“Nous avons vu à Madrid, chez le savant pharmacien D. Casimir Ortéga, de -ces tissus, qui nous ont semblé fort remarquables. Ils étaient faits avec l’écorce -des <i>Althéas officinalis</i> et <i>cannabina</i>, et avec celle du <i>Malva sylvestris</i>.” Fée, -Flore de Virgile, Paris 1822, p. 66.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>But of the European species there is none superior in the -fineness, the strength, the whiteness, and lustre of its fibres, to -the Common Mallow, the <i>Malva Silvestris</i>. We have seen -that the <i>ancients</i> were familiarly acquainted with this plant; -that it was commonly cultivated in their gardens; and that -they gathered it, when growing wild, to be taken as food or -medicine. In these circumstances they could scarcely fail to observe -the aptitude of its bark for being spun into thread. More -especially in places where they had no other native supply of -fibrous materials; in Attica, for example, which probably produced -neither hemp nor flax, it seems in the highest degree -probable, that the fitness of the mallow to supply materials for -weaving would not be overlooked.</p> - -<p>In producing the evidence, which establishes this as a positive -fact, we shall begin with the latest testimonies and proceed -in a reverse order upward to the most ancient. According to -this plan, the first authority is that of Papias, who wrote his -Vocabulary about the year 1050. He gives the following explanations:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Malbella vestis quæ ex malvarum stamine conficitur, quam alii molocinam vocant.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Molocina vestis quæ albo stamine sit: quam alii malbellam vocant.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>These passages clearly describe a kind of cloth made of the -white fibres of the common mallow. <i>Malbella</i>, the same with -Malvella, is a Latin adjective, in the form of a diminutive, from -<i>Malva</i>: <i>Molocina</i>, the same with Μολόχινη, is a Greek adjective -from Μολόχη, and signifies <i>made of mallow</i>.</p> - -<p>Papias, who seems in compiling his dictionary to have made -great use of Isidore, perhaps derived these explanations in part -from the following passage of the latter author:</p> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><i>Melocinia</i> (vestis est), quæ malvarum stamine conficitur, quam alii <i>molocinam</i>, -alii <i>malvellam</i> vocant. <i>Isid. Hisp. Orig.</i> xix. 22.</p> - -<p>The cloth called <i>Melocinea</i> is made of the thread of mallows, and is called by -some <i>Molocina</i>, by others <i>Malvella</i>.</p> -</div> - -<p>The passages of Papias cannot be taken as a proof, that mallow-cloth -was woven in his day. But that it was in fashion -as late as the age of Charlemagne appears from the following -line, which is quoted by Du Cange (<i>Glossar. Med. et Inf. -Lat. v. Melocineus</i>) from a poem in praise of that monarch, -attributed to Alcuin:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Tecta melocineo fulgescit femina amictu.</p> - -<p>Wrapt in a mallow shawl the lady shines.</p> -</div> - -<p>The word “<i>fulgescit</i>” aptly describes the lustre of the material -under consideration. From the Periplus of the Erythrean -Sea<a id="FNanchor_199" href="#Footnote_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a> we learn, that <i>cloths made of mallow</i>, were among the -articles of export from India, being brought from Ozene (Ugain) -and Tagara in the interior of the country to the sea-port of -Barygaza (Baroch). P. 146. 169, 170, 171.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_199" href="#FNanchor_199" class="label">[199]</a> P. 146. 169, 170, 171. Arriani Op. ed. Blancardi, tom. ii.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The genus <i>Hibiscus</i>, Linn. is very abundant in India. The -bark of a certain species of this genus, especially of H. <i>Tiliaceus</i> -and H. <i>Cannabinus</i>, is now very extensively employed -for making <i>cordage</i>, and might unquestionably have been used -for making cloth<a id="FNanchor_200" href="#Footnote_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_200" href="#FNanchor_200" class="label">[200]</a> Cavanilles, Tab. 52, fig. 1, represents H. Cannabinus, the leaf of which is -like that of hemp. Tab. 55, fig. 1, represents H. Tiliaceus, in the description of -which we read “<i>cortice in funes ductili</i>;” and Cavanilles says, the inhabitants -of the South Sea Islands (<i>Australium insularum</i>) use in their ships and boats -ropes made from the bark.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>H. <i>Tiliaceus</i> is also represented in Rheede’s Hort. Malabaricus -(vol. i. fig. 30.). It grows about 15 feet high.</p> - -<p>Dr. Wallich (Cat. of Indian Woods, p. 18.) mentions two -other species as used for making cordage from the bark.</p> - -<p>The late Mr. John Hare, who lived in India a long time, -says, that a coarse kind of cloth, used for making sacks, &c., -is now woven from Hibiscus bark.</p> - -<p>As a further evidence, that the <i>Molochina</i> mentioned in the -Periplus were made from the bark of the Hibiscus, we may -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span> -refer to that admirable specimen of Eastern taste and ingenuity, -the Sacontăla of the great Indian dramatist Calidāsa. Several -passages of this poem make mention of the <i>Valcăla</i>, which -the Sanscrit Lexicons, themselves of great antiquity, explain as -meaning either bark, or a vesture made from it. We learn -from Dr. Wallich, a celebrated Indian botanist, that many -kinds of Hibiscus had this quality in an eminent degree, and, -as their bark was in common use for making all kinds of cordage, -it might undoubtedly be employed for weaving.</p> - -<p>The Sacontăla is of a date as ancient as the Periplus. Professor -Von Bohlen (<i>Das alte Indien</i>, <i>vol.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 477.) asserts, -that the author Calidāsa certainly flourished as early as the -first century B. C. Sir William Jones makes him older by -several centuries. (<i>Works</i>, <i>vol.</i> vi. <i>p.</i> 206.) The place also -agrees as well as the time. The Hibiscus Tiliaceus, according -to Sir J. E. Smith, is “one of the most common trees in every -part of the East Indies, thriving in all sorts of situations and -soils, and cultivated for the sake of its shade even more than -the beauty of its flowers, in towns and villages and by road-sides. -A coarse cordage,” he adds, “is made of the bark; the -wood is light and white, useful for small cabinet-work; the -mucilage of the whole plant is applied to some medical purposes.” -The Molochina, mentioned in the Periplus, were -brought from Ozene and Tagara, and may have come from -still further North. The hermitage, described in the drama, -was at the foot of the Himalaya Mountains, and near the river -Malina, and, according to the representations given by the poet, -the Valcălas (translated by Sir W. Jones “<i>mantles of woven -bark</i>,” and by Chézy, “<i>vêtemens d’écorce</i>”), were worn both -by the hermits and by the beautiful Sacontăla, while she was -their inmate<a id="FNanchor_201" href="#Footnote_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_201" href="#FNanchor_201" class="label">[201]</a> Translation of the Sacontăla, Sir W. Jones’s Works, vol. vi. pp. 217. 225. 289. -Original, ed. Chézy, Paris, 1830, p. 7, l. 10.; p. 9, l. 10; p. 24, l. 7.; p. 131, l. 14. -Chézy’s translation, pp. 10. 27. 142. 143. See also Heeren, Ideen, i. 2. p. 648.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>“Valcălas” are mentioned in precisely the same manner in -the Ramayana, one of the most noted of the heroic poems of -ancient India. They are represented as coarse garments worn -by ascetics.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span> -If the explanation now given be admitted as applicable to -the Molochina of the Periplus, it may throw light upon some -other passages of ancient authors.</p> - -<p>Ctesias, in his <i>Indica</i><a id="FNanchor_202" href="#Footnote_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a>, mentions “<i>sheets made from trees</i>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_202" href="#FNanchor_202" class="label">[202]</a> Cap. 22. Fragmenta, ed. Bähr. p. 253. 326.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Strabo’s account of the webs, which he calls <i>Serica</i>, an account -derived from the writings of Nearchus, admiral of Alexander -the Great, represents those webs as made from fibres, -<i>which were scraped from the bark of trees</i>. This would apply -exactly to the supposed use of the Hibiscus for making cloth. -The bark must have been first stript from the tree, and the -fibres then scraped from the <i>inside of the bark</i>.</p> - -<p>To the same source we may, we think, trace the idea of -Arethas (<i>in Apoc.</i> <i>c.</i> 57.), that the Byssus, Rev. xix. 8., was -“<i>the bark of an Indian tree made into flax</i>.”</p> - -<p>Although the date of the following inscription, found at -Rome, is uncertain, it may be conveniently brought in here. -It is published by Muratori, <i>Novus Thesaurus Vet. Inscriptionum</i>, -<i>tom.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 939.</p> - -<p class="center">P. AVCTIVS P. L. LYSANDER. -VESTIARIVS. TENVIARIVS. -MOLOCHINARIVS. VOT. SOL. -</p> - -<p>Muratori in his Note says, that “Vestiarius Tenuiarius” was -the man who made thin garments, and “<i>Molochinarius</i>” the -man who made such garments of a mallow color.</p> - -<p>The authors, next in regard to antiquity, who make mention -of <i>Molochina</i>, are the writers of the Latin Comedy, Statius -Cæcilius, who died 169 B. C., and Plautus, who died 184 B. C.</p> - -<p>Nonius Marcellus (<i>l.</i> xvi.) quotes the following line from the -<i>Pausimachus</i> of the former dramatist:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Carbasina, molochina, ampelina.<a id="FNanchor_203" href="#Footnote_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a></p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_203" href="#FNanchor_203" class="label">[203]</a> See C. C. Statii Fragmenta, a Leonhardo Spengel, Monachii 1829, p. 35. -Statius chiefly copied Menander (<i>Gellius</i>, ii. <i>c.</i> 16.); but it is not certain that -Menander wrote any play called <i>Pausimachus</i>.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The passage of Plautus is in the Aulularia (<i>Act</i> iii. <i>Scene</i> v. -<i>l.</i> 40.), where we have a ludicrous enumeration, extending -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span> -through more than ten lines, of all the persons concerned in -the manufacture or sale of garments.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Solearii astant, astant molochinarii.</p> -</div> - -<p>All the lexicographers and commentators explain <i>Molochinarius</i> -to be one who dyes cloth of the color of the mallow. -<i>Lanarius</i> was a woollen-draper; <i>Coactiliarius</i>, a dealer in -felts, a hatter; <i>Lintearius</i> a linen-draper; and <i>Sericarius</i> a -silk-mercer. According to the same analogy, <i>Molochinarius</i> -would mean <i>a dealer in Molochina</i>, i. e. <i>in all kinds of cloth -made from mallows</i>.</p> - -<p>The class of writers, which will now be produced as affording -testimony respecting the use of the mallow for weaving, -are Greek authors, and who instead of the common Greek -terms employ the Attic term Ἀμοργὸς and its derivatives.</p> - -<p> Ἀμοργὸς has been explained by some of the lexicographers -to be a kind of flax (See Julius Pollux, L. vii. § 74.). Perhaps -by this explanation nothing more was intended than that it -was a plant, the fibres of which were used to spin and weave -into cloth. It is highly probable that it was the <i>Malva Silvestris</i> -or <i>Common Mallow</i>, and that it was called Ἀμοργὸς.</p> - -<p>According to the Attic lexicons of Pausanias (<i>apud Eustath. -l. c.</i>) and of Mœris, Ἀμοργὸς was an Attic term. We now find -traces of it in seven Attic writers, four or five of whom wrote -comedy. These are Aristophanes, Cratinus, Antiphanes, Eupolis, -Clearchus, Æschines, and Plato.</p> - -<p>I. We shall take first Aristophanes, whose comedy called -Lysistrata is frequently quoted by Pausanias and Cratinus, and -being still extant throws considerable light upon the subject. It -was represented in the year 412. B. C. Lysistrata says (<i>l.</i> -150),</p> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Κᾂν τοῖς χιτώνιοισι τοῖς ἁμόργινοις</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Γυμναὶ παριοῖμεν,</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p>“And if we should present ourselves naked in shifts of amorgos;” -showing that these shifts were transparent. Accordingly -Mœris says, that the ἀμόργινον was λεπτὸν ὕφασμα, “a thin web.” Bisetus -in his Greek commentary on this play, after quoting the -explanations of Stephanus Byzantinus, Suidas, Eustathius, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span> -and the Etymologicum Magnum, judiciously concludes as follows: -“From all these it is manifest, that ἀμόργινοι χιτώνες, -whether they took their name from a place, from their color, or -from the raw material, were a kind of valuable robe, worn by -the rich, fashionable, and luxurious women.”</p> - -<p>A subsequent passage of the Lysistrata (v. 736-741) still -further illustrates this subject. A woman laments, that she has -left at home her ἀμοργις <i>without being peeled</i> (ἄλοπον), and she -goes <i>to peel it</i> (ἀποδείρειν). The mallow no less than flax and -hemp, would require the bark to be stript off, and doubtless the -best time for stripping it is as soon as the plant is gathered.</p> - -<p>II. Cratinus died about 420 B. C. The following line, from -his comedy called Μαλθακοὶ, represents a person spinning Ἀμοργός.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Ἀμοργὸν ἔνδον βρυτίνην νήθειν τινα.</p> - -<p><i>Cratina Fragmenta, a Runkel</i>, <i>p.</i> 29.</p> -</div> - -<p>III. Julius Pollux, speaking of garments made of Ἀμοργὸς (L. -vii. c. 13.) quotes the Medea of Antiphanes thus: Ἦν χιτὼν -ἁμόργινος. This author was contemporary with Aristophanes.</p> - -<p>IV. Eupolis wrote about the same time, and his authority -may be added to the rest as proving that garments of Amorgos -were admired by luxurious persons at Athens<a id="FNanchor_204" href="#Footnote_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_204" href="#FNanchor_204" class="label">[204]</a> See Harpocration, p. 29. ed. Blancardi. 1683. 4to. Also Pher. et Eupolidis -Fragmenta, a Runkel, p. 150.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>V. Clearchus of Soli<a id="FNanchor_205" href="#Footnote_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> mentions the use of a cover of Amorgos -for inclosing a splendid purple blanket. This application -of it is agreeable to the foregoing evidence, showing that the -<i>amorgine webs were transparent</i>. The silky translucence of -the lace-like web of mallow would have a very beautiful effect -over the fine purple of the downy blanket.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_205" href="#FNanchor_205" class="label">[205]</a> Ap. Athenæum, L. vi. p. 255, Casaub. Clearchus probably wrote about 100 -years later than the before-mentioned authors, but the circumstances related by -him may have occurred about the time when those authors flourished, and even -at Athens.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>VI. Æschines in an oration against Timarchus, the object -of which is to hold up to contempt the extravagancies of this -Athenian spendthrift, in his enumeration of them, he mentions -(p. 118, ed. Reiskii.) that Timarchus took to his house a “woman -skilled in making cloths of Amorgos.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span> -VII. Plato in the 13th Epistle, addressed to Dionysius, tyrant -of Syracuse, which, if not genuine, is at least ancient, -proposes to give to the three daughters of Cebes three long -shifts, not the valuable shifts made of Amorgos, but the linen -shifts of Sicily.</p> - -<p>The mention of amorgine garments by the writers, who -have now been cited, seems to prove, that the fashion of making -and wearing them first came in among the Greeks at Athens -in the time of Aristophanes, who lived, as the reader will have -observed, in the fifth century before Christ. From them the -fashion may have extended itself into Sicily and Italy, which -will account, if <i>Amorgina</i> were the same with <i>Molochina</i>, -for the striking agreement in this respect between the writers -of Greek and of Latin Comedy. In subsequent ages the manufacture -seems to have declined, probably in consequence of -the abundance of silk and other rich and beautiful goods imported -from Asia. But the mention of these stuffs in the writings -of Isidore and Alcuin renders it probable, that they were -brought again into use in the fifth and following centuries of -the Christian era.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter1_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.<br /> -<small>SPARTUM, OR SPANISH BROOM.</small></h3> - -<hr class="chapter" /> - -<p class="h3sub">CLOTH MANUFACTURED FROM BROOM BARK, NETTLE, AND BULBOUS -PLANT.—TESTIMONY OF GREEK AND LATIN AUTHORS.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Authority for Spanish Broom—Stipa Tenacissima—Cloth made from -Broom-bark—Albania—Italy—France—Mode -of preparing the fibre for weaving—Pliny’s -account of Spartum—Bulbous plant—Its fibrous coats—Pliny’s translation -of Theophrastus—Socks and garments—Size of the bulb—Its genus or -species not sufficiently defined—Remarks of various modern writers on this plant—Interesting -communications of Dr. Daniel Stebbins, of Northampton, Mass. -to Hon. H. L. Ellsworth.</p> -</div> - -<p>Pliny says, that “in the part of Hispania Citerior about -New Carthage whole mountains were covered with Spartum; -that the natives made mattresses, shoes, <i>and coarse garments -of it</i>, also fires and torches; and that its tender tops were eaten -by animals<a id="FNanchor_206" href="#Footnote_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a>.” He also says, that it grows spontaneously -where nothing else will grow, and that it is “the rush of a dry -soil.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_206" href="#FNanchor_206" class="label">[206]</a> L. xix. c. 2.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The question now arises, what plant Pliny intended to describe. -Clusius, who travelled in Spain chiefly with a view to -botany, supposed Pliny’s “Spartum” to be the tough grass, -used in every part of Spain for making mats, baskets, &c., -which Linnæus afterwards called Stipa Tenacissima<a id="FNanchor_207" href="#Footnote_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a>. It is -not surprising, that the opinion of so eminent a botanist as -Clusius has been generally adopted. It is, however, far -more probable, that the plant, which Pliny intended to speak -of, was the Spartium Junceum, <i>Linn.</i>, so familiarly known -under the name of Spanish Broom.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_207" href="#FNanchor_207" class="label">[207]</a> Clusii Plant. Rar. Historia, L. vi. p. 219. 220.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>In the first place, the name <i>Spartum</i> should be considered as -decisive of the question, unless some sufficient reason can be -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span> -shown for ascribing to it in this passage a sense different from -that which it commonly bore. <i>Spartus</i> or <i>Spartum</i>, is admitted -to be used by all authors, Greek and Latin, and even -by Pliny himself in another passage<a id="FNanchor_208" href="#Footnote_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a>, to denote the Spanish -Broom. We learn from Sibthorp, that the Spanish Broom is -still called <i>Sparto</i> by the Greeks, and that it grows on dry -sandy hills throughout the islands of the Archipelago and the -continent of Greece. <i>Sparto</i> was indeed properly the Greek -name of this shrub, the Latin name being <i>Genista</i>, and the -use of the Greek name in Hispania Citerior may have been -owing to the Grecian settlements on that coast, colonized from -Marseilles.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_208" href="#FNanchor_208" class="label">[208]</a> See L. xi. 8. where Pliny says, that bees obtain honey and wax from -“Spartum,” and compare this with Aristotle, Hist. Anim. L. x. 40.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Besides the passages of Latin authors referred to by Schneider -and Billerbeck, and which it is unnecessary to repeat, the -following from Isidore of Seville appears decisive respecting the -acceptation of the term.</p> - -<p>“Spartus frutex virgosus sine foliis, ab asperitate vocatus; -volumina enim funium, quæ ex eo fiunt, aspera sunt.” <i>Originum</i> -L. xvii. <i>c.</i> 9.</p> - -<p>This is the definition of a learned and observant author, who -lived in Spain, and who must have been familiar with the -facts. “<i>Frutex virgosus sine foliis</i>” is a clear and striking -description of the Spanish Broom, the leaves of which are so -small as easily to escape observation<a id="FNanchor_209" href="#Footnote_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a>. The Stipa Tenacissima, -on the other hand, is not a shrub with twigs, but a grass, -which grows in tufts, the long leaves being as abundant and -useful as the stems or straws. Clusius himself (<i>l. c.</i>) in laying -down the distinction between the Spartum of the Greeks, -which he supposed to be the Spanish Broom, and the Spartum -of Pliny, which he supposed to be the Stipa Tenacissima, asserts -that the former is a shrub (<i>frutex</i>), the latter a herb with -grassy leaves (<i>herba graminacea folia proferens</i>). It is clear, -therefore, that the inhabitants of Spain in the time of Isidore -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span> -still used the term <i>Spartus</i> in its original acceptation, viz. to -denote the Spartium Junceum of Linnæus.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_209" href="#FNanchor_209" class="label">[209]</a> Dioscorides also describes the Spanish Broom to be “a shrub bearing long -twigs without leaves.” Isidore’s etymology, deducing Spartus from Asper, is manifestly -absurd.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>When the Stipa Tenacissima was brought into use for making -ropes and for other purposes, for which the Spanish Broom -was employed, the name of the latter would naturally be extended -to the former, and we may thus account for the fact -that the Stipa Tenacissima is now universally known in Spain -by the name <i>Esparto</i>. Indeed it is possible, that the employment -of the Stipa Tenacissima for these purposes may have -been as ancient as the time of Pliny; and his use of the word -“<i>herba</i>” in describing it, as well as the locality which he assigns -to it, the hilly country about Carthage, favors the common -interpretation, and perhaps even authorizes the conclusion, that -his account is the result of confounding the two plants together, -so that he says of one supposed plant things, which were partly -true of both, and partly applicable either to the Spanish Broom, -or to the Stipa Tenacissima only. But, even if this be admitted, -it is still possible that the plant, from whose fibres the -“<i>pastorum vestis</i>” was manufactured, was not the grassy Stipa, -but the shrub, the Spanish Broom.</p> - -<p>In order to establish this point we now proceed to mention the -evidence respecting the application of it to such uses. It has -been employed for making cloth in Turkey, in Italy, and the -South of France, but in circumstances, which were either specially -favorable to the manufacture, or where flax could not be -cultivated. It is manufactured into shirts in Albania according -to Dr. Sibthorp<a id="FNanchor_210" href="#Footnote_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a>. Nearly a century ago, Pope Benedict XIV. -brought a colony of Albanians to inhabit a barren and desolate -portion of his territory on the sea-coast. Here they obtained a -very fine, strong, durable thread from the Broom and the <i>Nettle</i>, -and used it, when woven, in place of linen<a id="FNanchor_211" href="#Footnote_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a>. Trombelli, -who relates this fact, also gives an account of the manufacture -of broom-bark in the vicinity of Lucca, where the hills, called -Monte Cascia, are covered with this plant<a id="FNanchor_212" href="#Footnote_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a>. “Formerly,” he -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span> -says, “the people derived no other advantage from the shrub -than to feed sheep and goats with it, and to heat their stoves -and furnaces. But their ingenuity and industry have now -made it far more profitable. They steep the twigs for some -days in the thermal waters of Bagno a Acqua near Lucca. -<i>After this process the bark is easily stript off, and it is then -combed and otherwise treated like flax.</i> It becomes finer -than hemp could be made; it is easily <i>dyed</i> of <i>any</i> color, and -may be used for garments of <i>any</i> kind<a id="FNanchor_213" href="#Footnote_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a>.” In the vicinity of -Pisa we find that the twigs of the Spanish Broom were in like -manner soaked in the thermal waters, and that a coarse cloth -was manufactured from the bark<a id="FNanchor_214" href="#Footnote_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_210" href="#FNanchor_210" class="label">[210]</a> Flora Græca, No. 671.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_211" href="#FNanchor_211" class="label">[211]</a> Trombelli, Bononiensis Scient. atque Artium Instituti Commentarii, tom. vi. -p. 118.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_212" href="#FNanchor_212" class="label">[212]</a> Trombelli calls the plant Genista, and says it is the kind called by botanists -“Genista juncea flore luteo.” This is the Spartium Junceum of Linnæus. See -Ray, Catal. Stirp. Europ. and Scopoli, Flora Carniolica, 1772, tom. i. No. 870.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_213" href="#FNanchor_213" class="label">[213]</a> Bononiensis Scientiarum atque Artium Instituti Commentarii, tom. iv. Bonon. -1757, p. 349-351. A similar account of the manufacture of the “Teladi -Ginestia” at Bagno a Acqua is given by Mr. John Strange, who says he had sent -an account of it to the Society for encouraging Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. -Lettera sopra l’Origine della carta naturale di Cortona, Pisa 1764. p. 79.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_214" href="#FNanchor_214" class="label">[214]</a>Mém. de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris 1763.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>But the manufacture has been carried to a far greater extent -in the South of France. In the <i>Journal de Physique</i>, <i>Tom.</i> -30. <i>4to.</i> An. 1787. p. 294., is a paper by <i>Broussonet Sur la -culture et les usages économiques du Genêt d’Espagne</i>. A -minute and highly curious account is here given of the mode -of preparing the fibres, which is practised by the inhabitants of -all the villages in the vicinity of Lodêve in Bas Languedoc. -The shrub abounds on the barren hills of that region, and all -that the people do to favor its growth is to sow the seed in the -driest places, where scarce any other plant can vegetate. After -being cut, the twigs are dried in the sun, then beaten, macerated -in water, and treated in the same way as flax or hemp -(See Zincke’s process, <a href="#Chapter1_XI">Chapter XI.</a>). The coarser thread is -used to make bags for holding the legumes, corn, &c.; the -finer for making <i>sheets</i>, <i>napkins</i>, and <i>shirts</i>. The peasants in -this district use <i>no other kind of linen</i>, not being acquainted -with the culture either of flax or hemp. The ground is too -dry and unproductive to suit these plants. The linen made -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span> -of the Spanish Broom is as supple as that made from hemp; -it might be even as beautiful as real linen, if more pains were -taken with it. It becomes whiter, the oftener it is washed. It -is rarely sold, each family making it for its own use. The -stalks, after the rind has been separated from them, are tied in -small bundles, and sold for lighting fires.</p> - -<p>Let us now see how far Pliny’s account of the Spartum -agrees with these representations of the mode of manufacturing -Broom-bark. The Spartum, of which he speaks, is “<i>the -rush of a dry soil</i>,” a description far more applicable to the -young twigs of the Spanish Broom than to the grassy stems -of the Stipa Tenacissima, or indeed to any other plant. His -Spartum was used for making fires and for giving light (<i>hinc -ignes facesque</i>), purposes for which the Stipa Tenacissima is -not at all adapted, but to both of which the stems and twigs of -the Spanish Broom are applied. The tender tops of Pliny’s -Spartum served as food for animals. According to Trombelli -sheep and goats feed upon the Spanish Broom in Italy; -but we cannot find that this is the case with the Stipa Tenacissima. -Pliny’s Spartum, after being steeped in water, was -beaten in order to be made useful (<i>Hoc autem tunditur, ut -fiat utile</i>); and this process was quite necessary in preparing -the twigs of Spanish Broom, whereas the Stipa Tenacissima -is most commonly manufactured without going through any -such process. Clusius indeed states (<i>l. c.</i>) that by macerating -it in water like flax, and then drying and beating it, the Spaniards -of Valencia make a kind of shoes, which they call <i>Alpergates</i>, -also cords, and other finer articles; but, at the same -time, he says, that it is made into mats, baskets, ropes, and -cables, merely by being dried, platted, and twisted, without any -other operation. The same account is given by Townsend, -who visited the country as late as 1787, and who further states, -that “the esparto rush” had latterly “been spun into fine thread -for the purpose of making cloth<a id="FNanchor_215" href="#Footnote_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a>.” It seems, however, that this -had only been done as an experiment, whereas the accounts -which have been quoted show, that the manufacture of cloth -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span> -from broom-bark had been long established in Albania, Italy, -and the South of France. In the latter district more especially, -the entire dependence of the people on this material as a substitute -for flax and hemp, and the primitive mode in which this -domestic manufacture was carried on in a retired and mountainous -region, seem to indicate the high antiquity of the practice. -All the other authors, who mention the use of the Stipa -Tenacissima, certainly give little countenance to the idea of its -fitness to supply a thread for making cloth. Mr. Carter, adopting -the common opinion that the Spartum of Pliny is the Stipa -Tenacissima, observes, that “at present the meanest Spaniard -would think clothing made from this grass very rough and uncomfortable<a id="FNanchor_216" href="#Footnote_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a>.” -We shall only quote one other authority, that -of Löfling, the favorite pupil of Linnæus, who became botanist -to the King of Spain, and whose Iter Hispanicum (<i>Stockholm</i>, -1758.) relates particularly to the plants of that country. He -follows Clusius in supposing the Spartum of Pliny to be the -Stipa Tenacissima of Linnæus. He mentions, that its stem is -two or three feet high, with leaves so long, thin, tough, and -convoluted, that they are admirably adapted for the purposes -to which they are applied. He adds, “Hispanis nominatur -Esparto. Usus hujus frequentissimus per universam Hispaniam -ad storeas ob pavimenta lateritia per hyemem: ad funes -crassiores pro navibus ad que corbes et alia utensilia pro transportandis -fructibus.” (<i>p.</i> 119.)</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_215" href="#FNanchor_215" class="label">[215]</a> Journey through Spain, vol. iii. p. 129, 130.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_216" href="#FNanchor_216" class="label">[216]</a> Carter’s Journey, vol. ii. p. 414, 415.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Pliny’s remark, that the Spartum, of which he speaks, could -not be sown (<i>quæ non queat seri</i>), is not true of the Spanish -Broom; but this is of little importance in the present inquiry, -because it is coupled with the remark, that nothing else could -be sown in the same situation (<i>nec aliud ibi seri aut nasci -potest</i>); a remark, which is totally unfounded in fact. The -Spanish Broom would unquestionably be propagated by its -seed, which is very abundant.</p> - -<p>From these facts, the reader will have no difficulty in forming -his decision. Notwithstanding the respect due to the authority -of Clusius, into which that of all the subsequent writers -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span> -seems to resolve itself, it appears to us that the evidence preponderates -against the use of Stipa Tenacissima for making -cloth in ancient times, and points to the conclusion, that the -coarse garments, to which Pliny alludes, were fabricated from -the fibrous rind of Spartium Junceum.</p> - -<p>One of the most interesting facts in the geography of plants -is the frequent substitution in one country, of a plant of a certain -natural order for another of the same natural order in another -country. The Indians have a plant, bearing a very close -and striking resemblance to the Spartium Junceum, which -they employ just as the natives of Bas Languedoc employ that -plant. We refer to the Crotalaria Juncea, called by the natives -Goni, Danapu, or Shanapu, and by us the Sun-plant, or Indian -Hemp. From the bark are made all kinds of ropes, packing-cloths, -sacks, nets, &c. In order to improve the fibre, the -plants are sown as close as possible and thus draw up to the -height of about ten feet. According to Dr. Francis Buchanan, -the plant thrives best on a poor sandy soil, and requires to be -abundantly watered. After being cut down it is spread out to -the sun and dried. The seed is beaten out by striking the -pods with a stick. After this the stems are tied up in large -bundles, about twelve feet in circumference, and are preserved -in stacks or under sheds. When wanted, the stems are macerated -during six or eight days. They are known to be ready, -when the bark separates easily from the pith. “The plant is -then taken out of the water, and a man, taking it up by handfuls, -beats them on the ground, and occasionally washes them -until they be clean; and at the same time picks out with his -hand the remainder of the pith, until nothing except the bark -be left. This is then dried, and being taken up by handfuls, -is beaten with a stick to separate and clean the fibres. The -hemp is then completely ready, and is spun into thread on a -spindle, both by the men and women. The men alone weave -it, and perform this labor in the open air with a very rude -loom.” The fabric made from it is a coarse, but very strong -sack-cloth.</p> - -<p>“The fibres, when prepared,” says Ironside, “are so similar -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span> -to hemp, that Europeans generally suppose them to be the -produce of the same plant<a id="FNanchor_217" href="#Footnote_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_217" href="#FNanchor_217" class="label">[217]</a> Account of the culture and uses of the Son-or Sun-plant of Hindostan by -Ironside, in the Phil. Trans., vol. lxiv.: Dr. F. Buchanan’s Journey, vol. i. 226, -227, 291.; vol. ii. 227, 235.: Wissett on Hemp, passim.: Roxburgh’s Flora Indica, -vol. iii. p. 259-263.</p> - -<p>The genus <i>Lupinus</i> (<i>the Lupin</i>), belonging to the same natural order as Spartium -and Crotalaria, might probably afford materials of the same kind. Mr. -Strange (<i>Lettera</i>, &c. p. 70.) mentions the filamentous substance of the Lupin <i>as -adapted for making paper</i>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Theophrastus<a id="FNanchor_218" href="#Footnote_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a> (Hist. Pl. viii. 13.) gives the following account -of a bulbous plant, called by him Βολβὸς ἐριοφόρος, the root of -which supplied materials for weaving:—“It grows in <i>bays</i>, -and has the wool under the first coats of the bulb so as to be -between the inner eatable part and the outer. Socks and other -garments are woven from it. Hence this kind is woolly, and -not hairy, like that in India.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_218" href="#FNanchor_218" class="label">[218]</a> “Theophrastus relates, that there is a kind of bulb growing about the banks of -rivers, and that between its outer rind and the part of it which is eaten there is a -woolly substance, out of which they make certain kinds of socks and cloths. But -in the copies which I have found, he neither mentions in what country this is -done, nor anything else with greater exactness, except that the bulb is called -<i>eriophoros</i>; nor does he make any mention at all of spartum, although he examined -the whole subject with great care 390 years before my time, as I have observed -in another place (Viz., lib. xv. 1.), from which circumstance it appears, -that spartum came into use since that time.”</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>It is difficult to determine what plant is meant, though the -description seems accurate and scientific. Billerbeck absurdly -supposes it to be cotton-grass<a id="FNanchor_219" href="#Footnote_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a>. By former botanists, men of -great eminence, it was supposed to be Scilla Hyacinthoides. -Sprengel objects, that this species does not grow in Greece<a id="FNanchor_220" href="#Footnote_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a>. -Sir James Smith however (<i>article</i> <span class="smcap">Scilla</span> in <i>Rees’s Cyclop.</i>) -represents it as growing in Madeira, Portugal, and the Levant. -If this account be true, Theophrastus may have been acquainted -with it. In another article, Eriophorus, Sir J. Smith doubts -whether either Scilla Hyacinthoides or any other bulb produces -wool of such quality and in such quantity as to answer the -description of Theophrastus. But, we learn from other well-informed -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span> -botanists, that various bulbs have under the outermost -coats a copious tissue of tough fibres, <i>fully sufficient</i> to -be employed in <i>weaving</i>. This is particularly the case with -the genera <i>Amaryllis</i>, Crinum, and <i>Pancratium</i>, as well as -<i>Scilla</i>. The fibrous coats serve as a protection to the interior -and more vital parts of the bulb.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_219" href="#FNanchor_219" class="label">[219]</a> Flora Classica, p. 20.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_220" href="#FNanchor_220" class="label">[220]</a> German translation of Theophrastus, Notes, vol. ii. p. 283.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Hoffmansegg and Link, who travelled in Portugal, in the description -of Scilla Hyacinthoides, say, “Bulbus tomento viscoso -tectus<a id="FNanchor_221" href="#Footnote_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_221" href="#FNanchor_221" class="label">[221]</a> Annals of Botany, by König and Sims, Lond. 1805, vol. i. 101.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Sonnini says of the Scilla Maritima, “The Greeks of the -Archipelago call it Kourvara-skilla, <i>kourvara</i> signifying properly -a ‘tuft of thread’ (<i>peloton de fil</i><a id="FNanchor_222" href="#Footnote_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a>).” Does this refer to the -fibres mentioned by Theophrastus? The <i>size</i> of this bulb, -which is the common squill, used in pharmacy, seems to favor -this supposition. It is often as large as a man’s head<a id="FNanchor_223" href="#Footnote_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a>. Hoffmansegg -and Link<a id="FNanchor_224" href="#Footnote_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> say it grows abundantly on barren hills -in Spain and Portugal; but add, “The name <i>maritima</i> is -not quite proper: for the plant is seldom met with near the -sea-shore, and sometimes very remote from it.” On the other -hand, it must have been so called, because it was reported by -others to grow on the sea-shore; and Sir James Smith (<i>in -Rees’s Cyclopedia</i>) expressly states, that it grows on “sandy -shores.” Redouté says the same.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_222" href="#FNanchor_222" class="label">[222]</a> Voyage en Grèce, tom. i. ch. 14. p. 295.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_223" href="#FNanchor_223" class="label">[223]</a> “Bulbus ovatus, tunicatus, <i>crassitie ferè capitis humani</i>.” Desfontaines’ -Flora Atlantica, tom. i. p. 297.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_224" href="#FNanchor_224" class="label">[224]</a> An. of Bot. vol. i. p. 101.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>From the account of Pancratium by Sir James Edward -Smith (<i>in Rees’s Cyclop.</i>), we learn that two species grow in -Greece, viz. P. Maritimum and Illyricum.</p> - -<p>The remarks now offered appear to prove, that there certainly -may have been a bulb, such as Theophrastus describes, -though we have not sufficient information to decide its genus -and species. It may have been the Scilla Maritima.</p> - -<p>It is to be observed, that he refers also to an Indian bulb, -having similar properties. Perhaps he alluded to some plant of -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> -a kind similar to Agave Vivipara, the leaves of which are extensively -used in India for making cordage<a id="FNanchor_225" href="#Footnote_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_225" href="#FNanchor_225" class="label">[225]</a> Dr. F. Buchanan’s Journey in Mysore, &c. i. p. 36.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>We cannot better conclude this part of the subject, than by -giving the following interesting communication of Dr. Daniel -Stebbins, of Northampton, Mass., to the Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, -a gentleman who has, in our opinion, rendered most valuable -services, not only to the people of the United States, but to the -world at large, since his appointment to the office of Commissioner -of Patents.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="right"> -<i>Northampton, Hampshire County, Mass.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>“Dear Sir: The favorable notice of silk culture in document -No. 109, from the Patent Office report of February, 1843, is my -apology for presenting the enclosed samples of <i>paper</i>, made of -mulberry foliage and bark. Unfortunately, the <i>external cuticle</i> -of the bark had not been removed; producing the spots, but -does not injure the paper for the use intended, which was for -the purpose of depositing silk-worms’ eggs upon something -dark; and this being <i>unbleached</i>, is considered adapted to the -habits of the silk-worm, and is now in successful experiment.</p> - -<p>“The four samples are all of one batch; the darkest, having -more of the outside cuticle, was most buoyant, rose to the top -and came off first.</p> - -<p>“A quantity of genuine Canton foliage, which retains its -verdure in greater perfection and later than any other mulberry, -is gathered, dried, and sent to the mill for making paper, -bleached, without spots, fit for cotton paper, as hoped; and, if -successful, I shall take pleasure in sending you a sample, to be -preserved with the enclosed.</p> - -<p>“I began, some ten or twelve years since, to bring silk culture -into notice among the members of the Hampshire Agricultural -Society, believing that if we tried the right kind of trees, -(such as used in China,) we could raise silk, yet could not afford -to pay $1 per tree, as then asked for multicaulis; not reflecting -how easily they could be propagated by cuttings and -layers. Under this view of the subject, I wrote to the Rev. E. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span> -C. Bridgman, missionary at Canton, China, a native of Hampshire -county, with the request that he would procure and forward -me some <i>mulberry seed</i> of the most approved kind for -growing in China, for the use of members of the agricultural -society. He promptly attended to the request; the seed was -forwarded and sown in the spring of 1834 or 1835. It grew -finely, and developed a splendid leaf.</p> - -<p>“About two years since, while Dr. Parker, with a Chinaman, -was here on a visit, on being shown the Canton foliage, it was -readily recognized. As the trees had grown here very luxuriantly, -and developed a larger leaf than in China, Dr. Parker -suggested that our soil might be more congenial to the plant -than even China, its native soil.</p> - -<p>“Soon after receiving the seed from Canton, a friend sent -me another parcel from the South of Asia, with high commendations, -that if it would grow here, it would be of essential benefit -to the United States for raising silk. It succeeded well, and -is more hardy than the white mulberry, very productive in -small branches, and a good-sized leaf. I named the latter -<i>Asiatic Canton</i>. These two kinds are highly approved of for -feeding silk-worms—the Canton for leaf-feeding, and the Asiatic -for branch feeding. I have, however, almost every variety -which was cultivated during the mulberry speculation—covering, -altogether, some ten or twelve acres, besides a large number -of young Canton and Asiatic seedlings, of this year’s sowing, -from seed of my own raising, to enlarge the plantations.</p> - -<p>“A few days since, the Rev. William Richards, of the Sandwich Islands, -with the young prince, called on me. At a former -visit, I had supplied him with Canton mulberry-seed, silk-worms’ -eggs, and dry mulberry foliage to use in case the eggs -should hatch on the passage; but this they did not do until his -arrival home. About the same time, other eggs had been received -there from China; but the cocoons raised from them -were not <i>one quarter</i> as large as the American, and must have -required some 10,000 to 12,000 to make a pound of silk, while -in America 2,400 to 3,000 would make a pound.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Titcomb, also a silk-grower in one of the islands, having -the American and Chinese, crossed them: but the crossing -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span> -produced cocoons so small as to require from 5,000 to 6,000 to -make a pound of silk, while not over 3,000 of the American -would be required to do the same thing(!).</p> - -<p>“Mr. Richards was shown several <i>pamphlets</i>, <i>newspapers</i>, -<i>cap</i> and <i>writing paper</i>, supposed to have been made of mulberry -bark. He said rags were <i>not</i> used in India<a id="FNanchor_226" href="#Footnote_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a>, China, or -the islands, for making paper, but they always make it of some -vegetable leaf; that the bark was too valuable for that, and -was used to make <i>fabrics</i>. (See <a href="#Chapter1_XI">Chapters XI.</a> and <a href="#Chapter1_XII">XII.</a> of -this Part. Also <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A.</a>)</p> - -<p>“We, as Americans, have the appropriate soil and climate for -the Canton and Asiatic mulberry, with the pea-nut variety of -worms, which, being managed with due care and attention, -together with the skill, ingenuity, and perseverance of Americans—and, -in addition, and could we have the aid of our country -to encourage new beginners—we might hope to compete with -any nation in the production of silk, their cheap labor and -cheap living to the contrary notwithstanding. There is abundant -evidence that worms fed exclusively on the Canton mulberry -have been larger, and produced heavier cocoons, by one-third -in size of worms and weight of cocoons, than by other -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> -feed. I have supplied an order of the peanut variety of eggs, -to go to Guatemala; and Canton seed, of my own raising, to -go to Rio; and now have an order for a number of the genuine -Canton mulberry trees, roots, or cuttings, to go to Lima, -where the applicant went on business, a few years since, taking -with him a few multicaules, at $2 each—now multiplied to -50,000; who, without any practical knowledge of raising trees, -reeling and manufacturing silk, or having seen a silk-worm or -reel until he introduced them in 1843, has now presented me -with beautiful samples of <i>floss cocoons, reeled and sewing silk</i>, -done by ladies as a diversion, without any assistance, and very -little instruction from him. The silk is of good quality. Samples -had been sent by a mercantile house in Lima to England, -for an opinion of the quality; but no return had been received -when he came away. He has come to this place with a native -Spaniard, to obtain more perfect information in all the branches -of reeling, twisting, coloring(!), &c.; to procure machinery, -with a view of enlarging operations, so that he might turn off -twenty-five pounds per day of sewings, cords, braids, &c. He -represents the climate and soil as adapted to the culture of silk, -and could feed every month in the year; that the necessaries -of living are procured with but little labor; that the laboring -population are indolent, <i>the wealthy classes too proud to labor</i>. -He feels confident of success, and that he can introduce habits -of industry by silk culture, that would counteract their natural -indolence; and he will inform me of his success in due time, -that may be more interesting than speculations upon what he -intends doing. He has engaged several to perfect themselves in -reeling, &c., to accompany him when he returns to Lima with -his machinery. He has become so satisfied with the superiority -of the genuine Canton mulberry, that he has engaged to take -it on with him for propagation and use.</p> - -<p>“I have letters from widely different locations, rendering favorable -accounts of this year’s success in growing silk, and in -corroboration of the prevalent opinion <i>that the silk cause will -finally prevail</i>. I have several letters on this subject—one -from a gentleman presiding over one of our most eminent literary -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span> -institutions, under date of June, 1844. Discoursing about -the culture of silk, he writes as follows:</p> - -<p>“‘If this earnest waking up to a scientific and practical consideration -of the subject be not soon crowned with signal success, -it will not be for want of enterprize or skill in our countrymen, -but merely from the high price of labor here, compared -with the scanty wages given in other silk-growing countries. -Even this consideration, though it may <i>retard</i> for a while the -complete success of this department of productive industry, will -not prevent its ultimate <i>triumph</i>.’</p> - -<p>“Another gentleman, under date of August, 1844, writes -from the far West, ‘that the soil and climate of the Western -and South-western States are admirably suited to the growth -of the mulberry and raising silk-worms,’ and that ‘eventually -the two great staples of the Western and South-western States -will be <i>silk</i> and <i>wool</i>.’ It is the opinion of competent skilful -silk manufacturers, who have made critical experiments upon -the <i>Pongee-silk</i> (so called) of foreign make, by tests which they -consider satisfactory and decisive, that it is <i>only a vegetable -production</i>, and that the material was never operated upon <i>by -the silk-worm</i>(?). There can be no reasonable doubt about the -ultimate success of silk-culture in some <i>future</i> years; but to -accelerate that desirable event, which may constitute an important -American staple for revenue (which might not only enrich -the Government, but reward the labor of personal enterprize), -a bounty is deemed necessary to stimulate and encourage that -portion of the agricultural population whose circumstances or -health disqualifies them for the more laborious exercises of the -fields, to commence operations upon a new and untried crop. -Our extensive imports of raw and manufactured silks are encouraged -by us as consumers, instead of being producers. We -now contribute to support foreign enterprize and industry, to -produce the article of silk, which we might, with proper encouragement, -raise ourselves, not only for our own consumption, but -for exportation.”</p> - -<p> -Very respectfully, yours, &c.<br /> -<span class="smcap">Daniel Stebbins</span>.<br /> -<br /> -Henry L. Ellsworth, Esq.,<br /> -Commissioner of Patents.<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_226" href="#FNanchor_226" class="label">[226]</a> -Abdollatiph who visited Egypt A. D. 1200, informs us (Chapter iv. p. 188 of -Silvestre de Sacy’s French translation, p. 221 of Wahl’s German translation.), -“<i>that the cloth, rags, &c. 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</i>.” This cloth is proved to be linen (See <a href="#Page_365">Part IV. p. 365</a>), and the -passage of Abdollatiph may be considered as decisive proof, which however has -never been produced as such, of the manufacture of linen paper as early as the -year 1200. Professor Tychsen in his learned and curious dissertation on the use -of paper from Papyrus (published in the <i>Commentationes Reg. Soc. Gottingensis -Recentiores</i>, vol. iv. A. D. 1820), has brought abundant testimonies to prove that -<i>Egypt supplied all Europe with this kind of paper until towards the end of the -eleventh century</i>. 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 <i>cotton paper</i> about the year 704, and through them or -the Saracens it was introduced into Europe in the <i>eleventh century</i>. Another -fact should not be lost sight of, namely, “that 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. (For further proof, see -<a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A.</a> Also <a href="#Part_FOURTH">Part IV.</a> already referred to.)</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span> -The amount of silk imported into the United States annually, -nearly equals that of linen and woollen together, and is -equal to one half of all other fabrics combined. Is it not then, -an important consideration, that this expenditure be saved to -the nation?</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Part_SECOND">PART SECOND.<br /> -ORIGIN AND ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE SHEEP.</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter2_I">CHAPTER I.<br /> -<small>SHEEP’S WOOL.</small></h3> - -<hr class="chapter" /> - -<p class="h3sub">SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS -OF THE SCRIPTURES, ETC.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">The Shepherd Boy—Sheep-breeding in Scythia and Persia—Mesopotamia and -Syria—In Idumæa and Northern Arabia—In Palestine and Egypt—In Ethiopia -and Libya—In Caucasus and Coraxi—The Coraxi identified with the -modern Caratshai—In Asia Minor, Pisidia, Pamphylia, Samos, &c.—In Caria -and Ionia—Milesian wool—Sheep-breeding in Thrace, Magnesia, Thessaly, -Eubœa, and Bœotia—In Phocis, Attica, and Megaris—In Arcadia—Worship -of Pan—Pan the god of the Arcadian Shepherds—Introduction of his worship -into Attica—Extension of the worship of Pan—His dances with the nymphs—Pan -not the Egyptian Mendes, but identical with Faunus—The philosophical -explanation of Pan rejected—Moral, social, and political state of the Arcadians—Polybius -on the cultivation of music by the Arcadians—Worship of Mercury -in connection with sheep-breeding and the wool trade—Present state of Arcadia—Sheep-breeding -in Macedonia and Epirus—Shepherds’ dogs—Annual -migration of Albanian shepherds.</p> -</div> - -<h4>THE SHEPHERD BOY.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The rain was pattering o’er the low thatch’d shed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That gave us shelter. There was a shepherd boy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Stretching his lazy limbs on the rough straw,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In vacant happiness. A tatter’d sack</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cover’d his sturdy loins, while his rude legs</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Were deck’d with uncouth patches of all hues,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Iris and jet, through which his sun-burnt skin</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Peep’d forth in dainty contrast. He was a glory</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For painter’s eye; and his quaint draperies</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Would harmonize with some fair sylvan scene,</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Where arching groves, and flower-embroider’d banks,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Verdant with thymy grass, tempted the sheep</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To scramble up their height, while he, reclin’d</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon the pillowing moss, lay listlessly</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Through the long summer’s day. Not such as he,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In plains of Thessaly, as poets feign,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Went piping forth at the first gleam of morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And in their bowering thickets dreamt of joy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And innocence, and love. Let the true lay</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Speak thus of the poor hind:—His indolent gaze</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Reck’d not of natural beauties; his delights</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Were gross and sensual: not the glorious sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rising above his hills, and lighting up</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His woods and pastures with a joyous beam,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To him was grandeur; not the reposing sound</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of tinkling flocks cropping the tender shoots,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To him was music; not the blossomy breeze</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That slumbers in the honey-dropping bean-flower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To him was fragrance: he went plodding on</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His long-accustomed path; and when his cares</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of daily duties were o’erpass’d, he ate,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And laugh’d, and slept, with a most drowsy mind.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dweller in cities, scorn’st thou the shepherd boy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who never look’d within to find the eye</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For Nature’s glories? Know, his slumbering spirit</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Struggled to pierce the fogs and deepening mists</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of rustic ignorance; but he was bound</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a harsh galling chain, and so he went</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Grovelling along his dim instinctive way.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet <i>thou</i> hadst other hopes and other thoughts,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the world spoil’d thee: then the mutable clouds,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And doming skies, and glory-shedding sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And tranquil stars that hung above thy head</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like angels gazing on thy crowded path,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To thee were worthless, and thy soul forsook</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The love of beauteous fields, and the blest lore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That man may read in Nature’s book of truth.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Despise not, then, the lazy shepherd boy:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For his account and thine shall be made up,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And evil cherish’d and occasion lost</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May cast their load upon thee, while his spirit</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May bud and bloom in a more sunny sphere.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The inquiry into the origin and propagation of sheep, no less -than of the silk-worm, may be justly regarded as a subject of -the deepest interest. For the management and use of these -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span> -animals has, from the earliest dawn of human history, formed -a striking feature in the condition of man. Of the materials -employed by the ancients for making cloth, by far the most important -was the wool of sheep. We are able to trace with great -probability the process of sheep-breeding and of the use of wool -for weaving. Among the bones of quadrupeds, found in ancient -caves <i>throughout Europe</i>, we cannot find on consulting -the works of Cuvier, Buckland, and De la Beche, that remains -of sheep have ever been discovered. This fact affords some -reason for presuming, that the sheep is not a native of Europe, -but has been introduced there by man.</p> - -<p>It appears to have been a general opinion among Zoologists, -that the Argali, or <i>Ovis Ammon</i> of Linnæus, which inhabits -in vast numbers the elevated regions of Central Asia, is the -primitive stock of the whole race of domesticated sheep. Agreeably -to this supposition we find, that from the earliest times the -inhabitants of Tartary, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, -and the North of Arabia, have been addicted to pastoral employments. -The tribes of wandering shepherds, which frequent -those countries, are descended from progenitors, who led -the same life thousands of years ago, and whose manners and -habits are preserved to the present day with scarcely the slightest -change.</p> - -<p>As might be expected, we have little precise information respecting -the Scythians, who inhabited the elevated plains of -inner Asia. Some of their hordes are distinguished by Herodotus, -Strabo, and others, under the name of <i>Nomadic</i> or <i>pastoral</i> -Scythians; and that this denomination was understood -to imply, that they tended sheep as well as larger cattle may -be inferred from what Herodotus says of their use of felt (See -<a href="#Appendix_B">Appendix B</a>.). Strabo, moreover, says of a particular tribe of -the Massagetæ, that they had “few sheep,” which implies that -the rest were rich in flocks; and of another tribe he says, -“They do not till the ground, but derive their sustenance from -sheep and fish, <i>after the manner of the Nomadic Scythians</i><a id="FNanchor_227" href="#Footnote_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a>.” -But a much more distinct account of the manners of this people -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span> -is given us by Justin, who says, that they were accustomed to -wander through uncultivated solitudes, always employed in -tending herds and flocks (<i>armenta et pecora</i>). He, however, -adds, that they were strangers to the use of woollen garments, -being clothed in skins and furs<a id="FNanchor_228" href="#Footnote_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a>. Hence it appears, that they -were too rude and ignorant to have acquired the arts of <i>spinning</i> -and <i>weaving</i>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_227" href="#FNanchor_227" class="label">[227]</a> Strabo, l. xi. cap. 8. p. 486. ed. Siebenkees.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_228" href="#FNanchor_228" class="label">[228]</a> Justin, l. ii. cap. 2.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>If we may trust to the authority of Strabo, the Medes did -not tend sheep; for he says of them, “They eat the flesh of -wild animals; they do not bring up tame cattle<a id="FNanchor_229" href="#Footnote_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a>.” Nevertheless, -their southern neighbors, the Persians, with whom they -were united under one government, had sheep in abundance. -These animals are strikingly represented in the bas-reliefs of -Persepolis. In one of them, which represents a long procession -sculptured on the wall of a splendid staircase, two rams, -attended by keepers, are accompanied in the same train by -horses, asses, camels, and oxen<a id="FNanchor_230" href="#Footnote_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a>. Herodotus, in his account of -the manners and institutions of the Persians (L. i. cap. 133.), -mentions all these animals together in the following passage: -“Of all days they are accustomed to observe most that on -which each individual was born. On this day they set before -their guests a more abundant feast than on any other. The -wealthy provide an ox, a horse, a camel, and an ass, roasted -whole in furnaces; and the poor provide the smaller cattle.” -By “<i>the smaller cattle</i>,” this author always means sheep and -goats.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_229" href="#FNanchor_229" class="label">[229]</a> Strabo, l. xi. cap. 8. p. 567.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_230" href="#FNanchor_230" class="label">[230]</a> See Ancient Universal History, vol. vi. plates 6. 8.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The superior excellence of the rich plains of Mesopotamia for -the pasture of sheep as well as oxen, is attested by Dionysius -Periegetes<a id="FNanchor_231" href="#Footnote_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a>, and his account illustrates in an interesting manner -the history of Jacob as contained in the book of Genesis, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> -the rapid multiplication of the flocks and herds showing how -well the soil and climate were adapted to this pursuit, and how -well the business of tending them was there understood from -the earliest times. Seldom do we find in any ancient author -so beautiful a picture as is presented to us, when Jacob arrives -at Padan-aram, and sees the flocks of sheep and goats assembling -from the neighboring pastures in the evening to be watered -at the well. Rachel appears conducting the flock of her -father Laban, which she tended, and Jacob rolls from the -mouth of the well the stone, which was placed to preserve the -water cool and fresh, and assists his relative and future bride -in watering her sheep. (Gen. xxix. 1-10.) Also on Jacob’s -departure his remonstrance with Laban presents to us an animated -representation of the duties and difficulties of the shepherd’s -life; “These twenty years have I been with thee; thy -ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the -rams of thy flock have I not eaten. That which was torn of -beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it: of my -hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by -night. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, -and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine -eyes.” (Gen. xxxi. 38-40.)</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_231" href="#FNanchor_231" class="label">[231] -</a> Ὅσση δ’ Εὐφρήτου, &c. l. 992-996.</p> - -<p>In English,</p> - -<p>“As for the land, which lies between the Euphrates and the Tigris, called the -land <i>Between the Rivers</i>, the herdsman would not contemn its pastures, nor he -who tends flocks folded in the fields, and honors with his syrinx Pan who has -horny hoofs.”</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>From Ezekiel we learn, that Damascus supplied the Tyrians -with wool<a id="FNanchor_232" href="#Footnote_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a>, and Jerome, who well knew the country, says in -his comment on the passage, that this article was still produced -there in his time (A. D. 378.)<a id="FNanchor_233" href="#Footnote_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a>. Aristotle, referring to the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span> -sheep of Syria, mentions a variety with tails, which were a -cubit broad<a id="FNanchor_234" href="#Footnote_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a>; and Pliny in addition to this circumstance asserts -generally the abundance of the Syrian wool<a id="FNanchor_235" href="#Footnote_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a>. Probably the -part of Syria appropriated more especially to the breeding of -sheep, was the eastern part, which bordered on Arabia, and -was distinguished by the same natural features.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_232" href="#FNanchor_232" class="label">[232]</a> “Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, -for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and <i>white</i> wool. Dan -also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: <i>bright</i> iron, cassia, and -calamus, were in thy market. Dedan was thy merchant in <i>precious clothes for -chariots</i>. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in -<i>lambs</i>, and <i>rams</i>, and <i>goats</i>: in these were they thy merchants. The merchants -of Shebah and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs -with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. Haran, and Canneh, -and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants. -These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, <i>in blue clothes</i>, and -<i>broidered work</i>, and <i>in chests of rich apparel</i>, bound with cords, and made of -cedar, among thy merchandise.”—<i>Ezekiel</i> xxvii. 18-24.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_233" href="#FNanchor_233" class="label">[233]</a> “Et lana præcipua, quod usque hodie cernimus.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_234" href="#FNanchor_234" class="label">[234]</a> Hist. Animalium, l. viii. cap. 28.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_235" href="#FNanchor_235" class="label">[235]</a> Plinii Hist. Nat. l. viii. c. 75. ed. Bipont. See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In no part of the ancient world does sheep-breeding appear -to have been more cultivated than in that which we are now -approaching. Here were the Moabites, among whom it was <i>a -royal occupation</i>, and, as it appears, the chief source of the -revenues of the sovereign: for it is said in 2 Kings iii. 4. -“Mesha, king of Moab, was <i>a sheep-master</i>, and rendered unto -the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs and an hundred -thousand rams with the wool.” Here on occasion of a -war, which the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of -Manasseh, whose territory was to the east of Jordan, carried on -against the Hagarites, they obtained as part of their booty -250,000 sheep. (I. Chron. v. 21.) Here was Idumæa, in a -part of which Job is represented to have dwelt, being possessed -of 7,000, and afterwards of 14,000 sheep (Job i. 3. xlii. 12.): -and we have a beautiful allusion to the pastoral habits of the -same country in the language of consolation employed by the -prophet Micah (ii. 12.): “I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all -of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will -put them together as the sheep of Bosrah, as the flock in -the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by -reason of the multitude of men.” Here also were the Midianites, -whose flocks were so vast, that the sheep taken from them -by Moses after his victory amounted to 675,000. (Num. -xxxi. 32.) Jethro, the priest of Midian, was himself the owner -of a numerous flock, tended by his seven daughters, whom -Moses assisted in watering them, when the neighboring shepherds -rudely attempted to drive them from the well. He afterwards -married one of them, and was employed by the father as -his shepherd; and, having occasion according to the practice of -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span> -the country to conduct the flock from the plains to pasture upon -the mountains of Horeb, he was thence called to undertake his -extraordinary mission for the deliverance of his nation. (Exod. -ii. 15-iii. 1.)</p> - -<p>The Arabs appear from the earliest times to the present day -to have bestowed no less attention upon sheep than upon -horses. Isaiah also records the excellence of the sheep of Arabia -in the following terms addressed by the Almighty to his -people (Ch. lx. 7.): “All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered -together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto -thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I -will glorify the house of my glory.” The habits of the Nebatæi, -or Arabs of Nebaioth, are depicted as follows by Diodorus -Siculus: “They live in the open air, and call a land their -country, which is destitute of habitations, and has neither rivers -nor copious fountains, such as could satisfy an army of invaders. -<i>Their law forbids them on pain of death either to sow -corn, to plant fruit-trees, to use wine, or to build houses.</i> -They submit to this law, because they think, that those who -enjoy such conveniences may for the sake of them be readily -compelled by the powerful to do what they command. Some -of them rear camels, and others sheep, which they pasture in -the wilderness<a id="FNanchor_236" href="#Footnote_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_236" href="#FNanchor_236" class="label">[236]</a> Diod. Sic. l. xix. 94. p. 722. ed. Steph.</p> - -<p>Strabo (l. xvi. cap. 4. p. 460. ed. Siebenkees.), speaking apparently of another -division of the Nebatæi, says they have large oxen, camels, and white sheep.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Various ancient authors mention that extraordinary variety -of sheep among the Arabs, the tail of which grew to so great a -size as to require to be supported on a wooden carriage, which -was dragged after the wearer<a id="FNanchor_237" href="#Footnote_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_237" href="#FNanchor_237" class="label">[237]</a> The passages of ancient authors relating to this variety, with various confirmations -from modern travellers, are quoted with his usual accuracy by Bochart, -Hieroz. l. ii. cap. 45. p. 494-497. Ed. Leusden. Lug. Bat. 1692.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>We have no reason to believe, that the Phœnicians employed -themselves in the breeding and pasture of sheep. The narrow -strip of territory, which they occupied at the eastern extremity -of the Mediterranean Sea, was in general too densely peopled -to be adapted for this purpose. Their activity, intelligence, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span> -and enterprize were directed into other channels, and they supplied -themselves from foreign countries with wool for their celebrated -manufactures.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, the Hebrews, who were the immediate -neighbors of the Phœnicians, were altogether an agricultural and -pastoral people. The history of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, -and Jacob, presents to us beautiful images of the kind of life, -which still continues with little variation among the Bedouins, -or wandering Nomads of Arabia. Not only was David <i>a -shepherd boy</i>; but, when he had ascended the throne, he had -numerous herds and flocks superintended by distinct officers. -“And over the herds that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite: -and over the herds that were in the valleys was Shaphat -the son of Adlai. Over the camels also was Obil the Ishmaelite: -and over the asses was Jehdeiah the Meronothite: -and over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagarite. All these were -the rulers of the substance which was king David’s.” (I. -Chron. xxvii. 29-31.) The reader cannot fail to call to mind -David’s frequent allusions in the Psalms to those employments, -which were no less familiar to his own mind than to the rest -of his countrymen, and which supplied to them the most touching -comparisons for the expression of their deepest religious -convictions. The passage “The Lord is my shepherd: I shall -not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he -leadeth me beside the still waters. Yea though I walk through -the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou -art with me; thy rod (or <i>crook</i>) and thy staff, they comfort -me” (Psalm xxiii. 1, 2, 4.). “He shall feed (<i>i. e.</i> <i>tend</i>) his -flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, -and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that -are with young” (Is. xl. ii.). “The pastures are <i>clothed</i> with -flocks,” an expression denoting the vast multitudes of sheep, -which overspread the mountains and plains (Ps. lxv. 13.). -“Be thou diligent,” says Solomon, “to know the state of thy -flocks, and look well to thy herds. The lambs are for thy -clothing, and the goats are the price of thy field; and thou -shalt have goat’s milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy -household, and for the maintenance of thy maidens” (Prov. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span> -xxvii. 23. 26, 27.). We would particularly refer the reader to -the thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, where the prophet, reprimanding -the rulers of Israel under the character of shepherds, -makes some allusion to every circumstance connected with the -care of sheep and goats. Language very similar is employed -by our Saviour in John x. where he speaks of himself as “<i>the -good shepherd</i>.” The whole system and history of the sacrifices -both before and after the giving of the Mosaic law, might -be produced to prove the pastoral habits of this people from the -earliest times. The districts of Bashan and Carmel, seem to -have attained the highest reputation in respect to the breeding -of sheep. Bashan, which lay to the east of the Jordan in the -country adjoining that of the Hagarites and Moabites, already -mentioned, and Carmel, the mountainous range near the Dead -Sea in the south of Judea. In the latter district Nabal kept -his flocks, and as he is said to have been “very great,” and we -are at the same time informed that “he had 3000 sheep and -1000 goats” (I. Sam. xxv. 2.), these numbers afford us a precise -idea of the wealth of a considerable proprietor in this respect. -That the “rams of the breed of Bashan,” were particularly -celebrated, we learn from Deut. xxxii. 14; and Ezekiel -mentions with distinction (ch. xxxix. 18.) a sacrifice “of rams, -of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of -Bashan.”</p> - -<p>It is impossible to conceive a more striking difference in -manners and institutions, than that which must have presented -itself to the traveller in very ancient times, when on crossing the -Isthmus of Suez he passed from the deserts of Arabia and Idumæa -to the richly cultivated and populous plains of Egypt. According -to the statement already quoted from an ancient historian the -wandering tribes of Nabaioth were forbidden by a positive law -to till the ground or to construct settled habitations, and they -lived on the produce of their flocks, which they continually led -from place to place in pursuit of pasture adapted to the season of -the year. The Egyptians, on the contrary, appear to have -been originally under a prohibition of exactly the opposite kind, -since they cultivated the ground with care, excelled most other -nations in all the arts of life, and produced the most splendid -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span> -proofs of their architectural skill, but were not allowed to keep -flocks of sheep and goats. That this was the case at the time, -when Jacob took his family to sojourn in Egypt, is evident from -their application to Pharaoh on arriving in the land of Goshen, -which was on the eastern border of Egypt adjoining Palestine -and Arabia, to be permitted to remain there on the ground, that -from their youth they had been accustomed to tend flocks, -whereas “every shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians<a id="FNanchor_238" href="#Footnote_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_238" href="#FNanchor_238" class="label">[238]</a> Gen. xlvi. 28.—xlvii. 6. Compare Josephus, Ant. ii. 7. 5.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>It appears that the Nabatæan law was far more effectual -towards the attainment of its object than the Egyptian. For, -whereas the pastoral tribes of Arabia have retained their independence -and their national peculiarities even to the present -day; the Egyptians, on the other hand, became a prey to foreign -invasion, and among other changes in their customs we -have to notice the introduction of the management of sheep. -Even as early as the time of Moses the practice had commenced; -for in the account of the effects of the murrain in Exodus -ix. 3, we find mention of sheep, and indeed it is remarkable, -that the domestic animals there enumerated, viz. horses, asses, -camels, oxen, and sheep, are exactly the same, which, as we -have before shown, were bred by the ancient Persians<a id="FNanchor_239" href="#Footnote_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a>. Later -historians afford distinct testimony to the same fact. Thus -Diodorus Siculus says, that “upon the subsidence of the waters -after the inundation of the Nile the flocks were admitted to -pasture, and the produce of the soil was so abundant, that the -sheep were not only shorn <i>twice</i>, but also brought forth young -<i>twice</i> in the year.” Herodotus also plainly supposes, that sheep -and goats were bred in Egypt, when he contrasts the inhabitants -of the Theban Nome, who worshipped Ammon, with -the inhabitants of the Mendesian Nome, who worshipped -Mendes. The former, he says, “all abstain from sheep, and -sacrifice goats;” the latter “abstain from goats, which they -hold in veneration, and sacrifice sheep.” He, however, mentions -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span> -that the Thebans slew a ram once a year on occasion of -a particular ceremony, which he describes (ii. 42. 46.). The -testimony of Strabo and Plutarch, though differing in some -particulars from that of Herodotus, is to the same general effect. -Aristotle (<i>l. c.</i>) mentions, that the sheep of Egypt were -larger than those of Greece.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_239" href="#FNanchor_239" class="label">[239]</a> It should be observed, that the Hebrew word translated <i>sheep</i> in Ex. ix. 3. -included goats.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>But, although these passages show, that sheep were bred in -Egypt, we think it evident that their number was very limited. -Egyptian wool cannot have been of the least importance as an -article of commerce. What was produced must also have been -consumed in the country. For, although the chief material for -the clothing of the Egyptians was linen, and they were forbidden -to be buried in woollen or to use it in the temples, yet Herodotus -(ii. 81.) states, that on ordinary occasions they wore a -garment of white wool over their linen shirt. They also used -wool for embroidering. According to Pliny<a id="FNanchor_240" href="#Footnote_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a> the Egyptian wool -was coarse and of a short staple. Tertullian records a saying -of the Egyptians, that Mercury invented the spinning of wool -in their country<a id="FNanchor_241" href="#Footnote_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_240" href="#FNanchor_240" class="label">[240]</a> Hist. Nat. l. viii. 73. See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_241" href="#FNanchor_241" class="label">[241]</a> De Pallio, c. 3.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Strabo in an instructive manner contrasts the Ethiopians with -the Egyptians. Having observed, that the boundary between -the two nations was the smaller cataract above Syene and -Elephantine, he says, that the Ethiopians led for the most part -a pastoral life without resources, both on account of their intemperate -climate and the poverty of their soil, and also because -they were remote from the civilized world; whereas the Egyptians -had always lived in a refined manner and under a regular -government, settled in fixed habitations, and cultivating -philosophy, agriculture, and the arts<a id="FNanchor_242" href="#Footnote_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a>. Thus do we find the -nomad life recurring immediately to the south of Egypt. Strabo -further states, that the Ethiopian sheep were small, and instead -of being woolly were hairy like goats, on which account -the people wore skins instead of woollen cloth<a id="FNanchor_243" href="#Footnote_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a>. That these -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span> -sheep were held in some estimation by the Egyptians is, however, -manifest from the fact, that in the splendid procession exhibited -at Alexandria by Ptolemy Philadelphus, there were 130 -sheep from Ethiopia, 300 from Arabia, and 20 from Eubœa -<a id="FNanchor_244" href="#Footnote_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a>. -Also, that the pastoral habits of the Ethiopians were known to -the Romans may be inferred from the allusion, which Virgil -makes to them in his Tenth Eclogue (l. 64-68.):</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">No toils of ours can change the cruel god,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Though we should flee him through each new abode;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whether we drink, where chilling Hebrus flows,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And winter reigns amid Sithonian snows;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or, where the elms beneath hot Cancer bend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Our Ethiopian sheep we fainting tend.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_242" href="#FNanchor_242" class="label">[242]</a> Strabo, l. xvii. c. 1. § 3. p. 476, 477. ed. Siebenkees.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_243" href="#FNanchor_243" class="label">[243]</a> Cap. 2. § 1. 3. p. 621. 626. Strabo’s account is illustrated and confirmed by -the traveller, Dr. Shaw, who describes a variety of sheep in the interior of Africa -with “fleeces as coarse and hairy as those of the goat.”—Travels in Barbary, -part iii. chap. 2. § 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_244" href="#FNanchor_244" class="label">[244]</a> -Callixenus Rhodius, apud Athenæum, l. v. p. 201. ed. Casaub.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>We find, that the people of Libya had attained to some distinction -in the management of flocks. What Diodorus says of -the Egyptian sheep is asserted by Aristotle of those of Libya, -viz. that they produced young <i>twice</i> in the year<a id="FNanchor_245" href="#Footnote_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a>. That sheep-breeding -had extended hither in very early times appears from -a passage in the Odyssey, which, however, in consequence of -the remoteness of the situation and the imperfect knowledge of -geography in the time of the writer, is mixed with fable, inasmuch -as it represents, that the ewes brought forth not only -twice, but even <i>three</i> times in the year, and that the lambs -were immediately provided with horns<a id="FNanchor_246" href="#Footnote_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a>.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">That happy clime! where each revolving year</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The teeming ewes a triple offspring bear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And two fair crescents of translucent horn</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The brows of all their young increase adorn;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shepherd swains, with sure abundance blest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the fat flock and rural dainties feast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor want of herbage makes the dairy fail,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But every season fills the foaming pail.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4"><i>Pope’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_245" href="#FNanchor_245" class="label">[245]</a> Aristot. Problem. cap. x. sec. 46.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_246" href="#FNanchor_246" class="label">[246]</a> Odyss. iv. 85-89.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Pindar (<i>Pyth</i>. ix. 11.) distinguishes Libya by the epithet - πολύμηλος, “abounding in flocks.” To the same district of Africa, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span> -Virgil alludes in the following passage of the Georgics, which -is surpassed by few as a happy example of the art of the poet -in describing the various modes of pastoral life.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Why should I sing of Libya’s artless swains;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her scatter’d cottages and trackless plains?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By day, by night, without a destined home,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For many a month their flocks all lonely roam;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So vast th’ unbounded solitude appears,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While, with his flock, his all the shepherd bears,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His arms, his household god, his homely shed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His Cretan darts, and dogs of Sparta bred.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4"><i>Georg.</i> iii. 339-345.—<i>Warton’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It is to be observed, that, although the Libyan shepherd according -to Virgil’s description led a migratory life, conducting -his sheep from place to place in search of pasture, yet the scale, -upon which he carried on his operations, was widely different -from that which has always characterized the nomadic tribes -of Asia. The poet represents the Libyan shepherd as a solitary -wanderer, bearing with him all his arms and implements, -just as a Roman soldier (l. 346.) carried his military accoutrements. -On the other hand, as we have seen, the Syrian or -Arabian shepherd goes in a kind of state, with camels and -horses to carry his wife and children, his tents, and the rest of -his equipage; and he is followed by thousands, instead of hundreds -or perhaps scores, of sheep and goats.</p> - -<p>Let us now pursue the progress of this employment in another -direction, viz. towards the north-west, and across the Euxine -Sea and the straits connected with it into Europe.</p> - -<p>Near the eastern extremity of the Euxine Sea we meet with -a very remarkable instance of the attention paid to the produce -and manufacture of wool in a tribe called <i>the Coraxi</i>. Strabo -alludes to the value of their fleeces in a passage which we shall -produce in speaking of the wool of Spain, to which it more directly -refers. At present we shall only consider the following -evidence preserved by Joannes Tzetzes.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Τὸ παλαιὸν περὶ στρωμνὰς ἦν τῇ Μιλητῷ φήμη·</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἔρια τὰ Μιλησία καλλίστα γὰρ τῶν πάντων,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Κᾂν ὦσι τῶν Κοραξικῶν φέροντα δευτερεῖα - <a id="FNanchor_247" href="#Footnote_247" class="fnanchor">[247]</a>.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_247" href="#FNanchor_247" class="label">[247]</a> Jo. Tzetzes, Chiliad. x. 348-350, in Lectii Corp. Poetarum Græcorum.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Anciently Miletus was famed for carpets: for of all fleeces the Milesian were -the most beautiful, although the Coraxic bore the second prize.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Περὶ τῶν Μιλησιῶν ἔφαν πολλοὶ ἐρίων·</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Περὶ ἐρίων Κοράξων ἐν πρωτῷ δὲ Ἰαμβῷ</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἱππῶναξ οὗτως εἴρηκε, μέτρῳ χωλῶν Ἰάμβων,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Κωραξικὸν μὲν ἠμφιεσμένη λῶπος.<a id="FNanchor_248" href="#Footnote_248" class="fnanchor">[248]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Of the Milesian fleeces many have spoken: and to the Coraxic Hipponax -has alluded in his Choliambic measure, where he mentions ‘a woman enveloped -in a Coraxic shawl.’”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_248" href="#FNanchor_248" class="label">[248]</a> Ib. 378-381.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Hipponax, who is here cited by Tzetzes, was a satirical poet -of Ephesus, and flourished about 540 B. C. In confirmation -of his testimony it may be proved, that his countrymen and -contemporaries had constant intercourse with a port in the -vicinity of the Coraxi. We learn from Pliny (l. vi. cap. 5.)<a id="FNanchor_249" href="#Footnote_249" class="fnanchor">[249]</a>, -that the Coraxi were situated near Dioscurias, which, though -deserted in his time, had been formerly so illustrious that 300 -nations, <i>speaking different languages</i>, resorted to it. As we -learn from other authorities, Dioscurias <i>was a colony of Miletus -and one of its chief settlements</i>. Miletus also in the time of -Hipponax had risen to the summit of its prosperity, and was the -greatest commercial city in the world next to Tyre and Carthage<a id="FNanchor_250" href="#Footnote_250" class="fnanchor">[250]</a>. -Its chief trade was towards the north and as far as the -extremity of the Euxine Sea. Among the numerous Asiatic -tribes, which were accustomed to bring their productions to Dioscurias -and exchange them for Grecian merchandise, the Coraxi -were, as we may conclude from the evidence now produced, a -nation of superior enterprize and intelligence, who sent to the -shores of the Ægean in the vessels of Miletus their fine wool, -as well as the <i>carpets</i> and <i>shawls</i>, which they made from it.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_249" href="#FNanchor_249" class="label">[249]</a> See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_250" href="#FNanchor_250" class="label">[250]</a> Heeren, Handbuch, iii. 2. 2. p. 185. Mannert, Geographie, 6. 3. p. 253, &c.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>If we had no more exact information than that which has -been already cited, we might infer, that the Coraxi occupied -part of the modern Circassia, a mountainous region admirably -adapted to the breeding of sheep. The Circassians of the present -day have numerous herds of cattle and vast flocks of sheep -and goats. Their vallies are distinguished by beauty and fertility. -A late traveller says, that from whatever country you -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span> -enter Circassia, “<i>you are at once agreeably impressed with -the decided improvement in the appearance of the population, -the agriculture, and the beauty of their flocks and -herds</i><a id="FNanchor_251" href="#Footnote_251" class="fnanchor">[251]</a>.” With respect to Dioscurias, we are informed, that -“the memory of its ancient name is still preserved in the present -appellation of Iskouriah<a id="FNanchor_252" href="#Footnote_252" class="fnanchor">[252]</a>.” Sir John Chardin, who visited -it and calls it Isgaour, commends its safety in summer as a road -for ships, but says that it is a complete desert, where he could -obtain no provisions, the traders who anchor there being obliged -to construct temporary huts and booths of the boughs of trees -for their accommodation, whilst awaiting the arrival of the natives -of Mingrelia and Caucasus<a id="FNanchor_253" href="#Footnote_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_251" href="#FNanchor_251" class="label">[251]</a> Travels in Circassia, &c. in 1835, by Edmund Spencer, Esq., vol. ii. p. 355. -Julius von Klaproth, in the work quoted below, says, (p. 582.), that the wealth -of the Circassians consists principally in their sheep, from whose wool the women -make coarse cloth and felt. In the summer they drive their sheep into the mountains, -but feed them under cover in winter, and at other times in the plains.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_252" href="#FNanchor_252" class="label">[252]</a> Dr. Goodenough, in Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. i. p. 110. -See also Major Rennell’s Map of Western Asia.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_253" href="#FNanchor_253" class="label">[253]</a> Chardin’s Travels, vol i. p. 77. 108. of the English Translation. London, 1686.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>But, besides the general inference that the Coraxi occupied -part of the modern Circassia, we are able to determine their -abode with still greater precision, and even obtain some insight -into their distinctive characters as a nation.</p> - -<p>At the south-eastern extremity of Chirkess, or Circassia, on -the northern declivity of Mount Elborus, and about the sources -of the Kuban, the ancient Hypanis, we find a mountain clan, -consisting of rather more than 250 families, which appears to -retain not only the manners and habits, but even the very -name of the Coraxi. Julius von Klaproth, to whom we are -principally indebted for our knowledge of them, calls them the -Caratshai<a id="FNanchor_254" href="#Footnote_254" class="fnanchor">[254]</a>. From him we learn the following particulars respecting -their appearance, manners, and employments. They -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span> -are among the most beautiful of the inhabitants of Caucasus, -and more like the Georgians than the wandering Tartars of -the Steppe. <i>They are well formed, and have fine features, -which are set off by large black eyes and a white skin.</i> -Their language resembles that of the Nogay-Tartars. They -live in very neat houses, built of pine. Their children are -<i>strictly</i> and <i>well</i> educated; and in general it may be said of -them, that they are the most cultivated nation in Caucasus, -surpassing all their neighbors in refinement of manners. They -are very <i>industrious</i>, and subsist chiefly by agriculture. Their -soil is productive, and, besides various kinds of grain, yields -abundance of grass for pasture. The country around them is -covered with woods, which abound with wild animals, such as -bears, wolves, wild goats, hares, and wild cats, whose skins are -much prized, and martins. <i>Their dress is chiefly made of -woollen cloth, which they weave themselves from the produce -of their flocks, and which is admired throughout the whole -of Caucasus. They sell their cloth</i>, called by them <i>Shal</i><a id="FNanchor_255" href="#Footnote_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a>, -their <i>felt</i> for <i>carpeting</i>, and their furs, partly to the Nogay-Tartars -and Circassians, from whom they purchase articles of -metal, and partly <i>at Souchom-Kalé, a Turkish fort on the -Black Sea</i>, which contains shops and ware-houses, and carries -on a considerable trade with the Western Caucasus. They receive -here in return goods of <i>cotton</i> and <i>silk</i>, tobacco and tobacco-pipes, -needles, thimbles, and otter-skins. While the men -are employed out of doors, the women stay at home, make -gold and silver thread, and sew the clothes of their fathers and -brothers.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_254" href="#FNanchor_254" class="label">[254]</a> Reise in den Caucasus, cap. 24. The author thus spells the name in German -characters, <i>Ckaratschai</i>. Father Lamberti, a missionary from the Society of the -Propaganda at Naples, who remained twenty years in that part of Asia in the -seventeenth century, calls them “<i>i Caraccioli</i>,” in which name we observe the -addition of an Italian termination. See his Relatione della Colchide, hoggi delta -Mengrelia, Napoli, 1654, cap. 28. p. 196.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_255" href="#FNanchor_255" class="label">[255]</a> The origin of the English <i>shawl</i>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Such is the account given by a recent and most competent -witness of the actual condition of this interesting nation, who, -though now perhaps reduced in number, occupy probably after -the lapse of 2500 years their original seat at the distance of -from forty to eighty miles to the north-east of the same coast, -to which they have always resorted for commercial purposes<a id="FNanchor_256" href="#Footnote_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_256" href="#FNanchor_256" class="label">[256]</a> Souchom-Kalé is only twelve miles from <i>Iscuria</i>, a single promontory intervening -between the bay and river of the former harbor and those of the latter. -See Spencer’s Travels, vol. i. p. 295-297, and his Map at p. 209.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span> -We cannot survey the now deserted Iscuria without observing, -what a mournful contrast the Euxine presents under the -sway of both Russia and Turkey to the useful energy, which -more than 2000 years ago promoted life and the arts of life, -and brought into close and peaceful contact the most refined -and the most uncultivated nations, under the direction of the -Ionians of Miletus. The beauty, the bravery, the activity, -and the independence of a highland clan still represent the skill -and enterprize of the ancient Coraxi; but the commerce, -which rewarded their industry, and extended their reputation -through the civilized world, has sunk into insignificance.</p> - -<p>Besides the above notices of the Coraxi in Strabo and Tzetzes -we find little said concerning the breeding of sheep in this -part of Asia. Aristotle, however, mentions the sheep of “Pontus -near Scythia,” and says that they were without horns<a id="FNanchor_257" href="#Footnote_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a>. -The Melanchlæni also, who are mentioned by Herodotus in his -account of the Scythian tribes, and who lived to the north of -the Coraxi, were so called, because they wore black palls.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_257" href="#FNanchor_257" class="label">[257]</a> Hist. Anim. viii. 28.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>There can be no doubt, that the use and management of -sheep were known from the earliest times throughout nearly -the whole of Asia Minor, and that some nations in this region -had attained to a superiority in the art before the settlement in -it of the Grecian colonists.</p> - -<p>The imagery of the Homeric poems (supposed to be written -about 900 B. C.) affords abundant evidence of these facts. -They continually mention shepherds, who had the care of -sheep, as well as goat-herds, who managed goats. They speak -of the folds, in which the flocks were secured at night to preserve -them from the attacks of wild beasts. The dangers to -which the flocks were exposed from both wolves and lions, are -in accordance with similar expressions and incidents in the -Scriptures of the Old Testament, arising from the existence of -the same ravenous and destructive quadrupeds in Palestine. -Also, the language both of the Scriptures and of the Homeric -poems <i>is precisely the same</i>, in which the king, ruling his people -is compared to the shepherd tending his flock, or to the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span> -strong and large ram, which leads the sheep<a id="FNanchor_258" href="#Footnote_258" class="fnanchor">[258]</a>. It is to be observed, -that the geographical knowledge expressed in the Homeric -poems extended as far as the promontory of Carambis -on the south coast of the Euxine Sea, and included all Phrygia, -Ionia, and the western half of Asia Minor.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_258" href="#FNanchor_258" class="label">[258]</a> See Bochart’s Hierozoïcon, l. ii. cap. 44. De Gregum Pastoribus.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The Greek mythology affords similar evidence. The well-known -story of Paris, adjudging the golden apple, is founded on -the pastoral scenes of Ida. Marsyas also was a shepherd on -mount Ida<a id="FNanchor_259" href="#Footnote_259" class="fnanchor">[259]</a>: the river Marsyas, famed for his contest with -Apollo, was among the Phrygian mountains<a id="FNanchor_260" href="#Footnote_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_259" href="#FNanchor_259" class="label">[259]</a> Hyginus, Fab. 165.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_260" href="#FNanchor_260" class="label">[260]</a> It appears not impossible, that, when Theocritus in Idyll. iii. 46, represents -Adonis as “tending flocks upon the mountains,” he may have referred to the -mountains of Phrygia or of Ionia. For in another Idyll. (i. 105-110,) he seems -to connect the love of Venus for Adonis with her love for Anchises, as if the -scene of both were in the same region. Among the various accounts of Adonis, -one makes him the offspring of Smyrna; and Cinyras, <i>the father of Adonis, is -said to have founded the city of Smyrna in Ionia, calling it by that name after -his daughter</i>. (Hyginus, Fab. 58 and 275.) This supposition accounts most -satisfactorily for the production of the beautiful elegy on the death of Adonis by -Bion, who was a native of Smyrna.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The historical evidence to which we now proceed, though referring -to times much posterior to the mythological, is more exact -as well as more entitled to absolute credit.</p> - -<p>According to Strabo the branches of Mount Taurus in -<i>Pisidia</i> were rich in pastures “for all kinds of cattle<a id="FNanchor_261" href="#Footnote_261" class="fnanchor">[261]</a>.” The -chief town of this region was <i>Selge</i>, a very flourishing city, -and hence Tertullian, in a passage, mentions “oves Selgicæ,” -Selgic sheep, among those of the greatest celebrity. The superior -whiteness of the fleeces of <i>Pamphylia</i> is mentioned by -Philostratus.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_261" href="#FNanchor_261" class="label">[261]</a> Lib. xii. c. 7, § 3.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>We have reason to believe, that the <i>Lydians</i> and <i>Carians</i> -bestowed the greatest attention on sheep-breeding and on the -woollen manufacture before the arrival of the Greek colonists -among them. The new settlers adopted the employments of -the ancient inhabitants, and made those employments subservient -to a very extensive and lucrative trade. Pliny (viii. 73. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span> -ed. Bip.) mentions the wool of Laodicea (See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.) in -Caria; and Strabo (xii. c. 7. p. 578. Casaub.) observes, that -the country about this city and Colossæ, which was not far from -it, produced sheep highly valued on account of the fineness and -the color of their fleeces.</p> - -<p>Aristophanes mentions a <i>pall</i>, made of “Phrygian fleeces<a id="FNanchor_262" href="#Footnote_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a>:” -and Varro asserts, that in his time there were many flocks of -wild sheep in Phrygia<a id="FNanchor_263" href="#Footnote_263" class="fnanchor">[263]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_262" href="#FNanchor_262" class="label">[262]</a> Aves, 492.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_263" href="#FNanchor_263" class="label">[263]</a> De Re Rusticâ, ii. 1.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The passages above quoted from Strabo and Joannes Tzetzes -allude to the very great celebrity of the wool of <i>Miletus</i> and -of the articles woven from it.</p> - -<p>The passages, which will now be produced from both Greek -and Latin authors of various ages, conspire to prove the distinguished -excellence of the wool of Miletus, although in many -of them the epithet <i>Milesian</i> may be employed only in a proverbial -acceptation to denote wool of the finest quality. The -animals, which yielded this wool, must have been bred in the -interior of Ionia not far from Miletus.</p> - -<p>Ctesias describes the softness of camels’-hair by comparing it -to Milesian fleeces<a id="FNanchor_264" href="#Footnote_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a>. A woman in Aristophanes (Lysist. 732.) -says, she must go home to spread her Milesian fleeces on the -couch, because the worms were gnawing them. In a fragment -of a Greek comedy, called Procris, of a somewhat later age -(ap. Athen. l. xii. p. 553), a favorite lap-dog is described, lying -on Milesian fleeces:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Οὐκοῦν ὑποστορεῖτε μαλακῶς τῷ κυνί·</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Κάτω μὲν ὑποβαλεῖτε τῶν Μιλησίων</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἐρίων.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Therefore make a soft bed for the dog: throw down for him Milesian fleeces.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_264" href="#FNanchor_264" class="label">[264]</a> Ctesiæ fragmenta, a Bähr, p. 224.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The Sybarites wore <i>shawls</i> of Milesian wool<a id="FNanchor_265" href="#Footnote_265" class="fnanchor">[265]</a>. Palæphatus -explains the fable of the Hesperides by saying, that their father -Hesperus was a Milesian, and that they had beautiful sheep, -such as those which were still kept at Miletus<a id="FNanchor_266" href="#Footnote_266" class="fnanchor">[266]</a>. Eustathius -says, the “Milesian <i>carpets</i><a id="FNanchor_267" href="#Footnote_267" class="fnanchor">[267]</a>” had become proverbial. Virgil -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span> -represents the nymphs of Cyrene spinning Milesian fleeces, -dyed of a deep <i>sea-green</i> color:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The nymphs, around her placed, their spindles ply,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And draw Milesian wool, of glassy dye.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Georg.</i> iv. 334.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_265" href="#FNanchor_265" class="label">[265]</a> Timæus apud Athenæum, xii. p. 519. B.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_266" href="#FNanchor_266" class="label">[266]</a> De Incred. § 19.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_267" href="#FNanchor_267" class="label">[267]</a> In Dionysium, v. 823.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>He also alludes to the high price of Milesian fleeces in the -following passage:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Let rich Miletus vaunt her fleecy pride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And weigh with gold her robes in purple dyed.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Georg.</i> iii. 306.—<i>Sotheby’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The comment of Servius on the latter passage is as follows:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Milesian fleeces, most valuable wools; for Miletus is a city of Asia, where the -best wools are dyed.</p> -</div> - -<p>The ancient Greek version of Ezekiel (xxvii. 18.) enumerates -Milesian fleeces among the articles of Tyrian importation.</p> - -<p>Columella (vii. 2.) and Pliny (viii. 48.) assert the celebrity of -the flocks of Miletus in former times, although in their time -they were surpassed by the sheep of some other countries.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>In soft Milesian wool as fine as possible.—Hippocrates, vol. i. p. 689. ed. <i>Fœsii</i>.</p> - -<p>Ye are hairs of sheep, although Miletus may boast of you, and Italy be in high -repute, and though the hairs be guarded under skins.—Clemens Alexandrinus, -Pæd. ii. 30.</p> - -<p>Lying on Milesian carpets.—Aristoph. Ranæ, l. 548.</p> - -<p>Nor do I speak of the sheep of Miletus and Selge and Altinum, nor of those, -for which Tarentum and Bætica are famous, and which are colored by nature.—Tertullian -de Pallio, 3.</p> - -<p>If, from the beginning the Milesians were occupied <i>in shearing sheep</i>, the Seres -<i>in spinning the produce of trees</i>, the Tyrians <i>in dyeing</i>, the Phrygians <i>in -embroidering</i>, and the Babylonians <i>in weaving</i>.—Tertullian de Habitu Muliebri.</p> -</div> - -<p>We may now notice Samos, as being near the Ionic coast. -Athenæus (xii. p. 540. D.) cites two ancient authors who assert -that, when Polycrates was introducing into Samos the most excellent -of the different breeds of animals, he chose the dogs of -Laconia and Molossis, the goats of Scyros and Naxos, and the -sheep of Miletus and Attica.</p> - -<p>Respecting the breeding of sheep in <i>Samos</i> it may be proper -to quote the remark of Ælian (Hist. Anim. xii. 40.), that the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span> -Samians gave some religious honor to this animal, because a -consecrated utensil of gold, which had been stolen from one of -their temples, was discovered by a sheep.</p> - -<p>It appears probable, that the shepherd life was established in -Thrace as early as in any part of Europe; for in the Homeric -poems it is called “the mother of flocks” (Il. v. 222.). In a -much later age the sheep of Thrace are mentioned by Nicander -(Nicand. Ther. 50.). We learn from Plato (De Legibus, l. vii. -p. 36. ed. Bekker) that in Thrace the flocks were entrusted to -the care of the women, who were there compelled like slaves to -work out of doors.</p> - -<p>Aristotle speaks of the sheep of Magnesia, and says that -they brought forth young twice a year<a id="FNanchor_268" href="#Footnote_268" class="fnanchor">[268]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_268" href="#FNanchor_268" class="label">[268]</a> Problem. cap. x. sec. 46.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>A little further south we find sheep from the earliest times in -Thessaly near the river Amphrysus. Here was Iton, which -Homer also calls “the mother of flocks<a id="FNanchor_269" href="#Footnote_269" class="fnanchor">[269]</a>.” It was celebrated -for a temple of Minerva, who was called from it <i>Itonis</i>, or -<i>Itonia</i><a id="FNanchor_270" href="#Footnote_270" class="fnanchor">[270]</a>, and whose worship was transferred from hence to -Bœotia.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_269" href="#FNanchor_269" class="label">[269]</a> Il. B. 696.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_270" href="#FNanchor_270" class="label">[270]</a> Strabo, l. ix. c. 2. § 29. p. 458; and c. 5. § 14. p. 614. ed. Siebenkees. Apollonius -Rhodius, Argon. i. 551; and Schol. ad locum. Alcæi Reliquiæ, a Maththiæ, -No. 54.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>That Eubœa was famous for sheep we know from the testimony -of two different authors cited by Athenæus. That of -Callixenus Rhodius has been already produced; and that of -Hermippus occurs in his metrical enumeration of the most excellent -and characteristic productions of different countries<a id="FNanchor_271" href="#Footnote_271" class="fnanchor">[271]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_271" href="#FNanchor_271" class="label">[271]</a> Athen. Deip. l. i. p. 27. D.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Bœotia appears from very early times to have been rich in -flocks. The tragic history of Œdipus supposes, that his father -Laius, the king of Thebes, had flocks on Mount Cithæron. According -to Sophocles (Œd. Tyr. 1026-1140.) Œdipus was delivered -to one of the royal shepherds to be there exposed, and this -shepherd through pity committed him to another, and thus saved -his life<a id="FNanchor_272" href="#Footnote_272" class="fnanchor">[272]</a>. Seneca in his free version of Sophocles (Œd. Act. iv. -v. 815-850.) has added a circumstance, as it appears, from the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span> -practice established in other cases. He says, that the shepherd -of Laius, whom he calls <i>Phorbas</i>, had many others under him. -But, although it may be doubted whether the flocks of Laius were -so numerous as to require a head shepherd placed over many -others, we learn that his possessions of this description excited -contest and warfare among his descendants. Their countryman, -Hesiod, represents them fighting at the gates of Thebes -“for the flocks of Œdipus” (Op. et Dies, 163.), an expression, -which must at least be understood to imply, that sheep constituted -a principal part of the king’s wealth.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_272" href="#FNanchor_272" class="label">[272]</a> This transaction is represented in <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> Fig. 5.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Among the Elgin marbles in the British Museum we have an -interesting inscription relating to a contract made between the -city of Orchomenos in Bœotia and Eubulus of Elatea in Phocis, -<i>according to which Eubulus was to have for four years the -right of pasturage for 4 cows, 200 mares, 20 sheep, and -1000 goats</i>. In the opinion of Professors Böckh<a id="FNanchor_273" href="#Footnote_273" class="fnanchor">[273]</a> and Ottfried -Müller<a id="FNanchor_274" href="#Footnote_274" class="fnanchor">[274]</a> this inscription may be referred to the time of the Peloponnesian -war. The supposed effect of the waters of the -Melas and Cephisos on the fleeces of sheep is a testimony of a -much later date, but proves that sheep, both black and white, -were bred in that country<a id="FNanchor_275" href="#Footnote_275" class="fnanchor">[275]</a>. Varro (De Re Rust. ii. 2.) mentions -the practice of covering sheep with skins in order to improve -and preserve their fleeces. The Attic sheep, thus clothed with -skins, are mentioned by Demosthenes under the name of “soft -sheep<a id="FNanchor_276" href="#Footnote_276" class="fnanchor">[276]</a>.” The hilly part of Attica was of course particularly -adapted for sheep as well as goats; and accordingly a letter of -Alciphron (iii. 41.) describes flocks of them at Decelia near -Mount Parnes about fifteen miles to the north of Athens. The -fame of the Attic wool is also alluded to by Plutarch (De audiendo, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span> -p. 73. ed. Steph.), and by the Roman poet Laberius, -who died in the year 43 B. C.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">No matter whether in soft Attic wool,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or in rough goats’-hair you be clothed<a id="FNanchor_277" href="#Footnote_277" class="fnanchor">[277]</a>.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_273" href="#FNanchor_273" class="label">[273]</a> Corpus Inscrip. Græcar., vol. i. p. 740.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_274" href="#FNanchor_274" class="label">[274]</a> Orchomenos, p. 471.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_275" href="#FNanchor_275" class="label">[275]</a> Vitruvius, viii. 3. p. 218. ed. Schneider. See also Dodwell’s Tour, vol. i. p. -242. It was imagined that the water of the Melas rendered the wool black, and -that of the Cephisos white.</p> - -<p>Dr. Sibthorp, in crossing the plain of Bœotia near Platæa in November A. D. -1794, says, “Flocks of sheep, whose fleeces were of remarkable blackness, were -feeding in the plain; the breed was considerably superior in beauty and size to -that of Attica.”—Walpole’s Memoirs on Eur. and As. Turkey, p. 65.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_276" href="#FNanchor_276" class="label">[276]</a> Contra Everg. et Mnesid. p. 1155. ed. Reiske.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_277" href="#FNanchor_277" class="label">[277]</a> Apud Non. Marcellum.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>We learn from Theocritus, that the shepherds of Acharnæ, -one of the Attic demi, excelled in playing on the pipe<a id="FNanchor_278" href="#Footnote_278" class="fnanchor">[278]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_278" href="#FNanchor_278" class="label">[278]</a> Idyll. vii. 71.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the adjoining country of <i>Megaris</i> was a temple of great -antiquity in honor of Δήμητηρ Μαλοφόρος. It was said, that Ceres -was worshipped under that title, <span class="smcap">The bringer of flocks</span>, -by those who first kept sheep in the country<a id="FNanchor_279" href="#Footnote_279" class="fnanchor">[279]</a>. Theognis (v. -55.) mentions, that the people of Megaris used before his time -to wear goat-skins, which shows the late introduction of the -growth and manufacture of wool. Here, as in Attica, it was -usual to protect the sheep with <i>skins</i>; and, as the <i>boys</i> were -sometimes seen <i>naked</i> after the Doric fashion, Diogenes, the -cynic, said in reference to these practices, <i>he would rather be -the ram of a Megarensian than his son</i><a id="FNanchor_280" href="#Footnote_280" class="fnanchor">[280]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_279" href="#FNanchor_279" class="label">[279]</a> Paus. i. 44. 4.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_280" href="#FNanchor_280" class="label">[280]</a> Diog. Laert. vi. 41. Æliani Var. Hist. xii. 56.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the Peloponnesus, <i>Arcadia</i> was always remarkable for -the attention paid to sheep.</p> - -<p>Arcadia claims our especial consideration, because in it the -shepherd life assumed that peculiar form, which has been the -subject of so much admiration both in ancient and modern -times. Here the lively genius and imaginative disposition -common to the Greek nation were directed to the daily contemplation -of the most beautiful and romantic varieties of mountain -and woodland scenery, and hence their employments, their -pleasures, and their religion, all acquired a rustic character, -highly picturesque and tasteful, and, as it appears to us, generally -favorable to the development of the domestic and social -virtues. To attempt a full investigation of this subject, and to -show in what degree the want of higher attainments <i>in religious -knowledge</i> and <i>moral cultivation</i> was supplied by the peculiar -rites, ideas, and customs of Arcadia, would lead us too -far from our proper subject. We only wish to bring forward -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span> -the principal facts and authorities, and to give a succint account -of the genuine Arcadian system of religion and manners -without attempting to refute at length the opposite views, -which have been adopted by ancient and modern writers.</p> - -<p>The peculiar Divinity of Arcadia, whose worship had a constant -and manifest reference to the principal employments of -the inhabitants, was <i>Pan</i>. Hence he is called by Virgil and -Propertius “the God of Arcadia<a id="FNanchor_281" href="#Footnote_281" class="fnanchor">[281]</a>.” According to Herodotus -(ii. 145.), Pan, the son of Mercury (who was born at Cyllene -in Arcadia, where Mercury was previously worshipped,) first -saw the light after the Trojan war, and about 800 years before -his own time. Thus we are able to refer the supposed birth of -Pan, and consequently the commencement of his worship to -about the year 1260 B. C.<a id="FNanchor_282" href="#Footnote_282" class="fnanchor">[282]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_281" href="#FNanchor_281" class="label">[281]</a> Virg. Buc. x. 26. and Georg. iii. 385. See also Propert. i. 17.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_282" href="#FNanchor_282" class="label">[282]</a> Hist. d’Herodote, par Larcher, tome vii. p. 359, 582.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The circumstances of the birth of this divinity, with his habits -and employments, are described as follows in the most ancient -document which we have relating to him, viz. Homer’s -Hymn to Pan. Mercury tended rough flocks at Cyllene in -the service of a mortal man, being enamored of a beautiful -nymph. In the course of time she bore him a son, <i>having the -feet of a goat, two horns upon his forehead, a long shaggy -beard, and a bewitching smile</i>. This was Pan, who became -the god of the shepherds, and the companion of the mountain -nymphs, penetrating through the densest thickets, and inhabiting -the most wild, rough, and lofty summits of the sylvan Arcadia. -There it is his business to destroy the wild beasts; -<i>and when, having returned from hunting, he drives his -sheep into a cave, he plays upon his reeds a tune sweet as -the song of any bird in spring</i>. The nymphs, delighting in -melody, listen to him when they go to the dark fountain, and -the god sometimes appears among them, wearing on his back -the hide of a <i>lynx</i>, which he has lately killed, and he joins with -them in the choral song and dance upon a meadow variegated -with the <i>crocus</i> and the <i>hyacinth</i>. He is beloved by Bacchus, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span> -and is the delight of his father Mercury, and he celebrates their -worship beyond that of all the other gods.</p> - -<p>Callimachus (Hymn. in Dianam, 88.) represents Pan at his -fold in Arcadia, feeding his dogs with the flesh of a lynx, which -he has caught on Mænalus. It is to be observed, that the care -of dogs to guard the flock was an indispensable part of the pastoral -office. Philostratus, in his Second Book of Pictures<a id="FNanchor_283" href="#Footnote_283" class="fnanchor">[283]</a>, supposes -the nymphs to have been reproving Pan for his want of -grace in dancing, <i>telling him that he leapt too high and like -a goat</i>, and offering to teach him a more gentle method. He -pays no attention to them, but tries to catch hold of them. -Upon this they surprise him sleeping at noon after the toils of -the chase; and he is represented in the picture with his arms -tied behind him, and enraged and struggling against them, -while they are cutting off his beard and trying to transform -his legs and to humanize him.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_283" href="#FNanchor_283" class="label">[283]</a> Philostrati Senioris Imag. l. ii. c. 11.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the Bucolics and Georgics of Virgil we find frequent invocations -to Pan as the god of shepherds, the guardian of flocks, -and the inventor of the syrinx, or Pandean pipes.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ipse, nemus linquens patrium, saltusque Lycæi,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pan, ovium custos, tua si tibi Mænala curæ,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Adsis, O Tegeæe, favens.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4"><i>Georg.</i> i. 16-18.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">God of the fleece, whom grateful shepherds love,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, leave Lycæus and thy father’s grove;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And if thy Mænalus yet claim thy care,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hear, Tegeæan Pan, th’ invoking prayer.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4"><i>Georg.</i> i. 16-18.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Delightful Mænalus, ‘mid echoing groves,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And vocal pines, still hears the shepherds’ loves;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The rural warblings hear of skilful Pan,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who first to tune neglected reeds began.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4"><i>Bucol.</i> viii. 22-24.—<i>Warton’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O that you lov’d the fields and shady grots,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To dwell with me in bowers and lowly cots,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To drive the kids to fold, the stags to pierce;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then shouldst thou emulate Pan’s skilful verse,</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Warbling with me in woods: ’twas mighty Pan</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To join with wax the various reeds began.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pan, the great god of all our subject plains,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Protects and loves the cattle and the swains:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor thou disdain thy tender rosy lip</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Deep to indent with such a master’s pipe.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Bucol.</i> ii. 28-34.—<i>Warton’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Besides the four places in Arcadia, which are referred to in -the above-cited passages of Virgil, Pausanias informs us of several -others, in which he saw temples and altars erected to Pan. -He says<a id="FNanchor_284" href="#Footnote_284" class="fnanchor">[284]</a>, that Mount Mænalus was especially sacred to this -deity, <i>so that those who dwelt in its vicinity asserted, that -they sometimes heard him playing on the syrinx</i>. A continual -fire burnt there near his temple.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_284" href="#FNanchor_284" class="label">[284]</a> L. viii. c. 36. 5. and c. 37. 8.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Herodotus gives a very curious account of the introduction -of the worship of Pan into Attica<a id="FNanchor_285" href="#Footnote_285" class="fnanchor">[285]</a>. He says, that before the -battle of Marathon the Athenian generals sent Philippides as -a herald to Sparta. “On his return Philippides asserted, that -Pan had appeared to him near Mount Parthenius above Tegea, -had addressed him by name and with a loud voice, and -commanded him to ask the Athenians why they did not pay -any regard to him, a god, who was kind to them, who had -been often useful to them and would be so in future. The -Athenians, believing the statement of Philippides, when they -found themselves prosperous, erected a temple to Pan below -the Acropolis, and continued to propitiate him by annual sacrifices -and by carrying the torch.” From various authorities we -know, that this temple was in the cave on the northern side of -the Acropolis below the Propylæa<a id="FNanchor_286" href="#Footnote_286" class="fnanchor">[286]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_285" href="#FNanchor_285" class="label">[285]</a> Lib. vi. c. 105.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_286" href="#FNanchor_286" class="label">[286]</a> Eurip. Jon. 492-504. 937. Paus. i. 28. 4. Stuart’s Ant. of Athens. Hobhouse’s -Travels, p. 336. Dodwell’s Tour, vol. i. p. 304.</p> - -<p>In Sir R. Worsley’s collection of Antiques at Appledurcombe in the Isle of -Wight is a bas-relief, in which Pan is reclining as if after the chase near the -mouth of this cave. He holds the syrinx in the left hand, a drinking-horn in the -right. A train of worshippers are conducting a ram to the altar within the cave. -See Museum Worsleianum, Lon. 1794. plate 9. In the vestibule of the University -Library at Cambridge is a mutilated statue of Pan clothed in a goat-skin -and holding the syrinx in his left hand. This statue was discovered near the -same cave, and from its style, (the Æginetic,) may be supposed to have been -carved soon after the battle of Marathon. See Dr. E. D. Clarke s Greek Marbles, -p. 9. No. xi. Wilkins’s Magna Græcia, p. 71, and Dodwell’s Tour, vol. i. -p. 304.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span> -In later times a cave near Marathon was dedicated to Pan, -the stalactitio incrustations within it being compared to goats, -and to their stalls and drinking-troughs<a id="FNanchor_287" href="#Footnote_287" class="fnanchor">[287]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_287" href="#FNanchor_287" class="label">[287]</a> Paus. l. i. 32. 6. Dodwell’s Tour, vol. ii. p. 162. Mapat, p. 330 of Mem. on -Eur. and As. Turkey, edited by Walpole.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Chandler and Dodwell in their Travels describe another -cave larger than that at Marathon and containing more varied -stalagmitic concretions. It is near the summit of Mount Rapsāna -between Athens and Sunium. ΠΑΝΟϹ is inscribed on -the rock near the entrance, proving that it was considered -sacred to Pan. It is no doubt the Panīon mentioned by -Strabo<a id="FNanchor_288" href="#Footnote_288" class="fnanchor">[288]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_288" href="#FNanchor_288" class="label">[288]</a> L. ix. cap. 1. § 21. It was consecrated to the Nymphs as well as to Pan, -this association of the Nymphs with that deity being universally practised. Dodwell’s -Tour, vol. i. p. 550-555. “The countryman and shepherd, as well as the -sportsman, has often repaired, it is likely, to this cave, to render the deities propitious -by sacrificing a she-goat or lamb, by gifts of cakes or fruit, and by libations -of milk, oil, and honey; simply believing, that this attention was pleasing -to them, <i>that they were present though unseen</i>, and partook without diminishing -the offering; their appetites as well as passions, caprices, and employments resembling -the human. At noon-day the pipe was silent on the mountains, <i>lest it -might happen to awake Pan, then reposing after the exercise of hunting, tired -and peevish</i>.” Chandler’s Travels in Greece, c. 32. p. 155.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The Corycian cave on Mount Parnassus was dedicated by -the surrounding inhabitants to Pan and to the Nymphs<a id="FNanchor_289" href="#Footnote_289" class="fnanchor">[289]</a>. -Theocritus also (Idyll. viii. v. 103.) speaks of Homole, a mountainous -tract in the south of Thessaly, as belonging to Pan. -Altars were dedicated to Pan on the race-course at Olympia in -Elis<a id="FNanchor_290" href="#Footnote_290" class="fnanchor">[290]</a>, as we may presume, out of respect to the Arcadians, who -resorted to the Olympic games. Pindar states<a id="FNanchor_291" href="#Footnote_291" class="fnanchor">[291]</a>, that he had -near his door a statue of Pan. Here, as his able commentators -Heyne and Böckh observe, his daughters with other Theban -virgins sung hymns in honor of the god.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span> -Time has spared the traces of hymns performed on such occasions, -of which the following Scholion is the most entire specimen.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ὦ Πάν, Ἀρκαδίας μέδων κλεεννᾶς,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">ὀρχηστὰ βρομίαις ὀπαδὲ νύμφαις,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">γελάσειας, ὦ Πὰν, ἐπ’ ἐμαῖς</div> - <div class="verse indent0">εὐφροσύναις, ἀοιδαῖς κεχαρημένος<a id="FNanchor_292" href="#Footnote_292" class="fnanchor">[292]</a>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O Pan, Arcadia’s sovereign lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dancing and singing with the nymphs;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Smile, Pan, responsive to my joys,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O shout, delighted with my songs.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_289" href="#FNanchor_289" class="label">[289]</a> Paus. l. x. 32. 5. Strabo, l. ix. cap. 3. § 1. p. 488. ed. Siebenkees Raikes’s -Journal in Memoirs edited by Walpole, p. 311-315.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_290" href="#FNanchor_290" class="label">[290]</a> Paus. l. v. c. 15. § 4.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_291" href="#FNanchor_291" class="label">[291]</a> Pyth. iii. 137-139.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_292" href="#FNanchor_292" class="label">[292]</a> Athenæus, l. xv. 50. 1547. ed. Dindorf. Pindari Op. a Böckh. ii. 2. p. 592. -Brunck, Analecta, vol. i. p. 156; and vol. iii. Lect. et Emend. p. 27.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>On a vase of Greek marble in the Royal Museum at Naples -(This vase was first described in [Italian 275] Bayardi, Catalogo degli antichi -monumenti dissottarretti da Ercolano. Napoli, 1754, p. 290. -No. 914.), we see Pan dancing with the nymphs exactly as he -is represented in the preceding song. The sculpture is in that -very ancient style, which is called <i>Etruscan</i>. Pan is here exhibited -with goats’ feet and horns (Hom. Hymn. in Pana, 1. 2.). -He wears the skin of an animal, and employs his right hand in -drawing it up towards his left shoulder. In his left hand he -holds the crook or pastoral staff, which is one of his usual emblems. -Pan and the three females, with whom he is dancing, -form a distinct group by themselves. They are moving round -a large stone, and the artist probably imagined them to be -moving first in one direction, and then in the opposite, as if -performing the Strophe and Antistrophe around an altar. We -learn from Mr. Dodwell, that the modern Greeks in their circular -dances hold each other with a handkerchief, and not by the -hand<a id="FNanchor_293" href="#Footnote_293" class="fnanchor">[293]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_293" href="#FNanchor_293" class="label">[293]</a> Dodwell’s Tour, vol. ii. p. 21, 22.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>That the Romans considered Pān and Faun to be the same, -using the two names indiscriminately, the one as the Greek, -the other as the Latin form, is evident from such passages as -the following:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Pan from Arcadia’s hills descends</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To visit oft my Sabine seat,</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">And here my tender goats defends</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From rainy winds and summer’s heat.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For when the vales, wide-spreading round,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The sloping hills, and polish’d rocks,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With his harmonious pipe resound,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In fearless safety graze my flocks.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">Hor. Od. l. i. c. 17. v. 1-12.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The names Pan and Faun, scarcely differ except in this, -that the one begins with P, the <i>lenis</i>, and the other with F, -which is its <i>aspirate</i>: in the second place, both were conceived -to have not only the same form and appearance, but the -same habits, dispositions, and employments: thirdly, the goat -was sacrificed to Pan in Greece<a id="FNanchor_294" href="#Footnote_294" class="fnanchor">[294]</a> and to Faunus in Italy<a id="FNanchor_295" href="#Footnote_295" class="fnanchor">[295]</a>, because -the Arcadian and Roman deity was conceived to be the -guardian of goats as well as sheep, but this animal was not -sacrificed to the Egyptian Mendes, because</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In safety through the woody brake</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The latent shrubs and thyme explore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor longer dread the speckled snake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And tremble at the wolf no more.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Francis’s Translation, abridged.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>in Egypt the goat itself was supposed to be Mendes, an incarnation -of the god; and lastly, it is recorded as an historical fact, -that the worship of Faunus was brought to Rome from Arcadia, -whereas the supposition of the introduction of the same worship -into Arcadia from Egypt, though found in the pages of -an historian, is not given by him as a matter of history, but -only as a matter of opinion. The account of the origin of the -worship of Faunus at Rome, is as follows: <i>Evander, the Arcadian, -introduced a colony of his countrymen into Italy, -and established there the rights of Mercury and of the Lycean -Pan on the hill, which was afterwards called the Palatine -Mount and became part of the city of Rome</i>. A cave -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span> -at the base of the hill was dedicated to Pan, as we have seen -was the case some centuries afterwards at Athens -<a id="FNanchor_296" href="#Footnote_296" class="fnanchor">[296]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_294" href="#FNanchor_294" class="label">[294]</a> Longi Pastor. l. ii. c. 17. In an epigram by Leonidas of Tarentum (No. -xxx. Brunckii Analecta, tom. i. p. 228.) Bito, an aged Arcadian, dedicates offerings -to Pan, to Bacchus, and to the Nymphs. To Pan he devotes a kid.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_295" href="#FNanchor_295" class="label">[295]</a> Ovid. Fasti, ii. See also Hor. Od. l. i. 4. v. ii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_296" href="#FNanchor_296" class="label">[296]</a> Dionys. Halicarn. Hist. Rom. l. i. p. 20, 21, ed. R. Steph. Paris 1546. Strabon -l. v. cap. iii. § 3. Aur. Victor, Origo Gentis Romanæ. Livii l. i. c. 5. Pausanias, -viii. 43. 2. Virg. Æn. viii. 51-54. 342-344. Heyne’s Excursus ad loc. Ovidii -Fasti, ii. 268-452. v. 88, &c.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the preceding observations we have endeavored to give a -correct representation of the real sentiments and practices of -the Arcadians in regard to the proper divinity of their country; -and from this account we are naturally led to inquire what influence -this peculiar belief and worship had upon their manners -and their social life. Whilst the elegant simplicity and innocence -of the Arcadian shepherds, their graceful chorusses, their -dance and song, their love for their fleecy charge, which they -delighted and soothed with the melody of the pipe, have been -the theme and ornament of poetry and romance from the earliest -times, the question is highly important and interesting, -whether these ideal visions are realised by historical testimony? -whether the shepherds of the ancient Arcadia were so entirely -and so favorably distinguished from men of the same class and -employment in almost all other times and countries? One -modern writer denies this fact. He says, “The refined and -almost spiritualized state of innocence, which we call the pastoral -life of Arcadia, was entirely unknown to the ancients:” -and he quotes in support of this assertion several expressions, -used by Philostratus and other writers, and denoting contempt -for the Arcadians as a rude, ignorant, stupid race of people<a id="FNanchor_297" href="#Footnote_297" class="fnanchor">[297]</a>. -Polybius, who was an Arcadian, confidently asserts, that they -had throughout Greece a high and honorable reputation, not -only on account of their hospitality to strangers and their benevolence -towards all men, but especially on account of their <i>piety -towards the divine being</i>! It is true they make no figure -in Grecian history, because they were too wise to take part in -the irrational contests, which continually embroiled the surrounding -states. Their division into small independent communities, -each presenting a purely <i>democratic</i> constitution, -<i>rendered it impossible for them to acquire celebrity in legislation</i>; -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span> -and yet we are informed of some of the citizens of Arcadia, -who were reputed excellent lawgivers for the sphere in -which they acted<a id="FNanchor_298" href="#Footnote_298" class="fnanchor">[298]</a>. It appears to be no inconsiderable evidence -of their progress in the art of government upon republican principles, -<i>that in the choice of magistrates at Mantinea they -proceeded upon the plan of a double election</i><a id="FNanchor_299" href="#Footnote_299" class="fnanchor">[299]</a>. We have -the most decisive proofs of their public spirit in the splendid -cities, which they erected, and which were adorned with theatres, -temples, and numerous other edifices. We are informed -by Pausanias<a id="FNanchor_300" href="#Footnote_300" class="fnanchor">[300]</a>, that of all the temples in Peloponnesus the most -beautiful and admirable were those of Minerva at Tegea and -of Apollo at Phigalia; and these were both cities of Arcadia. -Now it should be observed, that the taste and splendor of their -public edifices are the more decisive proofs of their national enthusiasm, -when it is considered, <i>that among them property -was exceedingly subdivided; that they had no overpowering -aristocracy</i>, no princes or great landed gentry, who might -seek for renown or court popularity by bestowing their wealth -upon public institutions; but that the noble temples, the sculptures, -and other works of art, which ornamented their cities -and were subservient to purposes of common interest, could -have been produced only by the united deliberations and contributions -of the mass of the inhabitants. They seem therefore -to <i>prove</i> the <i>universal</i> prevalence both of a liberal patriotic -feeling, and of a cultivated taste for the beautiful and the -sublime.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_297" href="#FNanchor_297" class="label">[297]</a> J. H. Voss, Virgil’s Ländliche Gedichte, tom. ii. p. 353.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_298" href="#FNanchor_298" class="label">[298]</a> Wachsmuth, Hellen. Alterthumskunde, i. 1. p. 180; i. 2. p. 305.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_299" href="#FNanchor_299" class="label">[299]</a> Aristot. Polit. l. vi. 2. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_300" href="#FNanchor_300" class="label">[300]</a> L. viii. c. 41. 5. p. 429, ed. Siebel.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Virgil bears his testimony to their superior skill in vocal and -instrumental music.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent12">Arcadian swains,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye best artificers of soothing strains.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Bucol.</i> x. 32.—<i>Warton’s Translation.</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>This must of course be understood as referring only to music -and poetry of the pastoral kind. To the composition of the -higher species of poetry, by which the Greeks of other countries -laid a foundation for the instruction and delight of all succeeding -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span> -ages, the Arcadians never aspired. At the same time -there can be no doubt that they bestowed great care upon the -exhibition of dramatic compositions, though they did not attempt -to write them: of this fact we have sufficient proof in -the remains of the theatres found upon the sites of their principal -cities, and especially of the theatre of Megalopolis, which -was the greatest in all Greece<a id="FNanchor_301" href="#Footnote_301" class="fnanchor">[301]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_301" href="#FNanchor_301" class="label">[301]</a> Pausanias, l. viii. 32. 1. Leake’s Travels in the Morea, vol. ii. p. 32. 39, 40.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>But with respect to their cultivation of music and its influence -on their national character, we have upon record the full -and explicit testimony of one of their most distinguished citizens, -the historian Polybius, whose remarks will appear especially -deserving of the reader’s attention, when it is considered, -that he must himself have gone through the whole course of -discipline and instruction which he describes. Having had occasion -to mention the turbulent character as well as the cruel -and perfidious conduct of the Cynætheans, who occupied a city -and district in the north of Arcadia, he proposes to inquire why -it was that, although they were indeed Arcadians, they had -acted in a manner so entirely at variance with the usual habits -and manners of the Greeks, and he then proceeds with earnestness -and solemnity to explain upon the following principles the -cause of this extraordinary contrast. It was, as he states, that -the Cynætheans were the only inhabitants of Arcadia who had -neglected to exercise themselves in music; and he then gives -the following account of the established practice of the rest of -the Arcadians in devoting themselves to the study of <i>real</i> -music, by which he means the united arts of music, poetry, and -dancing, of all those elegant and graceful performances, over -which the Muses were supposed to preside. He informs us -that the Arcadians, whose general habits were very severe, -were required by law to go on improving themselves in music, -so understood, until their thirtieth year. “In childhood,” says -he, “they are taught to sing in tune hymns and pæans in -honor of the domestic heroes and divinities. They afterwards -learn the music of Philoxenus and Timotheus. They dance to -the pipe in the theatres at the annual festival of Bacchus; and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span> -they do this with great emulation, the boys performing mock-fights -adapted to their age, and the young men the so-called -manly fights. In like manner throughout the whole of life -their pleasure at feasts and entertainments consists, not in listening -to singers hired for the purpose, but in singing themselves -in their turns when called upon. For, although a man -may decline any other performance on the ground of inability -and may thereby bring no imputation on himself, no one can -refuse to sing, because all have been obliged to learn it, and to -refuse to take a part, when able, is deemed disgraceful. The -young men also unite together to perform in order all the military -steps and motions to the sound of the pipe, and at the -public expense they exhibit them every year before their fellow-citizens. -Besides these ballets, marches, and mock-fights, the -men and women unite in great public assemblies and in numerous -sacrifices, to which are to be added the circular or choral -dances by the boys and virgins.” Polybius adds, that these -musical exercises had been ordained as the means of communicating -softness and refinement to the otherwise rough and laborious -life of the Arcadians, and he warns them by the example -of the half-savages of Cynæthæ never to abandon such -wholesome institutions<a id="FNanchor_302" href="#Footnote_302" class="fnanchor">[302]</a>. With how great benefit to our own -social character might we adopt this counsel! How greatly -might we contribute both to the innocent enjoyment and to the -more improved and elevated tastes of our rustics and artisans, -if well-regulated plans were devised, by which graceful recreations, -providing at the same time exercise for the body, amusement -for the imagination, and employment for the finer and -more amiable feelings, were made to relieve the degrading and -benumbing monotony of their protracted labors, whether in the -factory or in the field!</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_302" href="#FNanchor_302" class="label">[302]</a> Polyb. l. iv. c. 20, 21.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>It will be readily perceived, that the education here described, -and the tastes and habits which it produced, were immediately -associated with the popular religion, and especially with the -notions and rites entertained towards the peculiar god of the -shepherds. Other deities indeed, such as Apollo, Diana, and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span> -Minerva, who were also worshipped in Arcadia, may have contributed -to the same effect; and especially this may have been -the case with Mercury, perhaps the only one of the higher Greek -divinities, who was conceived to have a benevolent character, -who was the father of Pan, and was himself reported to have -been born in a cave of the same mountain in Arcadia, on which -he was worshipped. He was a lover of instrumental music, -having invented the lyre, and he was frequently represented on -coins and gems, riding upon a ram, or with his emblems so -connected with the figures of sheep, and more rarely of goats -and of dogs, as to prove that in his character as the god of gain -the shepherds looked up to him together with his offspring to -bless the flocks and to increase their produce<a id="FNanchor_303" href="#Footnote_303" class="fnanchor">[303]</a>. Hence Homer, -in order to convey the idea that Phorbas was remarkably successful -in the breeding of sheep, says that he was beloved by -Mercury above all the other Trojans<a id="FNanchor_304" href="#Footnote_304" class="fnanchor">[304]</a>. The inhabitants of one -territory even in Arcadia, viz. the city of Phineos, honored -Mercury more than all the other gods, and expressed this sentiment -by procuring a statue of him made by a celebrated -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span> -sculptor in Ægina, in which he was represented carrying a ram -under his arm, and which they placed in the great temple of -Jupiter at Olympia<a id="FNanchor_305" href="#Footnote_305" class="fnanchor">[305]</a>. At Corinth there was a brazen statue of -Mercury in a sitting posture with a ram standing beside him. -According to Pausanias (ii. 3, 4.) the reason of this representation -was, that of all the gods Mercury was thought most to -take care of flocks and to promote their increase. But, as the -Corinthians had little or nothing to do with the tending of -sheep and were devoted to commerce, we may ask what interest -had they in this attribute of Mercury? It is very evident -that it could only be an interest arising from the part which Corinth -took in the wool-trade. That the Arcadians did not -themselves consume their wool is manifest. How could they -have built cities, which were so large, numerous, and handsome -in proportion to the extent of their country, and have lived -even in that degree of elegance and luxury, to which they attained, -<i>unless they had been able to dispose of the chief produce -of their soil in a profitable manner</i>? It is probable -therefore, that the representation of Mercury or of his emblems -in conjunction with the figure of the sheep on the coins of Corinth -and Patræ may be regarded as an intimation, that the -Arcadians disposed of their wool in those cities for exportation -to foreign countries.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_303" href="#FNanchor_303" class="label">[303]</a> Buonaroti (Osservazioni sopra alcuni Medaglioni Antichi, p. 41.) has exhibited -brass coins, in one of which Mercury is riding on a sheep; in a second the -sheep is seen with Mercury’s bag of money on its back; and in a third the caduceus -is over the sheep, and two spikes of corn, emblems of agricultural prosperity, -spring out of the ground before it. Among the gems of the Baron de -Stosch, now belonging to the Royal Cabinet at Berlin, No. 381. Class II. represents -Mercury sitting upon a rock with a dog by his side: Winckelmann observes, -that “the dog is the symbol of Mercury as the protector of shepherds.” -Nos. 392, 393, 396-402, in the same collection, represent him with sheep, and -one of them (399.) exhibits him standing erect in a chariot drawn by four rams, -and holding the bag or purse in his right hand and the caduceus in his left.</p> - -<p>Some of the coins of Sicily appear to refer in like manner to the character of -Mercury as the promoter of the trade in wool.</p> - -<p>The Honorable Keppel Craven (Excursions in the Abruzzi, London, 1838, vol. -i. ch. 4. p. 109.) mentions a temple at Arpinum, a city of Latium, which was -dedicated, as appears from an inscription found on its site, to MERCURIUS LANARIUS. -This title evidently represented Mercury as presiding over the -growth of wool and the trade in it.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the very ancient idea of Mercury making the fleece of Phryxus -golden by his touch may have originated in the same view. See Apollonius -Rhodius, Argonautica, l. 11. 1144, and Scholion ad locum.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_304" href="#FNanchor_304" class="label">[304]</a> Il. xiv. 490. See also Hom. Hymn to Mercury, 569. Hesiod, Theog. 444.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_305" href="#FNanchor_305" class="label">[305]</a> Paus. l. v. 27. 5. and l. viii. 14. 7.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>But, notwithstanding the important share, which Mercury -had in the religious sentiments and observances of the Arcadians, -the proper god of the shepherds of Arcadia was Pan, and -we have already had abundant evidence to suggest the conviction, -that their songs and dances were performed principally in -honor of him, and were supposed to be taught, guided, and -animated by him.</p> - -<p>Arcadia has for many centuries exhibited a most melancholy -contrast to that condition of hardy and yet peaceful independence, -of rustic simplicity united with tasteful elegance, of social -kindness and domestic enjoyment undisturbed by the projects -of ambition, which has supplied many of the most beautiful -pictures to the writers of poetry and romance. The great -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span> -natural features of the country are unalterable. The pine-forests -of Lycæus, its deep glens continually refreshed with sparkling -streams and cataracts, its savage precipices where scarce -even a goat can climb, remain in their original beauty and -grandeur. This region also affords pasture to flocks of sheep -more numerous than those which feed in any other part of -Greece<a id="FNanchor_306" href="#Footnote_306" class="fnanchor">[306]</a>. But whatever depends on the moral nature of man -is changed. The valleys, once richly cultivated and tenanted -by an overflowing population, are scarcely kept in tillage. -The noble cities are traced only by their scattered ruins. The -few descendants of the ancient Arcades have crouched beneath -a degrading tyranny. The thick forests and awful caverns -but a few years ago served to shelter fierce banditti; and the -traveller startled at the sound of their fire-arms instead of being -charmed with the sweet melody of the syrinx<a id="FNanchor_307" href="#Footnote_307" class="fnanchor">[307]</a>. But a new -dynasty has been established under the sanction of the most -powerful and enlightened nations of Europe. It remains to be -seen whether this or any other part of Greece will again become -wise, virtuous, and renowned. The philanthropist, who -amidst the gloom and desolation of the moral world depends -with confidence upon an all-wise and all-disposing Providence, -may console himself with the hope, that that great Being who -bestowed such inestimable blessings upon Arcadian shepherds in -their ignorance, will not abandon those of their descendants, -who with superior means of knowledge, aim at corresponding -attainments in the excellencies of political, social, and private life.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_306" href="#FNanchor_306" class="label">[306]</a> [German 283] Bartholdy, Bruchstücke zur Kenntniss des heut. Griechenlands, p. 238.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_307" href="#FNanchor_307" class="label">[307]</a> Dodwell’s Tour, vol. ii. p. 388-393. Leake’s Travels in the Morea, vol. i. p. -486-490. The latter author gives the following account of a visit which he paid -to the family of a shepherd, consisting of twelve or fifteen individuals, who lived -together in a tent on Mount Lycæus:—“Milk and misithra (a preparation made -by boiling milk and whey together) is their usual food. ‘We have milk in plenty,’ -they tell me, ‘but no bread.’ Such is the life of a modern Arcadian shepherd, -who has almost reverted to the balanephagous state of his primitive ancestors -(Orac. Pyth. ap. Pausan. Arcad. c. 42.). The children, however, all look -healthy and are handsome, having large black eyes and regular features with -very dark complexion.”</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>According to the representation in the Odyssey (xiv. 100.) -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span> -Ulysses had twelve flocks of sheep, and as many of goats on the -continent opposite to Ithaca. At a much later period Neoptolemus, -a king of Molossis, in possession of flocks and herds, -which were superintended by a distinct officer appointed for the -purpose<a id="FNanchor_308" href="#Footnote_308" class="fnanchor">[308]</a>. In Macedonia also the king, though living in a state -of so little refinement that his queen <i>baked the bread for the -whole household</i>, was possessed at an early period of flocks of -sheep and goats together with horses and herds of oxen, -which were entrusted to the care of separate officers. We are -informed that three Argive brothers, having taken refuge in the -upper part of Macedonia bordering upon Illyria, became hired -servants to the king, one of them having the custody of the -horses, another of the oxen, and a third of the sheep and -goats<a id="FNanchor_309" href="#Footnote_309" class="fnanchor">[309]</a>. Here then we find in Europe a state of society <i>analogous -to that which</i>, as we have seen, <i>existed in Palestine -under David</i>. Indeed we may observe, that all the countries -bordering on Macedonia were contrasted with Attica and Arcadia -in this respect, that, while the Athenians and Arcadians -were in general small landed proprietors, each shepherd tending -his flock upon his own ground, Phrygia<a id="FNanchor_310" href="#Footnote_310" class="fnanchor">[310]</a>, Thrace, Macedonia, -Epirus, and even Bœotia belonged probably to an aristocracy, -the richest and most powerful individuals of which became -shepherd kings, their landed possessions giving them a superiority -over the rest of their countrymen, and leading to the employment -of numerous persons as their servants engaged in -tending their cattle and in other rural occupations.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_308" href="#FNanchor_308" class="label">[308]</a> Plutarchi Pyrrhus, p. 705. ed. Steph.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_309" href="#FNanchor_309" class="label">[309]</a> Herod. viii. 137.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_310" href="#FNanchor_310" class="label">[310]</a> Theopompus, as quoted by Servius on Virgil, Buc. vi. 13, makes mention of -the shepherds, who kept the flocks of Midas, king of Phrygia.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Respecting the attention paid to sheep-breeding in Epirus -we have the testimony of Varro in his treatise De Re Rustica. -He informs us (ii. 2.) that it was usual there to have one man -to take care of 100 coarse-wooled sheep (<i>oves hirtæ</i>), and two -men for the same number of “<i>oves pellitæ</i>,” or sheep which -wore skins. The attention bestowed upon dogs is an indirect -evidence of the care which was devoted to flocks. It is worthy -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span> -of remark, that the dogs used to guard the flocks in the modern -Albania, appear to be the genuine descendants of the ancient -“canes Molossici,” being distinguished by their size as well as -by their strength and ferocity<a id="FNanchor_311" href="#Footnote_311" class="fnanchor">[311]</a>. Further notices respecting -them may be found in Virgil’s Georgics, l. iii. 404-413, and in -the Notes of his editors and translators, Heyne, Martyn, and -J. H. Voss. See also Ælian de Nat. An. iii. 2. and Plautus, -Capt. l. i. 18.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_311" href="#FNanchor_311" class="label">[311]</a> Holland’s Travels, p. 443. Hughes’s Travels, vol. i. p. 483, 484, 496.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>There is another important circumstance, in which probably -the habits of the modern shepherds of Albania are similar to -those of the ancient occupants of the same region, viz. the annual -practice of resorting to the high grounds in summer and -returning to the plains in winter, which prevails both here and -in most mountainous countries devoted to sheep-breeding. The -following extract from Dr. Holland’s Travels in the Ionian Isles, -Albania, &c. (<i>p.</i> 91-93.), gives a lively representation of this -proceeding:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“When advanced eight or nine miles on our journey (from Cinque Pozzi to -Joannina; October 31st, 1813,) and crossing another ridge of high and broken -land, we were highly interested in a spectacle, which by a fortunate incident occurred -to our notice. We met on the road a community of migrating shepherds, -a wandering people of the mountains of Albania, who in the summer feed their -flocks in these hilly regions, and in the winter spread them over the plains in the -vicinity of the Gulph of Arta and along other parts of the coast. The many -large flocks of sheep we had met the day before belonged to these people, and -were preceding them to the plains. The cavalcade we now passed through was -nearly two miles in length with few interruptions. The number of horses with -the emigrants might exceed a thousand; they were chiefly employed in carrying -the moveable habitations and the various goods of the community, which were -packed with remarkable neatness and uniformity<a id="FNanchor_312" href="#Footnote_312" class="fnanchor">[312]</a>. The infants and smaller children -were variously attached to the luggage, while the men, women, and elder -children travelled for the most part on foot; a healthy and masculine race of people, -but strongly marked by the wild and uncouth exterior connected with their -manner of life. The greater part of the men were clad in coarse white woollen -garments; the females in the same material, but more curiously colored, and -generally with some ornamented lacing about the breast.” He then adds, -“These migratory tribes of shepherds generally come down from the mountains -about the latter end of October, and return thither from the plains in April, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span> -after disposing of a certain proportion of their sheep and horses. In travelling, -they pass the night on the plains or open lands. Arrived at the place of their -destination, they construct their little huts or tents of the materials they carry -with them, assisted by the stones, straw, or earth, which they find on the spot.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_312" href="#FNanchor_312" class="label">[312]</a> No one has described this pastoral migration more minutely or more beautifully, -than Mr. Charles Fellows, in his <i>Discoveries in Lycia</i>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>According to Dr. Sibthorp (<i>in Walpole’s Memoirs</i>, <i>p.</i> 141.), -“a wandering tribe of Nomads” on the other side of Greece -drive their flocks from the mountains of Thessaly into the -plains of Attica and Bœotia to pass the winter. “They give -some pecuniary consideration to the Pasha of Negropont and -Vaivode of Athens. These people are much famed for their -woollen manufactures, particularly the coats or cloaks worn by -the Greek sailors.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter2_II">CHAPTER II<br /> -<small>SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS -OF THE SCRIPTURES, &c.</small></h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Sheep-breeding in Sicily—Bucolic poetry—Sheep-breeding in South Italy—Annual -migration of the flocks—The ram employed to aid the shepherd in conducting -his flock—The ram an emblem of authority—Bells—Ancient inscription -at Sepino—Use of music by ancient shepherds—Superior quality of Tarentine -sheep—Testimony of Columella—Distinction of the coarse and soft kinds—Names -given to sheep—Supposed effect of the water of rivers on wool—Sheep-breeding -in South Italy, Tarentum, and Apulia—Brown and red wool—Sheep-breeding -in North Italy—Wool of Parma, Modena, Mantua, and Padua—Origin -of sheep-breeding in Italy—Faunus the same with Pan—Ancient sculptures -exhibiting Faunus—Bales of wool and the shepherd’s dress—Costume, appearance, -and manner of life of the ancient Italian shepherds.</p> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Still shall o’er all prevail the shepherd’s stores,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For numerous uses known; none yield such warmth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Such beauteous hues receive, so long endure;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So pliant to the loom, so various, none.—<i>Dyer.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We now pass over to <i>Sicily</i>. The pastoral life of the Sicilians -was marked by peculiar characters as well as that of the -Arcadians. The bucolic poems of Theocritus represent many -of its circumstances in the most lively colors; and, while their -dramatic spirit and vivacity are unrivalled, they seem to be -most exact copies of nature, the dialogues which they contain -being in the style, the language, and the precise dialect of the -Sicilian shepherds, and indeed only differing from their real -conversation by being composed in hexameters. It is to be -observed, that the mountains and pastures of Sicily were -browsed by goats and oxen as well as by sheep. These animals -were, however, under distinct keepers, called respectively -Shepherds, Goatherds, and Herdsmen. But the tastes, manner -of life, and the superstitions of these three classes of rustics appear -to have been undistinguishable. They were probably not -always independent proprietors of the soil, but in many cases -the servants of a landed aristocracy who lived in <i>Syracuse</i> and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span> -other splendid cities. They appear, however, to have enjoyed -far greater comforts and advantages than the corresponding -class of hired laborers in the countries to the north of the Peloponnesus -and of Attica. In composing pastoral verses and in -playing on the pipe and the syrinx they probably equalled the -Arcadians. Whilst they were watching their flocks and herds, -it was a frequent amusement with them for two persons to contend -for a stipulated prize, such as a goat, a carved wooden -bowl, or a syrinx, which was to be awarded by an appointed -judge to him who most excelled either in instrumental music, -or in singing alternate and extemporaneous verses<a id="FNanchor_313" href="#Footnote_313" class="fnanchor">[313]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_313" href="#FNanchor_313" class="label">[313]</a> According to the learned German traveller, Baron Riedesel, the custom was -not extinct in his time; for in his Travels through Sicily, page 148 of Forster’s -English translation, he says, “The shepherds still sing with emulation to gain the -crook or the purse, which is the prize of the best performer.” Nevertheless, the -modern can be only a very faint imitation of the ancient practice; for thus the -same author speaks in other passages:</p> - -<p>“Here I had an opportunity of pitying the wretched situation of modern Sicily -in comparison with what it was in former ages. Many towns and different nations -are destroyed; immense riches are dissipated; the whole island can at present -scarce show 1,200,000 inhabitants, <i>the number which Syracuse alone formerly -had</i>. Many beautiful spots, which used to produce corn and fruits, are now -deserted for want of laborers; many spacious ports are without any ships for want -of trade; and many people want bread, <i>whilst the nobility and the monks</i> are in -possession of all the lands.” p. 112, 113.</p> - -<p>“To conclude, the climate, the soil, and the fruits of the country are as perfect -as ever. But the precious Greek liberty, population, power, magnificence, and -good taste, are now not to be met with as in former times, and the present inhabitants -can only say, Fuimus Troes.” p. 151.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>That this elegant recreation was of Sicilian origin we have -clear and abundant evidence. Bion (<i>Idyll</i> vii. 1.) calls pastoral -poetry “a Sicilian strain;” which certainly implies, that of -all places where the Greek language was used Sicily was the -most noted for it, and that in fact it properly belonged to Sicily. -So Moschus (<i>Idyll</i> iii.) speaks of “the Sicilian muses;” and -throughout this Idyll, which is the lament of Moschus on the -death of Bion, he repeatedly speaks of the pastoral poetry, such -as Bion cultivated, as proper to Sicily. In Virgil’s Bucolics we -find frequent allusions to the same acknowledged fact. Thus -he says,</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“I will set my verses to the tune of a Sicilian shepherd.”</p> - -<p><i>Buc.</i> x. 51.</p> -</div> - -<p>The historian Diodorus, himself a Sicilian, who lived about -the commencement of the Christian æra, supposes bucolic poetry -and music to be the peculiar invention and exercise of his -own country, and says, that it continued in use at his time and -was held in the same estimation as formerly<a id="FNanchor_314" href="#Footnote_314" class="fnanchor">[314]</a>. In less than -200 years from this period the art lost much of its original simplicity. -Maximus Tyrius (Diss. xxi.) says, that “the Dorians -of Sicily became, to use the mildest term, <i>more weak in -understanding</i>,” (<i>more dissolute</i>) “when instead of the simple -Alpine music, which they used to employ in the presence of -their flocks and herds, they began to love the tunes of the Sybarites, -and a style of dancing adapted to them, such as was required -by the Ionic pipe.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_314" href="#FNanchor_314" class="label">[314]</a> L. iv. c. 84, p. 283.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>But, although the rustic Dorians of Sicily had the full credit -of this invention and were never surpassed in the practice of it -by any other people, yet the imitation of it was attempted in -various instances by the pastoral inhabitants of other countries. -More especially, it appears to have been adopted in the neighboring -district of Magna Græcia; for it is near <i>Sybaris</i> that -Theocritus has placed the scene of his Fifth Idyll, in which, a -shepherd having staked a lamb and a goatherd a kid, they -contend in alternate verses, whilst a wood-cutter, whom they -have called from his labor, listens as judge, and awards the -prize to the goatherd, who hereupon joyfully sacrifices his newly -acquired lamb to the Nymphs.</p> - -<p>In the Seventh Idyll (<i>v.</i> 12, 27, 40.) Theocritus mentions -the goatherd, <i>Lycidas</i> of Crete, who was his contemporary, -and also his predecessors and supposed instructors, <i>Asclepiades -of Samos</i>, and <i>Philetas of Cos</i>, as distinguished for skill in -pastoral music.</p> - -<p>The bucolic poems of Theocritus prove, that the Arcadian -belief in the attributes of Pan had extended itself into Sicily -and the South of Italy, so that the rustics of those countries -not only invoked him by name, but even sometimes offered -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span> -sacrifices to him. Thus, in Idyll v. 58, the Lucanian goatherd -already referred to says, that he will set aside for Pan eight -dishes of milk and six of honey.</p> - -<p>But besides importing the belief in Pan from Arcadia the -Sicilians recognized two demigods of native origin, who contributed, -if not to excite feelings allied to religion, at least to -amuse their imagination and to contribute greatly to the variety -and liveliness of their poetry. These were the shepherd -Polyphemus, who was horridly deformed, and the herdsman -Daphnis, who was endowed with the most surpassing beauty.</p> - -<p>Polyphemus was the son of Neptune. Notwithstanding his -forbidden aspect he is represented as susceptible of some tender -emotions, and it is his misfortune to be deeply enamored of the -beautiful <i>Nereid</i> or Mermaid Galatea, whom he sees sporting -in the green waves, while he surveys the coast from the summit -of a mountain and plays upon the syrinx for the amusement -of himself and his flock<a id="FNanchor_315" href="#Footnote_315" class="fnanchor">[315]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_315" href="#FNanchor_315" class="label">[315]</a> Theocritus, Idyll vi. and xi. Lucian, Dial. Doridis et Galateæ. Ovid, Met. -L. xiii. 739-870.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The Sicilian Daphnis, like the Arcadian Pan, was the son -of Mercury and of a mountain nymph, and excelled in playing -on the syrinx; but his form was entirely human and the most -beautiful that could be imagined.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>The guardian of fair kine, himself more fair.</p> - -<p><i>Virg. Buc.</i> v. 44.</p> -</div> - -<p> -He tended his cattle upon the picturesque Heræan mountains -to the north of Ætna, and did not mix in the society of men. -At the time when the beard was beginning to grow on his upper -lip, the nymph Echenais became enamored of him, and -enjoined him upon pain of losing his eye-sight not to approach -any other female. He consented, and for some time persisted -in obeying her; but at length a Sicilian princess, having intoxicated -him with wine, accomplished her purpose. He shared -the fate of Thamyras, the Thracian, and was thus punished -for his folly<a id="FNanchor_316" href="#Footnote_316" class="fnanchor">[316]</a>. He then pined away, and died of hopeless love -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span> -for the nymph, whom he had offended<a id="FNanchor_317" href="#Footnote_317" class="fnanchor">[317]</a>. According to Virgil -(<i>Buc.</i> v. 56-71.) <i>he was raised to the stars</i>, and sacrifices -were offered to him by the shepherds. -</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_316" href="#FNanchor_316" class="label">[316]</a> Timæus, author of the Hist. of Sicily, as quoted by Parthenius, c. 29. Ælian, -Var. Hist. L. x. c. 18. Diod. Sic. L. iv. c. 84. p. 283.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_317" href="#FNanchor_317" class="label">[317]</a> Theocritus, Idyll i. 66-141. and vii. 72-77.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Daphnis was the frequent subject of pastoral poetry, being -regarded as an ideal representation of the perfection of the -shepherd’s culture and manner of life. Of this we have a -proof in the epigram of Callimachus on the death of Astacides, -and which concludes thus: “We (shepherds) will no longer -sing of Daphnis, but of Astacides.” The poet’s design was to -extol Astacides, by comparing him with Daphnis. According -to Ælian (<i>l. c.</i>) the first bucolic poems related to the blindness -of Daphnis and its cause; and the first poet, who composed -verses upon this subject, was Stesichorus of Himera in Sicily. -In Theocritus the allusions to the beautiful story of Daphnis -are very frequent<a id="FNanchor_318" href="#Footnote_318" class="fnanchor">[318]</a>, and his sad fate is described at length by -contending shepherds or goatherds in the First and Seventh -Idylls. We shall quote only his dying words, where he calls -on Pan to leave the great Mænalus and the long ridges of -Lycæus, and to come to Sicily in order to receive from his own -hand the syrinx, on which he had been accustomed to play.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἔνθ’ ᾦναξ, καὶ τάνδε φέρ’ εὐπάκτοιο μελίπνουν</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἐκ κηρῶ σύριγγα καλὰν, περὶ χεῖλος ἑλικτάν·</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἠ γὰρ ἐγὼν ὑπ’ ἔρωτος ἐς ἅδᾶν ἕλκομαι ἤδη.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Come, mighty king, come, Pan, and take my pipe,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Well join’d with wax and fitted to my lip;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For now ’tis useless grown, Love stops my breath,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I cannot pipe, but must be mute in death.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Creech’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_318" href="#FNanchor_318" class="label">[318]</a> Idyll v. 20. See also v. 80. In Idyll vi. Daphnis is one of the performers, -and gives a description of Galatea.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Pliny informs us, that in his time the wool of Apulia was -in the highest repute; that throughout the South of Italy the -best sheep were bred in the vicinity of Tarentum and Canusium; -and that the wool of Tarentum was admired for its -tinge of black, and that of Canusium for its fine brown or yellow -color<a id="FNanchor_319" href="#Footnote_319" class="fnanchor">[319]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_319" href="#FNanchor_319" class="label">[319]</a> See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span> -The directions for the management of sheep, given by Varro, -Columella, Virgil, and other writers on rural affairs, all tend -to show the pains taken by the Romans to improve the breed -of sheep, and especially to produce wool of the finest quality.</p> - -<p>The first of these authors (<i>De Re Rustica</i>, L. ii. <i>Præf.</i>) -mentions his own flocks of sheep in Apulia. It appears from -his account that every man was obliged to report the number -of his sheep to the publican and to have them inscribed in a -register, the earliest allusion, to a code of laws, which may -probably have been in some respects similar to that now called -“La Mesta” in Spain. Varro further speaks expressly of the -summer and winter migrations of the flocks; and to show the -great distances to which they were conducted on these occasions, -he states that the sheep of Apulia were taken every -year to pass the summer in the mountains of Samnium, and -sometimes even in those of Reate<a id="FNanchor_320" href="#Footnote_320" class="fnanchor">[320]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_320" href="#FNanchor_320" class="label">[320]</a> De Re Rustica, L. ii. c. 1. p. 161. ed. Bip. See also, c. 2. p. 167.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Of the nature and circumstances of these annual migrations -we are enabled to form some judgment, not only from the animated -description already quoted from Dr. Holland in relation -to Albania, but still more distinctly from the following accounts -by the Honorable Keppel Craven, one of which relates to the -first group of mountains mentioned by Varro, the other to the -second.</p> - -<p>In the year 1818 Mr. Craven visited a large farm a few -miles to the south of Foggia, and consequently not far from the -site of the ancient Arpi in Apulia. He mentions the following -particulars.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Above 200 persons were employed, and resided on the spot. The stock of -sheep consisted of 8000, divided into several flocks; to which those of cows, goats, -and buffaloes, together with a set of brood mares and a suitable quantity of poultry, -bore an equivalent proportion. All the cattle are guarded by large milk-white -dogs of the Abruzzo breed. These animals are very handsome and resemble the -Newfoundland species, but have sharper noses; they are very intelligent and -equally fierce. The flocks are tended by natives of Abruzzo, who also undertake -the care of milking them, as well as making the cheese, &c.; they are assisted -by their wives and children, who accompany them in their yearly migrations to -and from the mountains. These shepherds are clothed in the skins of the animals -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> -which they watch, and are reckoned a quiet, attentive, frugal, and trust-worthy -race.” <i>Tour through the southern Provinces of the Kingdom of Naples, by the -Honorable Keppel Craven</i>, p. 80.</p> -</div> - -<p>The scene of the following extract is the valley of the -Aternus, descending from the region of the highest Apennines, -the “montes Reatini” of Varro, not very remote from the ruins -of his farm and villa, (These ruins are described at page 45 of -the volume from which this passage is extracted.), and proceeding -towards the sites of the modern Aquila and of the ancient -Amiternum.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“One of the broad tratturos, or cattle-paths, runs in the same line with the -high-road to Aquila; and I was so fortunate as to see it occupied by a very extended -line of flocks, which slowly passed by the carriage for the space of a mile -or more. The word ‘fortunate’ adapted to such a spectacle, may excite a smile -in my readers; but I own that I never beheld one of these numerous animal congregations -plodding across the flats of Capitanata, or the valleys of Abruzzo, as -far as the eye could reach, without experiencing a sensation of a novel and exciting -kind, nearly allied to that of enjoyment, but which I shall not attempt to -account for.</p> - -<p>“One shepherd heads each division of cattle, of which he has the peculiar care -and direction. Armed with his crook, he walks some paces in advance of his -flock, followed by an old ram termed <i>il manso</i>; which word, meaning tame or -instructed, has undoubtedly a more apposite signification than that of our bell-wether, -though he is, as well as ours, furnished with a large deep-toned bell.</p> - -<p>“The sheep march in files of about twelve in each; and every battalion, if I -may so call it, is attended by six or eight dogs, according to its number; these -accompanying the herd, walking at the head, middle, and rear of each flank. -The beauty and docility of these animals, which are usually white, has often been -described, and their demeanor is gentle as long as the objects of their solicitude -are unmolested, but at night they are so savage, that it would be dangerous to -approach the fold they guard.</p> - -<p>“The goats, which bear a very small proportion to the sheep, and are in general -black, wind up the array, and evince their superior intelligence by lying down -whenever a temporary halt takes place. The cows and mares travel in separate -bodies. A certain number of these flocks, commonly those belonging to the same -proprietor, are under the immediate management and inspection of an agent, entitled -<i>fattore</i>, who accompanies them on horseback, armed with a musket, and -better clad than the shepherds, who, both in summer and winter, wear the large -<i>sheep-skin jacket</i>, and are in other respects provided with substantial though -homely attire, including good strong shoes.</p> - -<p>“These Fattores are all natives of Abruzzo, an Apulian never having been -known to undertake the profession: the former, through particular habits and the -repeated experience of years, are looked upon as so peculiarly fitted for the care -required by cattle, and indeed animals of all kinds, that all the helpers in the stables -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span> -of the capital are natives of these provinces, or of the adjoining county of -Molise. In addition to these qualifications, they are esteemed an abstemious and -honest race.</p> - -<p>“When following the calling of shepherds, and occupied, as I saw them, in the -duties of their charge in travelling, their countenances are almost invariably -marked by the same expression, which combines mildness and sagacity with immovable -gravity, and, it is painful to add, a look of deep-seated sadness; the -whole caravan, animal as well as human, exhibiting, at least while engaged in -one of those tedious peregrinations, a general appearance of suffering and depression, -distinguishable in every individual that composes it. The shepherd that -opens the march, the independent manso jingling his brazen bell, the flocks that -follow, the dogs that watch over their security, and even the Fattore who directs -the procession, all appear to be plodding through a wearisome existence of monotony -and toil. The extreme slowness of their progress, the downcast expression of -every head and eye, and, above all, the indications of exhaustion and fatigue -which are but too perceptible after a journey of more than a month’s duration, -may well account for this impression.</p> - -<p>“The animals suffer greatly from heat until they reach their summer dwelling, -and full as much from lameness, which, when it has reached a certain pitch, becomes -the signal for destruction. I saw a mule bearing no other load than the -skins of those that had perished in this manner.</p> - -<p>“Several other beasts of burden follow the rear of the herds, laden with the various -articles necessary for them and their guardians during their protracted -march: these consist in the nets and poles requisite to pen the folds at night, the -coarse cloth tents for the use of the shepherds, and a limited stock of utensils for -milking, and boiling the produce of the flock. Among these are to be noticed -some portable jointed seats of very ingenious though simple construction, composed -of the stems of the giant fennel, a substance remarkable for its light and -compact texture.</p> - -<p>“The cattle which I thus met near Aquila were within two days’ journey of -their resting-place, which is generally in some of the valleys placed on the lower -flanks of the mountain ridges, but sufficiently elevated above the larger plains to -afford fresh and abundant herbage and a cooler temperature.</p> - -<p>“The duration of their abode in these regions is regulated by the rapid or slow -progression of the summer season; in the course of which they shift their quarters, -as the heat increases, till they reach the highest spots, which are the last divested -of the deep snows, in which they have been buried during three quarters -of the year. Here large tracts of the finest pasture, rills of the coldest and purest -water, and shady woods of considerable extension, are occupied by them during -the remainder of the fine weather, and afford the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of enjoyment allotted -to an existence of such restricted variety.” <i>Excursions in the Abruzzi by -the Honorable Keppel Craven.</i> <i>London</i>, 1838, <i>vol.</i> i. <i>p.</i> 259-264.</p> -</div> - -<p>The account, given in the second paragraph of this extract, -of the shepherd marching at the head of his battalion of sheep -illustrates in a striking manner the remark made respecting -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span> -the comparison of kings to shepherds, and to their leading rams -in Homer and in the Scriptures.</p> - -<p>The Greek word Κτίλος, originally an adjective, corresponds -exactly to the Italian <i>manso</i>. It appears to have been applicable -to all trained tame animals. Hence it was used specially -to denote the large and powerful ram, which was instructed to -assist the shepherd in disposing the sheep in proper order and -in leading them to and from their daily pasture as well as during -their long migrations. In the third book of the Iliad (<i>l.</i> -196-198), where Priam is described surveying the Greek troops -from the Scæan gate, after the account of Agamemnon, who -was considered as their shepherd, we find Ulysses, who was -inferior to him both in rank and in stature, represented as his -<i>manso</i>, that is, as the ram, which immediately follows the shepherd -and aids him in conducting the flock. The same image -is repeated in the thirteenth book (<i>l.</i> 492, 493), where Pope’s -translation, though very paraphrastic, is an admirable representation -of the real circumstances.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In order follow all th’ embodied train,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like Ida’s flocks proceeding o’er the plain:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Before his fleecy care, erect and bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Stalks the proud ram, the father of the fold;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With joy the swain surveys them, as he leads</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the cool fountains, through the well-known meads.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -Propertius presents us with a similar picture in the following -lines: -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Corniger Idæi vacuam pastoris in aulam</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Dux aries saturas ipse reduxit oves.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Lib.</i> iii. <i>El.</i> 13.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The fold receives the sheep on Ida fed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By the great ram, their horned chieftain, led.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Aristotle calls these rams “the leaders of the sheep,” and he -states, that the shepherds provided for each flock such a leader, -<i>which, when called by name by the shepherd, placed himself -at the head of the flock</i>, and was trained to execute this office -from an early age<a id="FNanchor_321" href="#Footnote_321" class="fnanchor">[321]</a>. The employment of the <i>manso</i> was probably -the ground, on which many of the Orientals adopted the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span> -ram as the emblem of military authority<a id="FNanchor_322" href="#Footnote_322" class="fnanchor">[322]</a>. According to this -supposition it would rather denote secondary than supreme -command; and if so, <i>the representation of the king of Persia -by the symbol of a ram in the 8th chapter of Daniel is the -more expressive, because it indicated that he was the agent -of the supreme Deity</i>. Probably also the same sentiment was -intended to be conveyed by the enthusiastic Sapor, or Shahpoor -II., King of Persia in the <i>fourth century</i>, when he rode -to battle in front of his army wearing instead of a diadem a -ram’s head wrought in gold and studded with precious stones<a id="FNanchor_323" href="#Footnote_323" class="fnanchor">[323]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_321" href="#FNanchor_321" class="label">[321]</a> Hist. Animal. viii. 19.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_322" href="#FNanchor_322" class="label">[322]</a> E. F. K. Rosenmuller, Bibl. Alterthumskunde, iv. 2. p. 83.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_323" href="#FNanchor_323" class="label">[323]</a> Ammianus Marcell. xix. 1.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Any one, who has seen the collection of ancient bronze bells -in the Museum at Naples, and compared them with those now -worn in Italy about the necks of sheep and other cattle, will be -struck with their similarity. We know also from various ancient -laws and other evidence<a id="FNanchor_324" href="#Footnote_324" class="fnanchor">[324]</a> that the shepherds fastened bells -upon their sheep as they do at the present day.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_324" href="#FNanchor_324" class="label">[324]</a> See note of Sweertius on the treatise of Hieron. Magius de Tintinnabulis, -cap. viii.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>There is a striking correspondence between the words of -Varro, “crates, retia, cæteraque utensilia,” and Craven’s account -of the provision of nets, &c. for making folds, and of the -other necessary utensils.</p> - -<p>At Sepino, the ancient Sæpinum, situated in the highest part -of the mountains of Samnium near the source of the Tamarus, -Mr. Craven saw over the Eastern gate the remains of a very -remarkable inscription referring to the same practice<a id="FNanchor_325" href="#Footnote_325" class="fnanchor">[325]</a>. This -inscription has been accurately published by Muratori<a id="FNanchor_326" href="#Footnote_326" class="fnanchor">[326]</a>. It -clearly distinguishes between the “fattores” (<i>conductores gregum -oviaricorum</i>) and the shepherds who were under them -(<i>pastores quos conductores habent</i>). These were molested -by the magistrates of Sæpinum and the neighboring town of -Bovianum, and by the “stationarii” or soldiers, who, instead -of being ready to protect them in case of need, charged them -with being fugitives and with cattle-stealing, and under this -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span> -pretence drove back even those sheep which belonged to the -emperor (<i>oves quoque dominicas</i>) and thus greatly injured his -revenue. These grievances were consequently represented to -an officer at Rome who kept the emperor’s accounts (<i>Cosmus, -Augusti Libertus a Rationibus</i>); and he writes in the terms -of the inscription to Basseus Rufus and Macrinus Vindex, officers -of rank in the army, in order that the evil might be remedied. -This inscription must have been erected about the commencement -of the Christian æra. As Mr. Craven remarks, -“It not only corroborates what was already known, that the -periodical migration of the herds from Apulia is of most ancient -origin, but it proves, that they observed the same line of route -which they follow to the present day; the road, that runs from -the east to the western gate of this inclosure, falling into the -line of the <i>tratturos</i>, or sheep-paths, exclusively allotted to the -use of the flocks in their annual journeys.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_325" href="#FNanchor_325" class="label">[325]</a> See Excursions in the Abruzzi, vol. ii. p. 135, 136.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_326" href="#FNanchor_326" class="label">[326]</a> Novus Thesaurus Vet. Inscriptionum, p. <span class="allsmcap">DCVI</span>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Whilst we discover these numerous points of resemblance -between the ancient and the modern practice, it is probable that -in other respects there was a greater diversity. If the author -whose observations have been cited had witnessed a similar procession -in very ancient times, he would have seen less reason to -deplore its toilsome and melancholy aspect. Music was then -probably of no little service in animating both the shepherds -and their flocks. The sonorous <i>bagpipe</i> may have contributed -to this effect<a id="FNanchor_327" href="#Footnote_327" class="fnanchor">[327]</a>. At least Mr. Craven’s account of a modern -pastoral march is strikingly contrasted with the following description -by Apollonius Rhodius, in which he compares the -ship Argo and the music of Orpheus, followed by multitudes of -fishes, to a shepherd playing on the syrinx and followed by his -sheep.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ὡς δ’ ὁπότ’ ἀγραύλοιο κατ’ ἴχνια σημαντῆρος</div> - <div class="verse indent0">μυρία μῆλ’ ἐφέπονται ἄδην κεκορημένα ποίης</div> - <div class="verse indent0">εἰς αὖλιν, ὁ δέ τ’ εἶσι πάρος σύριγγι λιγείῃ</div> - <div class="verse indent0">καλὰ μελιζόμενος νόμιον μέλος· ὥς ἄρα τοί γε</div> - <div class="verse indent0">ὡμάρτευν· πὴν δ’ αἰὲν ἐπασσύτερος φέρεν οὖρος.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Argon</i>, <i>L.</i> i. 575-579.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span></p> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As sheep in flocks thick-pasturing on the plain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Attend the footsteps of the shepherd-swain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His well-known call they hear, and fully fed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pace slowly on, their leader at their head;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who pipes melodious, as he moves along,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On sprightly reeds his modulated song:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus charm’d with tuneful sounds the scaly train</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pursued the flying vessel o’er the main.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Fawkes’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_327" href="#FNanchor_327" class="label">[327]</a> According to Montfaucon (Ant. Expliquée, Suppl. Tom. iii. p. 188.) the bagpipe -was seen under the arm of a shepherd in the collection of Cardinal Albani -at Rome.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The testimony afforded by Varro relative to the management -of the South Italian sheep, having been given and illustrated, -it is to be deplored that Italy, once so renowned for its sheep, -can now boast little of this production of her bounteous clime. -The Romans, whose dress was woollen, cultivated in an especial -degree the fineness of the fleece; and it was not until the -days of the Empire that the silk and cotton of the East began -to supersede the ancient raiment of the Roman people. The -finest wools of ancient Italy were produced in Apulia and Calabria, -being the eastern parts of the present kingdom of Naples<a id="FNanchor_328" href="#Footnote_328" class="fnanchor">[328]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_328" href="#FNanchor_328" class="label">[328]</a> It appears from the following passage of Varro, that the Apulian was sold at -a higher price than some other kinds of wool which were equally beautiful, because -it wore better. By <i>lana Gallicana</i> in this passage we must understand -the wool of Gallia Cisalpina, of which we shall next treat.</p> - -<p>Sic enim lana Gallicana et Appula videtur imperito similis propter speciem, -cum peritus Appulam emat pluris, quod in usu firmior sit.</p> - -<p class="right"> -<i>De Lin. Lat.</i>, lib. ix. 28. p. 484. ed. Spengel.<br /> -</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>We now proceed to the other writers on Rural Affairs, viz., -Columella and Palladius.</p> - -<p>The first attests the high estimation in which the sheep of -Calabria and Apulia were held by the Romans, especially before -his own time, and he says that among them the Tarentine -sheep were the best of all. In speaking of the practice so prevalent -in this district of covering them with skins, he shows, -that these “oves pellitæ” were also called “soft” (<i>molles</i>), and -“covered” (<i>tectæ</i>). Indeed he makes the great distinction of -sheep to be into the “<i>genus molle</i>,” i. e. the soft kind, and the -“genus hirsutum,” or “hirtum,” i. e. the coarse kind. We -further learn that the soft sheep were called by the Romans -Greek sheep, because they were bred in Græcia Magna, and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span> -Tarentine, because the best of all were bred at Tarentum. -According to Palladius they were also sometimes called Asiatic -(<i>Asianæ</i>). It is to be observed that by <i>Asia</i>, Palladius and -his contemporaries would understand the celebrated sheep-country -of which Miletus was the centre<a id="FNanchor_329" href="#Footnote_329" class="fnanchor">[329]</a>; and considering the -frequent, long-established, and very friendly intercourse between -Miletus and Tarentum<a id="FNanchor_330" href="#Footnote_330" class="fnanchor">[330]</a>, we may infer that the Milesians -imported into Tarentum their fine breed of sheep, and at -the same time introduced the art of <i>dyeing</i> and <i>preparing</i> the -wool. The same sheep, which were called Greek by the Romans, -were called <i>Italian</i> by the Egyptians and others, to -whom the word <i>Greek</i> would not have been distinctive. Columella -(vii. 4.) insists particularly on the great pains and care, -which it was necessary to bestow upon this description of sheep, -the “covered” or “soft,” in regard to food, warmth, and cleanliness, -and he says that they were principally brought up in the -house<a id="FNanchor_331" href="#Footnote_331" class="fnanchor">[331]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_329" href="#FNanchor_329" class="label">[329]</a> Cellarii Ant. Orbis Notitia, iii. 1. 7, 8, 9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_330" href="#FNanchor_330" class="label">[330]</a> Herod. vi. 21. and Wesseling <i>ad locum</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_331" href="#FNanchor_331" class="label">[331]</a> According to Bochart (Hieroz. cap. 45. p. 486, ed. Leusden), the Talmud and -another rabbinical book, lambs soon after their birth were invested with garments -fastened upon them with thongs or buckles.</p> - -<p>In the sheep-breeding countries of Europe the practice seems to have been -very general. Besides South Italy, Attica, Megaris, and Epirus, in regard to -which countries positive evidence has been produced, we find that soft sheep, or -“oves pellitæ” were kept by an inhabitant of Cynethæ in Arcadia (Polybius, L. -ix. c. 17.), by the Roman settlers in the North of Gaul and in Spain.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>As there was in general a great affinity between the manners -and ideas of Sicily and South Italy, we might infer that the -pastoral habits of these two districts were in many respects -similar. Theocritus accordingly lays the scene of some of his -Idylls on the coast opposite to Sicily. The fifth Idyll describes -a contest between a shepherd and a goatherd, who are supposed -to have been employed as hired servants in the vicinity -of Sybaris. The shepherd, observing some of his sheep to be -feeding on an oak, which could not be very good for them, utters -the following exclamation, showing that it was customary -to give proper names to sheep, and thus confirming the fact, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span> -that in ancient times they were regarded as the objects of affection, -and not of profitable speculation merely:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Οὐκ ἀπὸ τᾶς δρυὸς οὗτος ὁ Κώναρος, ἅ τε Κυναίθα·</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Τουτεὶ βοσκησεῖσθε ποτ’ ἀντολὰς, ὡς ὁ Φάλαρος.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ho! Sharphorn, Browning, leave those hurtful weeds,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And come and graze this way, where Colly feeds.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Creech’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The passage has often been cited in illustration of the following -verses from the Gospel of St. John. Our Savior, describing -himself as a shepherd, here alludes to various indications of -care and attachment, which distinguish the owner of a flock -from the hireling, who, being engaged to tend the sheep only -for a season, could not be so well known by them, nor so much -interested in their security and welfare.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he -putteth forth (from the fold) his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep -follow him; for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but -will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”—<i>John</i>, x. 3-5.</p> -</div> - -<p>In reference to this passage of Scripture the following remarks -of a late traveller are instructive:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“I asked my man if it was usual in Greece to give names to sheep. He informed -me that it was, and that the sheep obeyed the shepherd when he called -them by their names. This morning (<i>March 5, 1828</i>), I had an opportunity of -verifying the truth of this remark. Passing by a flock of sheep, I asked the -shepherd the same question which I put to my servant, and he gave me the same -answer. I then bade him to call one of his sheep. He did so, and it instantly -left its pasturage and its companions, and ran up to the hand of the shepherd, -with signs of pleasure and with a prompt obedience which I had never before observed -in any other animal. It is also true of the sheep in this country, <i>that a -stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the -voice of the strangers</i>. The shepherd told me that many of his sheep are still -<span class="allsmcap">WILD</span>; that they had not yet learned their names; but that by teaching they -would all learn them. The others, which knew their names, he called <span class="allsmcap">TAME</span>.”—<i>Researches -in Greece and the Levant, by the Rev. John Hartley</i>, p. 321.</p> -</div> - -<p>The city of Sybaris stood between two rivers, the Sybaris -and the Crathis. The ancients asserted that the sheep which -drank of the Crathis, were white, and those which drank of the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span> -Sybaris, black. They attributed similar virtues to other -streams in various parts of the world<a id="FNanchor_332" href="#Footnote_332" class="fnanchor">[332]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_332" href="#FNanchor_332" class="label">[332]</a> Ælian, Nat. Anim. xii. 36. Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxi. 9. Kruse’s Hellas, i. p. -369. (See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>According to Strabo (L. vi. <i>cap.</i> 3. § 9. <i>p.</i> 303. <i>ed. Siebenkees</i>) -the hilly promontory of Garganus was particularly celebrated -for its sheep. He says, that their wool was softer than the -Tarentine, but less shining.</p> - -<p>The Roman poets allude in various instances to the excellence -of the Apulian wool, and especially to that of Tarentum. -Horace in the following stanza expresses his predilection for this -celebrated city, and mentions its “soft” or “covered” sheep. -He had been asserting his wish to end his days at Tibur, the -modern Tivoli.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But, should the partial Fates refuse</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That purer air to let me breathe,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Galesus, thy sweet stream I’ll choose,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where flocks of richest fleeces bathe:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Phalanthus there his rural sceptre sway’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Uncertain offspring of a Spartan maid.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Od.</i> <i>l.</i> ii. 6.—<i>Francis’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Martial alludes to the celebrity of the Tarentine wool in no -less than five of his epigrams.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Spartan Galesus did your toga lave,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or from a flock select fair Parma gave.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. ii. <i>ep.</i> 43. <i>l.</i> 3, 4.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The poet intended here to describe a toga of the most expensive -and fashionable kind.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">You give, O Chloe, to Lupercus,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your tender favorite, lacernas</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Spanish, Tyrian, scarlet fleeces,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And togas wash’d in warm Galesus.</div> - - <div class="verse indent6">L. iv. <i>ep.</i> 28. <i>l.</i> 1-3.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou wast more sweet, O lovely child!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Than song of aged dying swans:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thy voice, thy mien were soft and mild</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As Phalantine Galesus’ lambs.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. v. <i>ep.</i> 37. <i>l.</i> 1, 2.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The last lines were written by Martial on the death of Erotion -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span> -in her sixth year. He describes her interesting qualities -by comparing her to a lamb of the soft Tarentine breed, always -clothed and usually kept in the house and hence remarkably -tender and delicate.</p> - -<p>The following epigram (L. viii. <i>ep.</i> 28.) was written on the -receipt of a handsome toga from the wealthy and munificent -Parthenius, chamberlain to the emperor Domitian. In expressing -his admiration of it, the poet enumerates the places from -which the Romans of his time obtained the best and most -fashionable garments of this description. He next proceeds to -extol its whiteness; and in conclusion observes how ridiculous -he would appear wearing his old <i>lacerna</i> over this new and -snowy garment, and he thus conveys a hint to Parthenius how -acceptable and suitable would be the present of a lacerna in addition -to the toga.</p> - -<p>De Partheniana toga.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Dic, toga, facundi gratum mihi munus amici,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Esse velis cujus fama, decusque gregis?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Appula Ledæi tibi floruit herba Phalanthi,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Quà saturat Calabris culta Galesus aquis?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An Tartessiacus stabuli nutritor Iberi</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bætis in Hesperia te quoque lavit aqua?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An tua multifidum numeravit lana Timavum,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Quem prius astrifero Cyllarus ore bibit?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Te nec Amyclæo decuit livere veneno;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nec Miletus erat vellere digna tuo.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lilia tu vincis, nec adhuc dilapsa ligustra,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Et Tiburtino monte quod albet ebur.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Spartanus tibi cedet olor, Phaphiæque columbæ:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Cedet Erythræis eruta gemma vadis.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sed licet hæc primis nivibus sint æmula dona,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Non sunt Parthenio candidiora suo.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Non ego prætulerim Babylonica picta superbè</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Texta, Semiramia quæ variantur acu.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Non Athamantæo potius me mirer in auro,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Æolium dones si mihi, Phryxe, decus.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O quantos risus pariter spectata movebit</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Trita Palatina nostra lacerna toga!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Say, grateful gift of mine ingenious friend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What happy flock shall to thy fleece pretend?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For thee did herb of famed Phalantus blow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where clear Galesus bids his waters flow?</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Did thy wool count the streamlets, more than seven,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of him, who slaked the warrior horse of heaven?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or did Tartessian Guadalquiver lave</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thy matchless woof in his Hesperian wave?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou didst not need to taste Amyclæ’s bane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And wouldst have tried Milesian art in vain.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With thee the lily and the privet pale</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Compared, and Tibur’s whitest ivory fail.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Spartan swan, the Paphian doves deplore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their hue, and pearls on Erythrean shore.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But, though the boon leave new-fall’n snows behind,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It is not purer than the donor’s mind.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I would prefer no <i>Babylonian vest</i>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Superbly broider’d</i> at a queen’s behest;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor better pleased should I my limbs behold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Phryxus, in <i>webs</i> of thine Æolian gold.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But O! what laughter will the contrast crown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My worn lacerna on th’ imperial gown!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It may be observed, that in this ingenious epigram, as well -as in two of the preceding, which relate to togas, Martial supposes -the Tarentine wool to be white: for the Roman toga was -of that color except in mourning, and one object of the last-cited -epigram is to praise the whiteness of the particular toga, which it -describes. The Tarentines therefore must have produced both -dark-colored and white fleeces.</p> - -<p>The fifth passage of Martial (xii. 64.), which mentions the -sheep of the Galesus, more directly refers to those of Spain, and -will therefore be quoted under that head.</p> - -<p>Besides the epigrams, now cited, in which Martial commends -the wool of Tarentum in particular, we find others, in which -he celebrates that of Apulia in general. In Book xiv. Ep. 155. -he gives an account of the principal countries, which yielded -white wools, and informs us that those of the first quality were -from Apulia.</p> - -<p>White Wools.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The first Apulia’s; next is Parma’s boast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the third fleece Altinum has engrost.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Elphinston’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Also in the following lines Martial alludes to the large and numerous -flocks of Apulia, and to the whiteness of their wool.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Of white thou hast to clothe a tribe sufficient stock,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The produce fair of more than one Apulian flock.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. ii. <i>Ep.</i> 46. <i>l.</i> 5, 6.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>On the other hand the wool from the vicinity of Canusium -was no less esteemed for its dark colors, whether inclining to -brown or to red. These saved the expense of dyeing. The -testimony of Pliny to their value has been already produced. -In the two following Epigrams (<i>l.</i> xiv. 127 <i>and</i> 129.) Martial -alludes to the peculiar recommendations and uses, first of the -brown, and secondly of the reddish variety.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">This Canusine lacerna, it is true,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Looks muddy: but it will not change its hue<a id="FNanchor_333" href="#Footnote_333" class="fnanchor">[333]</a>.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rome in the brown delights, gay Gaul in red:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This pleases boys, and whose is blood to shed.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_333" href="#FNanchor_333" class="label">[333]</a> It appears from this epigram that, when shaken, it had the color of the brown -wool of Canusium, a kind of drab. The lacerna was a mantle, which the Romans -wore out of doors over their white toga, with which it was well contrasted, -whether it was purple, scarlet, or brown; but the last color, though less showy at -first, must have had the advantage of durability. See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>On referring to the passages produced from Pliny, Columella, -and Martial, it will be seen that the Romans ascribed a very -high value to the white wool of Gallia Cisalpina, i. e. of North -Italy, or the region about the Po. Parma was considered second -only to Apulia for the whiteness of its wool. Besides the -two epigrams of Martial already cited, he refers to Parma as a -great place for sheep-breeding in the following passage, addressed -to the wealthy Callistratus:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>And Gallic Parma shears thy num’rous flocks.</p> -<p class="right">L. v. <i>ep.</i> 13.</p> -</div> - -<p>Columella speaks moreover (<i>l. c.</i>) of the superiority of the -wool of Mutina, now Modena; and Martial (<i>l.</i> v. <i>ep.</i> 105.) -mentions the circumstance of a <i>fuller</i>, or <i>clothier</i>, in that city -having exhibited a show to the public, which is a presumptive -evidence that he had a great business in manufacturing the -produce of the surrounding country.</p> - -<p>Strabo in his account of the productions of Cisalpine Gaul -divides the wool into three kinds; First, the soft kind, of which -the finest varieties were grown about Mutina and the river -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span> -Scutana, which is the modern Scultenna, a tributary of the -Po, rising in the Apennines; Secondly, the coarse kind, grown -in Liguria and the country of the Insubres, which was very -much used for the common wearing apparel of the Italians; -and Thirdly, the middle kind, grown about Patavium (now -Padua) and employed for making valuable <i>carpets</i> and various -descriptions of <i>blankets</i><a id="FNanchor_334" href="#Footnote_334" class="fnanchor">[334]</a>. By comparing the statements of -this author with those of Columella and Martial it will appear, -that the whole region watered by the parallel rivers Parma, -Gabellus, and Scultenna, and known by the name of <i>Macri -Campi</i>, or the Barren Plains, was esteemed for the production -of the fine white wool.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_334" href="#FNanchor_334" class="label">[334]</a> Strabo, L. v. c. 1. § 12. p. 119. ed. Siebenkees.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>That the tending of both sheep and goats was a principal -occupation of the people of Mantua we learn from Virgil, a -native of that city, who places the scene of most of his pastorals -in its vicinity. His First and Ninth Eclogues more particularly -relate to the calamities, which the Mantuans were compelled -to sustain, when Augustus seized on their lands to reward -his veteran soldiers after the battle of Philippi. These -eclogues mention flocks both of sheep and goats, and show that -those who had the care of them cultivated music and poetry -after the manner of the Sicilians. The commencement of the -Seventh Eclogue is especially instructive, because it gives us -reason to believe, that while many of the Arcadians left their -country in consequence of that excess of population, to which -mountainous regions are subject, in order to become foreign -mercenaries, others, on the contrary, entered into foreign service -as shepherds and goatherds, and in this condition not only -made themselves useful by their experience, skill, and fidelity, -but also introduced at the same time their native music together -with that refinement of manners and feelings which it -promoted. The poet thus describes two such individuals, who -had been employed in tending flocks upon the banks of the -Mincius (<i>l.</i> 12, 13), and who were either born in Arcadia, or -were at least of Arcadian origin.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Two blooming swains had join’d their flocks in one,</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Thyrsis his sheep, and tuneful Corydon</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His goats, which bore their treasur’d milk along;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Arcadians both, both skill’d in amœbean song.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>At a considerable distance to the North-East of Mantua lay -Altinum, which is mentioned by Columella<a id="FNanchor_335" href="#Footnote_335" class="fnanchor">[335]</a>, Tertullian, and -Martial, as one of the principal places for the produce of <i>white</i> -wool. Martial says, that it ranked in this respect next to Parma<a id="FNanchor_336" href="#Footnote_336" class="fnanchor">[336]</a>, -and we must understand him as referring to the same -region in Book viii. Epig. 28, where he asks, “Did thy wool -count the many streams of the Timavus, which Cyllarus previously -drank with his starry mouth?” The Timavus was -indeed a considerable way still further towards the North-East, -and must have been very insignificant in connection with the -sheep-breeding of the Altinates. The poet introduces it here -only on account of its picturesque and mythological interest, -just as we have seen that the Galesus, a small, though clear and -very beautiful stream, is repeatedly named in order to designate -the pastoral region about Tarentum. It may also be observed, -that in this epigram, where Martial alludes to three of the principal -places for the growth of white wool, he indicates each of -them by its river, the three rivers being the Galesus, the Bætis, -and the Timavus; and he probably did so on account of the supposed -effect of the waters of these rivers in improving the wool.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_335" href="#FNanchor_335" class="label">[335]</a> L. vii. cap. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_336" href="#FNanchor_336" class="label">[336]</a> L. xiv. Ep. 155.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We can make no question, after what we have seen of the -universal practice of both ancient and modern times, that the -sheep, which in the winter were pastured in the plains and -lower grounds about Altinum, were taken to pass the summer -in the vallies of the Carinthian Alps about the sources of the -Brenta, the Piave, and the Tagliamento. We may also trace -the wool, after it was manufactured, in its progress towards -Rome, where was the chief demand for garments of this description. -For Strabo says, that Patavium (<i>Padua</i>), which -was situated at no great distance from Altinum on the way to -Rome, was a great and flourishing mart for all kinds of merchandize -intended to be sent thither, and especially for every -kind of cloth<a id="FNanchor_337" href="#Footnote_337" class="fnanchor">[337]</a>. It appears, therefore, that the wool-growers -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span> -and clothiers of the country to the North-East of Padua, the -modern Trevisano, employed that city as an entrepôt where -they disposed of their goods to the Roman dealers. At the -same time we learn, that this place served as a market for <i>carpets</i> -and <i>blankets</i> made of a stronger and more substantial -material, which, according to the same authority<a id="FNanchor_338" href="#Footnote_338" class="fnanchor">[338]</a>, was produced -in its more immediate vicinity.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_337" href="#FNanchor_337" class="label">[337]</a> L. v. cap. 1. § 6, 7. Strabo alludes to the pastoral occupations of the territory -about Altinum and the Timavus.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_338" href="#FNanchor_338" class="label">[338]</a> Strabo.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the North-Western portion of Cisalpine Gaul the wool -was generally coarse, and according to Strabo (<i>l. c.</i>) the garments -made of it were used by the Italians for the ordinary -clothing of their domestic establishments. Nevertheless, black -wool of superior value was grown at Polentia, now Polenza, on -the Stura, which is a tributary of the Po<a id="FNanchor_339" href="#Footnote_339" class="fnanchor">[339]</a>. The following two -Epigrams of Martial (<i>l.</i> xiv. 157 and 158.) allude to the use of -the dark wool of Polentia for mourning and for the dress of inferior -domestic servants.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Polentine Wools.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">1. Not wools alone, that wear the face of woe;</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Her goblets once did proud Polentia show.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">2. Our sable hue to croplings may belong,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">That tend the table, not of primal throng.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Elphinston’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div></div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_339" href="#FNanchor_339" class="label">[339]</a> Pliny, L. viii. Columella, vii. 2. To these testimonies may be added Silius -Italicus de Bello Punico, l. viii. 597.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The country people about Modena and in other parts of the -Northern Apennines still wear <i>undyed</i> woollen cloth of a gray -color. Muratori quotes from the statutes of the city of Modena, -A. D. 1327, a law to <i>prevent the makers of such cloth from -mixing with their gray wool the hair of oxen, asses, or other -animals</i><a id="FNanchor_340" href="#Footnote_340" class="fnanchor">[340]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_340" href="#FNanchor_340" class="label">[340]</a> Dissertazioni sopra le Antichità Italiane, Diss. 30. tomo ii. 48, 49, 4to edition. -This author in his 21st Dissertation endeavors to assign reasons for the decline -of the modern Italians in the growth and manufacture of wool.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Before quitting Italy we may properly inquire, whence and -how came the practice of sheep-breeding into Great Britain. -It has already been observed that the very improved state of -the art at Tarentum may be in part ascribed to the intercourse -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span> -of its inhabitants with the Milesians. The reader will have -noticed the fact that the worship of Pan was introduced into -Italy from Arcadia by Evander, from which circumstance it -may be reasonably inferred, that improvements in the management -of sheep were also introduced at the same time. According -to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Evander with his companions -was said by the Romans to have migrated to Latium <i>about -sixty years before the Trojan war</i><a id="FNanchor_341" href="#Footnote_341" class="fnanchor">[341]</a>. The same historian alleges -that this colony taught in Italy the use of letters, of instrumental -music and other arts, established laws, and brought -some degree of refinement instead of the former savage mode -of life. The story of the birth of Romulus and Remus supposes -sheep-breeding to have been practiced at the period of that -event, and in a state of society similar to that which we have -found prevailing further eastward; for it is stated, that Faustulus, -who discovered them, kept the king’s flocks. He was -“magister regii pecoris<a id="FNanchor_342" href="#Footnote_342" class="fnanchor">[342]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_341" href="#FNanchor_341" class="label">[341]</a> Hist. Rom. l. i. p. 20, 21. ed. R. Stephani, Par. 1546. folio.</p> - -<p>As it has been a frequent error with nations to push back their annals into a -higher antiquity than was consistent with fact, this may have been the case in -the present instance. For it is to be observed, that according to Herodotus the -worship of Pan did not arise in Arcadia until after the time when according to -this latter statement it was introduced from Arcadia into Latium.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_342" href="#FNanchor_342" class="label">[342]</a> Livii l. i. c. 4.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>According to Pausanias (<i>l.</i> viii. <i>c.</i> 3. § 2.) the first Greek colony, -which went into Italy, was from Arcadia, being conducted -thither by Œnotrus, an Arcadian prince<a id="FNanchor_343" href="#Footnote_343" class="fnanchor">[343]</a>. This was several -centuries before the expedition under Evander, and the part of -Italy thus colonized was the southern extremity, afterwards occupied -by the Bruttii<a id="FNanchor_344" href="#Footnote_344" class="fnanchor">[344]</a>. If with Niebuhr we regard this tradition -only in the light of a genealogical table, designed to indicate -the affinities of tribes and nations, still the simple fact of the -colonization of South Italy by Arcadians certainly authorizes -the conjecture, that Arcadia was one of the stepping-stones, by -which the art of sheep-breeding was transported from Asia into -Europe.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_343" href="#FNanchor_343" class="label">[343]</a> As further evidence for this tradition see Pherecydis Fragmenta, a Sturtz, p. -190. Virg. Æn. i. 532, and iii. 165. Compare Heyne, Excursus vi. ad Æn. l. iii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_344" href="#FNanchor_344" class="label">[344]</a> Heyne, Excursus xxi. ad Æn. l. i. Niebuhr, Röm. Geschichte, i. p. 57.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span> -The reader will have perceived from the observations already -made on the worship of Faunus in Italy, that the Roman Faunus -was the same with the Arcadian Pan. It seems no sufficient -objection to this hypothesis, that a few Roman authors -have supposed Faunus to be either the son of Mars<a id="FNanchor_345" href="#Footnote_345" class="fnanchor">[345]</a>, or of Picus -and the grandson of Saturn, thus connecting him with their -native mythology, or that his oracle was held by them in high -repute<a id="FNanchor_346" href="#Footnote_346" class="fnanchor">[346]</a>. It is here sufficient to remark, that we find him extensively -recognized in Italy as a pastoral divinity.</p> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Stretch’d on the springing grass, the shepherd swain</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His reedy pipe with rural music fills;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The god, who guards his flock, approves the strain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The god, who loves Arcadia’s gloomy hills.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Horat. Carm.</i> iv. 12. 9-12.—<i>Francis’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p>The above stanza occurs in a description of the beauties of -spring, and the poet no doubt alludes to the pastoral habits of -his Sabine neighbors.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_345" href="#FNanchor_345" class="label">[345]</a> Appian apud Photium.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_346" href="#FNanchor_346" class="label">[346]</a> Virgil, Æn. vii. 48, 81-105, and Heyne, Excursus v. ad loc.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>From ancient monuments as well as from the language of -the poets we find, that the worship of other divinities was associated -with that of Faunus in reference to the success of all -agricultural pursuits including that of sheep-breeding. Boissard, -in the Fourth Part of his Antiquitates Romanæ, has published -somewhat rude engravings of the bas-reliefs upon two -altars, one of them (No. 130) dedicated to <i>Hope</i>, the other (No. -134) to <i>Silvanus</i>. The altar to Hope was erected, as the inscription -expresses, in a garden at Rome by M. Aur. Pacorus, -keeper of the temple of Venus. He says, that he had been admonished -to this deed of piety by <i>a dream</i>; and, if the representation -in the bas-relief was the image thus presented to his -mind, his dream was certainly a very pleasant one. Hope, -wearing on her head a wreath of flowers, places her right hand -upon a pillar and holds in her left poppy-heads and ears of corn. -Beside her is a bee-hive on the ground, and on it there is also -fixed a bunch of poppy-heads and ears of corn. Above these -emblems of the fruitfulness of the field and of the garden is the -figure of a bale of wool.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span> -The altar to Silvanus exhibits that divinity crowned with -the cones and foliage of the pine. A pine grows moreover beside -his terminal statue, bearing the large cones, which were -used for food at entertainments and carried in bacchanalian -processions. Faunus, or Pan, sits at the foot of the pine, the -syrinx and the double pipe being placed at his feet. In his -right hand he holds an olive branch, while a young winged -genius advances towards him as if to receive it, and another -genius of the same kind appears to be caressing him and whispering -into his ear. On the other side of the terminal statue -of Silvanus we see the caduceus of Mercury and the bale of -wool, manifest indications of success in the wool trade. In this -sculpture the bale is surrounded with cords, which are twisted -round one another where they cross. In the former instance -the compression of the wool appears to be effected by the use -of thongs instead of cords<a id="FNanchor_347" href="#Footnote_347" class="fnanchor">[347]</a>. There is also introduced the figure -of a shepherd of the same country. This statue was found in -the vicinity of Rome and is now preserved in the Vatican<a id="FNanchor_348" href="#Footnote_348" class="fnanchor">[348]</a>. -The extremities are in part restorations. A cameo in the Florentine -Museum<a id="FNanchor_349" href="#Footnote_349" class="fnanchor">[349]</a> represents the shepherd Faustulus sitting -upon a rock, and contemplating the she-wolf, which is suckling -Romulus and Remus. It is of the Augustan age, and no doubt -exhibits the costume and general appearance of a Roman shepherd -of that period. He wears a <i>tunica cucullata</i>, i. e. a tunic -of coarse woollen cloth with a cowl, which was designed to be -drawn occasionally over the head and to protect it from the injuries -of the weather. This garment has also sleeves, which -Columella mentions (<i>tunica manicata</i>) as an additional comfort. -On his feet the shepherd wears high shoes, or boots, -which, as we may suppose, were made of leather.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_347" href="#FNanchor_347" class="label">[347]</a> The bas-relief on the first altar is copied from Boissard by Montfaucon, Ant. -Expliquée, tome i. p. 332. and that on the second, tome ii. p. 275. The latter is -also represented by the Rev. Henry Moses, Collection of Antique Vases, &c. -Plate 52.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_348" href="#FNanchor_348" class="label">[348]</a> Museo Pio-Clementino, tomo iii. tav. 34 and p. 44.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_349" href="#FNanchor_349" class="label">[349]</a> Museum Florentinum. Gemmæ Antiquæ a Gorio illustratæ, tav. ii. No. 10.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The appearance of the shepherds, who are represented in -these ancient works of art, is, doubtless, adapted to produce the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span> -impression, that their condition, even if it were that of slaves, -was nevertheless one of comfort and respectability. Neither -their garb, nor their attitude, suggests the idea of anything -base or miserable. On the contrary, the countenance of each -indicates trust-worthiness, steadiness, and care. That many -of the agricultural laborers of ancient Italy had this character -may be inferred also from written testimonies.</p> - -<p>In reference to this subject, and with a view to illustrate at -the same time the habits and employments of the ancient -farmer among the <i>Sabine</i> or <i>Apulian</i> mountains, we will here -quote some parts of Horace’s Second Epode, in which he describes -the pleasures of a country life.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Like the first mortals blest is he,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From debts, and usury, and bus’ness free,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With his own team who ploughs the soil,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which grateful once confess’d his father’s toil.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The sounds of war nor break his sleep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor the rough storm, that harrows up the deep;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He shuns the courtier’s haughty doors,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the loud science of the bar abjures.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Either to poplars tall he joins</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The marriageable offspring of his vines;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or lops the useless boughs away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Inserting happier as the old decay:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Or in a lonely vale surveys</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His lowing herds, safe-wand’ring as they graze;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or stores in jars his liquid gold</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Prest from the hive, or shears his tender fold.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"> - -<hr class="tb" /> -</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And, if a chaste and prudent wife</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Perform her part in the sweet cares of life,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of sun-burnt charms, but honest fame,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Such as the Sabine or Apulian dame;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">If, when fatigued he homeward turns,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sacred fire, built up with faggots, burns;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or if in hurdles she inclose</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The joyful flock, whence ample produce flows;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Though unbought dainties she prepare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And this year’s wines attend the homely fare;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No fish would I from foreign shore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Desire, nor relish Lucrine oysters more.</div> - </div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Olives, fresh gather’d from the tree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Mallows, the frame from heaviness to free</i><a id="FNanchor_350" href="#Footnote_350" class="fnanchor">[350]</a>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A kid snatch’d from the wolf, a lamb</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To Terminus with due devotion slain;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Such is the meal, his labor o’er;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No bird from distant climes I’d relish more.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Meanwhile how pleasant to behold</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His sheep well fed, and hasting to their fold;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To see his wearied oxen bow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their languid necks, and drag th’ <i>inverted</i> plough;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And then his num’rous slaves to view</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Round his domestic gods their mirth pursue.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"><a id="Footnote_350" href="#FNanchor_350" class="label">[350]</a> See chap. xii. <a href="#Page_191">p. 191</a>. -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter2_III">CHAPTER III.<br /> -<small>SHEEP BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS -OF THE SCRIPTURES, &c.</small></h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Sheep-breeding in Germany and Gaul—In Britain—Improved by the Belgians -and Saxons—Sheep-breeding in Spain—Natural dyes of Spanish wool—Golden -hue and other natural dyes of the wool of Bætica—Native colors of Bætic -wool—Saga and chequered plaids—Sheep always bred principally for the -weaver, not for the butcher—Sheep supplied milk for food, wool for clothing—The -moth.</p> -</div> - -<p>According to Tacitus<a id="FNanchor_351" href="#Footnote_351" class="fnanchor">[351]</a>, the ancient Germans had abundance -of cattle, although we have no reason to suppose that they had -acquired any of that skill in sheep-breeding, by which their -successors in Silesia and Saxony are now distinguished. On -the contrary, we are informed by the same author that the -only woollen garment, which they commonly wore, was the -<i>Sagum</i>, a term implying the coarseness of the material<a id="FNanchor_352" href="#Footnote_352" class="fnanchor">[352]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_351" href="#FNanchor_351" class="label">[351]</a> Terra pecorum fecunda, sed plerumque improcera.—Germania, v. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_352" href="#FNanchor_352" class="label">[352]</a> Nudi, aut sagulo leves.—Germania, vi. 3. Tegumen omnibus sagum. xvii. 1.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We find almost as little in any ancient author in favor of the -wool of Gallia Transalpina, the modern France. Pliny mentions -a coarse kind, more like hair than wool, which was produced -in the neighborhood of Pezenas in Provence<a id="FNanchor_353" href="#Footnote_353" class="fnanchor">[353]</a>. Martial’s -account of the Endromis Sequanica, coarse, but useful to keep -off the cold and wet, bears upon the same point;</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The frousy foster of a female hand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of name Laconian, from a barb’rous land;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Though rude, yet welcome to December’s snow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To thee we bid the homely stranger go:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"> - -<hr class="tb" /></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">That into glowing limbs no cold may glide,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That baleful Iris never drench thy pride:</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">This fence shall bid thee scorn the winds and showers;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Tyrian lawn pretends no equal powers.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Elphinston’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_353" href="#FNanchor_353" class="label">[353]</a> See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the following epigram of Martial (vi. 11.), addressed to his -friend Marcus, we observe a similar opposition between the fine -and fashionable cloth of Tyre, and the thick coarse “sagum” -produced in Gaul.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Proud Tyrian thine, gross Gaulish mine array:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In purple thee can e’er I love in gray?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Juvenal gives exactly the same account of the woollen manufactures -of Gaul. In the following passage the needy dependant -of a rich man is speaking of the lacernas from that country, -which were sometimes presented to him by his patron.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Some coarse brown cloaks perhaps I chance to get,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Gallic fabric, as a fence from wet.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Satir.</i> ix. <i>v.</i> 30.—<i>Owen’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>To the same effect are several passages in the Epistles of -Sidonius Apollinaris, who was Bishop of Clermont in Auvergne -in the fifth century. He mentions, for example, that the attendants -on Prince Sigismer at his marriage wore green <i>Saga</i> -with red borders, and he describes a friend of his own as wearing -the Endromis<a id="FNanchor_354" href="#Footnote_354" class="fnanchor">[354]</a>. Also in an account of his own villa he -speaks of the pipe with seven holes, as the instrument of the -shepherds and herdsmen, who used to entertain themselves during -the night with musical contests, while their cattle were -grazing with bells upon their necks.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_354" href="#FNanchor_354" class="label">[354]</a> Viridantia saga limbis marginata puniceis. L. iv. Ep. 20. Tu endromidatus -exterius. L. iv. Ep. 2.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>All these passages are confirmed and illustrated by the testimony -of Strabo. According to him Gaul produced cattle of all -kinds<a id="FNanchor_355" href="#Footnote_355" class="fnanchor">[355]</a>. The Belgæ, who occupied the most northern part, opposite -to Britain, excelled the rest of the Gauls in their manufactures. -Nevertheless their wool was coarse, and was spun -and woven by them into the thick Saga, which were both worn -by the natives of the country and exported in great quantities -to Rome and other parts of Italy. The Roman settlers, indeed, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span> -in the most northern parts had flocks of covered sheep, and their -wool was consequently very fine<a id="FNanchor_356" href="#Footnote_356" class="fnanchor">[356]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_355" href="#FNanchor_355" class="label">[355]</a> L. iv. cap. i. § 2. p. 6. ed. Siebenkees.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_356" href="#FNanchor_356" class="label">[356]</a> L. iv. cap. iv. § 3. pp. 56-59. ed. Siebenkees.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Here also may be produced the evidence of Eumenius, who in -his Oration, which will be quoted more fully hereafter, intimates -the abundance of the sheep on the western banks of the Rhine -by saying, that the flocks of the Romans were washed in every -part of the stream<a id="FNanchor_357" href="#Footnote_357" class="fnanchor">[357]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_357" href="#FNanchor_357" class="label">[357]</a> Arat illam terribilem aliquando ripam inermis agricola, et toto nostri greges -flumine bicorni mersantur. p. 152.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Cæsar informs us, that the ancient inhabitants of Britain had -abundance of cattle (<i>pecoris magnus numerus</i>); under the -word (<i>pecus</i>) “cattle,” sheep must no doubt be understood to -be included. It also appears, that in his time the Celts, or -proper Britons, lived to the North of the Thames, the Belgians -having expelled them and taken possession of the part to the -South, called <i>Cantium</i> or <i>Kent</i>. These last were by far the -most civilized inhabitants of the island, not much differing in -their customs from the Gauls. With respect to the others, -Cæsar says, that for the most part they did not sow any kind -of grain, but lived upon milk and flesh, and clothed themselves -with skins<a id="FNanchor_358" href="#Footnote_358" class="fnanchor">[358]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_358" href="#FNanchor_358" class="label">[358]</a> Ex his omnibus longè sunt humanissimi, qui Cantium incolunt; quæ regio -est maritima omnis; neque multum a Gallicâ differunt consuetudine. Interiores -plerique frumenta non serunt; sed lacte et carne vivunt, pellibusqe sunt vestiti. -De Bello Gallico, I. v. cap. 10.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>It appears therefore, that before our æra, sheep, and probably -goats, were bred extensively in England, their milk and flesh -being used for food, and their skins with the wool or hair upon -them for clothing; and that the people of Kent, who were of -Belgic origin, and more refined than the original Britons, had -attained to the arts of spinning and weaving, although their -productions were only of the coarsest description.</p> - -<p>Eumenius, the Rhetorician, who was a native of Augustodunum, -now called Autun, delivered his Panegyric in praise of -the Emperors Constantius and Constantine in the city of -Treves about A. D. 310. In the following passage he congratulates -Britain on its various productions, and also on the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span> -circumstance, that Constantine had been recently declared Emperor -at York on the death of his father:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>O fortunate Britain, now the happiest country upon earth; for thou hast been -the first to see Constantine made Emperor. It was fit that on thee Nature should -bestow every blessing of climate and of soil. Suffering neither from the excessive -severity of winter, nor the heat of summer, thy harvests are so fruitful as to supply -all the gifts both of Ceres and of Bacchus; thy woods contain no savage -beasts, thy land no noxious serpents, but an innumerable multitude of tame cattle, -distended with milk, and loaded with fleeces<a id="FNanchor_359" href="#Footnote_359" class="fnanchor">[359]</a>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_359" href="#FNanchor_359" class="label">[359]</a> Panegyrici Veteres, ed. Cellarii, Halæ Magd. 1703. pp. 147, 148.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The improvements in sheep-breeding which were first introduced -into England by the Belgians, appear to have been advanced -still further by the Saxons.</p> - -<p>The only country, which now remains to be surveyed in relation -to the production of sheep’s wool, is Spain; and, as this -kingdom retains its pre-eminence at the present day,<a id="FNanchor_360" href="#Footnote_360" class="fnanchor">[360]</a> so we -find none, in which sheep-breeding was carried to a greater extent -in ancient times.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_360" href="#FNanchor_360" class="label">[360]</a> For accounts of the state of sheep-breeding in modern Spain, including the -annual migration of the flocks, which is conducted there as in Italy, the reader -is referred to “Travels through Portugal and Spain in 1772, 1773, by R. Twiss,” -pp. 72-82; and to De la Borde’s View of Spain, vol. iv. pp. 45-61, English -Translation. London, 1809.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Of all the countries in Europe, says Mr. Low, Spain has -been the longest distinguished for the excellence of its wool. -This fine country, more varied in its surface and natural productions -than any other region of the like extent in Europe, -produces a great variety of breeds of sheep, from the larger animals -of the richer plains, to the smaller races of the higher mountains -and arid country. Besides the difference produced in the -sheep of Spain by varieties of climate and natural productions; -the diversity of character in the animals may be supposed to -have been increased by the different races introduced into it:—first, -from Asia, by the early Phœnician colonies; secondly, -from Africa by the Carthaginians, during their brief possession; -thirdly, from Italy by the Romans, during their dominion of -six hundred years; and fourthly, again from Africa, by the -Moors, who maintained a footing in the country for nearly eight -centuries. The large sheep of the plains have long wool, often -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span> -colored brown or black. The sheep of the mountains, downs, -and arid plains have short wool, of different degrees of fineness, -and different colors. The most important of these latter breeds -is the merino, now the most esteemed and widely diffused of all -the fine-wooled breeds of Europe.</p> - -<p>Pliny not only refers in general terms to the various natural -colors of the Spanish wool, but mentions more particularly the -red wool produced in the district adjoining the river Bætis, or -Guadalquiver<a id="FNanchor_361" href="#Footnote_361" class="fnanchor">[361]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_361" href="#FNanchor_361" class="label">[361]</a> See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Among the natural colors of the Bætic wool, Columella, a -native of Cadiz, (vii. 2.) mentions, as has been already stated, -<i>gray</i> and <i>brown</i>. The latter is what we call <i>drab</i>, and the -Spaniards <i>fusco</i>. It is now commonly worn by the shepherds -and peasants of Spain, the wool being made into clothes without -dyeing.</p> - -<p>Nonius Marcellus (<i>cap.</i> 16. <i>n.</i> 13), explaining the word <i>pullus</i>, -which was called a <i>native</i> color, because it was the natural -color of the fleece, also shows, that this was a common quality -of the Spanish wool. Another testimony is that of Tertullian.</p> - -<p>The sheep of Tarentum were imported into this part of -Spain, and there also their fleeces were protected by clothing. -Columella (L. vii. 2.) gives a very interesting account of the -experiments made by his uncle, a great agriculturalist of Bætica, -in crossing his Tarentine breed with some wild rams of an extraordinary -color, which had been brought from Africa to Cadiz. -(See latter part of <a href="#Chapter2_IV">next chapter</a>.)</p> - -<p>We have a further evidence of the pains taken to improve -the Spanish breed in the circumstance, that Italian shepherds -passed into Spain, just as we have formerly seen, that they migrated -into Italy from Arcadia. In the following lines of Calpurnius -(Ecl. iv. 37-49.), Corydon, a young shepherd, tells his -friend and patron, Melibœus, that he should have been transported -into Bætica, had not the times improved, and his master’s -favor enabled him to remain in Italy.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Through thee I rest secure beneath the shade,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Such plenty hath thy generous bounty made,</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">But for thy favor, Melibœus, sent</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where Bætis’ waves the western plains indent,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Plains at the earth’s extremest verge, expos’d</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the fierce Moors, which Geryon once inclos’d.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There had I now been doom’d to tend for hire</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Iberian flocks, or else of want expire:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In vain I might have tun’d my seven-fold reed:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mid thickets vast no soul my strains would heed:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Not even Pan on that far-distant shore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Would lend his vacant ear, or be my solace more.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Juvenal in his Twelfth Satire (<i>l.</i> 37-42.) describes a merchant -overtaken by a dreadful storm, and to save the ship -throwing his most valuable goods into the sea. It will be observed, -that the poet attributes the excellence and fine natural -color of the woollen cloth of Bætica to three causes, the rich -herbage, the occult properties of the water, and those of the air.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Over with mine,” he cries; “be nothing spar’d;”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To part with all his richest goods prepar’d;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His vests of Tyrian purple, fit to please</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The softest of the silken sons of ease,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And other robes, which took a native stain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From air and water on the Bætic plain.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Owen’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Strabo (iii. 144. p. 385. <i>ed. Sieb.</i>) gives the following account -of the wool of Turdetania.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Πολλὴ δὲ καὶ ἐσθὴς πρότερον ἤρχετο· νῦν δὲ καὶ ἔρια μᾶλλον τῶν Κυραξῶν, καὶ ὑπερβολή -τις ἐστὶ τοῦ κάλλους· ταλαντιαίους γοῦν ὠνοῦνται τοὺς κριοὺς εἰς τὰς ὀχείας, ὑπερβολὴ δὲ καὶ -τῶν λεπτῶν ὑφασμάτων, ἅπερ οἱ Σαλτιῆται κατασκευάζουσιν.</p> - -<p>“Much cloth used formerly to come from this country. Now also fleeces come -from it more than from the Coraxi; and they are exceedingly beautiful, so that -rams for breeding are sold for a talent each. Also the fine webs are very famous, -which are made by the Saltiatæ.”—<i>Yates’s Translation.</i></p> -</div> - -<p>The reader will please to remark, that this is the passage of -Strabo, formerly referred to as containing evidence respecting -the Coraxi.</p> - -<p>Martial, a Spaniard by birth, frequently alludes to the sheep -of Bætica and especially to the various natural colors of their -wool, which were so much admired, that it was manufactured -without dyeing. Two of his epigrams (iv. 28. and viii. 28.) -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span> -have been already quoted, as they refer also to the sheep of -Tarentum: to these the seven following may be added.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In the Tartessian lands a house appears,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where Cordova o’er placid Bætis rears</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her wealthy domes; and where the fleeces show</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Metallic tints, like living gold that glow.</div> - <div class="verse indent12">ix. 62.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Corduba, more joyous far</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Than Venafrum’s unctuous boast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor inferior to the jar,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That renowns glad Istria’s coast:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who surmount’st the fleecy breed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That the bright Galesus laves;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor bidd’st lying purple bleed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’er the hue, that nature craves.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">xii. 63.—<i>Elphinston’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Bætis, with wreaths of unctuous olive crown’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For Bacchus’ and for Pallas’ gifts renown’d;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose waters clear a golden hue impart</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To fleeces, that require no further art;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Such wealth the Ruler of the waves conveys</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In ships, that mark with foam thy liquid ways.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">xii. 99.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Lacernas from Bætica.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">My wool disdains a lye, or caldron hue.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Poor Tyre may take it: me my sheep imbue.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">xiv. 133.—<i>Elphinston’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Charming Ero’s golden lock</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beat the fleece of Bætic flock.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">v. 37. See § 21.—Ib.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Bætic fleeces, many a pound.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">xii. 65. l. 5.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Let him commend the sober native hues;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Bætic drab, or gray, lacernas choose,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who thinks no man in scarlet should appear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And only women pink or purple wear.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">i. 97.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The numerous passages, which have now been produced -relative to the native colors of the Spanish wool, explain the -following line of Virgil, in which he describes the clothing of a -warrior;</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With broider’d chlamys bright, and Spanish rust.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Æn. ix. 582.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span> -The poet probably intended to describe an outer garment, a -chlamys, made of undyed Spanish wool of a clear brown or -yellowish color, resembling that of rust; and afterwards enriched -with embroidery.</p> - -<p>Ramirez de Prado, the Spanish commentator on Martial -(<i>4to. Paris</i>, 1607.), says, that two native colors were common -in Spain in his time, the one a golden yellow, the other more -brown or ferruginous.</p> - -<p>In the North of Spain the Celtiberi wore saga made of a -coarse wool like goats’-hair (<i>Diod. Sic.</i> v. 33. <i>tom.</i> i. <i>p.</i> 356. -<i>Wesseling</i>.), and woven <i>double</i> according to Appian<a id="FNanchor_362" href="#Footnote_362" class="fnanchor">[362]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_362" href="#FNanchor_362" class="label">[362]</a> -Appiani Hist. Rom. l. vi. de Rebus Hispan., vol. i. p. 151. ed. Schweighäuser.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>At Salacia in Lusitania, according to Pliny, a chequered pattern -was employed in the manufacture of the coarse wool. This -was in all probability the same as the shepherd’s plaid of the -Scotch, the weaver taking advantage of the natural difference -of the white and black wool to produce this variety of appearance. -(See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.)</p> - -<p>Estremadura, a part of the ancient Bætica, is still famous for -its wool. There the Spanish flocks hybernate, and under the -direction of a peculiar code of laws, called <i>La Mesta</i>, are conducted -every spring to pasture in the mountains of Leon and -Asturias. Other flocks are led in the same season from great -distances to the heights of the Sierra Morena, lying to the east -of the ancient Bætica, where the vegetation is remarkably favorable -to the improvement of their wool.</p> - -<p>As bearing directly upon the present inquiry it may be observed, -that sheep have always been bred principally for the -weaver, not for the butcher, and that this has been more especially -the case in ancient times and in eastern countries.</p> - -<p>If we may judge from the following epigram of Martial, the -Romans regarded with feelings little short of aversion the act -of killing a sheep for food except on solemn or extraordinary -occasions.</p> - -<p>The Ram’s head.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Hast pierc’d the neck of the Phryxean lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who oft had shelter’d thine? O deed abhorr’d!</div> - <div class="verse indent6">xii. 211.—<i>Elphinston’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span> -The customs of the shepherd tribes in the East are in this -respect remarkably like those of the ancients.</p> - -<p>“The Arabs rarely diminish their flocks by using them for -food, but live chiefly upon bread, dates, milk, butter, or what -they receive in exchange for their wool. They however sell -their sheep to the people in the towns. A lamb or kid roasted -whole is a favorite dish at Aleppo, but seldom eaten except by -the rich<a id="FNanchor_363" href="#Footnote_363" class="fnanchor">[363]</a>.” When the Arabs have a sheep-shearing, they perhaps -kill a lamb, and treat their relations and friends with it -together with new cheese and milk, but nothing more. Among -the Mohammedans sheep are sacrificed on certain days as a -festive and at the same time a religious ceremony; these ceremonies -are of great antiquity and derived from Arab heathenism. -On the pilgrimage to Mecca every one is required to sacrifice -a sheep at a certain place near Mecca<a id="FNanchor_364" href="#Footnote_364" class="fnanchor">[364]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_363" href="#FNanchor_363" class="label">[363]</a> Harmer s Observations, vol. i. p. 393. ed. Clarke.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_364" href="#FNanchor_364" class="label">[364]</a> Harmer, p. 39.</p> -<p>Pallas (Spicilegia Zoologica, Fasc. xi. p. 79.) speaks of the beautiful lamb-skins -from Bucharia, as being admired for their curled gray wool.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>By the Law of Moses the sheep was a <i>clean</i> animal, and -might consequently be eaten or sacrificed. A lamb or kid, -roasted whole, was the principal and characteristic dish at the -feast of the passover. The rich man kills a lamb to entertain -his guest in the beautiful parable of Nathan. (2 <i>Sam.</i> xii. 4.) -Sheep were killed on the festive occasion of shearing the very -numerous flocks of Nabal. (1 <i>Sam.</i> xxv. 2. 11. 18.) An ox -and six choice sheep were sacrificed daily for the numerous -guests of Nehemiah, while he was building the wall of Jerusalem. -(<i>Neh.</i> v. 17, 18.) Immense numbers of sheep and oxen -were sacrificed at the dedication of Solomon’s temple. (1 <i>Kings</i>, -viii. 5. 63.) The prophet Ezekiel (xxxiv. 3.) describes the bad -shepherd as selfishly eating the flesh and clothing himself with -the wool of the sheep, without tending them with due care and -labor.</p> - -<p>In the Suovetaurilia among the Romans a hog, a sheep, and -a bull, their principal domestic animals, were sacrificed. A -sheep was killed every day for the guards, who watched the -tomb of Cyrus. (<i>Arrian</i>, <i>vol.</i> i. <i>p.</i> 438, <i>Blancardi</i>.) In the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span> -Odyssey (ρ. 180-182.) a sacrifice is made and a feast prepared -of sheep, goats, hogs, and a cow. Also in Od. v. 3. 250. sheep -are sacrificed and furnish part of a feast. In order to ratify a -treaty between the Greeks and Trojans, the former sacrificed a -lamb of the male sex to Jupiter; the latter one of the male -sex and white to the Sun, and another of the female sex and -black to the Earth. (Il. γ. 103, 104.) Sheep are sacrificed to -Apollo at Delphi in Euripides, Ion, <i>l.</i> 230. 380. The rare instances -of the use of sheep for food or sacrifice by the Egyptians -have been already noticed.</p> - -<p>But, although sheep, both old and young, male and female, -were sacrificed to the objects of religious worship and on other -festive occasions were eaten, especially by the rich and great, -yet their chief use was to supply clothing, and the nourishment -they yielded consisted in their milk and the cheese made from -it, rather than in their flesh.</p> - -<p>This fact is illustrated by the words of Solomon, formerly -quoted, and in which he speaks of lambs for <i>clothing</i> and -goat’s <i>milk</i> for food. In like manner St. Paul says (1 Cor. ix. -7.), “Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit -thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of -the flock?”</p> - -<p>Varro thinks, that sheep were employed for the use of man <i>before -any other animal</i> on account of their usefulness and placidity, -and he represents their use to consist in supplying cheese and -milk for food, fleeces and skins for clothing<a id="FNanchor_365" href="#Footnote_365" class="fnanchor">[365]</a>. In like manner -Columella in his account of the use of sheep (vii. 2.) says, they afforded -the chief materials for clothing. In treating of their use -for food, he mentions only their milk and cheese. Pliny refers -to the employment of sheep both for sacrifices and for clothing. -He also remarks, that as the ox is principally useful in obtaining -food, to wit, by ploughing and other agricultural processes, -the sheep, on the other hand, supplies materials for clothing<a id="FNanchor_366" href="#Footnote_366" class="fnanchor">[366]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_365" href="#FNanchor_365" class="label">[365]</a> De Re Rustica, l. ii. cap. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_366" href="#FNanchor_366" class="label">[366]</a> See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The fact, that wool was among the ancients by far the most -common material for making clothes, accounts for the various -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span> -expressions in scripture respecting the destructiveness of the -moth.</p> - -<p>“Your garments are moth-eaten.” James v. 2. “He, as a -rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth-eaten.”—Job -xiii. 28. “They all shall wax old as a garment, the moth -shall eat them up.”—Is. l. 9. “The moth shall eat them up -like a garment, and the worms shall eat them like wool.” Is. -li. 8. “From garments cometh a moth.” Eccles. xlii. 13. -“Treasures, where moth and rust corrupt.” Matt. vi. 19.</p> - -<p>But it is to be observed, that the sacred writers mention not -the moth, but the minute worm, which changes into a moth, -and which alone gnaws the garments. In the passages which -have been quoted, the word “moth” must be understood to signify -the larva<a id="FNanchor_367" href="#Footnote_367" class="fnanchor">[367]</a> of the clothes-moth (<i>Phalæna Vestianella</i>, -Linn.), or of some insect of the same kind.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_367" href="#FNanchor_367" class="label">[367]</a> When an insect first issues from the egg, it is called by naturalists <i>larva</i>.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter2_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br /> -<small>GOATS-HAIR.</small></h3> - -<hr class="chapter" /> - -<p class="h3sub">ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE GOAT—ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES, -ETC.</p> -</div> -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Sheep-breeding and Goats in China—Probable origin of sheep and goats—Sheep -and goats coeval with man, and always propagated together—Habits of Grecian -goat-herds—He-goat employed to lead the flock—Cameo representing a -goat-herd—Goats chiefly valued for their milk—Use of goats’-hair for coarse -clothing—Shearing of goats in Phrygia, Cilicia, &c.—Vestes caprina, cloth of -goats’-hair—Use of goats’-hair for military and naval purposes—Curtains to -cover tents—Etymology of Sack and Shag—Symbolical uses of sack-cloth—The -Arabs weave goats’-hair—Modern uses of goats’-hair and goats’-wool—Introduction -of the Angora or Cashmere goat into France—Success of the -project.</p> -</div> - -<p>The inquiry into the origin and propagation of the Goat, no -less than that of the sheep, may justly be considered a subject -for interesting investigation. Goats were no less highly prized -by the ancient inhabitants of Greece and Italy than by the -modern. We have seen, that the great value of sheep always -consisted in its fleece. The goat, on the contrary, was more -valued for the excellence and abundance of its milk, and for its -suitableness to higher and more rugged and unproductive land -<a id="FNanchor_368" href="#Footnote_368" class="fnanchor">[368]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_368" href="#FNanchor_368" class="label">[368]</a> Virgil, Georg. iii. 305-321.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We observe a clear allusion to this distinction between the -principal uses of sheep and of goats in the twenty-seventh -chapter of the book of Proverbs<a id="FNanchor_369" href="#Footnote_369" class="fnanchor">[369]</a>. The management and use -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span> -of goats has from time immemorial formed a striking feature in -the condition of man, and especially of those nations which belong -to the Caucasian, or, as Dr. Prichard more properly denominates -it, the <i>Iranian</i> or <i>Indo-Atlantic</i> variety of our race -<a id="FNanchor_370" href="#Footnote_370" class="fnanchor">[370]</a>. -Their habits of sheep-breeding seem no less characteristic than -the form of their countenances, a no less essential part of their -manner of life than any other custom, by which they are distinguished: -and, as all the circumstances, which throw any -light upon the question, conspire to render it probable, that the -above-mentioned variety of the human race first inhabited part -of the high land of central Asia, so it is remarkable, that our -domestic sheep and goats may with the greatest probability be -referred to the same stock with certain wild animals, which -now overspread those regions. The sheep, as has been already -observed in chapter I., is regarded as specifically the same with -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span> -the Argali; and in the opinion of Pallas, which has been very -generally adopted by zoologists, the goat is the same with the -Ægagrus, a gregarious quadruped, which occupies the loftiest -parts of the mountains extending from the Caucasus to the -South of the Caspian Sea, and thence to the North of India -<a id="FNanchor_371" href="#Footnote_371" class="fnanchor">[371]</a>. -Indeed the history of these animals is so interwoven with the -history of man, that those naturalists have not reasoned quite -correctly, who have thought it necessary to refer the first origin -of either of them to any wild stock at all. They assume, that -these quadrupeds first existed in an undomesticated state, that -is, entirely apart from man and independent of him; that, as -he advanced in civilization, as his wants multiplied, and he became -more ingenious and active in inventing methods of supplying -them, the thought struck him, that he might obtain -from these wild beasts the materials of his food and clothing; -and that he therefore caught and confined some of them and -in the course of time rendered them by cultivation more and -more suitable to his purposes.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_369" href="#FNanchor_369" class="label">[369]</a> -“Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. -The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of thy field; and thou -shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for -the maintenance of thy maidens.” Prov. xxvii. 23, 26, 27.</p> - -<p>Bochart has quoted a great variety of ancient testimonies to the value of goats’-milk -in his Hierozoicon, l. ii. cap. 51. pp. 629, 630. ed. Leusden.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_370" href="#FNanchor_370" class="label">[370]</a> -See Prichard’s Researches into the Physical History of Mankind, third edition, -vol. i. pp. 247. 257-262. 303, 304. These nations are characterized by the -<i>oval</i> form of the skull. Their distribution over the face of the earth may be seen -in the Map, <a href="#Plate_VII">Plate VII.</a></p> - -<p>The only remarkable exception to this limitation of ancient sheep-breeding, is -the case of the Chinese. It would appear from the following evidence, that they -had both sheep and goats in ancient times.</p> - -<p>The Chinese character for a sacrifice is a compound of two characters, one -placed above the other; the upper one, <i>Yang</i>, is the character for <i>a lamb</i>, the -lower is the character for <i>fire</i>; so that <i>a lamb on the fire</i> denotes <i>a sacrifice</i>. See -Morison’s Chinese Dictionary, vol. iii. part i.</p> - -<p>According to the mythology of the Chinese, which as well as their written -characters is of high antiquity, one of the four rivers, which rise in Mount Kaen-lun -and run towards the four quarters of the globe, is called the Yang-Choui, i. e. -the <i>Lamb-River</i>. Thomas Stephens Davies, Esq. in Dr. Robert Thomson’s British -Annual for 1837, p. 271, 277.</p> - -<p>Yang-Ching, i. e. <i>Sheep-city</i>, was an ancient name of Canton. Morison, p. -55. There is a character for the <i>Goat</i>, which means the <i>Yang of the mountains</i>, -Yang being a general term like the Hebrew צאן, including both sheep and -goats. Ib. p. 61, 62.</p> - -<p>In the following passage of Rufus Festus Avienus, who flourished about A. D. -400, we have a distinct testimony, that the ancient Seres, the probable ancestors -of the Chinese, employed themselves in the care of sheep at the same time that -they were devoted to the production of silk.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Gregibus permixti oviumque boumque,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Vellera per silvas Seres nemoralia carpunt.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Descriptio Orbis Terræ, l. 935, 936.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_371" href="#FNanchor_371" class="label">[371]</a> Pallas, Spicilegia Zoologica, Fasciculus xi. pp. 43, 44. See also Bell’s History -of British Quadrupeds, London, 1837, p. 433.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We have no reason to assume, that man and the two lesser -kinds of horned cattle were originally independent of one another. -So far as geology supplies any evidence, it is in favor -of the supposition, that these quadrupeds and man belong to -the same epoch. No properly fossil bones either of the sheep or -goat have yet been found, and we have no reason to believe, -that these animals were produced until the creation of man. -But, as we must suppose, that man was created perfect and -full-grown, and with those means of subsistence around him, -which his nature and constitution require, there is no reason -why the sheep and the goat may not have been created in such -a state as to be adapted immediately both for clothing and for -food, or why it should be considered more probable that they -were at first entirely wild. They may have been produced -originally in the same abode, which was occupied by that variety -of the human race, to whose habits and mode of life the -use of them has always been so essential; and, if we assume, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span> -that this abode was somewhere in the elevated land of central -Asia, in the region, for example, of Armenia, we adopt an hypothesis, -which explains in the most simple and satisfactory -manner the apparent fact of the propagation not only of men, -but of these quadrupeds with them, from that centre over immense -regions of the globe.</p> - -<p>With regard to historical evidence, it is certainly very defective. -No express testimony assures us of the facts included in -the above-named hypothesis. One thing, however, is certain, -and it appears very deserving of attention, viz. that the sheep -and the goat have <i>always</i> been propagated together. We find -great nations, which had no acquaintance with either of these -quadrupeds, but depended for their subsistence upon either -oxen or horses. We find others, on the contrary, to whose -mode of life the larger quadrupeds were of much less importance -than the smaller; but we find none, which were accustomed -to breed sheep without goats, or goats without sheep.</p> - -<p>The reader will find numerous illustrations of this fact on -reviewing the evidence contained in the preceding chapters. -General terms were employed in the ancient world to include -both sheep and goats<a id="FNanchor_372" href="#Footnote_372" class="fnanchor">[372]</a>. Where more specific terms are used, -we still find “rams and goats,” “ewes and she-goats” mentioned -together. Sheep and goats were offered together in sacrifice, -and the instances are too numerous to mention, in which the -same flock, or the wealth of a single individual, included both -these animals.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_372" href="#FNanchor_372" class="label">[372]</a> It should be observed, that the Hebrew word translated <i>sheep</i> in Ex. ix. 3. -included Goats.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In consequence of this prevailing association of sheep and -goats, they are often represented together in ancient bas-reliefs -and other works of art. Of this we have a beautiful example -in the Rev. Robert Walpole’s collection of “Travels in various -countries of the East.” At the end of the volume is a plate -taken from a votive tablet of Pentelic marble dedicated to Pan, -and representing five goats, two sheep, and a lamb. As the -goats are in one group, and the sheep and lamb in another, the -artist probably designed to represent a flock of each. For, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span> -though sometimes mixed in the same flock, the two kinds of -animals were generally kept apart; and to this circumstance -our Savior alludes in his image of the shepherd dividing the -sheep from the goats<a id="FNanchor_373" href="#Footnote_373" class="fnanchor">[373]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_373" href="#FNanchor_373" class="label">[373]</a> “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with -him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered -all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, <i>as a shepherd -divides his sheep from the goats</i>: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, -but the goats on the left.”—Matt. xxv. 31-33.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>A sheep and a goat are seen reposing together in a Roman -bas-relief in the Monumenta Matthæiana, vol. iii. tab. 37. fig. 1.</p> - -<p>Rosselini gives two paintings from Egyptian tombs, which exhibit -both sheep and goats<a id="FNanchor_374" href="#Footnote_374" class="fnanchor">[374]</a>; and he mentions an inscription on -the tomb of Ranni, according to which that person had 120 -goats, 300 rams, 1500 hogs, and 122 oxen.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_374" href="#FNanchor_374" class="label">[374]</a> Monumenti dell’ Egitto, parte ii. Mon. Civili, tomo i. cap. iii. § 2. tavola xxviii. -xxix.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the account given in chapter II. of the Sicilian Daphnis, an -epigram by Callimachus on Astacides, who was a goatherd in -Crete, was partially quoted, probably remarkable for his beauty -and his immature death. The translation of the passage will -now be given.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἀστακίδην τὸν Κρῆτα, τὸν αἰπόλον, ἥρπασε Νύμφη</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ἐξ ὄρεος· καὶ νῦν ἱερὸς Ἀστακίδης</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Οἰκεῖ Δικταίῃσιν ὑπὸ δρυσίν· οὐκέτι Δάφνιν</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ποιμένες, Ἀστακίδην δ’ αἰὲν ἀεισόμεθα.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A nymph has snatch’d Astacides away;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beneath Dictæan oaks our goatherd lies:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shepherds! no more your songs to Daphnis pay;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For now with him the sacred Cretan vies.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Yates’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Theocritus (<i>Idyll.</i> vii. 12-20.) describes a goatherd of Cydon -in Crete, named Lycidas; and from the account which he -gives of his attire, we may judge of that commonly used in -ancient Greece by the same description of persons. He wore -on his shoulders the dun-colored hide of a shaggy goat, and an -old shawl was fastened about his breast with a broad girdle. -In his right hand he held a crook of wild olive.</p> - -<p>The same author (<i>Idyll.</i> iii. 5.) mentions a fine strong -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span> -he-goat, which was brought from Lybia to Sicily. The design -of its transportation was, no doubt, to improve the breed. -Probably Chromis, the Lybian (<i>Idyll.</i> i. 24.), who resided in -Sicily, had migrated there to undertake the management of -goats and to improve their quality.</p> - -<p>Maximus Tyrius (<i>Diss.</i> xxvii.) seems to suppose, that a -flock of goats could not even exist without the music of the -syrinx. “If you take away,” says he, “the goatherd and his -syrinx, you dissolve the flock of goats; in like manner, if you -take away reason from the society of men, thus depriving them -of their leader and guide, you destroy the flock, which by nature -is tame, but may be injured by a bad superintendence.”</p> - -<p>The he-goat was employed to lead the flock as the ram was -among sheep. The following passages of scripture allude to -this custom. “Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go -forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats -before the flocks.” <i>Jer.</i> l. 8. “Mine anger was kindled against -the shepherds, and I punished the goats.” <i>Zech.</i> x. 3. In -Proverbs xxx. 31., according to the Septuagint version, we read -of “the goat which leads the flock.” Julius Pollux (Lib. i. <i>cap.</i> -12. <i>sect.</i> 19.) says, that “The he-goat leads the goats<a id="FNanchor_375" href="#Footnote_375" class="fnanchor">[375]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_375" href="#FNanchor_375" class="label">[375]</a> See also Ælian, Hist. Anim. vi. 42. and Pausanias, ix. 13. 4.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>On a cameo in the Florentine Museum there is a representation -of an ancient goatherd<a id="FNanchor_376" href="#Footnote_376" class="fnanchor">[376]</a>. The goatherd holds the syrinx -in his left hand, and a young kid in his right. A goat stands -beside him, and his dog appears partially concealed within a -kennel formed in the rock, upon which the goatherd is seated. -The herdsman is represented sitting under an aged ilex. At -least this supposition accords with the language of Tibullus already -quoted.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_376" href="#FNanchor_376" class="label">[376]</a> Mus. Florentinum. Gemmæ antiquæ a Gorio illustratæ. tab. xc. No. 7.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>A modern authoress, who spent some of the summer months -in the year 1819 among the mountains east of Rome, notices -goats in the following terms as part of the stock of the farmers -in that country.</p> - -<p>“We frequently walked to one of these little farms, to meet -the goats coming in at night from the mountain. As the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span> -flock crowded down the broken road leading to the fold, followed -by their grotesque-looking shepherd and his rough dogs, <i>the -pet-kids crowding round their master and answering to his -call</i>, we could not help thinking of the antique manners described -by the poets, and represented in the pictures of Herculaneum -and Pompeii.</p> - -<p>“The goats are the most useful domestic animals. Here no -other cheese or milk is tasted. Besides, the ricotta, a kind of -curd, and junkets, are made of goats’-milk, and, with bread -serve many of the country people for food<a id="FNanchor_377" href="#Footnote_377" class="fnanchor">[377]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_377" href="#FNanchor_377" class="label">[377]</a> Three Months passed in the Mountains east of Rome, by Maria Graham -(Lady Calcott), p. 36. 55, 56.</p> - -<p>The same writer says, that “black sheep are rather encouraged here for the -wool,” and that “the clothing of the friars is of this undyed wool.” p. 55.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>From Athenæus<a id="FNanchor_378" href="#Footnote_378" class="fnanchor">[378]</a> we learn the superior excellence of the goats -of Scyros and Naxos.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_378" href="#FNanchor_378" class="label">[378]</a> Quoted in Chapter I. p. 236. Ælian bears testimony to the same fact, observing, -that the cows of Epirus were said to yield the greatest quantity of milk, and -the goats of Scyros. Hist. Anim. l. iii. cap. 33.</p> - -<p>From Tournefort, Sonnini, and other modern travellers we learn, that both -Scyros and Naxos are very rocky and mountainous, and that they still produce -goats. See also Dapper, Description des Isles de l’Archipel, p. 256. 350.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Virgil (<i>l. c.</i>), after mentioning the use of goats for food, goes -on to show their contributions to the <i>weaver</i>.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Cloth’d in their shaven beards and hoary hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fence of the ocean spray and nightly air,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The miserable seaman breasts the main,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And camps uninjur’d press the marshy plain.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Sotheby’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The last line of this passage of Virgil is quoted by Columella -(L. vii. 6.) in speaking of the utility of the he-goat;</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>For he himself is shorn “for the use of camps and to make coverings for -wretched sailors.”</p> -</div> - -<p>Virgil, moreover, has here followed Varro, who writes thus;</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>As the sheep yields to man wool for clothing, so the goat furnishes hair for the -use of sailors, and to make ropes for military engines, and vessels for artificers. -* * * * * The goats are shorn in a great part of Phrygia, because there -they have long shaggy hair. Cilicia (i. e. hair-cloths), and other things of the -same kind, are commonly imported from that country. The name <i>Cilicia</i> is -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span> -said to be derived from the circumstance, that in Cilicia goats were first shorn -for this purpose. <i>De Re Rustica</i>, L. ii. <i>c.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 201. <i>ed. Bip.</i></p> -</div> - -<p>The language of Varro in this passage indicates, that the female -goat was shorn as well as the male; and that the excellence -of goats’-hair, which was used only for coarse articles, -consisted in its length. Columella mentions the long bristly -hair of the Cilician goats<a id="FNanchor_379" href="#Footnote_379" class="fnanchor">[379]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_379" href="#FNanchor_379" class="label">[379]</a> Setosum, quale est in Cilicia. De Re Rustica, l. i. Præf. p. 20. ed. Bip.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Aristotle says, “In Lycia goats are shorn, as sheep are in -other countries.” <i>Hist. Anim.</i> viii. 28. This testimony of -Aristotle agrees with that of his nephew and pupil, Callisthenes, -who says (<i>ap. Ælian. de Nat. Anim.</i> xvi. 30.), “that in Lycia -goats are shorn just as sheep are everywhere else; for that they -have a very thick coat of excellent hair, hanging from them in -locks or curls; and that this hair is twisted so as to make ropes, -which are used in navigation instead of cables.”</p> - -<p>Pliny, in his account of goats<a id="FNanchor_380" href="#Footnote_380" class="fnanchor">[380]</a>, says, “In Cilicia and about -the Syrtes they are covered with hair, which admits of being -shorn.” From this it may be inferred, in conformity with the -testimonies already cited from Varro and Virgil, that the longest -and best goats’-hair was obtained in Cilicia, and on the coast -of Africa opposite to Sicily and Malta, the modern Tripoli. It -is remarkable, that Virgil, in order to designate the latter district, -refers to the romantic river Cinyps, which flowed through -it, observing the same practice, which we have seen to be so -common with the poets in regard to the countries noted for the -produce of the most excellent wool. In the interior and more -hilly portion of this district of Africa both sheep and goats are -still reared<a id="FNanchor_381" href="#Footnote_381" class="fnanchor">[381]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_380" href="#FNanchor_380" class="label">[380]</a> L. viii. c. 76. See <a href="#Appendix_A">Appendix A</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_381" href="#FNanchor_381" class="label">[381]</a> Proceedings of the Expedition to explore the Northern Coast of Africa from -Tripoli Eastward, by Beechey, ch. iv. p. 73. In the same chapter, p. 52. 62-68, -is an account of the Wad’el Khahan, the ancient Cinyps.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The geographer Avienus asserts that goats’-hair was obtained -for the purpose of being <i>woven</i> in the country of the Cynetæ -in Spain<a id="FNanchor_382" href="#Footnote_382" class="fnanchor">[382]</a>. Isidore of Seville, in his enumeration of the different -kinds of cloth (<i>Orig.</i> xix. 22.), uses the following expressions: -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span> -“Fibrini (vestis est) tramam de fibri lanâ habens: caprina.” -Thus the text now stands, evidently defective. The -writer no doubt alluded to a kind of cloth called <i>caprina</i>, because -goats’-hair was used in the manufacture of it. Beckmann -(<i>History of Inventions</i>, <i>Eng. Trans.</i>, <i>vol.</i> iv. <i>p.</i> 224.) proposes -to read, “tramam de fibri lanâ habens, stamen de caprinâ,” i. e. -“having the woof of beaver-wool, the warp of goats’-wool.” But -the ancients were unacquainted with the fine wool of certain -goats, and it is highly improbable, that they used goats’-<i>hair</i> -in the case referred to, since the “Vestes Fibrinæ” were of great -value, as will soon be shown, and not made in any part of coarse -materials.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_382" href="#FNanchor_382" class="label">[382]</a> <i>Rufi Festi Avieni Ora Maritima</i>, l. 218-221.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The cloth of goats’-hair would be suitable for sailors, both on -account of their hardy mode of life, and because it was better -adapted than any other kind to bear exposure to water.</p> - -<p>Its use as clothing to express mourning and mortification -will be noticed presently.</p> - -<p>The employment of goats’-hair for military and naval purposes -was far more extensive, and is proved by the following -passage from the Geoponica (xviii. 9.) in addition to the former -testimonies.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Προσοδόυς δίδωσιν οὐκ ὀλίγας, τὰς ἀπὸ γάλακτος καὶ τύρου καὶ (σἀρκός)· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις -τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς τριχός. ἡ δὲ θρὶξ ἀναγΚαία πρός τε σχοίνους καὶ σάκκους, καὶ τὰ τούτοις -παραπλήσια, καὶ εἰς ναυτικὰς ὑπηρεσίας, οὔτε κοπτόμενα ῥᾳδίως, οὔτε σηπόμενα φυσικῶς, ἐὰν -μὴ λίαν κατολιγωρηθῇ.</p> - -<p>The goat yields no small profit from its milk, cheese, and (flesh). It also yields -a profit from its hair, which is necessary for making ropes, sacks, and similar articles, -and for nautical purposes, since it is not easily cut, and does not rot from -natural causes, unless it be much neglected.—<i>Yates’s Translation.</i></p> -</div> - -<p>Cicero (<i>in Verrem</i>, <i>Act</i> i.) mentions <i>Cilicia</i> together with -hides and sacks, and Asconius Pedianus in his Commentary -on the passage (<i>p.</i> 95. <i>ed. Crenii.</i>) gives the following explanation: -“Cilicia texta de pilis in castrorum usum atque nautarum.” -Servius on Virgil, Georg. iii. 313. says, that these Cilicia, -or cloths of goats’-hair, were used to cover the towers in -sieges, because they could not be set on fire.</p> - -<p>The reader is referred to the Poliorcetica of Lipsius, L. iii. -Dial. 3. p. 158. for evidence respecting the use of hair ropes for -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span> -military engines, and to L. v. Dial. ix. for passages from Thucydides, -Arrian, Ammianus, Suidas, Vegetius, Curtius, and -others, proving, that the besieged in cities hung Cilicia over -their towers and walls to obviate the force of the various weapons -hurled against them, and especially of the arrows, which -carried fire.</p> - -<p>From Exodus we learn<a id="FNanchor_383" href="#Footnote_383" class="fnanchor">[383]</a>, that the Israelites in the wilderness -among their contributions to the Tabernacle gave goats’-hair, -and that it was spun by women. The spun goats’-hair was -probably used in part to make cords for the tent; but part -of it at least was <i>woven</i> into the large pieces, called in the Septuagint -“curtains of goats’-hair.” Such curtains, or <i>Saga</i>, of -spun goats’-hair seem to have been commonly used for the covering -of tents<a id="FNanchor_384" href="#Footnote_384" class="fnanchor">[384]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_383" href="#FNanchor_383" class="label">[383]</a> “And thou shalt make curtains of goats’-hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: -eleven curtains shalt thou make. The length of one curtain shall be -thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and the eleven curtains -shall be all of one measure. And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, -and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront -of the tabernacle. And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one -curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain -which coupleth the second. And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass, and put -the taches into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. And -the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, -shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle. And a cubit on the one -side, and a cubit on the other side of that which remaineth in the length of the -curtains of the tent, it shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and -on that side, to cover it.”—Ex. xxvi. 7-13.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_384" href="#FNanchor_384" class="label">[384]</a> “And he made curtains of goats-hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven -curtains he made them. The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four -cubits was the breadth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size.”—Ex. -xxxvi. 14, 15.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Cloths of the same kind were used for rubbing horses<a id="FNanchor_385" href="#Footnote_385" class="fnanchor">[385]</a>. The -term for goats’-hair cloth in Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syraic, is -שק or סק, i. e. <span class="smcap">Shac</span>, or <span class="smcap">Sac</span>, translated ΣΑΚΚΟΣ in the Septuagint, -and <span class="smcap">Saccus</span> in the Vulgate version of the Scriptures. The -Latin <span class="smcap">Sagum</span>, appears to have had the same origin. In English -we have <i>Sack</i> and <i>Shag</i>, scarcely differing from the oriental -and ancient terms either in sound or sense.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_385" href="#FNanchor_385" class="label">[385]</a> <i>Vegetii Ars Veter.</i> <i>l.</i> i. <i>c.</i> 42.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span></p> - -<p><i>Cilice</i>, the modern French term for a hair-shirt, is immediately -derived from <i>Cilicium</i>, the origin of which has been explained<a id="FNanchor_386" href="#Footnote_386" class="fnanchor">[386]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_386" href="#FNanchor_386" class="label">[386]</a> Menage, Dict. Etym. v. <i>Cilice</i>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>This kind of cloth, which was black or dark brown, the goats -of Syria and Palestine being chiefly of that color even to the -present day, is alluded to in the sixth chapter of Revelations<a id="FNanchor_387" href="#Footnote_387" class="fnanchor">[387]</a>, -and in Is. l. 3. “I clothe the heavens with blackness and make -sack-cloth their covering.” It was worn to express mourning -and mortification. In Jonah we have a very remarkable case, -for on this occasion blankets of goats’-hair were put on the -bodies both of men and beasts, and one was worn even by the -king of Nineveh himself<a id="FNanchor_388" href="#Footnote_388" class="fnanchor">[388]</a>. When Herod Agrippa was seized -at Cæsarea with the mortal distemper mentioned in Acts xii. -(See <a href="#Page_93">chap. vi. p. 93.</a>), the common people sat down on hair-cloth -according to the custom of their country, beseeching God -on his behalf.—<i>Josephus</i>, <i>Ant. Jud.</i> <i>l.</i> xix. <i>cap.</i> 8. <i>p.</i> 872. -<i>Hudson</i>. So according to Josephus (<i>Ant. Jud.</i> <i>l.</i> vii. <i>cap.</i> 7. -<i>p.</i> 299.), David fell down upon sack-cloth of the same description -and lay on the ground praying for the restoration of his -son.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_387" href="#FNanchor_387" class="label">[387]</a> “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great -earthquake; and the sun became as black as sack-cloth of hair, and the moon -became as blood.”—Rev. vi. 12.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_388" href="#FNanchor_388" class="label">[388]</a> “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on -sack-cloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. The word came -unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from -him, and covered him with sack-cloth, and sat in ashes.”—Jonah iii. 5, 6. In -v. 5. we should translate “put on hair-cloths;” for the word is <i>plural</i> in the Hebrew.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Hence the use of the hair-shirt by devotees in more recent -times. St. Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea in the fourth century, in -answer to the question, Whether a monk ought to have besides -his night-shirt (<i>post nocturnam tunicam</i>) a Cilicium or any -other, says, “Cilicii quidem usus habet proprium tempus. Non -enim propter usus corporis, sed propter afflictionem carnis inventum -est hujuscemodi indumentum, et propter humilitatem animae<a id="FNanchor_389" href="#Footnote_389" class="fnanchor">[389]</a>.” -He then adds, that as the word of God forbids us to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span> -have two shirts, we ought not to have a second except for the -purpose here mentioned. From this it is clear, that the Cilicium -was not commonly worn by the monks, but only at particular -times for the sake of humiliation.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_389" href="#FNanchor_389" class="label">[389]</a> From the ancient version of Rufinus, p. 175. ed. 1513.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Dr. Sibthorp (<i>in Memoirs, edited by Walpole</i>,) informs us, -that in the present day the shepherds of Attica “shear the -goats at the same time with the sheep, about April or May,” -and that the hair is made into sacks, bags, and <i>carpets</i>, of -which a considerable quantity is exported. In modern as in -ancient times, the inhabitants of Greece subsist in a great -measure upon goats’-milk and the cheese made from it<a id="FNanchor_390" href="#Footnote_390" class="fnanchor">[390]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_390" href="#FNanchor_390" class="label">[390]</a> Dodwell’s Tour, vol. i. p. 144.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The wives of the Arabian shepherds still <i>weave</i> goats’-hair -for their tents. This hair-cloth is nearly black, and resembles -that of which our modern coal-sacks are made<a id="FNanchor_391" href="#Footnote_391" class="fnanchor">[391]</a>. The Arabs -also hang bags of the same cloth, containing barley, about the -heads of their horses to supply them with food<a id="FNanchor_392" href="#Footnote_392" class="fnanchor">[392]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_391" href="#FNanchor_391" class="label">[391]</a> Harmer’s Observations, ch. ii. Obs. 36. Dr. Shaw’s Travels, Part iii. ch. 3. -§ 6. E. F. K. Rosenmuller, Biblische Alterthumskunde, iv. 2. p. 89.</p> - -<p>The use of goats’-hair for making cloth among the Moors is mentioned by -Rauwolff, <i>Travels</i>, part ii. ch. 1, p. 123 of Ray’s Translation. The herdsmen on -the wide plains about Smyrna live in tents of “black goats’-hair.”—C. Fellows’s -<i>Discoveries in Lycia</i>, p. 8.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_392" href="#FNanchor_392" class="label">[392]</a> D’Arvieux and Thevenot, ap. Harmer, ch. v. Obs. 9.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The goat, as is the case with some other quadrupeds, if confined -to a country, which is hot in summer and very cold in -winter, is always protected in the latter season by an additional -covering of fine wool beneath its long hair. A specimen of the -Syrian goat in the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow shows both -the hair and the wool. In Kerman and Cashmere this very -fine wool is obtained by combing the goats in the spring, when -it becomes loose; and, having been spun into yarn, it is used to -make the beautiful <i>shawls</i> brought from those countries.</p> - -<p>We will now conclude this chapter with the following interesting -communication from Mr. E. Riley, being the substance -of a paper lately read before the Society of Arts, London.</p> - -<p>Mr. Riley “in 1825 and 1828 transported to that territory -two flocks of the finest sheep procurable throughout Germany, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</span> -my father had also long contemplated introducing there the -celebrated Cashmere goat, anticipating that the fulfilment of -his views would, in proving advantageous to himself, become -also of ultimate benefit to the colony; in which expectation, he -has been encouraged from the results that have attended the -importation of the Saxon breed of sheep into their favored climates, -the wools of New South Wales, and in proportion to -their improvement, those also of Van Dieman’s Land being -now eagerly purchased by the most intelligent manufacturers -in preference to those of equal prices imported from any part of -Europe.</p> - -<p>“With this object in view, he subsequently, during an agricultural -tour on the Continent, directed my attention to the Cashmere -flocks of Mons. Ternaux, and in October 1828, I met this -distinguished man at his seat at St. Onen (Mons. Ternaux is -a great shawl manufacturer and a Peer of France,) where he -preserved the elite of his herds; the animals were a mixture of -various sizes and colors, from a perfect white to brown, with -scarcely any stamped features as if belonging to one race exclusively; -they were covered with long coarse hair, under which -so small a quantity of soft short down was concealed, that the -average produce of the whole collection did not exceed three -ounces each; therefore, under these unfavorable circumstances, -my father deferred for a time his intention of sending any of -them to Australia.</p> - -<p>“I was then advised by the Viscomte Perrault de Jotemps, -to see the stock of M. Polonceau at Versailles, he having, by a -happily selected cross, succeeded in increasing the quantity and -value of the qualities of the Cashmere goat beyond the most sanguine -anticipations, and in consequence of his enlightened taste -for agricultural pursuits, was also honored with the directorship -of the model farm at Grignon. He became among the first to -purchase a chosen selection of the original importation of the -Cashmere goat from M. Ternaux, and some time after seeing, -at one of the estates of the Duchesse de Beri, an Angora buck -with an extraordinary silkiness of hair, having more the character -of long coarse but very soft down, he solicited permission -to try the effects of a union with this fine animal and his own -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span> -pure Cashmeres. The improvement even in the first drop was -so rapid that it induced him to persevere, and when I first saw -his small herd they were in the third generation from the males -produced solely by the first cross; the unwillingness however -of M. Polonceau to part with any number of them at this period -(the only alienation he has made from the favorite products -of his solicitude being two males and two females to the <i>King</i> -of <i>Wirtemberg</i>, for the sum of 3400 francs,) caused my father -again to postpone his intentions until my return from the Australasian -Colonies, judging that M. Polonceau would then probably -be enabled to dispose of a sufficient number, and that the -constancy and properties of the race would by that time be -more decidedly determined.</p> - -<p>“On my arrival in England at the close of 1831, he again -recurred to his favorite project of introducing these animals into -our colonies, for which purpose I went to France with the intention -of purchasing a small flock of M. Polonceau, should I -find all his expectations of the Cashmere Angora breed verified, -which having perfectly ascertained, I at length succeeded in -persuading M. Polonceau to cede to me ten females in kid, and -three males, and I fortunately was able to convey the whole in -health to London, with the intention of proceeding as speedily as -possible with them to Port Jackson, looking sanguinely forward -not only to their rapid increase but also to <i>crossing</i> the <i>common -goats</i> of the country with this valuable breed, in full expectation -that they may, exclusive of their own pure down, become -thus the means of forming a desirable addition to the already -much prized importations from New South Wales and Van -Dieman’s Land. I am led to the conclusion that the latter result -may be accomplished, as M. Polonceau, who has tried the -experiment with the native goat of France, has obtained animals -of the second cross very little inferior to the breed that has -rendered his name so distinguished. He has also crossed the -common goat with the pure Cashmere, but only obtained so -tardy an amelioration, that it required eight or ten generations -to produce a down simply equal to their inferior quantity and -quality when compared to the produce of the Cashmere Angora.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</span> -Mr. Polonceau has unremittingly persevered in the improvement -so immediately effected, and has proved during the several -years which have elapsed since the first experiment in the -year 1822, that an entire satisfactory result in the union of the -most essential qualities of down, <i>abundance</i>, <i>length</i>, <i>fineness</i>, -<i>lustre</i>, and <i>softness</i>, was accomplished by the first cross, without -any return having ensued to the individual characters of -either of the primitive races, and in consequence, he has since -constantly propagated the produce of that cross among themselves, -careful only of preserving animals entirely white and of -employing for propagation those bucks which had the down in -the greatest quantity and of the finest quality with the smallest -proportion of hair.</p> - -<p>In 1826; the “Societie Royale et Centrale d’Agriculture de -Paris” acquainted with the interesting result of M. Polonceau’s -flock, being at that time in the third generation, and considering -that the down of this new race was <i>more valuable than that -of the East</i>, and that it was the most beautiful of filaceous -materials known, as it combines the softness of Cashmere with -the lustre of silk, awarded him their large gold medal at their -session, 4th April, 1826, and nominated him a member of their -society in the following year.</p> - -<p>In 1827, at the exhibition of the produce of National Industry, -the jury appointed to judge the merits of the objects exposed, -also awarded him their medal.</p> - -<p>At present the animals are in the twelfth generation, their -health and vigor, the constancy of their qualities, and abundance -of their down <i>without any degeneration</i>, prove that this -new race may be regarded as one entirely fixed and established, -requiring solely the care that is generally observed with valuable -breeds; that is to say, a judicious choice of those employed -for their reproduction, and in such a climate as New South -Wales it may be reasonably expected that the brilliant qualities -of their down may yet be improved as has been so eminently -the case with the wool of the merino and Saxon sheep imported -there.</p> - -<p>M. Polonceau has goats that have yielded as many as thirty -ounces of the down, in one season, and he states that the whole -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</span> -of his herd produce from twelve to twenty ounces; thus showing -the astonishing advantages this new breed has <i>over the -uncrossed Cashmere</i>, which never yield more than four ounces -and seldom exceed two ounces each.</p> - -<p>This gentleman also states, that, the Cashmere Angora goats, -are more robust and more easily nourished than the common -goat, and that they are less capricious and more easily managed -in a flock; and from the experience he has already had, he -finds them much more docile than even sheep. They prefer -the leaves of trees, as do all other goats, but they thrive either -on hay or straw, or green fodder, or in meadows; they also -feed with equal facility on heaths, and on the most abrupt declivities, -where the sheep would perish; they do not fear the -cold, and are allowed to remain all the winter in open sheds. -For the first year or two of M. P.’s experiments he thought it -prudent to give them aromatic herbs, from time to time, but -during the last six years he has not found it necessary. He -knows not of any particular disease to which they are subject, -his flock never having had any. M. P. arranges they should -kid in March, but occasionally he takes <i>two</i> falls from those of -sufficient strength during the year.</p> - -<p>The down commences to grow in September, and developes -itself progressively until the end of March, when it ceases to -grow and detaches itself, unless artificially removed.</p> - -<p>To collect the down, he waits the period when it begins to -detach itself, and then the locks of down which separate from -the skin with little force are taken off by hand; the down is -removed from the animals every three or four days; in general -it first begins to fall from the neck and shoulders, and in the -following four or five days from the rest of the body; the collection -is completed in the space of eight or ten days. Sometimes -the entire down can be taken from the animal at one -shearing, and almost in an unbroken fleece, when it begins to -loosen. The shearing has the advantage of preserving more -perfectly the parallelisms of the individual filaments, which -much increase the facility of combing and preparing the down -for manufacturing purposes.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter2_V">CHAPTER V.<br /> -<small>BEAVERS-WOOL.</small></h3> - -<hr class="chapter" /> - -<p class="h3sub">Isidorus Hispalensis—Claudian—Beckmann—Beavers’-wool—Dispersion of Beavers -through Europe—Fossil bones of Beavers.</p> -</div> - -<p class="hanging2">The passage quoted from Isidore of Seville, in the last chapter, -shows that the ancients made a cloth, the woof of which -was of Beavers’-wool (<i>de fibri lanâ</i>), and which was therefore -called <i>Vestis Fibrina</i>. By <i>lana</i> he must have meant the -very fine wool, which, agreeably to the observation in the last -paragraph, grows under the long hair of the beaver. Isidore in -the same Book, observes, “Fibrinum lana est animalium, quæ -fibros vocant: ipsos et castores existimant.”</p> - -<p>The following Epigram of Claudian seems intended, as -Beckmann (iv. <i>p.</i> 223.) supposes, to describe “a worn-out -beaver dress, which had nothing more left of that valuable fur -but the name.”</p> - -<h4>ON A BEAVER MANTLE.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The shadow of its ancient name remains:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But, if no nap of beaver it retains,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A Beaver Mantle it can scarce be nam’d.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The price, however, proves its claim: it cost</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Six pounds. Hence, though all lustre it has lost,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet, bought so dear, as beaver let it still be fam’d.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Sidonius Apollinaris calls those who used this costly apparel -<i>castorinati</i>. <i>Lib.</i> v. <i>Epist.</i> 7. <i>p.</i> 313. <i>Paris</i>, 1599, 4<i>to.</i></p> - -<p>Gerbert, or Gilbert, surnamed the Philosopher, and afterwards -Pope Silvester II., commenting on the qualities of a good -Bishop according to 1 Timothy iii. 1., says in reference to the -word “ornatum:”</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Quod si juxta sensum literæ tantûm respiciamus, non aliud, sacerdotes, quam -amictum quæremus clariorem; verbi gratiâ, castorinas quæremus et sericas vestes: -et ille se inter episcopas credet esse altiorem, qui vestem induerit clariorem. -Sed S. Apostolus taliter se intelligi non vult, quia non carne, &c.”—<i>De Informatione -Episcoporum, seu De Dignitate Sacerdotali, in ed. Benedict. Opp. S. -Ambrosii, tom.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 358.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</span> -“An upper garment of this cloth was worn by the Emperor -Nicephorus II. at his coronation in the year 936.”—<i>Beckmann</i>, -<i>l. c.</i> § 31.</p> - -<p>“This method of manufacturing beavers’-hair,” observes -Beckmann, “seems not to have been known in the time of -Pliny; for, though he speaks much of the <i>castor</i>, and mentions -<i>pellis fibrina</i> three times, he says nothing in regard to manufacturing -the hair, or to beaver-fur.”</p> - -<p>It seems probable, that the Greeks and Romans did not use -cloth of beavers’-wool until the 4th century. In an earlier age -the furs and drugs supplied by beavers were obtained from the -countries to the North of the Euxine Sea. But in the period -now under consideration the intercourse of the Romans with the -West of Europe would open a much more extended sphere for -procuring the Vestes Fibrinæ, since we have traces of the existence -of beavers in almost all parts of Europe. Their appearance -in Wales, Scotland, Germany, and the North of Europe -generally, is attested by Giraldus Cambrensis<a id="FNanchor_393" href="#Footnote_393" class="fnanchor">[393]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_393" href="#FNanchor_393" class="label">[393]</a> Topographia Hiberniæ, c. 21, and Itinerarium Cambriæ, l. ii. c. 3.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Dr. Patrick Neill, in a valuable paper on this subject,<a id="FNanchor_394" href="#Footnote_394" class="fnanchor">[394]</a> has -given an account of the bones of recent beavers found in Perthshire -and Berwickshire. They have also been found in Cambridgeshire<a id="FNanchor_395" href="#Footnote_395" class="fnanchor">[395]</a>. -We learn from the life of Wulstan<a id="FNanchor_396" href="#Footnote_396" class="fnanchor">[396]</a>, that <i>beaver-furs</i>, -as well as those of <i>sables</i>, <i>foxes</i>, and other quadrupeds, -were used by the Anglo-Saxons in very early times for <i>lining</i> -their garments. Other modern authors speak of their occurrence -in Austria, Hungary, and the North of Italy<a id="FNanchor_397" href="#Footnote_397" class="fnanchor">[397]</a>. They -are still found in Sweden<a id="FNanchor_398" href="#Footnote_398" class="fnanchor">[398]</a>. Strabo informs us, that in his time -they frequented the rivers of Spain<a id="FNanchor_399" href="#Footnote_399" class="fnanchor">[399]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_394" href="#FNanchor_394" class="label">[394]</a> Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. i. p. 177-187.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_395" href="#FNanchor_395" class="label">[395]</a> Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, vol. i. part i. p. 175.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_396" href="#FNanchor_396" class="label">[396]</a> See Extracts in Henry’s History of Britain, vol. iv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_397" href="#FNanchor_397" class="label">[397]</a> Muratori, Antichità Italiane, tomo ii. p. 110. Napoli, 1783. The authors, -cited by Muratori, are Gervase of Tilbury, and Mathioli.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_398" href="#FNanchor_398" class="label">[398]</a> Travels in Sweden, by Dr. Thomas Thomson, p. 411.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_399" href="#FNanchor_399" class="label">[399]</a> Lib. iii. 163. vol. i. p. 737, ed. Siebenkees.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Buffon says (<i>Hist. Nat.</i> <i>tome</i> 26. <i>p.</i> 98.), “There are beavers -in Languedoc in the islands of the Rhone, and great numbers -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</span> -of them in the North of Europe.” “But as human population -extends,” he observes, “beavers, like other animals, are -dispersed, become solitary, fugitive, or conceal themselves in the -ground: they cease to unite in bands, to engage in building or -other undertakings.”</p> - -<p>“We have been unable to ascertain,” says Cuvier<a id="FNanchor_400" href="#Footnote_400" class="fnanchor">[400]</a>, “after the -most scrupulous comparisons, if the Castors or Beavers, which -burrow along the Rhone, the Danube, and the Weser, are different -in species from those of North America, or if they are -prevented from building by the vicinity of man.” The same -distinguished author in his work on Fossil Bones says, “The -greater part of our European rivers having formerly supported -beavers, and some of them doing so still, viz. the Gardon and -the Rhone in France, the Danube in Bavaria and Austria, and -several small rivers in Westphalia and Saxony, we cannot be -surprised to find their hones preserved in our mosses, or turbaries.” -He then mentions instances of the heads and teeth of -beavers, in the valley of the Somme in Picardy, in the valley of -Tonnis-stein near Andermach, and at Urdingen on the Rhine -in Rhenish Prussia<a id="FNanchor_401" href="#Footnote_401" class="fnanchor">[401]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_400" href="#FNanchor_400" class="label">[400]</a> Règne Animal, vol. iii. p. 65. of Griffith’s Translation.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_401" href="#FNanchor_401" class="label">[401]</a> Cuvier, Ossemens Fossiles, tome v. partie Ière, p. 55.; partie 2nde, p. 518. -See also Annales du Museum d’Hist. Naturelle, tome xiv. p. 47.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter2_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br /> -<small>CAMELS-WOOL AND CAMELS-HAIR.</small></h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Camels’-wool and Camels’-hair—Ctesias’ account—Testimony of modern travellers—Arab -tent of Camels’-hair—Fine cloths still made of Camels’-wool—The -use of hair of various animals in the manufacture of beautiful stuffs by the ancient -Mexicans—Hair used by the Candian women in the manufacture of broidered -stuffs—Broidered stuffs of the negresses of Senegal—Their great beauty.</p> -</div> - -<p>We are informed by Ctesias, in a fragment of the 10th Book -of his Persic History, that there were camels in a part of Persia, -whose hair, soft as Milesian fleeces, was used to make garments -for the priests and the other potentates<a id="FNanchor_402" href="#Footnote_402" class="fnanchor">[402]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_402" href="#FNanchor_402" class="label">[402]</a> Apollonii Mirabilia xx. Ælian, Hist. An. xvii. 34. Ctesiæ Fragmenta, a -Bähr, p. 224.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>John the Baptist wore a garment of camels’-hair; but this -must be supposed to have been coarse. (<i>Matt.</i> iii. 4., <i>Mark</i> i. -6.)<a id="FNanchor_403" href="#Footnote_403" class="fnanchor">[403]</a>. This passage of scripture is illustrated by Harmer in the -following observation<a id="FNanchor_404" href="#Footnote_404" class="fnanchor">[404]</a>:</p> - -<p>“This hair, Sir J. Chardin tells us (in his MS. note on 1 -<i>Sam.</i> xxv. 4.) is not shorn from the camels like wool from -sheep, but they pull off this woolly hair, which the camels are -disposed to cast off; as many other creatures, it is well known, -change their coats yearly. This hair is made into cloth now. -Chardin assures us the modern dervishes wear such garments.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_403" href="#FNanchor_403" class="label">[403]</a> “And the same John had his raiment of camels’-hair, and a leathern girdle -about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.”—<i>Matt.</i> iii. 4, also in -Mark:</p> - -<p>“And John was clothed with camels’-hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his -loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey.”—<i>Mark</i> i. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_404" href="#FNanchor_404" class="label">[404]</a> Ch. xi. Obs. 83. vol. iv. p. 416. ed. Clarke.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Campbell, the poet, mentions a tent of camels’-hair cloth, -which he saw at an Arab encampment between Oran and Mascara -in the kingdom of Algiers. It was 25 feet in diameter -and very lofty. (<i>Letters from the South</i>, 1837, <i>vol.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</span> -212.) He also mentions (<i>vol.</i> i. <i>p.</i> 161.) that the Kabyles or -Berbers, who live in the vicinity of Algiers, and are descended -from the original occupants of the country, dwell in “tents of -camels’-hair.” We are informed that the Chinese make <i>carpets</i> -of the same material<a id="FNanchor_405" href="#Footnote_405" class="fnanchor">[405]</a>. <i>Coverlets</i> of goats’ or camels’-hair -are used by the soldiers in Turkey to sleep under<a id="FNanchor_406" href="#Footnote_406" class="fnanchor">[406]</a>. “The Circassians, -when marching, or on a journey, always add to their -other garments a cloak made from camel or goats’-hair, with a -hood, which completely envelopes the whole person. It is impenetrable -by rain; and it forms their bed at night, and protects -them from the scorching sun by day<a id="FNanchor_407" href="#Footnote_407" class="fnanchor">[407]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_405" href="#FNanchor_405" class="label">[405]</a> China, its Costume, Arts, Manufactures, &c., by Bertin: translated from -the French. London, 1812, vol. iv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_406" href="#FNanchor_406" class="label">[406]</a> Travels in Circassia, by Edmund Spencer, vol. i. p. 202.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_407" href="#FNanchor_407" class="label">[407]</a> Ibid. vol. ii. p. 219.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Fortunatus, in his life of St. Martin (l. iv.), describes a garment -of such cloth; but it may be doubted whether he took -his description from actual knowledge of the use of it, or only -from the account in Matthew of the dress of John the Baptist -already quoted.</p> - -<p>Camels’-hair of annual growth would vary in fineness according -to circumstances, and might be used either for the -coarse raiment of prophets and dervises, <i>or for the costly -shawls</i>, to which Ctesias alludes. Fine wool, adapted to the -latter purpose, might also grow, as in the goat and beaver, beneath -the long hair of the camel. It has been doubted -whether cloth so fine and beautiful as Ctesias asserts, could possibly -be obtained from camels. The following accounts by -modern travellers illustrate and justify the statement of the -suspected ancient.</p> - -<p>Marco Polo, who travelled in the 13th century, in his account -of the city of Kalaka, which was in the province of Tangut -and subject to the Great Kahn, says<a id="FNanchor_408" href="#Footnote_408" class="fnanchor">[408]</a>, “In this city they manufacture -beautiful camelots, the finest known in the world, of the -hair of camels and likewise of fine wool.” According to Pallas, -(Travels, vol. ii. § 8.,) “From the hair of the camel the Tartar -women in the plains of the Crimea manufacture a narrow -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</span> -cloth, which is used in its natural color, and is extremely warm, -soft, and light.” According to Prosper Alpinus, (<i>Hist. Nat. -Ægypti</i>, <i>l.</i> iv. <i>c.</i> 7. <i>p.</i> 225.) the Egyptians manufactured from -the hair of their camels not only coarse cloth for their tents, -but other kinds so fine as to be worn not only by princes but -even by the senators of Venice.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_408" href="#FNanchor_408" class="label">[408]</a> Book i. ch. 52. p. 235. of Marsden’s Translation.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Elphinstone, in his account of Cabul (<i>p.</i> 295.), mentions, -that “Oormuck, a fine cloth made of camels’-wool,” is among -the articles imported into Cabul from the Bokhara country. -This country lies North of the Oxus, and East of the Southern -extremity of the Caspian Sea, and is probably the country, to -which Ctesias more especially referred. A still more recent authority -is that of Moorcroft, who informs us, that “Cloth is now -made from the wool of the wild camels of Khoten in Chinese -Tartary,” and that “at Astrakhan a fine cloth is manufactured -from the wool of the camel foal of the first year<a id="FNanchor_409" href="#Footnote_409" class="fnanchor">[409]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_409" href="#FNanchor_409" class="label">[409]</a> Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. i. p. 241, 242.</p> - -<p>It is customary in many parts of the East, as it was in Mexico in the time of -Cortes (See <a href="#Chapter3_I">Part Third, Chapter I</a>.) to use the hair of various animals in embroidering -garments. The Candian women even embroider with their own hair, -as well as that of animals, with which they make splendid representations of -flowers, foliage, &c.: they also insert the skins of eels and serpents.</p> - -<p>According to M. de Busson, the negresses of Senegal, embroider the skins of -various beasts, representing figures, flowers, and animals, in every variety of -color.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Plate_5">[Plate V]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="Plate_V" style="max-width: 40em;"> - <div class="caption"><p class="right">Plate V.</p></div> - <img class="w100" src="images/plate_v.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> - <p>Drawn from the life.</p> - <p class="center"><big>INDIAN LOOM</big> with the process of Winding off the <big>THREAD</big>. - </p> - </div> - </div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Part_THIRD">PART THIRD.<br /> -<small>ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE.</small> -</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter3_I">CHAPTER I.<br /> -GREAT ANTIQUITY OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE -IN INDIA—UNRIVALLED SKILL OF THE INDIAN -WEAVER.</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Superiority of Cotton for clothing, compared with linen, both in hot and cold climates—Cotton -characteristic of India—Account of Cotton by Herodotus, -Ctesias, Theophrastus, Aristobulus, Nearchus, Pomponius Mela—Use of Cotton -in India—Cotton known before silk and called Carpasus, Carpasum, Carbasum, -&c.—Cotton awnings used by the Romans—Carbasus applied to linen—Last -request of Tibullus—Muslin fillet of the vestal virgin—Linen sails, &c. -called Carbasa—Valerius Flaccus introduces muslin among the elegancies in -the dress of a Phrygian from the river Rhyndacus—Prudentius’s satire on pride—Apuleius’s -testimony—Testimony of Sidonius Apollinaris, and Avienus—Pliny -and Julius Pollux—Their testimony considered—Testimony of Tertullian -and Philostratus—Of Martianus Capella—Cotton paper mentioned by Theophylus -Presbyter—Use of Cotton by the Arabians—Cotton not common anciently -in Europe—Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville’s testimony of the -Cotton of India—Forbes’s description of the herbaceous Cotton of Guzerat—Testimony -of Malte Brun—Beautiful Cotton textures of the ancient Mexicans—Testimony -of the Abbé Clavigero—Fishing nets made from Cotton by the -inhabitants of the West India Islands, and on the continent of South America—Columbus’s -testimony—Cotton used for bedding by the Brazilians.</p> -</div> - -<p>Among all the materials which the skill of man converts into -comfortable and elegant clothing, that which appears likely to -be the most extensively useful, though it was the last to be -generally diffused, is the beautiful produce of the cotton-plant.</p> - -<p>The properties of cotton strongly recommend it for clothing, -especially in comparison with linen, both in hot and cold countries. -Linen has, indeed, in some respects the advantage; it -forms a smooth, firm, and beautiful cloth, and is very agreeable -wear in temperate climates; but it is less comfortable than cotton, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</span> -and less conducive to health, either in heat or in cold. -Cotton, being a bad conductor of heat, as compared with linen, -preserves the body at a more equable temperature. The functions -of the skin, through the medium of perspiration, are the -great means of maintaining the body at an equable temperature -amidst the vicissitudes of the atmosphere. But linen, -like all good conductors of heat, freely condenses the vapor of -perspiration, and accumulates moisture upon the skin: the -wetted linen becomes cold, chills the body, and checks perspiration, -thus not only producing discomfort, but endangering -health. Calico, on the other hand, like all bad conductors of -heat, condenses little of the perspiration, but allows it to pass -off in the form of vapor. Moreover, when the perspiration is -so copious as to accumulate moisture, calico will absorb a greater -quantity of that moisture than linen. It has therefore a -double advantage,—it accumulates less moisture, and absorbs -more.</p> - -<p>From the above considerations, it is evident that in cold climates, -or in the nocturnal cold of tropical climates, cotton -clothing is much better calculated to preserve the warmth of -the body than linen. In hot climates, also, it is more conducive -to health and comfort, by admitting of freer perspiration<a id="FNanchor_410" href="#Footnote_410" class="fnanchor">[410]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_410" href="#FNanchor_410" class="label">[410]</a> Bains’s “History of the Cotton Manufacture,” p. 12.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Wool, as we have seen, was principally used for weaving in -Palestine and Syria, in Asia Minor, Greece, Italy and Spain; -hemp in the Northern countries of Europe; flax in Egypt -(The history of the two last, hemp and flax, is given in Part -IV. to which the reader is referred.); silk in the central regions -of Asia<a id="FNanchor_411" href="#Footnote_411" class="fnanchor">[411]</a>. In like manner cotton has <i>always</i> been characteristic -of India. We find this circumstance distinctly noticed -by Herodotus<a id="FNanchor_412" href="#Footnote_412" class="fnanchor">[412]</a>. Among the valuable products, for which India -was remarkable, he states, that “the wild trees in that country -bear fleeces as their fruit, surpassing those of sheep in beauty -and excellence; and the Indians use cloth made from these -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</span> -trees.” In the same book (c. 47.) Herodotus says, that the thorax -or cuirass sent by Amasis, king of Egypt, to Sparta, was -“adorned with gold and with fleeces from trees.” These substances -were perhaps used in the weft to form the figures (ζῶα), -which were woven into the thorax; but it appears equally -probable that the gold only was thus employed, the cotton -being used as an inside lining or stuffing: and in this case it is -possible, that the down of the Bombax Ceiba, a tree allied to -the Cotton-plant (<i>Gossypium</i>), may have been used, since, -though not fitted for spinning or weaving, it has long been used -in India for the stuffing of pillows and similar purposes, and -would be included under the phrase employed by Herodotus, -“<i>wool</i>” or “<i>fleeces from trees</i>.” The thorax may have been -made in Egypt; but the materials, used to enrich it, were probably -imported: for we have no proof, that either gold or cotton -of any kind was found in that country as a native product in -the time of Amasis.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_411" href="#FNanchor_411" class="label">[411]</a> See Map <a href="#Plate_VII">Plate VII.</a> at the end of Part IV.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_412" href="#FNanchor_412" class="label">[412]</a> L. iii. c. 106.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Ctesias, the contemporary of Herodotus, seems also to have -known the fact of the use of a kind of wool, the produce of -trees, for spinning and weaving among the Indians. It is evident -that Ctesias referred exclusively to cotton cloths, as may -be inferred from the testimony of Varro, as we find it in Servius -(<i>Comm. in Virgilii Æn.</i> i. 649.). “Ctesias ait in Indiâ esse -arbores, quæ lanam ferant.”</p> - -<p>The expedition of Alexander the Great into India contributed -to make the Greeks better acquainted than before with cotton. -Hence it is distinctly mentioned by Theophrastus, the -disciple of Aristotle. He says, “The trees, from which the -Indians make cloths, have a leaf like that of the Black Mulberry; -but the whole plant resembles the dog-rose. They set -them in the plains arranged in rows, so as to look like vines at -a distance<a id="FNanchor_413" href="#Footnote_413" class="fnanchor">[413]</a>.” In a succeeding part of the same book (<i>c.</i> 7. <i>p.</i> -143, 144. <i>ed. Schneider</i>) he notices the growth of cotton, not -only in India, but in <i>Arabia</i>, and in the island called Tylos, -which he places in the Arabian Gulf, although it was probably -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</span> -in the Persian Gulf, near the Arabian coast<a id="FNanchor_414" href="#Footnote_414" class="fnanchor">[414]</a>. According to his -account in the latter passage, “The wool-bearing trees, which -grew abundantly in this island, had a leaf like that of the vine, -but smaller; they bore no fruit, but the capsule containing the -wool, was, when closed, about the size of a quince, when ripe, -it expanded so as to emit the wool, which was woven into -cloths, either cheap, or of great value.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_413" href="#FNanchor_413" class="label">[413]</a> Hist. Pl. iv. c. 4. p. 132. ed. Schneider.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_414" href="#FNanchor_414" class="label">[414]</a> See the Map,—<a href="#Plate_VII">Plate vii.</a> at the end of Part iv. Bochart, Geogr. Sacra, p. -766. Cadomi, 1651. Heeren, Ideen, i. 2. p. 214-219.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Sprengel in his German translation (<i>p.</i> 150. <i>vol.</i> ii.) supposes -the Broussonetia Papyrifera to be meant in the former -passage. But he gives no good reason for this supposition, and -he admits, that the Broussonetia Papyrifera grows in China, -not in India. The expression of Theophrastus, ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη, which -he employs in the latter passage (<i>c.</i> 9. <i>p.</i> 144. <i>ed. Schneider</i>), -clearly proves, that he is speaking of the same plant in -both passages, and Sprengel himself (<i>p.</i> 164.) supposes the -Gossypium Arboreum of Linnæus, the Cotton Tree, to be -meant in the latter, though not in the former. The description -of Theophrastus is remarkably exact, if we consider it as applying, -not to the Cotton Tree (<i>Gossypium Arboreum</i>), but to -the Cotton Plant (<i>G. Herbaceum</i>), from which the chief supply -of cotton for spinning and weaving into cloth has always -been obtained.</p> - -<p>Aristobulus, one of Alexander’s generals, made mention of -the cotton-plant under the name of the Wool-bearing Tree, and -stated that its capsule contained seeds, which were taken out, and -that what remained was combed like wool<a id="FNanchor_415" href="#Footnote_415" class="fnanchor">[415]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_415" href="#FNanchor_415" class="label">[415]</a> Strabo, L. xv. c. 1. vol. vi. p. 43. ed. Siebenkees.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The testimony of Nearchus, who was the admiral of Alexander, -is also preserved to the following effect; “that there were -in India trees bearing, as it were, flocks or bunches of wool; -that the natives made linen garments of it, wearing a shirt, -which reached to the middle of the leg, a sheet folded about -the shoulders, and a turban rolled round the head; and that -the linen made by them from this substance was fine and -whiter than any other.” It is to be observed, that Nearchus, or -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</span> -rather the two later authors who quote him, viz. Arrian and -Strabo, use the terms for linen in a general sense, as including -all fine light cloths made of vegetable substances<a id="FNanchor_416" href="#Footnote_416" class="fnanchor">[416]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_416" href="#FNanchor_416" class="label">[416]</a> Arriani Rer. Indic. p. 522. 539. ed. Blancardi. Strabo, L. xv. c. 1. vol. vi. -p. 40. ed. Sieb.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We read in the account of India by Pomponius Mela (L. iii. -<i>c.</i> 7.), that the woods produced wool, used by the natives for -clothing. He distinctly mentions the use of flax likewise. It -has been conjectured, that he may have taken his account from -Nearchus, or some other Greek writer, and that he may have -intended to speak only of the use of cotton. But in reply to -this it is to be observed, that Pomponius Mela here mentions -flax in opposition to cotton, and that his assertion, so understood, -was probably true, since we have other evidence to show that -flax grows in India as well as cotton. (See <a href="#Part_FOURTH">Part IV.</a>) Nevertheless -it seems necessary to understand other authors of the -same period as meaning cotton by the term λίνον, or <i>linum</i>. -Thus Dyonisius Periegetes (<i>l.</i> 1116), speaking of the employments -of the Indians, says, Οἱ δὲ ἱστοὺς ὑφόωσι λινεργέας, which probably -meant “some weave muslins”. In the same manner we -must interpret the assertion of Quintus Curtius, “Terra <i>lini</i> -ferax, unde plerisque sunt vestes” i. e., The land produces -flax, from which the greater part obtain garments. Soon after -this Curtius says in terms more strictly proper,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Corpora usque pedes <i>carbaso</i> velant, soleis pedes, capita linteis vinciunt.</p> - -<p>They cover their bodies from head to foot with <i>carbasus</i>; they bind shoes about -their feet, linen cloths about their heads.</p> -</div> - -<p>Again, speaking of the dress of the King, he says,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Distincta sunt auro et purpurâ <i>carbasa</i>, quæ indutus est. L. viii. 9.</p> - -<p>The <i>carbasa</i> which he wore, were spotted with purple and gold.</p> -</div> - -<p>In like manner, Lucan, describing the Indian nations, says,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Who drink sweet juices from the tender cane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With dyes of crocus stain their hair, and fix</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With color’d gems the flowing carbasus.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">L. iii. <i>v.</i> 239.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Strabo says, (L. xv. <i>c.</i> 1. <i>vol.</i> vi. <i>p.</i> 153. ed. Sieb.)</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>That the Indians use white raiment, and fine white cloths and <i>carpasa</i>.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</span></p> - -<p>Also the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea states, that the region -about the Gulf of Barygaza in India was productive “of -<i>Carpasus</i> and of the fine Indian cloths made of it<a id="FNanchor_417" href="#Footnote_417" class="fnanchor">[417]</a>.” These -were what we now call <i>India muslins</i>. These muslins we -are informed by Dr. Vincent, were imported into Egypt, and -accordingly Pacatus<a id="FNanchor_418" href="#Footnote_418" class="fnanchor">[418]</a> represents Antony’s army as wearing cotton -in that country.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_417" href="#FNanchor_417" class="label">[417]</a> Arriani Opp. v. ii. p. 165. ed. Blancard.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_418" href="#FNanchor_418" class="label">[418]</a> Paneg. Theodosii, c. 33.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The term <i>Carbasus</i>, is evidently used by the five last-cited -authors to signify cotton; for they employ it in describing the -common dress of the Indians. As the Greeks and Romans became -acquainted with cotton much earlier than with silk, we -find that <i>Carpas</i>, the proper Oriental name for cotton, was -also in use among them at a comparatively early period; and -we shall now endeavor to trace the progress of this term from -India, Westward. With little variation it is found in the same -sense in the Sanscrit, Arabic, and Persic languages<a id="FNanchor_419" href="#Footnote_419" class="fnanchor">[419]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_419" href="#FNanchor_419" class="label">[419]</a> Celsii Hierobot. vol. ii. p. 159. Sir W. Jones, in As. Researches, vol. iv. p. -226. London Edition. Schlegel, Indische Bibliotek, ii. p. 393. E. F. K. Rosenmüller, -Biblische Alterthumskunde, 4. 1. p. 173.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>This word occurs once in the Hebrew Scriptures, viz. Esther, -i. 6., and there evidently as a foreign term. The hangings, -used to decorate the court of the royal palace at Susa on occasion -of the great feast given by Ahasuerus, are thus described -in the common version of the Scriptures:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Where were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine -linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and -silver upon a pavement of red and blue and white and black marble.”</p> -</div> - -<p>The word, corresponding to “<i>green</i>” in the original is <i>Carpas</i> -(כרפס). It has been translated “green” by the authors of -the common version on the authority of the Chaldee Paraphrase.</p> - -<p>The earliest instance of the use of the oriental name in any -classical author is the line from Statius Cæcilius, who died 169 -B. C. as quoted by Nonius Marcellus (<i>l.</i> xvi.) from the <i>Pausimachus</i> -of Statius:</p> -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Carbasina, molochina, ampelina<a id="FNanchor_420" href="#Footnote_420" class="fnanchor">[420]</a>.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</span> -As these words are all three Greek, and the play, in which the -verse occurred, was also called by a Greek name, we cannot -doubt, that Statius translated it according to his usual custom -from one of the writers of the New Comedy. We may therefore -infer with some confidence from this expression, that the -Greeks made use of muslins or calicoes, or at least of cotton -cloths of some kind, which were brought from India as early -as 200 years B. C.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_420" href="#FNanchor_420" class="label">[420]</a> See C. C. Statii Fragmenta, a Leonhardo Spengel, Monachii 1829, p. 35.</p> - -<p>Statius chiefly copied from Menander (<i>Gellius</i> ii. <i>c.</i> 16.); but we cannot find, -that Menander wrote any play called <i>Pausimachus</i>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>After some time the oriental custom of using cotton as a -protection from the sun’s rays was adopted also by the Romans. -Cotton was not only a cheaper and commoner article than silk, -but it was particularly adapted for this purpose on account of -its lightness, as well as its beauty and fineness; and, besides the -instance already cited from the book of Esther, we may observe -also, that where the <i>Latin</i> authors mention the use of -“Carbasa,” it is sometimes for purposes of this kind. “Tabernacula -carbaseis intenta velis,” <i>i. e.</i> “Tents with coverings of -cotton,” were among the expensive novelties which contributed -to the luxury of Verres, when Prætor in Sicily<a id="FNanchor_421" href="#Footnote_421" class="fnanchor">[421]</a>. The same -species of ornament was first displayed at Rome in the magnificent -ædileship of P. Lentulus Spinther, at the Apollinarian -games and in the year 63 B. C.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“At a later period awnings of linen were used to keep out the sun, but originally -in the theatres only, which contrivance was first adopted by Q. Catulus, when -he dedicated the capitol. After this Lentulus Spinther is said to have first introduced -cotton awnings in the theatre at the Apollinarian games. By and by -Cæsar the Dictator covered with awnings the whole Roman forum, and the sacred -way, from his own house even to the ascent of the Capitoline hill, which is said -to have appeared more wonderful than the gladiatorial exhibition itself. Afterwards, -without exhibiting games, Marcellus the son of Octavia, sister of Augustus, -when he was Ædile and his uncle consul the eleventh time<a id="FNanchor_422" href="#Footnote_422" class="fnanchor">[422]</a>, on the day before -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</span> -the Kalends of August, protected the forum from the rays of the sun, that the -persons engaged in lawsuits might stand with less injury to their health. What -a change from the manners which prevailed under Cato the Censor, who thought -that the forum should even be strewed with caltrops! Of late sky-blue awnings, -spotted with stars, have been extended by means of strong ropes, even in the amphitheatre -of the Emperor Nero. Red awnings are used to cover the atria of -houses, and they defend the moss from the sun. As for the rest, white linen has -always remained in favor. This plant was honored in the Trojan war. <i>For -why should it not perform its part in battles as well as in shipwrecks?</i> Homer -testifies, that a few of his warriors fought in linen cuirasses. The tackle of his -ships was also of flax, according to some of his more learned interpreters, who argue -that by the term <i>sparta</i> he meant <i>sata</i>, or things that are sown.”—<i>Pliny</i>, -Lib. xix. chap. vi.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_421" href="#FNanchor_421" class="label">[421]</a> This was about the year 70 B. C. Cic. in Verrem, Act. ii. l. v. c. 12.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_422" href="#FNanchor_422" class="label">[422]</a> The following are the dates of the display of awnings on the several occasions -referred to:—</p> - -<table summary="Time Line"> -<tr><td><i>Linen</i> awnings first used in the theatre at the dedication of the temple of Jupiter by Catulus</td> - <td>69 B. C.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td><i>Cotton</i> awnings first used in the theatre by Lentulus Spinther, July 6th,</td> - <td>63 B. C.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Linen used to cover the forum and Via Sacra at the gladiatorial show by Julius Caesar</td> - <td>46 B. C.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Linen awnings extended over the forum by Marcellus, July 31st</td> - <td>23 B. C.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Lucretius apparently refers to the introduction by Lentulus -Spinther of the cotton awnings above mentioned (vi. 108.), when -he is theorising on the cause of thunder, and compares the -clouds spread over the sky to the awnings of calico, which -veiled the theatres and sheltered the spectators from the sun:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Carbasus ut quondam magnis intenta theatris</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dat crepitum, malos inter jactata trabeisque.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As flaps the cotton, spread above our heads</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the vast theatres from mast to beam.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We now find frequent mention of cotton by the poets of the -Augustan age and by many subsequent writers. As in the -case of silk, these authors introduce cotton, not only historically, -but for the purpose of embellishment; and, considering <i>Carbasus</i> -as a poetical term, they often by a <i>catachresis</i> employ it -where they mean to speak of linen. Also as was before observed -in regard to silk (Part I. chapter II.), it may likewise be -noticed here, that the wars against Mithridates and the Parthians -may have contributed to make the Romans familiar -with the use of cotton, although their chief supply of it was -more probably through Egypt, than through Persia and Babylonia.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</span> -Catullus (64.), speaking of the black sail which Ægeus furnished -for the ships of his son Theseus, calls it “<i>Carbasus -Ibera</i>,” “an Iberian sail.” As, on the one hand, he here uses -the proper term for cotton, without intending to describe the sail -as cotton, so on the other hand he calls the sail Iberian merely -because Iberia was a country adjoining Colchis, and from Colchis -(as will be shown in Part IV.) the Greeks and Romans -obtained a great supply of flax and sail-cloth.</p> - -<p>Tibullus, or Lygdamus, entreats (iii. 2. 17.), in the contemplation -of his death and funeral, that after his bones have been -washed, first with wine, and then with milk, they may be dried -“carbaseis veils,” with linen napkins. Although he uses the -proper term for cotton, he probably did not intend to denote any -preference for cotton rather than linen. His bones, after being -wiped, were to be deposited in a marble urn.</p> - -<p>Propertius seems to have aimed at a display of knowledge on -these subjects (see <a href="#Chapter1_II">Part First, chapter II.</a>); and in the following -passage (iv. 3.) he probably used <i>Carbasa</i> in its proper -sense, as he is referring to Eastern habits:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Raptave odorata carbasa lina duci.</p> - -<p>Muslins taken among the spoils from a scented general.</p> -</div> - -<p>In the last Elegy of the same Book he refers to the story of -the young Vestal virgin, who, when the flame was extinguished -upon the altar committed to her care, and when the scourge -appeared to await her for her neglect, threw upon the ashes a -fillet of muslin from her head, and saved her life by its ignition, -which was supposed to be effected by the favor of the goddess:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Vel cui, commissos cum Vesta reposceret ignes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Exhibuit vivos carbasus alba focos.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The fire had died, and Vesta urged her claim,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the white cotton show’d a living flame.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The story is related by Valerius Maximus (i. 7.). Although -we are not informed of the date of the event, it appears from -his language that the fillet was of fine muslin: “Cum <i>carbasum, -quam optimum habebat</i>, foculo imposuisset, subito ignis -emicuit.” This description is well suited to the nature of cotton, -than which nothing was more easily ignited.</p> - -<p>The passage in Virgil’s Georgics, which mentions cotton, has -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</span> -been already quoted (See <a href="#Page_24">Part I. chapter II. p. 24.</a>). By the -Æthiopians, whose groves were “white with soft wool,” he -probably intended those of Arabia; and we may suppose him to -have referred to accounts, not so much of the Gossypium Herbaceum, -to which the word “groves” (<i>nemora</i>) would not apply, -as to groves of Gossypium Arboreum and Bombyx Ceiba. In -the following passages of Æneid he mentions cotton under its -proper name, though probably not intending to distinguish accurately -between cotton and linen, and only using the term for -the sake of ornament:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Jamque dies, alterque dies processit, et auræ</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Vela vocunt, tumidoque inflatur carbasus austro. iii. 356.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Two days were past, and now the southern gales</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Call us aboard, and stretch the swelling sails.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Pitt’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent8">Vocat jam carbasus auras;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Puppibus et læti nautæ imposuere coronas. iv. 417.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The flapping sail invites the gales; the poops</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By the glad seamen are already crown’d.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Eum (<i>fluvium Tiberim</i>) tenuis glauco velabat amictu</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Carbasus, et crines umbrosa tegebat arundo. viii. 33.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thin muslin veils him with its sea-green folds;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His head a copious shade of reeds sustains.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Tum croceam chlamydem, sinusque crepantes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Carbaseos fulvo in nodum collegerat auro. xi. 775.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His saffron chlamys, and each rustling fold</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of muslin was confined with glittering gold.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>This last passage is part of the description of the attire of -Chloreus, the Phrygian, whose muslin chlamys may have rustled -in consequence of being interwoven with gold.</p> - -<h4>OVID.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent8">Totaque malo</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Carbasa deducit, venientesque excipit auras.—<i>Met.</i> xi. 477.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The active seamen now unfurl the sails,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And spread them wide to catch the coming gales.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Carbasa mota sonant, jubet uti navita ventis. xiii. 420.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The flapping sails resound; the captain bids advance.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Cum dabit aura viam, præbebis carbasa ventis.—<i>Epist.</i> vii. 171.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When the gale favors, give the wind your sails.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sed non, quo dederas a litore carbasa, vento</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Utendum, medio cum potiare freto.—<i>Art. Am.</i> ii. 357.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The wind to which you give your sails on shore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the mid ocean will assist no more.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Dumque parant torto subducere carbasa lino.—<i>Fast.</i> iii. 587.</p> - -<p>They now with twisted ropes let down the sails.</p> -</div> - -<p>In all these passages Ovid uses <i>carbasa</i> in the improper sense: -it was an easy transition from the idea of a cotton awning, -with which the Romans had become familiar, to apply the -term to the sail of a ship. To these examples we may add the -following:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Et sequitur curvus fugienta carbasa delphin.</p> - -<p class="right"><i>Seneca, Œd.</i> ii. <i>prope fin.</i></p> - -<p>The dolphin curved pursues the flying sails.</p> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Strictaque pendentes deducunt carbasa nautæ.—<i>Lucan</i>, ii. 697.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The mariners confine the sails with cords,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, clinging to the mast, they take them down.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Recto deprendit carbasa malo. ix. 324.</p> - -<p>The mast stands upright; he takes down the sails.</p> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Jamque adeo egressi steterant in littore primo,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Et promota, ratis pendentibus arbore nautis,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Aptabant sensim pulsanti carbasa vento.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Silius Italicus. Pun.</i> iii. 128.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">They leave the port and reach the shore: aloft</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They hang upon the mast, and by degrees</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They fit the sails to catch the beating wind.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Festinant trepidi substringere carbasa nautæ.</p> - -<p class="right"><i>Martial</i>, <i>l.</i> xii. <i>ep.</i> 29.</p> - -<p>The trembling seamen haste to reef their sails.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Primæ, carbasa ventilantis, auræ.—<i>Statius, Sylv.</i> iv. 3. 106.</p> - -<p>Of the first gale, which breathes upon the sails.</p> -</div> - -<p>Statius also mentions “Carbasei sinus,” the folds of cotton in -the chlamys of a Bacchanal (<i>Theb.</i> vii. 658.).</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Æstivos penetrent oneraria carbasa fluctus.—<i>Rutilius</i>, i. 221.</p> - -<p>Postquam tua carbasa vexit—Oceanus.—<i>Val. Flaccus</i>, i.</p> - -<p>Necdum aliæ viderunt carbasa terræ.—<i>Ibid.</i></p> -</div> - -<p>Valerius Flaccus also introduces muslin among the elegances -in the dress of a Phrygian from the river Rhyndacus.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Tenuai non illum candentis carbasa lini,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Non auro depicta chlamys, non flava galeri</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cæsaries, pictoque juvant subtemine braccæ. vi. 228.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">No aid to him his chlamys white as snow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Muslin with gold enrich’d, his yellow curls</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of artificial hair, and <i>figured</i> pantaloons.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">(See <a href="#Page_59">Part 1, chap. iii. p. 59</a>.)</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Also Prudentius, the Christian poet (See <a href="#Page_59">Part 1, chap. iii. p. -59</a>.), in an elaborate account of Pride, depicts her in a garment -of the same kind:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Carbasea ex humeris summo collecta coibat</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Palla sinu, teretem nectens a pectore nodum.—<i>Psychom.</i> 186.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A muslin kerchief by a knot compress’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pass’d o’er her shoulders, and adorn’d her breast.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Tantâ tamque multiplici fertilitate abundat rerum omnium Cyprus, ut nullius -externi indigens adminiculi, indigenis viribus, a fundamento ipso carinæ ad supremos -usque carbasos ædificet onerarium navem, omnibusque armamentis instructam -mari committat.—<i>Amm. Marcellinus</i>, xiv. 8.</p> -</div> - -<p>Apuleius mentions <i>carbasina</i> in conjunction with <i>bombycina</i> -and other kinds of cloth<a id="FNanchor_423" href="#Footnote_423" class="fnanchor">[423]</a>. He may consequently be presumed -to use the word in its proper sense, to wit, as denoting calico or -muslin. In the same manner cotton is distinguished from silk -by Sidonius Apollinaris<a id="FNanchor_424" href="#Footnote_424" class="fnanchor">[424]</a>. Also we may presume that cotton -and not linen sails are to be understood in the following line of -Avienus:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Si tamen in Boream flectantur carbasa cymbæ.</p> -<p class="right"><i>Descr. Orbis</i>, 799.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_423" href="#FNanchor_423" class="label">[423]</a> Metamorphoseon l. viii. p. 579, 580. ed. Oudendorpii. (Quoted in Part -First, Chapter ii. p. 35.)</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_424" href="#FNanchor_424" class="label">[424]</a> L. ii. <i>Epist.</i> 2. (Quoted in Part First, Chapter iii. p. 61.).</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Here the writer not only professes to give geographical information, -but he is describing the Indian seas and islands; and as -in the present day, so also in ancient times, the sails used in the -navigation of those seas were probably made of cotton.</p> - -<p>Strabo uses the word καρπασίναι in describing the official dress of -a certain class of priestesses among the Cimbri<a id="FNanchor_425" href="#Footnote_425" class="fnanchor">[425]</a>. Although it -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</span> -is possible, that muslin may have been conveyed to them to be -used on solemn occasions, it appears more probable that fine -linen or cambric, which was manufactured at no great distance -among the Atrebates, ought here to be understood.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_425" href="#FNanchor_425" class="label">[425]</a> L. vii. cap. 2. § 3. p. 336. ed. Siebenkees.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Pliny mentions cotton in four different passages of his Natural -History. Two of them are translated with some inaccuracies -from the passages of Theophrastus. To his translation -of one of these passages Pliny annexes the remark, derived -perhaps from some other source, that the inhabitants of Tylos -called their Cotton Trees <i>gossympins</i>, and that an island -which was called the smaller Tylos, distant ten miles, was still -more fertile in cotton than the larger island of the same name.</p> - -<p>The third passage introduces cotton under its proper name, -Carbasa. It would imply that cotton was first grown or manufactured -at Tarraco in Spain, than which assertion nothing -can be more inaccurate and groundless.</p> - -<p>The fourth passage is also contrary to all previous evidence, -inasmuch as it represents cotton to be the native growth of -Egypt. It calls the Cotton Plant <i>gossypion</i>, and hence the -name has been given to it by modern botanists. Supposing -this last passage to be genuine, still we know not on what authority -Pliny depended, or from what source he derived his information, -nor can we tell to what extent he allowed himself to -be inaccurate in transcribing or translating. Taken by itself, -therefore, it appears to us that this passage is no better proof of -the growth of cotton anciently in Egypt than the third passage -is of its first discovery in Spain.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>In Upper Egypt, towards Arabia, there grows a shrub, which some call <i>gossypium</i>, -and others <i>xylon</i>, from which the stuffs are made which we call <i>xylina</i>. -It is small, and bears a fruit resembling the filbert, within which is a downy wool, -which is spun into thread. There is nothing to be preferred to these stuffs for -whiteness or softness: beautiful garments are made from them for the priests of -Egypt.<a id="FNanchor_426" href="#Footnote_426" class="fnanchor">[426]</a></p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_426" href="#FNanchor_426" class="label">[426]</a> Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xix. c. 1. (Delph. Ed. c. 2.)</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>This passage seems however deserving of more consideration, -when taken in conjunction with the following from the Onomastícon -of Julius Pollux, who wrote 100 years later than -Pliny:—</p> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</span></p> -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>There are also Byssina; and Byssus, a kind of flax. But among the Indians, -and now also among the Egyptians, a sort of wool is obtained from a tree. The -cloth made from this wool may be compared to linen, except that it is thicker. -The tree produces a fruit most nearly resembling a walnut, but three-cleft. -After the outer covering, which is like a walnut, has divided and become dry, the -substance resembling wool is extracted and is used in the manufacture of cloth -for woof, the warp being linen.</p> -</div> - -<p>The description here given of the Cotton Tree or Cotton -Plant, whichever was meant, is remarkably correct; indeed -more correct than any account obtained since the time of the -expedition of Alexander. The circumstance of the pericarp -being three-cleft is agreeable to the fact, <i>and is not noticed by -any earlier writer</i>. The comparison of it to a walnut in regard -to size and form is also accurate. From this account, and -from those of Theophrastus, Aristobulus, and Nearchus, we -gather the following particulars, which are agreeable to the -fact: that the cotton-plants are set in the plains, and in rows -like vines; that the plant is three or four feet high, and is -branched, spreading, and flexible, like a dog-rose; that the leaf -is palmated like that of the vine; that the capsule is three-valved, -about the size of a walnut, and, when it bursts, emits the -cotton, resembling flocks of wool, in which the seeds are imbedded.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, we have had no previous evidence respecting -the use of cotton in the manufacture of cloth <i>for the -woof only</i>, and it is doubtful whether this piece of information -is correct, <i>because we have no reason to suppose that cotton -was used for weaving in any country in which flax was also -spun and woven</i>.</p> - -<p>Tertullian in the third Chapter of his treatise De Pallio, -enumerates nearly all the raw materials which were spun for -weaving. He mentions the class of vegetable substances (cotton -and flax) in the following terms:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Et arbusta vestiunt, et lini herbida post virorem lavacro nivescunt.</p> - -<p>Both thickets supply clothing; and crops of flax, after being green, are rendered -by washing white as snow.</p> -</div> - -<p>Philostratus, who wrote in the third century, makes distinct -mention of cotton in two passages<a id="FNanchor_427" href="#Footnote_427" class="fnanchor">[427]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_427" href="#FNanchor_427" class="label">[427]</a> Vita <i>Appollonii</i>, <i>l.</i> ii. <i>cap.</i> 20. Ibid. <i>l.</i> iii. <i>cap.</i> 15.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</span> -Martianus Capella (<i>l.</i> ii. § 4. <i>p.</i> 99. <i>ed.</i> Goetz.) makes distinct -reference to a tunic and shawl white as milk, and made -either of cotton or fine linen.</p> - -<p>Theophilus Presbyter, who wrote probably about A. D. 800, -describes the use of cotton-paper for making gold-leaf. He -calls it Greek parchment, made of tree-wool, <i>Pergamena</i>, or -<i>Parcamena Græca, quæ fit ex lanâ ligni</i><a id="FNanchor_428" href="#Footnote_428" class="fnanchor">[428]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_428" href="#FNanchor_428" class="label">[428]</a> De Omni Scientiâ Picturæ Artis, c. 21. quoted in Lessing’s Schriften, vol. iv. -p. 63. ed. 1825, 12mo., and in Wehr’s vom Papier, p. 132. (See <a href="#Appendix_B">Appendix B.</a>)</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>From the travels of the two Arabians who visited China in -the ninth century, we learn that at that time the ordinary dress -of their countrymen was cotton: for they remark, that “the -Chinese dressed, not in cotton, as the Arabians did, but in -silk<a id="FNanchor_429" href="#Footnote_429" class="fnanchor">[429]</a>.” Probably the use of imported cotton might by this time -have become not uncommon in Egypt, Syria, and other oriental -countries; but we apprehend, that it was never generally employed -in Europe either for clothing, or for any other purpose, -until very lately.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_429" href="#FNanchor_429" class="label">[429]</a> See the Travels as published by Renaudot, and translated from his French -into English.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>It is unnecessary to further discuss the question as to whether -cotton was or was not cultivated in Egypt in ancient times. -This vexed question having been lately set at rest, by a discovery -which reduces a great deal of the learning that has been -expended upon it <i>to the character of old lumber</i>. The difficulty -of ascertaining whether the mummy-cloths (of which the -specimens are exceedingly numerous) were made of linen or -cotton, has at length been overcome; and though no chemical -test could be found out to settle the question, it has been decided -by that important aid to scientific scrutiny, the microscope. -(See Chapters <a href="#Chapter4_I">I.</a> and <a href="#Chapter4_II">II.</a> Part IV.)</p> - -<p>The following observations of Dr. Robertson in his “Historical -Disquisition concerning the knowledge which the Ancients -had of India<a id="FNanchor_430" href="#Footnote_430" class="fnanchor">[430]</a>,” appear very just and important.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>If the use of the cotton manufactures of India had been common among the -Romans, the various kinds of them would have been enumerated in the Law <i>De -Publicanis et Vectigalibus</i>, in the same manner as the different kinds of spices and -precious stones. Such a specification would have been equally necessary for the -direction both of the merchant and of the tax-gatherer.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_430" href="#FNanchor_430" class="label">[430]</a> <i>Note</i> xxv. p. 370. <i>Second ed.</i> 1794.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</span> -In confirmation of these remarks it may be observed, that the -passages collected in this chapter represent cotton cloth as an -expensive and curious production rather than as an article of -common use among the Greeks and Romans. Among the ancients -linen must have been far cheaper than cotton, whereas -the improvements in navigation, the discovery of the passage -to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and still more the discovery -of America, have now made cotton the cheaper article among -us, and have thus brought it into general use.</p> - -<p>India produces several varieties of cotton, both of the herbaceous -and the tree kinds. Marco Polo mentions that “cotton -is produced in Guzerat in large quantities from a tree that is -about six yards in height, and bears during twenty years; but -the cotton taken from trees of this age is not adapted for spinning, -but only <i>quilting</i>. Such, on the contrary, as is taken -from trees of twelve years old, is suitable for muslins and other -manufactures of extraordinary fineness<a id="FNanchor_431" href="#Footnote_431" class="fnanchor">[431]</a>.” Sir John Mandeville, -on the other hand, who travelled in the fourteenth century, -fifty years later than Polo, mentions the annual herbaceous -cotton as cultivated in India: he says—“In many places the -seed of the cotton, (cothon,) which we call tree-wool, is sown -every year, and there springs up from its copses of low shrubs, -on which this wool grows<a id="FNanchor_432" href="#Footnote_432" class="fnanchor">[432]</a>.” Forbes also, in his Oriental Memoirs, -thus describes the herbaceous cotton of Guzerat:—“The -cotton shrub, which grows to the height of three or four feet, -and in verdure resembles the currant bush, requires a longer -time than rice (which grows up and is reaped in three months) -to bring its delicate produce to perfection. The shrubs are -planted between the rows of rice, but do not impede its growth, -or prevent its being reaped. Soon after the rice harvest is over, -the cotton bushes put forth a beautiful yellow flower, with a -crimson eye in each petal; this is succeeded by a green pod, -filled with a white stringy pulp; the pod turns brown and -hard as it ripens, and then separates into two or three divisions -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</span> -containing the cotton. A luxuriant field, exhibiting at the -same time the expanding blossom, the bursting capsule, and -the snowy flakes of ripe cotton, is one of the most beautiful objects -in the agriculture of Hindostan<a id="FNanchor_433" href="#Footnote_433" class="fnanchor">[433]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_431" href="#FNanchor_431" class="label">[431]</a> Book iii. chap. 29.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_432" href="#FNanchor_432" class="label">[432]</a> Hakluyt’s Voyages, vol. ii. p. 169.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_433" href="#FNanchor_433" class="label">[433]</a> Forbes’s Oriental Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 405.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The following general statement concerning the cotton of -India, is from the geographical work of Malte Brun:—“The -cotton-tree grows on all the Indian mountains, but its produce -is coarse in quality: the herbaceous cotton prospers chiefly in -Bengal and on the Coromandel coast, and there the best cotton -goods are manufactured. Next to these two provinces, Maduré, -Marawar, Pescaria, and the coast of Malabar, produce the finest -cotton<a id="FNanchor_434" href="#Footnote_434" class="fnanchor">[434]</a>.” He elsewhere says—“Cotton is cultivated in every -part of India: the finest grows in the light rocky soil of Guzerat, -Bengal, Dude, and Agra. The cultivation of this plant is -very lucrative, an acre producing about nine quintals of cotton -in the year<a id="FNanchor_435" href="#Footnote_435" class="fnanchor">[435]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_434" href="#FNanchor_434" class="label">[434]</a> Malte Brun, vol. iii. p. 30.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_435" href="#FNanchor_435" class="label">[435]</a> Ibid. vol. iii. p. 303.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>On the discovery of this continent by Columbus, Cotton -formed the principal article of clothing among the Mexicans.</p> - -<p>We are informed by the Abbé Clavigero that “of cotton the -Mexicans made <i>large webs</i>, and as delicate and fine as those -of Holland, which were, with much reason, highly esteemed in -Europe. They wove their cloths <i>of different figures</i> and -<i>colors</i>, representing <i>different animals</i> and <i>flowers</i>. Of feathers -interwoven with cotton, they made <i>mantles</i> and <i>bed-curtains</i>, -<i>carpets</i>, <i>gowns</i>, and other things, not less soft than -beautiful. With cotton also they <i>interwove the finest hair of -the belly of rabbits and hares, after having spun it into -thread</i>: of this they made most beautiful cloths, and in particular -winter waistcoats for their lords<a id="FNanchor_436" href="#Footnote_436" class="fnanchor">[436]</a>.” Among the presents -sent by Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, to Charles V., -were “cotton mantles, some all white, others mixed with white -and black, or red, green, yellow, and blue; waistcoats, handkerchiefs, -counterpanes, tapestries, and carpets of cotton; and the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</span> -colors of the cotton were extremely fine<a id="FNanchor_437" href="#Footnote_437" class="fnanchor">[437]</a>.” That the Mexicans -should have understood the art of dyeing those beautiful colors -referred to in the above extract, is not to be wondered at when -we consider that they had both <i>indigo</i> and <i>cochineal</i> among -their native productions.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_436" href="#FNanchor_436" class="label">[436]</a> Clavigero’s History of Mexico, book vii. sect. 57, 66.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_437" href="#FNanchor_437" class="label">[437]</a> Clavigero’s History of Mexico, book vii. sect. 58.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Columbus also found the cotton plant growing wild, and in -great abundance, in Hispaniola, and other West India islands, -and on the continent of South America, where the inhabitants -wore cotton dresses, and made their fishing nets of the same -material<a id="FNanchor_438" href="#Footnote_438" class="fnanchor">[438]</a>; and when Magellan went on his circumnavigation -of the globe, in 1519, the Brazilians were accustomed to make -their beds of this vegetable down<a id="FNanchor_439" href="#Footnote_439" class="fnanchor">[439]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_438" href="#FNanchor_438" class="label">[438]</a> Sommario dell’Indie Occidentali del S. Don Pietro Martire, in Ramusio’s -Collection, tom. ii. pp. 2, 4, 16, 50. (See <a href="#Appendix_D">Appendix D.</a>)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_439" href="#FNanchor_439" class="label">[439]</a> Vincentino’s Viaggio atorno il Mondo, (with Ferd. Magellan,) in Ramusio, -tom. i. p. 353.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter3_II">CHAPTER II.<br /> -<small>SPINNING AND WEAVING—MARVELLOUS SKILL -DISPLAYED IN THESE ARTS.</small> -</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Unrivalled excellence of India muslins—Testimony of the two Arabian travellers—Marco -Polo, and Odoardo Barbosa’s accounts of the beautiful Cotton textures -of Bengal—Cæsar Frederick, Tavernier, and Forbes’s testimony—Extraordinary -fineness and transparency of Dacca muslins—Specimen brought by Sir -Charles Wilkins; compared with English muslins—Sir Joseph Banks’s experiments—Extraordinary -fineness of Cotton yarn spun by machinery in England—Fineness -of India Cotton yarn—Cotton textures of Soonergong—Testimony of -R. Fitch—Hamilton’s account—Decline of the manufactures of Dacca accounted -for—Orme’s testimony of the universal diffusion of the Cotton manufacture -in India—Processes of the manufacture—Rude implements—Roller gin—Bowing. -(Eli Whitney inventor of the Cotton gin—Tribute of respect paid -to his memory—Immense value of Mr. Whitney’s invention to growers and manufacturers -of Cotton throughout the world.) Spinning wheel—Spinning without -a wheel—Loom—Mode of weaving—Forbes’s description—Habits and remuneration -of Spinners, Weavers, &c.—Factories of the East India Company—Marvellous -skill of the Indian workman accounted for—Mills’s testimony—Principal -Cotton fabrics of India, and where made—Indian commerce in Cotton goods—Alarm -created in the woollen and silk manufacturing districts of Great Britain—Extracts -from publications of the day—Testimony of Daniel De Foe (Author -of <i>Robinson Crusoe</i>.)—Indian fabrics prohibited in England, and most -other countries of Europe—Petition from Calcutta merchants—Present condition -of the City of Dacca—Mode of spinning fine yarns—Tables showing -the comparative prices of Dacca and British manufactured goods of the same -quality.</p> -</div> - -<p>The antiquity of the cotton manufacture in India having -been noticed in the last chapter, the present one will give some -account of the remarkable excellence of the Indian fabrics,—the -processes and machines by which they are wrought,—the -condition of the population engaged in this department of industry,—the -extensive commerce formerly carried on in these -productions to every quarter of the globe, and the causes that -have tended to destroy it.</p> - -<p>The Indians have in all ages maintained an unapproached -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</span> -and almost incredible perfection in their fabrics of cotton. Indeed -some of their muslins might be thought the work of -fairies or insects, rather than of men; but these are produced in -small quantities, and have seldom been exported. In the same -province from which the ancient Greeks obtained the finest -muslins then known, namely, the province of Bengal, these -astonishing fabrics are manufactured to the present day<a id="FNanchor_440" href="#Footnote_440" class="fnanchor">[440]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_440" href="#FNanchor_440" class="label">[440]</a> Bains’s “History of the Cotton Manufacture,” p. 55.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>We learn from two Arabian travellers of the ninth century, -that “in this country (India) they make garments of such extraordinary -perfection, that nowhere else are the like to be seen. -These garments are for the most part round, and wove to that -degree of fineness that they may be drawn through a ring of -moderate size<a id="FNanchor_441" href="#Footnote_441" class="fnanchor">[441]</a>.” Marco Polo, in the thirteenth century, mentions -the coast of Coromandel, and especially Masulipatam, as -producing “the finest and most beautiful cottons that are to be -found in any part of the world<a id="FNanchor_442" href="#Footnote_442" class="fnanchor">[442]</a>;” and this is still the case as to -the flowered and glazed cottons, called chintzes, though the -muslins of the Coromandel coast are inferior to those of Bengal.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_441" href="#FNanchor_441" class="label">[441]</a> Anciennes Relations des Indes et de la Chine, de deux Voyageurs Mahometans, -qui y allerent dans le neuviéme siecle, p. 21.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_442" href="#FNanchor_442" class="label">[442]</a> Travels of Marco Polo, book iii. c. 21, 28.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Odoardo Barbosa, one of the Portuguese adventurers who -visited India immediately after the discovery of the passage by -the Cape of Good Hope, celebrates “the great quantities of cotton -cloths admirably painted, also some white and some striped, -held in the highest estimation,” which were made in Bengal<a id="FNanchor_443" href="#Footnote_443" class="fnanchor">[443]</a>. -Cæsar Frederick, a Venetian merchant, who travelled in India -in 1563, and whose narrative is translated by Hakluyt, describes -the extensive traffic carried on between St. Thomé (a port -150 miles from Negapatam) and Pegu, in “<i>bumbast</i> (cotton) -cloth of every sort, painted, which is a rare thing, because this -kind of cloths show as if they were gilded with divers colors, -and the more they are washed, the livelier the colors will become; -and there is made such account of this kind of cloth, -that a small bale of it will cost 1000 or 2000 ducats<a id="FNanchor_444" href="#Footnote_444" class="fnanchor">[444]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_443" href="#FNanchor_443" class="label">[443]</a> Ramusio’s “Raccolto delle Navigationi et Viaggi,” tom. i. p. 315.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_444" href="#FNanchor_444" class="label">[444]</a> Hakluyt’s Voyages, vol. ii. p. 366. Edition of 1809.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</span> -Tavernier, who, like Marco Polo, Barbosa, and Frederick, -was a merchant as well as a traveller, and therefore accustomed -to judge of the qualities of goods, and who travelled in the middle -of the seventeenth century, says—“The white calicuts,” -(calicoes, or rather muslins, so called from the great commercial -city of Calicut, whence the Portuguese and Dutch first brought -them) “are woven in several places in Bengal and Mogulistan, -and are carried to Raioxsary and Baroche<a id="FNanchor_445" href="#Footnote_445" class="fnanchor">[445]</a> to be whitened, because -of the large meadows and plenty of lemons that grow -thereabouts, for they are never so white as they should be till -they are dipped in <i>lemon-water</i>. Some calicuts are made so -fine, <i>you can hardly feel them in your hand</i>, and the thread, -when spun, is scarce discernible<a id="FNanchor_446" href="#Footnote_446" class="fnanchor">[446]</a>.” The same writer says, -“There is made at Seconge (in the province of Malwa) a sort -of calicut so fine that when a man puts it on, <i>his skin shall -appear as plainly through it, as if he was quite naked</i>; but -the merchants are not permitted to transport it, for the governor -is obliged to send it all to the Great Mogul’s seraglio and the -principal lords of the court, to make the sultanesses and noblemen’s -wives shifts and garments for the hot weather; and the -king and the lords take great pleasure to behold them in these -shifts, and see them dance with nothing else upon them<a id="FNanchor_447" href="#Footnote_447" class="fnanchor">[447]</a>.” -Speaking of the turbans of the Mohammedan Indians, Tavernier -says, “The rich have them of so fine cloth, that twenty-five -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</span> -or thirty ells of it put into a turban will not weigh four -ounces<a id="FNanchor_448" href="#Footnote_448" class="fnanchor">[448]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_445" href="#FNanchor_445" class="label">[445]</a> “At the town of Baroche, in Guzerat, Forbes describes the manufacture as -being now in nearly the same state as when Arrian’s Periplus was written (about -A. D. 100.). He says—”The cotton trade at Baroche is very considerable, and -the manufactures of this valuable plant, from the finest muslin to the coarsest -sail-cloth, employ thousands of men, women, and children, in the metropolis -and the adjacent villages. The cotton clearers and spinners generally reside in -the suburbs, or poorahs, of Baroche, which are very extensive. The weavers’ -houses are mostly near the shade of tamarind and mango trees, under which, at -sun-rise, they fix their looms, and weave a variety of cotton cloth, with very fine -baftas and muslins (See <a href="#Plate_V">Plate V.</a>). Surat is more famous for its colored chintzes -and piece goods. The Baroche muslins are inferior to those of Bengal and Madras, -nor do the painted chintzes of Guzerat equal those of the Coromandel coast.”—Forbes’s -Oriental Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 222.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_446" href="#FNanchor_446" class="label">[446]</a> Tavernier’s Travels, contained in Dr. Harris’s Collection of Voyages and -Travels, vol. i. p. 811.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_447" href="#FNanchor_447" class="label">[447]</a> Ibid. vol. i. p. 829.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_448" href="#FNanchor_448" class="label">[448]</a> Tavernier’s Travels, Harris’s Collection, vol. i. p. 833.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>An English writer, at the end of the seventeenth century, in -a remonstrance against the admission of India muslins, for -which, he says, the high price of thirty shillings a yard was -paid, unintentionally compliments the delicacy of the fabric by -stigmatizing it as “only the <i>shadow</i> of a commodity<a id="FNanchor_449" href="#Footnote_449" class="fnanchor">[449]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_449" href="#FNanchor_449" class="label">[449]</a> The Naked Truth, in an Essay upon Trade, p. 11.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The late Rev. William Ward, a missionary at Serampore, -informs us that “at Shantee-pooru and Dhaka, muslins are -made which sell at a hundred rupees a piece. The ingenuity -of the Hindoos in this branch of manufacture is wonderful. -Persons with whom I have conversed on this subject say, that -at two places in Bengal, Sonar-ga and Vilkrum-pooru, muslins -are made by a few families so exceedingly fine, that four -months are required to weave one piece, which sells at five hundred -rupees. When this muslin is laid on the grass, and the -dew has fallen upon it, <i>it is no longer discernible</i><a id="FNanchor_450" href="#Footnote_450" class="fnanchor">[450]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_450" href="#FNanchor_450" class="label">[450]</a> View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos, by William -Ward; vol. iii. p. 127. 3d edition.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>After such statements as the above, from sober and creditable -witnesses, the Oriental hyperbole which designates the Dacca -muslins as “<i>webs of woven wind</i>,” seems only moderately poetical.</p> - -<p>Sir Charles Wilkins brought a specimen of Dacca muslin -from India in the year 1786, which was presented to him by -the principal of the East India Company’s factory at Dacca, as -the finest then made there. Like all Indian muslins, it has a -yellowish hue, caused by imperfect bleaching. Though the -worse for many years’ exposure in a glass case, and the handling -of visitors, it is of exquisite delicacy, softness, and transparency; -yet the yarn of which it is woven, and of which Mr. -Wilkins also brought a specimen, is not so fine as some which -has been spun by machinery in England. The following -minute, made by Sir Joseph Banks on a portion of this yarn, -thirty or forty years since, appears at the India House in his -own writing, together with a specimen of the muslin:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</span> -“The portion of skein which Mr. Wilkins gave to me -weighed 34³⁄₁₀ grains: its length was 5 yards 7 inches, and it -consisted of 196 threads. Consequently, its whole length was -1018 yards and 7 inches. This, with a small allowance for -fractions, gives 29 yards to a grain, 203,000 to a pound avoirdupoise -of 7000 grains; that is, 115 miles, 2 furlongs, and 60 -yards.”</p> - -<p>Cotton yarn has been spun in England, making <i>three hundred -and fifty hanks</i> to the <i>lb. weight</i>, each hank measuring -840 yards, and the whole forming a thread of 167 miles in -length<a id="FNanchor_451" href="#Footnote_451" class="fnanchor">[451]</a>. This, however, must be regarded merely as showing -how fine the cotton can possibly be spun by machinery, since -no such yarn is or could be used in the making of muslins, or -for any other purpose. The extreme of fineness to which -yarns for muslins are ever spun in Great Britain is 250 hanks -to the lb., which would form a thread measuring 119⅓ miles; -but it is very rarely indeed that finer yarn is used than 220 -hanks to the lb., which is less fine than the specimen of Dacca -muslin above mentioned. The Indian hand-spun yarn is softer -than mule-yarn, and the muslins made of the former are -much more durable than those made of the latter. In point -of appearance, however, the book-muslin of Glasgow is very -superior to the Indian muslin, not only because it is better -bleached, but because it is more evenly woven, and from yarn -of uniform thickness, whereas the threads in the Indian fabric -vary considerably.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_451" href="#FNanchor_451" class="label">[451]</a> Pliny, in speaking of linen yarn, gives us an account (L. xix. cap. 2.) of the -cuirass of the Egyptian king Amasis, which is preserved in the temple of Minerva -in Rhodes. “Each thread,” says he, “is shown to consist of 365 fibres, which -fact Mucianus, being a third time Consul, lately asserted at Rome.”—Mucianus -was Consul the third time A. D. 75.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>It is probable that the specimens brought by Wilkins, though -the finest then made at the city of Dacca, is not equal to the -most delicate muslins made in that neighborhood in former -times, or even in the present. The place called by the Rev. -Mr. Ward Sonar-ga, and, by Mr. Walter Hamilton, Sooner-gong, -a decayed city near Dacca, has been said to be unrivalled -in its muslins. Mr. Ward’s testimony has been quoted above. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</span> -Mr. Ralph Fitch, an English traveller, in 1583, spoke of the -same place when he said—“Sinnergan is a town six leagues -from Serrapore, where there is the best and finest cloth made of -cotton that is in all India<a id="FNanchor_452" href="#Footnote_452" class="fnanchor">[452]</a>.” Mr. Hamilton says—“Soonergong -is now dwindled down to an inconsiderable village. By Abul -Fazel, in 1582, it is celebrated for the manufacture of a beautiful -cloth, named <i>cassas</i> (cossaes,) and the fabrics it still produces -justify to the present generation its ancient renown<a id="FNanchor_453" href="#Footnote_453" class="fnanchor">[453]</a>”. -But it seems that there has been a great decline in the manufacture -of the finest muslins, which is both stated and accounted -for by Mr. Hamilton in the following passage on the -district of Dacca Jelulpoor:—</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_452" href="#FNanchor_452" class="label">[452]</a> Hakluyt’s Voyages, vol. ii. p. 390; edit. 1809.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_453" href="#FNanchor_453" class="label">[453]</a> A Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Description of Hindostan, by Walter -Hamilton, Esq. vol. i. p. 187—(1820.)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Plain muslins, are distinguished by different names, according -to the fineness or closeness of the texture, as well as <i>flowered</i>, -<i>striped</i>, or <i>chequered</i> muslins, are fabricated chiefly in this -district, where a species of cotton named the banga grows, necessary, -although not of a very superior quality, to form the -stripes of the finest muslins, for which the city of Dacca has -been so long celebrated. The northern parts of Benares furnish -both plain and flowered muslins, which are not ill adapted for -common use, though incapable of sustaining any competition -with the beautiful and inimitable fabrics of Dacca.</p> - -<p>“The export of the above staple articles has much decreased, -and the art of manufacturing some of the finest species of muslins -is in danger of being lost, the orders for them being so few -that many of the families who possess by <i>hereditary</i> instruction -the art of fabricating them have desisted, on account of -the difficulty they afterwards experience in disposing of them. -This decline may partly be accounted for from the utter stagnation -of demand in the upper provinces since the downfall of -the imperial government, prior to which these delicate and -beautiful fabrics were in such estimation, not only at the court -of Delhi, but among all classes of the high nobility in India, as -to render it difficult to supply the demand. Among more recent -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</span> -causes also may be adduced the French revolution, the degree -of perfection to which this peculiar manufacture has lately -been brought in Great Britain, the great diminution in the -Company’s investment, and the advance in the price of cotton.”</p> - -<p>With respect to the peculiar species of cotton of which the -Dacca muslins are made, the following statement was given to -a committee of the House of Commons, in 1830-31, by Mr. -John Crawfurd, for many years in the service of the East India -Company, and author of the “History of the Indian Archipelago:”</p> - -<p>“There is a fine variety of cotton in the neighborhood of -Dacca, from which I have reason to believe the fine muslins of -Dacca are produced, and probably to the accidental discovery -of it is to be attributed the rise of this singular manufacture; -it is cultivated by the natives alone, not at all known in the -English market, nor, as far as I am aware, in that of Calcutta. -Its growth extends about forty miles along the banks of the -Megna, and about three miles inland. I consulted Mr. Colebrook -respecting the Dacca cotton, and had an opportunity of -perusing the manuscripts of the late Dr. Roxburgh, which contain -an account of it; he calls it a variety of the common herbaceous -annual cotton of India, and states that it is longer in the -staple, and affords the material from which the Dacca muslins -have been always made.”</p> - -<p>The cotton manufacture in India is not carried on in a few -large towns, or in one or two districts; it is universal. The -growth of cotton is nearly as general as the growth of food; -everywhere the women spend a portion of their time in spinning; -and almost every village contains its weavers, and supplies -its own inhabitants with the scanty clothing they require<a id="FNanchor_454" href="#Footnote_454" class="fnanchor">[454]</a>. -Being a domestic manufacture, and carried on with the rudest -and cheapest apparatus, it requires neither capital, mills, or an -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</span> -assemblage of various trades. The cotton is separated from -the seeds by a small rude hand-mill, or gin, turned by women.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_454" href="#FNanchor_454" class="label">[454]</a> Orme, in his Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, says, “On the -coast of Coromandel and in the province of Bengal, when at some distance from -the high road or a principal town, it is difficult to find a village in which every -man, woman, and child is not employed in making a piece of cloth. At present, -much the greatest part of the whole provinces are employed in this single manufacture.” -(p. 409.) “The progress of the cotton manufacture includes no less than -a description of the lives of half the inhabitants of Indostan.” (p. 413.)</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The mill consists of two rollers of teak wood, fluted longitudinally -with five or six grooves, and revolving nearly in contact. -The upper roller is turned by a handle, the lower being carried -along with it by means of a perpetual screw at the axis. The -cotton is put in at one side, and drawn through by the revolving -rollers; but the seeds, being too large to pass through the -opening, are torn off and fall down on the opposite side from -the cotton<a id="FNanchor_455" href="#Footnote_455" class="fnanchor">[455]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_455" href="#FNanchor_455" class="label">[455]</a> To the efforts of Eli Whitney, America is indebted for the value of her great -staple. While the invention of the cotton gin has been the chief source of the -prosperity of the Southern planter, the Northern manufacturer comes in for a -large share of the benefits derived from this most important offspring of American -ingenuity.</p> - -<p>Eli Whitney, who may with justice be considered one of the most ingenious -and extraordinary men that ever lived, was born in Westborough, Worcester -County, Massachusetts, December 8th, 1765. His parents belonged to that respectable -class in society, who, by the labors of husbandry, manage, <i>by uniform -industry</i>, to provide well for a rising family,—a class from whom have risen most -of those who, in New England, have attained to high eminence and usefulness.</p> - -<p>Although Mr. Whitney’s machines have benefited the people of this country, -and the world at large, millions upon millions, yet, it is to be lamented that he -did not reap that reward which his ingenuity and industry, as well as virtuous -course of conduct so richly merited, but died much involved in debt, while thousands -who had conspired to defraud him of his just and lawful rights, were enriched -by the use of his machines.</p> - -<p>“If we should assert,” said Judge William Johnson, “that the benefits of this -invention (the Cotton gin) exceed $100,000,000, we can prove the assertion by -correct calculation.”</p> - -<p>Who is there that, like him, has given his country and the world a machine—the -product of his own skill—which has furnished a large part of its population, -from childhood to age, with a lucrative employment; by which their debts have -been paid off; their capitals increased; their lands trebled in value?</p> - -<p>Mr. Whitney died on the 8th of January 1825, and is buried in the cemetery -of New Haven, Connecticut. His tomb is after the model of Scipio’s at Rome. -It is simple and beautiful, and promises to endure for years. It bears the following -inscription.</p> - -<p class="center"> -<b>ELI WHITNEY.</b><br /> -<span class="allsmcap">THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON GIN.<br /> -OF USEFUL SCIENCE AND ARTS, THE EFFICIENT PATRON AND IMPROVER.<br /> -IN THE SOCIAL RELATIONS OF LIFE, A MODEL OF EXCELLENCE.<br /> -WHILE PRIVATE AFFECTION WEEPS AT HIS TOMB, HIS COUNTRY HONORS HIS MEMORY.<br /> -BORN DECEMBER 8TH, 1765.—DIED JAN. 8TH, 1825. - </span> - </p> - -<p>The convention of American Geologists and Naturalists who met at New Haven -in May last (1845.), were invited, together with their ladies, by Mrs. Whitney, -the <i>widow of the inventor of the Cotton gin</i>, to attend an evening party at -her house, which was accepted, where they had an elegant supper and conversazione.</p> - -<p>“It is melancholy,” says Mr. Bains in his History of the Cotton Manufacture, -p. 114, “to contrast with the sanguine eagerness of inventors, the slowness of -mankind to acknowledge and reward their merits,—to observe how, on many occasions, -genius, instead of realizing fame and fortune, has been pursued by disaster -and opposition,—how trifling difficulties have frustrated the success of splendid -discoveries,—and how those discoveries, snatched from the grasp of their broken-hearted -authors, have brought princely fortunes to men whose <i>only</i> talent was in -making money. When inventors fail in their projects, no one pities them; when -they succeed, persecution, envy, and jealousy are their reward. Their means -are generally exhausted before their discoveries become productive. They plant -a vineyard, and either starve, or are driven from their inheritance, before they can -gather the fruit.”</p> - -<p>Would it not be greatly to the credit of the cotton manufacturing interest in -this country and in Europe, to present Mrs. Whitney with some token of their -respect and veneration for the memory of the inventor of the Cotton gin?</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</span> -The next operation is that of bowing the cotton, to clear it -from dirt and knots. A large bow, made elastic by a complication -of strings, is used; this being put in contact with a heap -of cotton, the workman strikes the string with a heavy wooden -mallet, and its vibrations open the knots of the cotton, shake -from it the dust and dirt, and raise it to a downy fleece. The -hand-mill and bow have been used immemorially throughout -all the countries of Asia, and have their appropriate names in -the Arabic and other languages: they were formerly used in -America, whence the term, still applied in commerce, “<i>bowed -Georgia cotton</i>.” The hatters of Great Britain still raise their -wool by the bow. The cotton being thus prepared, without -any carding, it is spun by the women; the coarse yarn is spun -on a one-thread wheel, and very much resembling those used -at the present day by the peasantry in the west of Ireland.</p> - -<p>The finer yarn is spun with a metallic spindle, and sometimes -without a distaff; a bit of clay is attached as a weight to -one end of the spindle, which is turned round with the left -hand, whilst the cotton is supplied with the right; the thread is -wound upon a small piece of wood. The spinster keeps her -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</span> -fingers dry by the use of a chalky powder. (See Part First, -Chapter I, pp. <a href="#Page_17">17</a> and <a href="#Page_17">18</a>.)</p> - -<p>The yarn, having been reeled and warped in the simplest -possible manner, is given to the weaver whose loom is as rude -a piece of apparatus as can be imagined. It consists merely of -two bamboo rollers, one for the warp and the other for the web, -and a pair of headles. The shuttle performs the double office of -shuttle and lay, and for this purpose is made like a large netting -needle, and of a length rather more than the breadth of the -web<a id="FNanchor_456" href="#Footnote_456" class="fnanchor">[456]</a>. This apparatus the weaver carries to a tree, under -which he digs a hole (which may be called the <i>treadle-hole</i>) -large enough to contain his legs and the lower tackle. He then -stretches his warp by fastening his bamboo rollers at a proper -distance from each other by means of wooden pins. The -headle-jacks he fastens to some convenient branch of the tree -over his head (See <a href="#Plate_V">Plate V.</a>): two loops underneath, <i>in which -he inserts his great toes</i>, serve instead of treadles; and his -long shuttle, which also performs the office of lay, draws the -weft through the warp, and afterwards strikes it home to the -fell. “There is not so much as an expedient for rolling up the -warp: it is stretched out to the full length of the web, which -makes the house of the weaver insufficient to contain him. -He is therefore obliged to work continually in the open air; and -every return of inclement weather interrupts him<a id="FNanchor_457" href="#Footnote_457" class="fnanchor">[457]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_456" href="#FNanchor_456" class="label">[456]</a> The shuttle is not always of this length. Hoole, in his “Mission to India,” -represents it as requiring to be <i>thrown</i>, in which case it must be short; and a -drawing of a Candyan weaver, in the Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion -of Useful Knowledge, shows the shuttle of the same size as our modern shawl -shuttle. Indeed we have abundant evidence that the Indians employed shuttles -of this latter description from time immemorial. The Chinese also use shuttles -of the same description. (See Chinese loom, <a href="#Plate_I">Plate I.</a>)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_457" href="#FNanchor_457" class="label">[457]</a> Mill’s History of British India, book ii. ch. 8.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Forbes describes the weavers in Guzerat, near Baroche, as -fixing their looms at sun-rise under the shade of tamarind and -mango trees. In some parts of India, however, as on the -banks of the Ganges, the weavers work under the cover of their -sheds, fixing the geer of their looms to a bamboo in the roof -(See <a href="#Plate_V">Plate V.</a>). They size their warps with a starch made -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</span> -from the root called <i>kandri</i>. When chequered muslins are -wrought, three persons are employed at each loom.</p> - -<p>Some authentic particulars concerning the habits and remuneration -of the Hindoos engaged in the making of cotton cloth, -are contained in an unpublished account of the districts of -Puraniya (Purneah,) Patna, and Dinajpur, by Dr. Francis -Hamilton, better known as Dr. F. Buchanan, (he having taken -the name of Hamilton,) the author of the “Journey from Madras -to Mysore, Canara, and Malabar.” This account of the -above-named provinces near the Ganges is in several manuscript -volumes in the library of the India House, in London. -We learn from his elaborate survey that the spinning and -weaving of cotton prevails throughout these provinces. The -fine yarns are spun with an iron spindle, and without distaff, -generally by women of rank; no caste is disgraced here by -spinning, as in the south of India; the women do not employ -all their time at this work, but only so much as is allowed by -their domestic occupations. The coarse yarns are spun on a -small wheel turned by the hand. The hand-mill is used to -free the cotton from its seeds, and the bow to tease it. The -following capital is required for the weaver’s business: a loom, -2½ rupees; sticks for warping and a wheel for winding, 2 anas; -a shop, 4 rupees; thread for two ready money pieces, worth 6 -rupees each, 5 rupees;—total 11 rupees 10 anas; to which -must be added a month’s subsistence. The man and his wife -warp, wind, and weave two pieces of this kind in a month, and -he has 7 rupees (14 shillings stg.) profit, deducting, however, -the tear and wear of his apparatus, which is a trifle. A person -hired to weave can in a month make three pieces of this kind, -and is allowed 2 anas in the rupee of their value, which is 2¼ -rupees (4<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i>) a month. The finest goods cost 2 rupees a -piece for weaving. Dr. Hamilton, in his observations on another -district, states the average profit of a loom engaged in -weaving coarse goods to be 28 rupees (£2. 16<i>s.</i>) a year, or -something less than 13<i>d.</i> a week. At Puraniya and Dinajpur -the journeymen cotton-weavers usually made from 2 to 2½ rupees -(from 4<i>s.</i> to 5<i>s.</i>) a month. At Patna a man and his wife -made from 3 to 4 rupees (from 6<i>s.</i> to 8<i>s.</i>) a month by beating -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</span> -and cleaning cotton; and each loom employed in making chequered -muslins, has a profit of 108½ rupees a year (£10. 16<i>s.</i>), -that is, 1<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i> a week for each of the three persons who work -the loom. The average earnings of a journeyman weaver, -therefore, appear to be from 1<i>s.</i> to 1<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i> per week. At Bangalore, -and in some other parts of southern India, this author -states that weavers earn from 3<i>d.</i> to 8<i>d.</i> a day, according as -they are employed on coarse or fine goods<a id="FNanchor_458" href="#Footnote_458" class="fnanchor">[458]</a>; but this is so much -above the usual remuneration for labor in India, that, if the -statement is not erroneous, it must be of extremely limited application. -On the same authority, a woman spinning coarse -yarn can earn 1⅔<i>d.</i> per day<a id="FNanchor_459" href="#Footnote_459" class="fnanchor">[459]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_458" href="#FNanchor_458" class="label">[458]</a> Buchanan’s Journey through Mysore, vol. i. pp. 216-218.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_459" href="#FNanchor_459" class="label">[459]</a> Ibid. vol. iii. p. 317.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>A fact is mentioned by Dr. Hamilton, in his unpublished account -of Patna, which affords a striking indication as to the -national character of the Hindoos—“All Indian weavers, who -work for the common market, make the woof of one end of the -cloth coarser than that of the other, and attempt to sell to the -unwary by the fine end, although every one almost, who deals -with them, is perfectly aware of the circumstance, and although -in the course of his life any weaver may not ever have an opportunity -of gaining by this means, yet he continues the practice, -with the hope of being able at some time or other to take -advantage of the purchaser of his goods.”</p> - -<p>The East India Company has a factory at Dacca, and also -in other parts of India,—not, as the American use of the word -“factory” might seem to imply, a mill, for the manufacture is -entirely domestic—but a commercial establishment in a manufacturing -district, where the spinners, weavers, and other workmen -are chiefly employed in providing the goods which the -Company export to Europe. This establishment is under the -management of a commercial resident, who agrees for the -kinds of goods that may be required, and superintends the execution -of the orders received from the presidencies. Such is -the poverty of the workmen, and even of the manufacturers -who employ them, that the resident has to advance beforehand -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</span> -the funds necessary in order to produce the goods. The consequence -of this system is, that the manufacturers and their -men are in a state of dependence almost amounting to servitude. -The resident obtains their labor at his own price, and, -being supported by the civil and military power, he establishes -a monopoly of the worst kind, and productive of the most prejudicial -effects to industry. The Act of 1833, which put an end -to the commercial character of the Company, will of course -abolish all the absurd and oppressive monopolies it exercised.</p> - -<p>It cannot but seem astonishing, that in a department of industry, -where the raw material has been so grossly neglected, -where the machinery is so rude, and where there is so little -division of labor, the results should be fabrics of the most exquisite -delicacy and beauty, <i>unrivalled by the products of any -other nation, even those best skilled in the mechanic arts</i>. -This anomaly is explained by the remarkably fine sense of -touch possessed by that effeminate people, by their patience and -gentleness, and by the hereditary continuance of a particular -species of manufacture in families through many generations, -which leads to the training of children from their very infancy -in the processes of the art. Mr. Orme observes—“The women -spin the thread destined for the cloth, and then deliver it to the -men, who have fingers to model it as exquisitely as these have -prepared it. The rigid, clumsy fingers of a European would -scarcely be able to make a piece of canvass with the instruments -which are all that an Indian employs in making a piece -of cambric (muslin). It is further remarkable, that every distinct -kind of cloth is the production of a particular district, in -which the fabric has been transmitted perhaps for centuries -from father to son,—<i>a custom which must have conduced to -the perfection of the manufacture</i><a id="FNanchor_460" href="#Footnote_460" class="fnanchor">[460]</a>.” The last mentioned -fact may be considered as a kind of division of labor.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_460" href="#FNanchor_460" class="label">[460]</a> Ormes’s Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, p. 413.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Mill thus explains the unequalled manual skill of the Indian -weaver:—“It is a sedentary occupation, and thus in harmony -with his predominant inclination. It requires patience, -of which he has an inexhaustible fund. It requires little -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</span> -bodily exertion, of which he is always exceedingly sparing; -and the finer the production, the more slender the force which -he is called upon to apply. But this is not all. The weak and -delicate frame of the Hindu is accompanied with an acuteness -of external sense, particularly of touch, which is altogether unrivalled; -and the flexibility of his fingers is equally remarkable. -The hand of the Hindu, therefore, constitutes an organ adapted -to the finest operations of the loom, in a degree which is almost -or altogether peculiar to himself<a id="FNanchor_461" href="#Footnote_461" class="fnanchor">[461]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_461" href="#FNanchor_461" class="label">[461]</a> Mill’s History of British India, book ii. c. 8.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>It is, then, to a physical organization in the natives, admirably -suited to the processes of spinning and weaving; to the -possession of the raw material in the greatest abundance; to -the possession also of the <i>most brilliant dyes</i> for <i>staining</i> and -<i>printing</i> the cloth; to a climate which renders the colors lively -and durable; and to the hereditary practice, by particular -castes, classes, and families, both of the manual operations and -chemical processes required in the manufacture;—it is to these -causes, with very little aid from science, and in an almost barbarous -state of the mechanical arts, that India owes her long -supremacy in the manufacture of cotton.</p> - -<p>Bengal is celebrated for the production of the finest muslins; -the Coromandel coast, for the best chintzes and calicoes; and -Surat, for strong and inferior goods of every kind. The cottons -of Bengal go under the names of <i>casses</i>, <i>amâns</i>, and <i>garats</i>; -and the handkerchiefs are called Burgoses and Steinkirkes. -<i>Table cloths</i> of superior quality are made at <i>Patna</i>. The -<i>basins</i>, or <i>basinets</i>, come from the Northern Circars. Condaver -furnishes the beautiful handkerchiefs of Masulipatam, the fine -colors of which are partly obtained from a plant called <i>chage</i>, -which grows on the banks of the Krishna, and on the coast of -the Bay of Bengal. The chintzes and ginghams are chiefly -made at Masulipatam, Madras, St. Thomé, and Paliamcotta. -The long cloths and fine pullicats are produced in the presidency -of Madras. The coarse piece-goods, under the name of -baftas, doutis, and pullicats, as well as common muslins and -chintzes, are extensively manufactured in the district of which -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</span> -Surat is the port. Besides all these, there is an endless variety -of fabrics, many of which are known in the markets of Europe, -Asia, and Africa.</p> - -<p>The commerce of the Indians in these fabrics has been extensive, -from the Christian era to the end of the last century. -For many hundred years, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Abyssinia, -and all the eastern parts of Africa, were supplied with a -considerable portion of their cottons and muslins, and with all -which they consumed of the finest qualities, from the marts of -India. This commerce existed in the last age, and is described -by the Abbé Raynal<a id="FNanchor_462" href="#Footnote_462" class="fnanchor">[462]</a> and Legoux de Flaix. The blue calicoes -of Guzerat were long bought by the English and Dutch for -their trade with Guinea. The great marts of this commerce -on the west coast of India were Surat and Calicut, the former -of which is near to Baroche, the manufacturing capital of Guzerat, -in which province a considerable part of the exported cottons -of India were made; and on the east coast, Masulipatam, -Madras, and St. Thomé, whence the varied and extensive -products of the Coromandel coast are exported.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_462" href="#FNanchor_462" class="label">[462]</a> Histoire Philosophique et Politique des Etablissements du Commerce des Européens -dans les deux Indes, tom. ii. liv. iv. ch. 4.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Owing to the beauty and cheapness of Indian muslins, -chintzes, and calicoes, there was a period when the manufacturers -of all the countries of Europe were apprehensive of being -ruined by their competition. In the seventeenth century, -the Dutch and English East India Companies imported these -goods in large quantities; they became highly fashionable for -ladies’ and children’s dresses, as well as for drapery and furniture, -and the coarse calicoes were used to line garments. To -such an extent did this proceed, that as early as 1678 a loud -outcry was made in England against the admission of Indian -goods, which, it was maintained, were ruining the woollen -manufacture,—a branch of industry which for centuries was -regarded with an almost superstitious veneration, as a kind of -palladium of the national prosperity, and which was incomparably -the most extensive branch of manufactures till the close -of the eighteenth century. A few extracts from pamphlets -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</span> -published in the seventeenth and at the beginning of the -eighteenth century, will not only afford amusement, but will -show the wonderful commercial revolution which has since -been effected by machinery. In the year 1678, a pamphlet -was issued under the title—“The Ancient Trades Decayed -and Repaired again,” in which the author thus bewails the interference -of cotton with woollen fabrics.</p> - -<p>“This trade (the woollen) is very much hindered by our own -people, who do wear many foreign commodities instead of our -own; as may be instanced in many particulars; viz. instead of -green <i>sey</i>, that was wont to be used for children’s frocks, is now -used painted and Indian-stained and striped calico; and instead -of a perpetuana or shalloon to line men’s coats with, is used -sometimes a glazed calico, which in the whole is not above 12<i>d.</i> -cheaper, and abundantly worse. And sometimes is used a -<i>Bangale</i> that is brought from India, both for linings to coats, -and for petticoats too; yet our English ware is better and -cheaper than this, only it is thinner for the summer. To remedy -this, it would be necessary to lay a very high impost upon -all such commodities as these are, and that no calicoes or -other sort of linen be suffered to be glazed.”—pp. 16, 17.</p> - -<p>The writer, with equal wisdom, recommends the prohibition -of <i>stage coaches</i>, on account of their injuring the proprietors of -the inns on the road, by conveying the passengers too quickly, -and at too little expense to themselves. A pamphlet entitled -“The Naked Truth, in an Essay upon Trade,” published in -1696, informs us that—</p> - -<p>“The commodities that we chiefly receive from the East -Indies are calicoes, muslins, Indian wrought silks, pepper, saltpetre, -indigo, &c. The advantage of the Company is chiefly -in their muslins and Indian silks, (a great value in these commodities -being comprehended in a small bulk,) and these becoming -the general wear in England.”—p. 4. “Fashion is -truly termed a witch; the dearer and scarcer any commodity, -the more the mode; 30<i>s.</i> a yard for muslins, and only the -shadow of a commodity when procured.”—p. 11.</p> - -<p>So sagacious and far-sighted an author as Daniel de Foe -(Author of Robinson Crusoe) did not escape the general notion, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</span> -that it was not merely injurious to the woollen and silk manufactures, -a but also a national evil, <span class="allsmcap">TO HAVE CLOTHING CHEAP -FROM ABROAD RATHER THAN TO MANUFACTURE IT DEAR -AT HOME</span>. In his <i>Weekly Review</i>, which contains so many -opinions on trade, credit, and currency far beyond the age, he -thus laments the large importations of Indian goods.</p> - -<p>“The general fancy of the people runs upon East India goods -to that degree, that the <i>chintz</i> and <i>painted calicoes</i>, which -before were only made use of for carpets, quilts, &c., and to -clothe children and ordinary people, become now the dress of -our ladies; and such is the power of a mode as we saw our -persons of quality dressed in stuffs which but a few years before -their chambermaids would have thought too ordinary for them: -the chintz was advanced from lying upon their floors to their -backs, from the foot-cloth to the petticoat; and even the queen -herself at this time was pleased to appear in China silks and -calico. Nor was this all, but it crept into our houses, closets, -and bed-chambers; curtains, cushions, chairs, and at last beds -themselves, were nothing but calicoes or Indian stuffs; and in -short, almost everything that used to be made of wool or silk, -relating either to the dress of the women or the furniture of our -houses, was supplied by the Indian trade.”</p> - -<p>“Above half of the (woollen) manufacture was entirely lost, -half of the people scattered and ruined, and all this by the -intercourse of the East India trade.”—<i>Weekly Review</i>, <i>January</i> -31st, 1708.</p> - -<p>However exaggerated and absurd De Foe’s estimate of the -injury caused to the woollen manufacture, as manifested by the -small value of the whole importations of Indian fabrics, at that -time, as well as (much more decisively) by the experience of -recent times, when the woollen manufacture has sustained the -incomparably more formidable competition of the English cotton -manufacture, it is evident from his testimony, and that of other -writers, that Indian calicoes, muslins, and chintzes, had become -common in England at the close of the seventeenth century. -De Foe’s complaint was not of an evil existing in 1708, when -he wrote, but of one a few years earlier; for he says in another -place, that the “<span class="smcap">Prohibition of Indian goods</span>” had “<span class="smcap">averted -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</span> -the ruin of English manufactures, and revived -their prosperity</span>.” This prohibition took place by the Act -11 and 12 William III. cap. 10., (1700,) which forbid the introduction -of Indian silks and printed calicoes for domestic use, -either as apparel or furniture, under a penalty of £200 on the -wearer or seller, and as this Act did not prevent the continued -use of the goods, which were probably smuggled from the continent -of Europe, other Acts for the same purpose were passed -at a later date.</p> - -<p>A volume published in the year 1728, entitled “A Plan of -the English Commerce,” shows that the evil of a consumption -of Indian manufactures still prevailed, and that it was ascribed -to a cause for which the writer saw no remedy, namely, the <i>will -of the ladies</i>, or, in his own words, their “<i>passion for their -fashion</i>.” The other countries of Europe are represented as -equally suffering from Indian competition and <i>female perverseness</i>, -and as attempting in the same way to find a remedy in -legislative prohibition. Holland was an honorable exception. -The author says—</p> - -<p>“The calicoes are sent from the Indies by land into Turkey, -by land and inland seas into Muscovy and Tartary, and about -by long-sea into Europe and America, till in general they are -become a grievance, and almost all the European nations but -the Dutch restrain and prohibit them.”—p. 180.</p> - -<p>“Two things,” says the writer, “among us are too ungovernable, -viz. our <i>passions</i> and our <i>fashions</i>.</p> - -<p>“Should I ask the ladies whether they would dress by law, -or clothe by act of parliament, they would ask me <i>whether -they were to be statute fools</i>, and to be made pageants and -pictures of?—whether the sex was to be set up for our jest, and -the parliament had nothing to do but make Indian queens of -them?—that they claim liberty as well as the men, and as they -expect to do what they please, and say what they please, so -they will wear what they please, and dress how they please.</p> - -<p>“It is true that the liberty of the ladies, their <i>passion</i> for -their <i>fashion</i>, has been frequently injurious to the manufactures -of Great Britain, and is so still in some cases; but I do -not see so easy a remedy for that, as for some other things of -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</span> -the like nature. The ladies have suffered some little restraint -that way, as in the wearing East India silks, instead of English; -and calicoes and other things instead of worsted stuffs -and the like; and we do not see they are pleased with it.”—p. -253.</p> - -<p>It appears, then, that not more than a century ago, the cotton -fabrics of India were so beautiful and cheap, that nearly all -the governments of Europe thought it necessary to prohibit -them, or to load them with heavy duties, <span class="allsmcap">IN ORDER TO PROTECT -THEIR OWN MANUFACTURES</span>. How surprising a revolution -has since taken place! The Indians have not lost -their former skill; but a power has arisen, which has robbed -them of their ancient ascendancy. The following document -furnishes superabundant proof how a manufacture which has -existed without a rival for thousands of years, is withering under -the competition of a power which is as it were but of yesterday: -it would be well if it did not also illustrate the very -different measure of protection and justice which governments -usually afford to their subjects at home, and to those of their -remote dependencies.</p> - -<h4>PETITION OF NATIVES OF BENGAL, RELATIVE TO DUTIES -ON COTTON AND SILK.</h4> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="right">“Calcutta, 1st. Sept. 1831. -</p> - -<p>“<i>To the Right Honorable the Lords of His Majesty’s -Privy Council for Trade, &c</i>.</p> - -<p>“The humble Petition of the undersigned Manufacturers -and Dealers in <i>Cotton</i> and <i>Silk Piece-goods</i>, the fabrics of -Bengal;</p> - -<p>“Sheweth—That of late years your Petitioners have found -their business nearly superseded by the introduction of the fabrics -of Great Britain into Bengal, the importation of which -augments every year, to the great prejudice of the native manufactures.</p> - -<p>“That the fabrics of Great Britain are consumed in Bengal, -without any duties being levied thereon to protect the native -fabrics.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</span> -“That the fabrics of Bengal are charged with the following -duties when they are used in Great Britain—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>“On manufactured cottons, 10 per cent.</p> -<p>“On manufactured silks, 24 per cent.</p> -</div> - -<p>“Your Petitioners most humbly implore your Lordships’ consideration -of these circumstances, and they feel confident that -no disposition exists in England to shut the door against the -industry of any part of the inhabitants of this great empire.</p> - -<p>“They therefore pray to be admitted to the privilege of British -subjects, and humbly entreat your Lordships to allow the -cotton and silk fabrics of Bengal to be used in Great Britain -free of duty, <i>or at the same rate which may be charged on -British fabrics consumed in Bengal</i><a id="FNanchor_463" href="#Footnote_463" class="fnanchor">[463]</a>.</p> - -<p>“Your Lordships must be aware of the immense advantages -the British manufacturers derive from their skill in constructing -and using machinery, which enables them to undersell the -unscientific manufacturers of Bengal in their own country: and, -although your Petitioners are not sanguine in expecting to -derive any great advantage from having their prayer granted, -their minds would feel gratified by such a manifestation of your -Lordships’ good will towards them; and such an instance of -justice to the natives of India would not fail to endear the -British government to them.</p> - -<p>“They therefore confidently trust, that your Lordships’ -righteous consideration will be extended to them as British -subjects, without exception of <i>sect</i>, <i>country</i>, or <i>color</i>.</p> - -<p>“And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.”</p> - -<p class="right">[Signed by 117 natives of high respectability.]<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_463" href="#FNanchor_463" class="label">[463]</a> This reasonable request was not complied with, the duty on India cotton being -still 10 per cent. The extra duty of 3½<i>d.</i> per yard on printed cottons was -taken off when the excise duty on English prints was repealed, in 1831. English -cottons imported into India only pay a duty of 2½ per cent.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Dacca, notwithstanding its present insignificance as compared -with its former grandeur, may nevertheless still be classed -among second rate cities. It has a population of 150,000 inhabitants, -which is nearly a third more than the city of Baltimore -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</span> -contains. Some new brick dwellings have silently sprung -up here and there, it may also be observed, within the last few -years; and this city can now boast an Oil Mill driven by steam, -and an Iron Suspension Bridge. Three more steam engines -are in the course of erection<a id="FNanchor_464" href="#Footnote_464" class="fnanchor">[464]</a>. On the whole, an increase may -be looked for, rather than the contrary, in the wealth, population, -and importance of the city of Dacca.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_464" href="#FNanchor_464" class="label">[464]</a> Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It would be curious to compare the gradual decrease of the -population, with the falling off of the manufacture of those -beautiful cotton fabrics, for which this city was once without a -rival in the world<a id="FNanchor_465" href="#Footnote_465" class="fnanchor">[465]</a>. The first falling off in the Dacca trade, -took place so far back as 1801, previous to which the yearly -advances made by the East India Company, and private traders, -for Dacca muslins, were estimated at upwards of twenty-five -lacs of rupees<a id="FNanchor_466" href="#Footnote_466" class="fnanchor">[466]</a>. In 1807, the Company s investment had fallen -to 595,900, and the private trade to about 560,200. In 1813, -the private trade did not exceed 205,950, and that of the Company -was scarcely more considerable. And in 1817, the English -commercial residency was altogether discontinued. The French -and Dutch factories had been abandoned many years before. -The division of labor was carried to a great extent in the manufacture -of fine muslins. In spinning the very fine thread, more -especially, a great degree of skill was attained. It was spun -with the fingers on a “<i>Takwa</i>,” or fine steel spindle, by young -women, who could only work during the early part of the -morning, while the dew was on the ground; for such was the -extreme tenuity of the fibre, that it would not bear manipulation -after the sun had risen. One retti of cotton could thus be -spun into a thread eighty cubits long; which was sold by the -spinners at one rupee, eight annas, per sicca weight. The -“Raffugars,” or <i>Darners</i>, were also particularly skilful. They -could <i>remove an entire thread from a piece of muslin</i>, and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</span> -<i>replace it by one of a finer texture</i>. The cotton used for the -finest thread, was grown in the immediate neighborhood of -Dacca, more especially about Sunergong. Its fibre is too short, -however, to admit of its being worked up by any except that -most wonderful of all machines—the human hand. The art -of making the very fine muslin fabrics is now lost—and a pity -it is that it should be so.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_465" href="#FNanchor_465" class="label">[465]</a> If Providence should continue to bless the work of our hands, and our life and -health be preserved, we indulge the hope of being able, at no very distant period, -to investigate this subject more fully.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_466" href="#FNanchor_466" class="label">[466]</a> <i>Lac of rupees</i> is one hundred thousand rupees, which at 55 cents each -amount to fifty-five thousand dollars, or at 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> sterling, to £12,500.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In 1820, a resident of Dacca, on a special order received from -China, procured the manufacture of two pieces of muslin, each -ten yards long by one wide, and weighing ten and a half sicca -rupees.—The price of each piece was 100 sicca rupees. In -1822, the same individual received a second commission for two -similar pieces, from the same quarter; but the parties who had -supplied him on the former occasion had died in the mean time, -and he was unable to execute the commission.</p> - -<p>The annual investment, called the “Malbus Khás,” for the -royal wardrobe at Delhi, absorbed a great part of the finest fabrics -in former times: the extreme beauty of some of these muslins, -was sufficiently indicated by the names they bore: such as, -“<i>Abrowan</i>,” running water; “<i>Siebnem</i>,” evening dew, &c. -The cotton manufacture has not yet arrived at anything like -this perfection with us, and probably never will.<a id="FNanchor_467" href="#Footnote_467" class="fnanchor">[467]</a></p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_467" href="#FNanchor_467" class="label">[467]</a> The manufacture of fine muslin, was attempted both in Lancashire and at -Glasgow, about the year 1780, with weft spun by the jenny. The attempt -failed, owing to the coarseness of the yarn. Even with Indian weft, muslins -could not be made to compete with those of the East. But when the mule was -brought into general use, in 1785, both weft and warp were produced sufficiently -fine for muslins; and so quickly did the weaver avail himself of the improvement in -the yarn, that no less than 500,000 pieces of muslin were manufactured in Great -Britain in the year 1787. In a “Report of the Select Committee of the Court -of Directors of the East India Company upon the subject of the Cotton Manufacture -of this Country,” made in the year 1793, it is said, that “<i>every shop offers -British muslins for sale equal in appearance, and of more elegant patterns -than those of India, for one-fourth, or perhaps more than one-third, less in -price</i>.” “Muslin began to be made nearly at the same time at Bolton, at Glasgow, -and at Paisley, each place adopting the peculiar description of fabric which -resembled most those goods it had been accustomed to manufacture; and, in -consequence of this judicious distribution at first, each place has continued to -maintain a superiority in the production of its own article. Jaconets, both coarse -and fine, but of a stout fabric, checked and striped muslins, and other articles of -the heavier description of this branch, are manufactured in Bolton, and its neighborhood. -Book, mull, and leno muslins, and jaconets of a lighter fabric than those -made in Lancashire, are manufactured in Glasgow. Sewed and tambored muslins -are almost exclusively made there and in Paisley.”—<i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</span> -Coarse cotton piece goods still continue to be manufactured -at Dacca, though from the extreme cheapness of English cloths, -it is not improbable that the native manufacture will be altogether -superseded ere long.</p> - -<p>In 1823-4, cotton piece goods, mostly coarse, passed the -Dacca Custom House, to the value of 1,442,101. In 1829-30, -the value of the same export was 969,952 only. There was a -similar falling off in <i>silk</i> and <i>embroidered</i> goods during the -same period.</p> - -<p>In the export of the articles of cotton yarn again, there has -been an increase. In 1813, the value was 4,480 rupees only; -whereas in 1821-22, it amounted to 39,319 rupees. From -that period it has, however, decreased; and in 1829-30, the -value of the native cotton yarn exported from Dacca, amounted -to 29,475 rupees only.</p> - -<p>Annexed are two statements—one showing the comparative -prices of muslins now manufactured at Dacca, and of the same -description of cloth, the produce of British looms.—The other, -the comparative prices of Dacca cloths, manufactured from -yarn spun in the country, and from British cotton yarn. -These cannot fail to be interesting at the present moment, and -their general accuracy may be relied on.</p> - -<h4>COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE PRICES OF MUSLINS MANUFACTURED -AT DACCA, AND THE PRODUCE OF THE BRITISH LOOMS.</h4> - -<table class="border" summary="Muslin Price Comparison"> -<tbody> -<tr><td class="tb center" colspan="2">ASSORTMENTS.</td> - <td class="tdc tb">Manufactured<br />at<br />Dacca</td> - <td class="tdc tb">Produce of<br />the British<br />Looms</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Jamdaní, with small spot,</td> - <td>1st sort</td> - <td class="tdc bl">25</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">8</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Jamdaní, with small spot,</td> - <td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl">16</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Jamdaní, Mabíposh,</td> - <td></td> - <td class="tdc bl">27 to 28</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">6</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Jamdaní, Diagonal pattern,</td> - <td></td> - <td class="tdc bl">12 to 13</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">4 to 4½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td rowspan="2">Jaconet Muslin, 40½, corresponding with Jungle Cossas,</td> - <td>1st ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl">38 to 40</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">20 to 22</td> - </tr> -<tr> - <td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl">24 to 25</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">9 to 10</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="bl">Nyansook, 40 to 2¼,</td> - <td></td> - <td class="tdc bl">8 to 9</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5 to 6</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Cambric, corresponding with Camiz Cossas,</td> - <td></td> - <td class="tdc bl">13 to 14</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">6 to 9½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Jamdaní blue or red sprigs,</td> - <td></td> - <td class="tdc bl">15 to 16</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">4 to 5</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Jamdaní Sarîs,</td> - <td></td> - <td class="tdc bl">12 to 13</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5 to 5½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Book Muslin, corresponding with Mulmulls,</td> - <td></td> - <td class="tdc bl">10 to 11</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">7 to 8</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="bb">Sahun, 48 by 3,</td> - <td class="bb"></td> - <td class="tdc bb bl">28 to 30</td> - <td class="tdc bl br bb">14 to 15</td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<h4>COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE PRICES OF DACCA CLOTHS, MANUFACTURED -WITH COTTON YARN SPUN IN THE COUNTRY, AND FROM -BRITISH COTTON YARN.</h4> -</div> - -<table class="border" summary="Dacca Cloth Price Comoparison"> -<tbody> -<tr><td class="tb" rowspan="2" colspan="2">ASSORTMENTS.</td> - <td class="tdc tb" colspan="2">DACCA MUSLINS.</td> - </tr> -<tr> - <td class="tb">Manufactured<br /> with Country<br /> Cotton Thread.</td> - <td class="tb">Manufactured<br />with Europe<br /> Cotton Yarn.</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Mulmuls, 40 by 2,</td> -<td>1st sort</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">8 to 9</td> - <td class="tdc">3 to 4</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">10 to 12</td> - <td class="tdc">5 to 6</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>3rd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">14 to 15</td> - <td class="tdc">9 to 10</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Sablams, 40 by 2,</td> -<td>1st ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">4 to 4½</td> - <td class="tdc">2½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5½ to 6</td> - <td class="tdc">3</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>3rd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">11 to 12</td> - <td class="tdc">6</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>4th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">14 to 15</td> - <td class="tdc">8</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>5th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">17 to 18</td> - <td class="tdc">10 to 11</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Sarbans, 40 cubits,</td> -<td>1st ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">3</td> - <td class="tdc">1½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">3½ to 3¾</td> - <td class="tdc">1¾</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Allabalís Adí,</td> -<td>1st ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5 to 5½</td> - <td class="tdc">3</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">7 to 7½</td> - <td class="tdc">4</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>3rd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">8 to 9</td> - <td class="tdc">5 to 5½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>4th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">9 to 10</td> - <td class="tdc">6 to 6½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Tarindans, 40 cubits,</td> -<td>1st ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">4½ to 5</td> - <td class="tdc">3</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">6½ to 7</td> - <td class="tdc">4</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>3rd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">11 to 12</td> - <td class="tdc">7 to 8</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>4th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">13 to 14</td> - <td class="tdc">10 to 11</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Sarí, per pair,</td> -<td>1st ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5</td> - <td class="tdc">3</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5 to 5½</td> - <td class="tdc">3½ to 4</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>3rd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">9 to 10</td> - <td class="tdc">5½ to 6</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Dhotis, per pair,</td> -<td>1st ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5</td> - <td class="tdc">3</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">6 to 6½</td> - <td class="tdc">3½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>3rd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">7 to 7½</td> - <td class="tdc">5</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>4th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">8 to 8½</td> - <td class="tdc">6</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>5th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">10½ to 11</td> - <td class="tdc">8 to 8½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>6th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">9 to 11</td> - <td class="tdc">7 to 7½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Sheraganj Cossas, 40 cubits,</td> -<td>1st ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">4</td> - <td class="tdc">2¾</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5</td> - <td class="tdc">3¼</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>3rd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5½ to 6</td> - <td class="tdc">4</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>4th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">7 to 7½</td> - <td class="tdc">5</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>5th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">8 to 8½</td> - <td class="tdc">6</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Sheraganj Hamam, 40 by 3,</td> -<td>1st ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5</td> - <td class="tdc">3½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">6 to 6½</td> - <td class="tdc">4</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>3rd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">7½ to 8</td> - <td class="tdc">5</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>4th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">9 to 9½</td> - <td class="tdc">6 to 7</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>5th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">11 to 12</td> - <td class="tdc">8 to 9</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>6th ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">14 to 15</td> - <td class="tdc">10 to 11</td> - </tr> -<tr><td>Jamdan Dhotis, 10 cubits,</td> -<td>1st ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">5½ to 6</td> - <td class="tdc">4</td> - </tr> -<tr><td></td> -<td>2nd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br">6½ to 7</td> - <td class="tdc">4½</td> - </tr> -<tr><td class="bb"></td> - <td class="bb">3rd ditto</td> - <td class="tdc bl br bb">7½ to 8</td> - <td class="tdc bb">5</td> - </tr> -</tbody> -</table> - -<p>The manufacture of cotton, as we have seen, was general in -India and had attained high excellence in the age of the first -Greek historian, <i>that is, in the fifth century before Christ</i>, at -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</span> -which time it had already existed for an unknown period; yet -eighteen centuries more elapsed before it was introduced into -Italy or Constantinople, or even secured a footing in the neighboring -empire of China. Though so well suited to hot climates, -we have seen that cottons were known rather as a curiosity -than as a common article of dress in Egypt and Persia, five -centuries after the Greeks had heard of the “wool-bearing -trees” of India: in Egypt, as has been shown, the manufacture -never reached any considerable degree of excellence, and the -muslins worn by the higher classes have always been imported -from India<a id="FNanchor_468" href="#Footnote_468" class="fnanchor">[468]</a>. In Spain the manufacture, after flourishing to -some degree, became nearly extinct. In Italy, Germany, and -Flanders, it had also a lingering and ignoble existence.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_468" href="#FNanchor_468" class="label">[468]</a> In Arabia and the neighboring countries, cottons and muslins came gradually -into use; and the manufacture was spread, by the commercial activity and enterprise -of the early followers of Mohammed, throughout the extended territories -subdued by their arms. “It is recorded of the fanatical Omar, the immediate -successor of the Arabian impostor, that he preached in a tattered cotton gown, torn -in <i>twelve</i> places; and of Ali, his contemporary, who assumed the caliphate after -him, that on the day of his inauguration, he went to the mosque dressed in a thin -cotton gown, tied round him with a girdle, a coarse turban on his head, his slippers -in one hand, and his bow in the other, instead of a walking staff.”—<i>Crichton’s -History of Arabia</i>, <i>vol.</i> i. <i>pp.</i> 397, 403.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Part_FOURTH">PART FOURTH.<br /> -ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE LINEN MANUFACTURE.</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter4_I">CHAPTER I.<br /> -FLAX.</h3> -</div> - -<hr class="chapter" /> - -<p class="h3sub">CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF FLAX BY THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS -OF THE SCRIPTURES, ETC.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Earliest mention of Flax—Linen manufactures of the Egyptians—Linen worn by -the priests of Isis—Flax grown extensively in Egypt—Flax gathering—Envelopes -of Linen found on Egyptian mummies—Examination of mummy-cloth—Proved -to be Linen—Flax still grown in Egypt—Explanation of terms—Byssus—Reply -to J. R. Forster—Hebrew and Egyptian terms—Flax in North -Africa, Colchis, Babylonia—Flax cultivated in Palestine—Terms for flax and -tow—Cultivation of Flax in Palestine and Asia Minor—In Elis, Etruria, Cisalpine -Gaul, Campania, Spain—Flax of Germany, of the Atrebates, and of the -Franks—Progressive use of linen among the Greeks and Romans.</p> -</div> - -<p>The earliest mention of flax by any author occurs in the account -of the plague of hail, which devastated Lower Egypt, -Ex. ix. 31. The Hebrew term for flax in this and various -other passages of the old Testament is פשתה ; the corresponding -word in the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic versions is כתנא - Λίνον, LXX. Linum, <i>Jerome</i>.</p> - -<p>In Isaiah xix. 9, according to King James’s Translators and -Bishop Lowth, mention is made of those that “<i>work in fine -flax</i>,” and which was one of the chief employments of the -Egyptians. According to Herodotus (ii. 37, 81.) the Egyptians -universally wore linen shirts, which were fringed at the bottom. -The fringe consisted of the <i>thrums</i>, or ends of the webs. -Thrums used for this purpose may be seen in the cloths which -are found in Egyptian mummies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Plate_6">[Plate VI]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="Plate_VI" style="max-width: 40em;"> - <div class="caption"> - <p class="right"><i>PLATE VI</i></p></div> - <img class="w100" src="images/plate_vi.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> - <p class="center">Egyptian flax-gathering.</p> - </div> - </div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</span></p> - -<p>Besides the linen shirt the priests wore an upper garment of -linen, more especially when they officiated in the temples. -This garment was probably of the exact form of a modern -linen sheet. The distinction between the shirt and the sheet -worn over it, as well as the reason why linen was used for all -sacred purposes, is clearly expressed in the two following passages -from Apuleius and Jerome.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Etiamnè cuiquam mirum videri potest, cui sit ulla memoria religionis, hominem -tot mysteriis Deûm conscium, quædam sacrorum crepundia domi adversare, atque -ea lineo texto involvere, quod purissimum est rebus divinis velamentum? Quippe -lana, segnissimi corporis excrementum, pecori detracta, jam inde Orphei et Pythagoræ -scitis, profanus vestitus est. Sed enim mundissima lini seges, inter optimas -fruges terrâ exorta, non modò indutui et amictui sanctissimis Ægyptiorum sacerdotibus, -sed opertui quoque in rebus sacris usurpatur.</p> - -<p class="right"> -<i>Apuleii Apolog. p. 64. ed. Pricæi.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>Can any one impressed with a sense of religion wonder, that a man who has -been made acquainted with so many mysteries of the gods, should keep at home -certain sacred emblems and wrap them in a linen cloth, the purest covering for -divine objects? For wool, the excretion of a sluggish body, taken from sheep, -was deemed a profane attire even according to the early tenets of Orpheus and -Pythagoras. But flax, that cleanest and best production of the field, is used, not -only for the inner and outer clothing of the most holy priests of the Egyptians, -but also for covering sacred objects.—<i>Yates’s Translation.</i></p> -</div> - -<p><i>Indutus</i> was the putting on of the <i>inner</i>, amictus of the -<i>outer</i> garment.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Vestibus lineis utuntur Ægyptii sacerdotes non solum extrinsecus, sed et intrinsecus.—<i>Hieron. -in Ezek. 44. folio 257.</i></p> - -<p>The Egyptian priests use linen garments, not only without, but also within.</p> -</div> - -<p>Plutarch says<a id="FNanchor_469" href="#Footnote_469" class="fnanchor">[469]</a>, that the priests of Isis wore linen on account -of its purity, and he remarks how absurd and inconsistent would -have been their conduct, if they had carefully plucked the -hairs from their own bodies, and yet clothed themselves in -wool, which is the hair of sheep. He also mentions the opinion -of some who thought that flax was used for clothing, because -the <i>color of its blossom resembles the etherial blue which -surrounds the world</i>; and he states, that the priests of Isis -were also buried in their sacred vestments. According to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</span> -Strabo, Panopolis was an ancient seat of the linen manufacture<a id="FNanchor_470" href="#Footnote_470" class="fnanchor">[470]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_469" href="#FNanchor_469" class="label">[469]</a> L. xvii. § 41. p. 586. ed. Siebenkees.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_470" href="#FNanchor_470" class="label">[470]</a> De Iside et Osiride, prope init. Opp. ed. H. Stephani, Par. 1572, tom. i -p. 627, 628.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Celsius in his Hierobotanicon (<i>vol.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 287-291.), and Forster -in his treatise De Bysso Antiquorum (<i>p.</i> 65-68.) have -quoted other passages from ancient authors, which concur to -show the abundance and excellence of the flax grown anciently -in Lower Egypt, and more particularly in the vicinity of Pelusium, -the general employment of it among the inhabitants for -clothing, and the exclusive use of linen cloth for the garments -of the priesthood and for other sacred purposes, and especially -for the worship of Isis and Osiris. From the same authorities -we learn, that the Egyptian flax and the cloth woven from it -were shipped in great quantities to all the ports of the Mediterranean<a id="FNanchor_471" href="#Footnote_471" class="fnanchor">[471]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_471" href="#FNanchor_471" class="label">[471]</a> “Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and <i>linen yarn</i>” -(טקוח): 1 Kings x. 28. 2 Chron. i. 16. -</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In connection with these statements the reader is referred to -what has already been advanced (See Part Second, <a href="#Chapter2_I">Chap. I.</a>) -on the use of wool for clothing by the Egyptians; and it may -be also observed, that when we find it stated by ancient authors, -that the priests wore linen only, the term ought not to be -so strictly understood as to exclude the use of cotton, which -would probably be considered equally pure and equally adapted -for sacred purposes with linen, and which was brought in ancient -times from India to Egypt; and the term <i>linum</i> was undoubtedly -often employed in so general a sense as to include -cotton.</p> - -<p>These testimonies of ancient authors are confirmed in a very -remarkable manner by existing monuments. The paintings -in the Grotto of El Kab represent among other scenes a field -of corn and a crop of flax, the latter distinguished by its inferior -height, by its round capsules, and by being pulled up by -the roots instead of being reaped. The mode of binding the -flax in bundles is also exhibited, and the separation of the -“bolls,” or capsules, containing the lin-seed, from the stalk, -by the use of a comb, or “ripple.” (<i>See Description de -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</span> -l’Egypte: Antiquités; Planches, tome</i> i. <i>pl.</i> 68. <i>and the -Plates to Hamilton’s Ægyptiaca</i>, xxiii.)</p> - -<p>In <a href="#Plate_VI">Plate VI.</a> is inserted so much of the painting as relates to -our present subject. Five persons are employed in plucking up -the flax by the roots, viz., four men and one woman. The -woman wears a shift reaching to her ancles, but <i>transparent</i><a id="FNanchor_472" href="#Footnote_472" class="fnanchor">[472]</a>. -The four men wear shirts which reach to their knees, and are -not transparent. Another man binds the flax into sheaves: a -sixth carries it to a distance: and a seventh separates the seed -from the stem by means of a four-toothed ripple. The back of -the ripple rests on the ground; its teeth being raised to the -proper elevation by a prop, as shown in the drawing. The man -sets his foot upon the back to keep the instrument firm, and, -taking hold of a bunch of flax near the root, draws it through -the comb. This method is now employed in Europe. At the -left-hand corner of the Plate lies a bundle of flax stript of its -capsules, and underneath the ripple is the heap of seed which -has been separated from the stem.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_472" href="#FNanchor_472" class="label">[472]</a> This circumstance is adapted to illustrate the mention of “transparent garments” -in Isaiah iii. 23. Lowth’s Translation.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Evidence equally decisive is presented in the innumerable -mummies, the fabrication of successive ages through a period -of more than two thousand years, which are found in the catacombs -of Egypt. It is indeed disputed, whether the cloth in -which they are enveloped is linen or cotton.</p> - -<p>It was believed to be linen by all writers previous to Rouelle. -More especially, this opinion was advanced by the learned -traveller and antiquary, Professor John Greaves, in his Pyramidographia, -published A. D. 1646. He speaks of the “linen -shroud” of a mummy, which he opened, and he says, “The -ribbands” (<i>or fillets</i>) “by what I observed, were of linen, which -was the habit also of the Egyptian priests.” He adds, “of -these ribbands I have seen some so <i>strong</i> and <i>perfect</i> as if -they had been made but yesterday.”</p> - -<p>Rouelle’s dissertation on Mummies is published in the <i>Mémoires -de l’Académie R. des Sciences</i> for the year 1750. He -there asserts (<i>p.</i> 150), that the cloth of every mummy which -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</span> -he had an opportunity of examining, even that of embalmed -birds, was cotton.</p> - -<p>Dr. Hadley, however, who wrote a few years after Rouelle -(<i>Phil. Transactions for 1764, vol. 54.</i>), seems to adhere to the -old opinion. He calls the cloth of the mummy, which he examined, -“linen.” He says, it was in fillets of different breadths, -but the greater part 1½ inches broad. “They were torn longitudinally; -those few that had a selvage, having it on one side -only.”</p> - -<p>But the opinion of Rouelle received a strong support from -Dr. John Reinhold Forster, to whom it appeared at first almost -incredible, although he afterwards supported it in the most -decided manner. He determined to take the first opportunity -of settling the question by the inspection of mummies, and -examined those in the British Museum, accompanied by Dr. -Solander. Both of these learned and acute inquirers were convinced, -that the cloth was cotton, deriving this opinion from the -inspection of all those specimens, which were sufficiently free -from gum, paint, and resins, to enable them to judge<a id="FNanchor_473" href="#Footnote_473" class="fnanchor">[473]</a>. Larcher -informs us, that he remarked the same thing in these mummies -in 1752, when he was accompanied by Dr. Maty<a id="FNanchor_474" href="#Footnote_474" class="fnanchor">[474]</a>. It is to be -observed, however, that neither Larcher, Rouelle, nor Forster -mentions the criterion which he employed to distinguish linen -from cotton. They probably formed their opinion only from its -apparent softness, its want of lustre, or some other quality, which -might belong to linen no less than to cotton, and which therefore -could be no certain mark of distinction.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_473" href="#FNanchor_473" class="label">[473]</a> Forster, De Bysso Antiquorum, London 1776, p. 70, 71.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_474" href="#FNanchor_474" class="label">[474]</a> Herodote, par Larcher. Ed. 2nde, Par. 1802, livre ii. p. 357.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The opinion of Larcher, Rouelle, and Forster appears to have -been generally adopted. In particular we find it embraced by -Blumenbach, who in the Philosophical Transactions for 1794 -speaks of the “cotton bandages” of two of the small mummies, -which he opened in London<a id="FNanchor_475" href="#Footnote_475" class="fnanchor">[475]</a>. In his <i>Beiträge (i. e. Contributions -to Natural History, 2nd part, p. 73, Göttingen</i>, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</span> -1811) he says, he is more firmly convinced than ever, that the -cloth is universally cotton. He assigns also his reasons in the -following terms. “I ground this my conviction far less on my -own views than on the assurance of such persons as I have -questioned on the subject, and whose judgment in this matter I -deem incomparably superior to my own or to that of any other -scholar, namely, of ladies, dealers in cotton and linen cloth, -weavers and the like.” He also refers to the cultivation of -cotton in Egypt, which he assumes probably on the authority -of Forster; and to the fable of Isis enveloping in “cotton” -cloth the collected limbs of her husband Osiris, who had been -torn in pieces by Typhon. The latter arguments are founded -on the supposition, that the ancient term <i>Byssus</i> meant cotton, -and not linen. But the question as to its meaning must in -part be decided, as we shall see hereafter, by previously settling -the present question as to the materials of the mummy cloth. -The opinion of ladies, tradesmen, and manufacturers, though -it may be better than that of the most learned man, if derived -from mere touch and inspection, is quite insufficient to decide -the question. If those whom Blumenbach consulted thought -that the cloth was always cotton, many others of equal experience -and discernment have given an opposite judgment; and -the fact is, that linen cloth, which has been long worn and often -washed, as is the case with a great proportion of the mummy -cloth, and which is either ragged or loose in its texture, cannot -be distinguished from cotton by the unassisted use of the external -senses.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_475" href="#FNanchor_475" class="label">[475]</a> On the authority of this paper the mummy-cloth is supposed to be cotton by -Heeren, Ideen, i. 1. p. 128.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Relying, however, on the same evidence of ocular inspection, -another distinguished author, who travelled in Egypt and published -his remarks about the same time, says, “As to the -circumstance of cotton cloths having been exclusively used in -the above process, an inspection of the mummies is sufficient -evidence of the fact<a id="FNanchor_476" href="#Footnote_476" class="fnanchor">[476]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_476" href="#FNanchor_476" class="label">[476]</a> Ægyptiaca, by William Hamilton, Esq. F. R. S. London, 1809. p. 320.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>M. Jomard, one of the authors of the great French work on -Egypt, published about 1811, paid great attention to this subject. -He concluded, that both linen and cotton were employed -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</span> -in the bandages of mummies, grounding his opinion partly on -their appearance and touch, and partly on the testimony of -Herodotus, whom he misinterpreted in the manner, which will -hereafter be mentioned<a id="FNanchor_477" href="#Footnote_477" class="fnanchor">[477]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_477" href="#FNanchor_477" class="label">[477]</a> Description de l’Egypte. Mémoires.—Sur les Hypogées, p. 35.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Another of these authors, M. Costaz, who contributed the -memoir on the grotto of El Kab, asserts that the mummy cloth -is found on examination to be cotton<a id="FNanchor_478" href="#Footnote_478" class="fnanchor">[478]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_478" href="#FNanchor_478" class="label">[478]</a> Ibid. tom. i. p. 60.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>An important paper on the same subject appeared in the -Philosophical Transactions for 1825. In this Dr. A. B. Granville -describes a mummy, which he opened. He dwells more -particularly on the circumstances, which have reference to anatomical -and surgical considerations, and expresses very strongly -his admiration of the skill and neatness employed in folding the -cloth, so as to present an example of every kind of bandage -used by modern surgeons, and to exhibit it in the most perfect -manner.</p> - -<p>The passages which are connected with the present inquiry, -will be quoted at length. Dr. Granville observes (<i>p. 272.</i>),</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>The principal rollers appear to be made of a very compact, yet elastic linen, -some of them from four to five yards in length, without any stitch or seam in any -part of them. There were also some large square pieces thrown around the head, -thorax, and abdomen, of a less elastic texture. These pieces were found to alternate -with the complete swathing of the whole body. They occurred four distinct -times; while the bandaging, with rollers and other fasciæ, was repeated, at least, -twenty times. The numerous bandages, by which the mummy was thus enveloped, -were themselves wholly covered by a roller 3½ inches wide and 11 yards -long, which after making a few turns around both feet, ascended in graceful spirals -to the head, whence descending again as far as the breast, it was fixed there. -The termination of this outer roller is remarkable for the loose threads hanging -from it in the shape of a fringe and for certain traces of characters imprinted on -it similar to those described and delineated by Jomard in the <i>Description de -l’Egypte</i>. One or two of these characters have corroded the linen, leaving the -perforated traces of their form.</p> -</div> - -<p>Dr. Granville gives a fac-simile of these characters, and in -the same Plate he represents the exact appearance of the external -rolls of cloth on the mummy. He then says (<i>p.</i> 274.),</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>I have satisfied myself, that both cotton and linen have been employed in the -preparation of our mummy, although Herodotus mentions only cotton (<i>byssus</i>) -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</span> -as the material used for the purpose. Most mummies have been described as -wholly enveloped in linen cloth, and some persons are disposed to doubt the existence -of cotton cloth in any, not excepting in the one now under consideration.</p> - -<p>But with respect to the last point, a simple experiment has, I think, set the -question at rest. If the surface of old linen, and of old cotton cloth be rubbed -briskly and for some minutes with a rounded piece of glass or ivory, after being -washed and freed from all extraneous matter, the former will be found to have -acquired considerable lustre; while the latter will present no other difference than -that of having the threads flattened by the operation. By means of this test I -selected several pieces of cotton cloth from among the many bandages of our -mummy, which I submitted to the inspection of an experienced manufacturer, -who declared them to be of that material.</p> - -</div> - -<p>Besides the appeal to the senses of “an experienced manufacturer,” -Dr. Granville here proposes a new test, that of rubbing -in the manner described. But, although cotton cloth in -all circumstances has less lustre than linen, still this cannot be -considered a satisfactory criterion.</p> - -<p>The ingenious John Howell of Edinburgh<a id="FNanchor_479" href="#Footnote_479" class="fnanchor">[479]</a> paid some attention -to this question, having a few years since obtained and -opened a valuable mummy. He and the friends, whom he -consulted, and who were <i>weavers</i> and other persons of <i>practical</i> -experience, most of them thought that the cloth was altogether -linen: some however thought that certain specimens of -it were cotton.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_479" href="#FNanchor_479" class="label">[479]</a> Author of an Essay on the War Galleys of the Ancients, Edinburgh 1826, 8vo.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>This curious and important question was at length decisively -settled 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<a id="FNanchor_480" href="#Footnote_480" class="fnanchor">[480]</a>, and he has accompanied -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</span> -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. <a href="#Plate_VI">Plate VI.</a>): that of flax is a transparent -tube jointed like a cane, and not flattened nor spirally twisted -(See B. <a href="#Plate_VI">Plate VI.</a>). 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_480" href="#FNanchor_480" class="label">[480]</a> Third Series, vol. v. No. 29, November 1834.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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, -<a href="#Chapter3_I">Chap. I.</a>). 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.</p> - -<p>Mr. Pettigrew, in his “History of Egyptian Mummies” -(<i>London</i> 1834, <i>p.</i> 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 (<i>p.</i> 91.).</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</span> -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.</p> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Wilkinson considers the observations of Dr. Ure, and -Mr. Bauer as decisive of the question<a id="FNanchor_481" href="#Footnote_481" class="fnanchor">[481]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_481" href="#FNanchor_481" class="label">[481]</a> Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, London 1837, vol. iii. -p. 115.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Even to the present day flax continues to be a most important -article of cultivation and trade in Egypt<a id="FNanchor_482" href="#Footnote_482" class="fnanchor">[482]</a>. 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_482" href="#FNanchor_482" class="label">[482]</a> Browne’s Travels in Africa, p. 83.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The following remark of Hasselquist respecting the <i>soft</i> and -<i>loose</i> 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</span> -linen only, dyed blue with <i>indigo</i>; but those of better fortune -have a black cloak over their linen shirt.”</p> - -<p>The coarse linen of the Ancient Egyptians was called Φώσων. -It was made of thick flax, and was used for towels (σουδάρια, <i>Julius -Pollux</i>, vii. <i>c.</i> 16.), and for sails (Φώσσωνας, <i>Lycophron</i>, <i>v.</i> -26.)<a id="FNanchor_483" href="#Footnote_483" class="fnanchor">[483]</a>. Φώσων may be translated <i>canvass</i>, or sail-cloth.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_483" href="#FNanchor_483" class="label">[483]</a> Jablonski Glossarium Vocum Ægyptiarum, in Valpy’s edition of Steph. Thesaur. -tom. i. p. <span class="allsmcap">CCXCV</span>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_484" href="#Footnote_484" class="fnanchor">[484]</a>, Celsius<a id="FNanchor_485" href="#Footnote_485" class="fnanchor">[485]</a>, Forster<a id="FNanchor_486" href="#Footnote_486" class="fnanchor">[486]</a>, and Jablonski<a id="FNanchor_487" href="#Footnote_487" class="fnanchor">[487]</a> 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<a id="FNanchor_488" href="#Footnote_488" class="fnanchor">[488]</a>. But this was in later times and by a -general and secondary application of the term.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_484" href="#FNanchor_484" class="label">[484]</a> Salmasius in Achill. Tat. l. viii. c. 13, ὀθόνης χιτών.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_485" href="#FNanchor_485" class="label">[485]</a> Celsii Hierobotanicon, t. ii. p. 90.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_486" href="#FNanchor_486" class="label">[486]</a> Forster, De Bysso, p. 74.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_487" href="#FNanchor_487" class="label">[487]</a> Ubi supra, p. <span class="allsmcap">CCXVII</span>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_488" href="#FNanchor_488" class="label">[488]</a> 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.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>It appears also that in later times ὀθόνη was not restricted to fine -linen. It is used for <i>a sail</i> by Achilles Tatius in describing a -storm (l. iii.), and by the Scholiast on Homer, <i>Il.</i> σ.</p> - -<p>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 <i>thin sheets</i>. 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</span> -lady, whom Paulus Silentiarius addresses in the following -line, written evidently with Homer’s Helen before his mind:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>You conceal your flowing locks with a snow-white sheet.—<i>Brunck</i>, <i>Analecta</i>, -<i>vol.</i> iii. <i>p.</i> 81.</p> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_489" href="#Footnote_489" class="fnanchor">[489]</a>, 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_489" href="#FNanchor_489" class="label">[489]</a> Il. ι. 657. Od. ν. 73. 118.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The term Σινδών (<i>Sindon</i>), was used to denote linen cloth still -more extensively than ὀθόνη, inasmuch as it occurs both in Greek -and Latin authors<a id="FNanchor_490" href="#Footnote_490" class="fnanchor">[490]</a>. According to Julius Pollux this also was -a word of Egyptian origin, and Coptic scholars inform us that -it is found in the modern <i>Shento</i>, which has the same signification<a id="FNanchor_491" href="#Footnote_491" class="fnanchor">[491]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_490" href="#FNanchor_490" class="label">[490]</a> E. g. Martial.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_491" href="#FNanchor_491" class="label">[491]</a> Jablonski, ubi supra, p. <span class="allsmcap">CCLXXIV</span>.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Serapion was called Sindonites, because he always wore -linen (Palladii <i>Hist. Lausiaca</i>, p. 172). He was an Egyptian, -and retained the custom of his native country.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Another term, which is probably of Egyptian origin, and -therefore requires explanation here, is the term Βύσσος or Byssus. -Vossius (<i>Etymol.</i> L. <i>Lat.</i> v. <i>Byssus</i>) 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 <i>Cameracense</i> appellamus.” Celsius, -in his Hierobotanicon (<i>vol.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 173.), gives the same explanation. -This was indeed the general opinion of learned -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</span> -men, until J. R. Forster advanced the position, that <i>Byssus was -cotton</i>. A careful examination of the question confirms the -correctness of the old opinions, and for the following reasons.</p> - -<p>I. The earliest author, who uses the term, is Æschylus. He -represents Antigone wearing a shawl or sheet of fine flax<a id="FNanchor_492" href="#Footnote_492" class="fnanchor">[492]</a>. In -the Bacchæ of Euripides (<i>l.</i> 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 (<i>l.</i> 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 (<i>l.</i> -120.) the leader of the chorus says, she often tears her linen, -or her <i>Sidonian veil</i>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_492" href="#FNanchor_492" class="label">[492]</a> Septem contra Thebas, l. 1041. See also Persæ, l. 129.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 (<i>l.</i> ii. <i>c.</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</span> -(<i>l.</i> iv. <i>c.</i> 20. 181.; <i>l.</i> vii. <i>c.</i> 16. <i>and</i> 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 (<i>Brunck</i>, <i>An.</i> iii. 169.) represents a -surgeon and an undertaker <span class="allsmcap">AS LEAGUING TO ASSIST EACH -OTHER IN BUSINESS</span>. The undertaker supplies the surgeon -with bandages stolen from the dead bodies, and the surgeon in -return sends his patients to the undertaker!</p> - -<p>IV. Diodorus Siculus (<i>l.</i> i. § 85. <i>tom.</i> i. <i>p.</i> 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.</p> - -<p>V. Plutarch, in his Treatise de Iside et Osiride (<i>Opp.</i> <i>ed. -Stephani</i>, 1572, <i>vol.</i> iv. <i>p.</i> 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.</p> - -<p>VI. The magnificent ship, constructed for Ptolemy Philopator, -which is described at length in Athenæus, had a sail of the -fine linen of Egypt<a id="FNanchor_493" href="#Footnote_493" class="fnanchor">[493]</a>. 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<a id="FNanchor_494" href="#Footnote_494" class="fnanchor">[494]</a>: and Ezekiel represents the Tyrians as obtaining -cloth from Egypt for the sails and pendants of their ships<a id="FNanchor_495" href="#Footnote_495" class="fnanchor">[495]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_493" href="#FNanchor_493" class="label">[493]</a> Deipnos. l. v. p. 206 C. ed. Casaubon.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_494" href="#FNanchor_494" class="label">[494]</a> Apud. Athenæum, Deipnos. l. i. p. 27 F.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_495" href="#FNanchor_495" class="label">[495]</a> Ez. xxvii. 7. - שש ברקמה ממצרים.</p> - </div> - </div> - -<p>VII. It is recorded in the Rosetta Inscription (<i>l.</i> 17, 18.), that -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</span> -Ptolemy Epiphanes remitted two parts of the fine linen cloths, -which were manufactured in the temples for the king’s palace; -and (<i>l.</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Byssus</i>, which was a symbol of firmness, incorruption, -and of the clearest splendor, since <i>fine linen</i> is most difficult to -tear, is made of nothing mortal, and becomes brighter and more -resembling light, the more it is cleansed by washing<a id="FNanchor_496" href="#Footnote_496" class="fnanchor">[496]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_496" href="#FNanchor_496" class="label">[496]</a> De Somniis, vol. i. p. 653. Mangey.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_497" href="#Footnote_497" class="fnanchor">[497]</a>. Professor Greaves<a id="FNanchor_498" href="#Footnote_498" class="fnanchor">[498]</a> and Lord Sandwich -found them as firm <i>as if they were just taken from the loom</i>. -Abdollatiph, who visited Egypt A. D. 1200, mentions that the -Arabs employed the mummy cloth to make garments<a id="FNanchor_499" href="#Footnote_499" class="fnanchor">[499]</a>. Much -more recently the same practice has been attested as coming -under his observation by Seetzen<a id="FNanchor_500" href="#Footnote_500" class="fnanchor">[500]</a>. Caillaud discovered in the -mummy, which he opened, several <i>napkins</i> 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</span> -of veneration,” says he, “I unfolded every day this venerable -linen, which had been woven more than 1700 years.” (<i>Voyage -à Meroe et au Fleuve Blanc.</i>)</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_497" href="#FNanchor_497" class="label">[497]</a> Blumenbach’s Beiträge, Th. 2. p. 74.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_498" href="#FNanchor_498" class="label">[498]</a> Pyramidographia.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_499" href="#FNanchor_499" class="label">[499]</a> P. 221 of the German translation; p. 198 of Silvestre de Lacy’s. See App. A.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_500" href="#FNanchor_500" class="label">[500]</a> See his letter to Von Hammer in the Fundgruben des Orients, 1 St. p. 72. -as quoted by Blumenbach, l. c.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 <i>linen</i> garment. It had <i>flowers woven into it, -which were of three different substances</i><a id="FNanchor_501" href="#Footnote_501" class="fnanchor">[501]</a>. He soon after -mentions the same materials <i>as used for making the curtains -of the tabernacle</i>. In all these instances the figures or ornaments -<i>were of splendid colors upon a ground of white linen</i>. -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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_501" href="#FNanchor_501" class="label">[501]</a> Ant. Jud. iii. 7. 1, 2. p. 112. ed. Hudson.</p> - -<p>The shirt of the High Priest of the Jews was probably like that worn in the -worship of Isis, which was of Byssus, <i>but adorned with flowers</i>, “Byssina, sed -floridè depicta.” Apuleius, Met. l. xi.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>X. Jerome on Ezekiel xxvii. says, “Byssus grows principally -in Egypt” (<i>Byssus in Ægypto quàm maximè nascitur</i>). -Of the celebrity of the Egyptian flax we have the most abundant -proofs; but, if by <i>Byssus</i> 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.</p> - -<p>XI. Martianus Capella plainly distinguishes between that -substance and <i>Byssus</i><a id="FNanchor_502" href="#Footnote_502" class="fnanchor">[502]</a>. He seems to have considered cotton -as an Indian, Byssus as an Egyptian product. He certainly -supposed, that they were not the same thing.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_502" href="#FNanchor_502" class="label">[502]</a> Etym. L. Lat. v. Byssus.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>XII. Isidorus Hispalensis expressly states, that <i>Byssus</i> was -a kind of flax, very white and soft.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Byssus genus est quoddam lini nimium candidi et mollissimi, quod Græci papatem -vocant.—<i>Orig. l.</i> xix. 27.</p> - -<p>Byssina (vestis) candida, confecta ex quodam genere lini grossioris Sunt et qui -genus quoddam lini byssum esse existiment.—<i>Ibid. c.</i> 22.</p> -</div> - -<p>Forster conjectures (<i>p.</i> 4.) that for <i>genus quoddam lini</i> we -should read <i>genus quoddam lanæ</i>, and conceives <i>tree</i>-wool (as -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>XIII. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, testifies to the great strength -of the threads of Byssus.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Cloth made of Byssus indicates firm faith:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For threads of Byssus, it is said, surpass</div> - <div class="verse indent0">E’en ropes of broom in firmness and in strength<a id="FNanchor_503" href="#Footnote_503" class="fnanchor">[503]</a>.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Ad Cytherium in Max. Biblioth. Patrum</i>, <i>vol.</i> vi. <i>p.</i> 264.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_503" href="#FNanchor_503" class="label">[503]</a> See Part First, <a href="#Chapter1_XII">Chapters XII.</a> and <a href="#Chapter1_XIII">XIII.</a></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The arguments of Dr. J. R. Forster on the other side of the -question will now be considered. See his <i>Liber Singularis -de Bysso Antiquorum</i>, Lon. 1776, <i>p.</i> 11. 50.</p> - -<p>I. His first argument is as follows. Julius Pollux says -(<i>l.</i> vii. <i>c.</i> 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 <i>flax</i>. 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.</p> - -<p>In proof of this last assertion Forster refers to Osbeck’s Journal, -vol i. p. 383. He also appeals to a passage of Philostratus -(<i>Vita Apollonii</i>, <i>l.</i> ii. <i>c.</i> 20. <i>p.</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</span> -intended to ascertain the meaning of one of the botanical terms -employed in the <i>Scriptures</i>. 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<a id="FNanchor_504" href="#Footnote_504" class="fnanchor">[504]</a>. 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_504" href="#FNanchor_504" class="label">[504]</a> Celsii Hierobot. vol. ii. p. 171.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 -“<i>a kind of flax among the Indians</i>,” 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 -“<i>English edition</i>” 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:—“<i>Flax -is so rare a commodity in the East</i>, 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.</p> - -<p>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, -<i>Sindon</i>, <i>Carbasus</i>, and many others were, in a looser and more -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>II. Forster produces a passage from the Eliaca of Pausanias<a id="FNanchor_505" href="#Footnote_505" class="fnanchor">[505]</a> -from which he argues, that βύσσος was not flax, because Pausanias -here distinguishes it from flax as well as from hemp.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_505" href="#FNanchor_505" class="label">[505]</a> Paus. l. vi. cap. § 4.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_506" href="#Footnote_506" class="fnanchor">[506]</a>. 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<a id="FNanchor_507" href="#Footnote_507" class="fnanchor">[507]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_506" href="#FNanchor_506" class="label">[506]</a> 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.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_507" href="#FNanchor_507" class="label">[507]</a> L. v. 5. § 2.</p> - -<p>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 <i>in white Byssus</i>.” These, he says, were brought -from Susa and Ecbatana.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</span> -in Elis or in any other part of Europe so early as the time of -Pausanias, nor indeed until a comparatively recent age.</p> - -<p>III. Forster (<i>p.</i> 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.</p> - -<p>Of Forster’s <i>celebrated</i> work it may be observed in general, -<i>that he rather from the very beginning assumes his point, -than endeavors to prove it</i>. He continually speaks of it as -<i>demonstrated</i>. 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<a id="FNanchor_508" href="#Footnote_508" class="fnanchor">[508]</a>, Dr. Thomas Young<a id="FNanchor_509" href="#Footnote_509" class="fnanchor">[509]</a>, Mr. -Hamilton<a id="FNanchor_510" href="#Footnote_510" class="fnanchor">[510]</a>, Dr. T. M. Harris<a id="FNanchor_511" href="#Footnote_511" class="fnanchor">[511]</a>, Mr. Wellbeloved<a id="FNanchor_512" href="#Footnote_512" class="fnanchor">[512]</a>, E. H. Barker<a id="FNanchor_513" href="#Footnote_513" class="fnanchor">[513]</a>, -Dr. A. Granville<a id="FNanchor_514" href="#Footnote_514" class="fnanchor">[514]</a>, Jomard<a id="FNanchor_515" href="#Footnote_515" class="fnanchor">[515]</a>, Wehrs<a id="FNanchor_516" href="#Footnote_516" class="fnanchor">[516]</a>, J. H. Voss<a id="FNanchor_517" href="#Footnote_517" class="fnanchor">[517]</a>, Heeren<a id="FNanchor_518" href="#Footnote_518" class="fnanchor">[518]</a>, -Sprengel<a id="FNanchor_519" href="#Footnote_519" class="fnanchor">[519]</a>, Billerbeck<a id="FNanchor_520" href="#Footnote_520" class="fnanchor">[520]</a>, Gesenius<a id="FNanchor_521" href="#Footnote_521" class="fnanchor">[521]</a>, E. F. K. Rosenmuller<a id="FNanchor_522" href="#Footnote_522" class="fnanchor">[522]</a>, -and Roselini<a id="FNanchor_523" href="#Footnote_523" class="fnanchor">[523]</a>, stand arrayed against the evidence now -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</span> -produced, i. e. to prove that βύσσος meant <i>flax</i> and <i>not</i> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_508" href="#FNanchor_508" class="label">[508]</a> In his translation of the Rosetta Inscription, Clarke’s Greek Marbles, p. 63.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_509" href="#FNanchor_509" class="label">[509]</a> Account of Discoveries in Hieroglyphic Literature, p. 101. 114.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_510" href="#FNanchor_510" class="label">[510]</a> Ægyptiaca, p. 321.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_511" href="#FNanchor_511" class="label">[511]</a> Natural History of the Bible, 2nd edition, p. 447.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_512" href="#FNanchor_512" class="label">[512]</a> Translation of the Bible, Gen. xli. 42.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_513" href="#FNanchor_513" class="label">[513]</a> Classical Recreations.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_514" href="#FNanchor_514" class="label">[514]</a> As quoted at p. 364.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_515" href="#FNanchor_515" class="label">[515]</a> Description des Hypogées, p. 35.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_516" href="#FNanchor_516" class="label">[516]</a> Vom Papier, p. 201.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_517" href="#FNanchor_517" class="label">[517]</a> Virgil’s Ländliche Gedichte, iii. p. 313.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_518" href="#FNanchor_518" class="label">[518]</a> Ideen über die Politik, &c.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_519" href="#FNanchor_519" class="label">[519]</a> Historia Rei Herbariæ, tom. i. c. i. p. 15.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_520" href="#FNanchor_520" class="label">[520]</a> Flora Classica, p. 177.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_521" href="#FNanchor_521" class="label">[521]</a> Thesaurus Philologico-Criticus, v. נוצ. -</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_522" href="#FNanchor_522" class="label">[522]</a> Biblische Alterthumskunde, 4. l. p. 175.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_523" href="#FNanchor_523" class="label">[523]</a> Monumenti dell’ Egitto. Mon. Civili, tomo. i. Pisa, 1834, capo. iv. § 6.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 (<i>Shesh</i> or <i>Ses</i>), -which according to the Hebrew Rabbis was a kind of flax, that -grew in Egypt only and was of the finest quality<a id="FNanchor_524" href="#Footnote_524" class="fnanchor">[524]</a>. Another -term, used in the Pentateuch for linen cloth is בד (<i>bad</i>), which -seems to be nearly the same as שש . The Egyptian term שש or -בוץ (<i>buts</i>) 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 .</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_524" href="#FNanchor_524" class="label">[524]</a> Forster De Bysso, p. 5.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_525" href="#Footnote_525" class="fnanchor">[525]</a>. Pollux (<i>l.</i> v. <i>cap.</i> 4. § 26.) says, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</span> -that the flax for the same purpose should be either from those -countries, or from Egypt or Sardes. Callimachus (<i>Frag.</i> 265.) -mentions the flax of Colchis under the name of “the Colchian -halm.” Strabo (<i>l.</i> xi. § 17. <i>vol.</i> iv. <i>p.</i> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_525" href="#FNanchor_525" class="label">[525]</a> 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.</p> - -<p> -Optima Cinyphiæ, ne quid contere, paludes<br /> -Lina dabunt.—<i>Cynegeticon</i>, 34, 35.<br /> -</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>It seems still to maintain its ancient pre-eminence: Larcher -refers to Chardin (<i>tom.</i> i. <i>p.</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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 (<i>l.</i> xvi. -<i>cap.</i> 1. <i>p.</i> 739. <i>ed. Casaub.</i>) shows where these linen shirts -were chiefly made; for he informs us that <i>Borsippa</i>, a city of -Babylonia, sacred to Apollo and Diana, was a great place for -the manufacture of linen.</p> - -<p>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 (<i>Cyropedia</i>, vi. 4. 2.).</p> - -<p>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, -<i>she was drying the bundles</i>. The Chaldee Paraphrast Onkelos -also uses the expression מעוני כחנא, <i>bundles of flax</i>. -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<a id="FNanchor_526" href="#Footnote_526" class="fnanchor">[526]</a>, were stacked, probably crossways, -upon the flat roof of Ahab’s house, so as to allow the -wind to blow through and dry them.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_526" href="#FNanchor_526" class="label">[526]</a> See <a href="#Plate_VI">Plate VI. p. 358.</a></p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Other passages, referring to the use of flax for weaving in -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</span> -Palestine, are Levit. xiii. 47, 48. 52. 59, where linen garments -are four times mentioned in opposition to woollen.</p> - -<p>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. <a href="#Page_13">p. 13.</a>). -This proves, that flax was still an important article of cultivation -in Palestine.</p> - -<p>In 1 Chron. iv. 21. there is an allusion to a great establishment -for dressing the fine flax, called <i>Butz</i>, or <i>Byssus</i>. It -was conducted by certain families of the tribe of Judah<a id="FNanchor_527" href="#Footnote_527" class="fnanchor">[527]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p> -<a id="Footnote_527" href="#FNanchor_527" class="label">[527]</a> <i>Hebr.</i> משפחת בית־עבדת הבץ, -i. e. “the families, or perhaps the partnerships, of the manufactory of Byssus;” <i>Vulg.</i> “Cognationes domus operantium byssum.” -</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Jeremiah (xiii. 1.) mentions אזור פשתים, “<i>a linen girdle</i>;” -Lumbare lineum, <i>Vulgate</i>; περίζωμα λινοῦν LXX. זרז רכתן <i>Jonathan</i>; -סוזרא רכהנא (sudarium) <i>Syriac</i>.</p> - -<p>Hosea (ii. 5. 9.) mentions wool and flax as the two chief articles -of clothing for the Jews in his time.</p> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_528" href="#Footnote_528" class="fnanchor">[528]</a>. 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 “<i>gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat</i>.” 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_528" href="#FNanchor_528" class="label">[528]</a> It is remarkable that the Chaldee Paraphrast Jonathan here uses -בוצ (byssus) for the Hebrew פשתיס. -</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the Old Testament we also find flax used <i>for making -cords</i>, Judges xv. xvi.; for the <i>wicks of lamps</i>, Is. xiii. 17.; -and for a <i>measuring line</i>, Ezek. xl. 3<a id="FNanchor_529" href="#Footnote_529" class="fnanchor">[529]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_529" href="#FNanchor_529" class="label">[529]</a> The use of the cord of flax (<i>linea</i>) for measuring, &c. is the origin of the -word <i>line</i>. “Linea genere suo appellata, quia ex lino fit.” Isidori Hisp. Etymol. -l. xix. c. 18. De instrumentis ædificiorum.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>According to Herodotus vii. 25, 34, 36, the Phœnicians furnished -Xerxes with <i>ropes of flax</i> for constructing his bridge, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</span> -while the Egyptians supplied ropes of Papyrus, which were inferior -to the others in strength.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Stuppa</i> in Latin<a id="FNanchor_530" href="#Footnote_530" class="fnanchor">[530]</a>; -Etoupe in French; Στύπη, στυππίον or στιππίον in Greek; סרקהא, from -סרק, to comb, in Syriac; <i>Werg</i> in modern German.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_530" href="#FNanchor_530" class="label">[530]</a> The origin of <i>Stuppa</i>, the Latin term, was from its use in <i>stopping</i> chinks -(<i>stopfer</i>, German). It was either of hemp or flax.</p> - -<p>“Stuppa cannabi est sive lini. Hæc secundum antiquam orthographiam stuppa -(stipa?) dicitur, quod ex eâ rimæ navium <i>stipentur</i>: unde et stipatores dicuntur, -qui in vallibus eam componunt.” Isid. Hisp. Orig. xix. 27.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Eccles. xl. 4. represents poor persons as clothed in coarse linen, - ὠμολίνον (Lino crudo, <i>Jerome</i>), meaning probably flax dressed -and spun without having been steeped<a id="FNanchor_531" href="#Footnote_531" class="fnanchor">[531]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_531" href="#FNanchor_531" class="label">[531]</a> See Bodæusa Stapel on Theophrasti Hist. Plant. l. viii. p. 944.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In Rev. xv. 6. the seven angels come out of the temple -clothed “<i>in pure and white linen</i>.” 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, <i>viz.</i> the case of -the young man, who had “a linen cloth cast about his naked -body” (<i>Mark</i> xiv. 51, 52.); the entombment of Christ (<i>Matt.</i> -xxvii. 59. <i>Mark</i> xv. 46. <i>Luke</i> xxiii. 53. xxiv. 12. <i>John</i> -xix. 40. xx. 5, 6, 7.); and the case of the “sheet” let down in -vision from heaven (<i>Acts</i> x. 11. xi. 5.), the sacred writers employ -the equivalent Egyptian terms, Σινδών, and Ὀθόνη or Ὀθόνιον.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Herodotus (<i>l. c.</i>) 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 (<i>l. c.</i>). 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</span> -Lam. ii. 20, were, no doubt, made of the flax of this country, -although Forster (<i>De Bysso</i>, <i>p.</i> 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.</p> - -<p>Jerome, describing the change from an austere to a luxurious -mode of life, mentions shirts from <i>Laodicea</i>. Some commentators -have supposed linen shirts to be meant.</p> - -<p>According to Julius Pollux (vii. <i>c.</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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 (<i>l.</i> xix. <i>c.</i> 4.), and by Pausanias in three passages -already quoted.</p> - -<p>When Colonel Leake was at Gastūni near the mouth of the -Peneus in Elis, he made the following observations.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_532" href="#Footnote_532" class="fnanchor">[532]</a>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_532" href="#FNanchor_532" class="label">[532]</a> Journal of a Tour in the Morea, vol. i. p. 12.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In one of the Pseudo-Platonic Epistles (No. xiii. <i>p.</i> 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</span> -for its fineness and softness<a id="FNanchor_533" href="#Footnote_533" class="fnanchor">[533]</a>; but the raw material was in all -probability imported.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_533" href="#FNanchor_533" class="label">[533]</a> Diod. Sic. l. v. 12. tom. i. p. 339. ed. Wesseling.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Flax,” observes Professor Müller, “was grown and manufactured -in Southern Etruria from ancient times, and thus the -Tarquinii were enabled to furnish <i>sail-cloth for the fleet of -Scipio</i>: yarn for making nets was produced on the banks of -the Tiber, and fine linen for clothing in Falerii<a id="FNanchor_534" href="#Footnote_534" class="fnanchor">[534]</a>.” This account -agrees remarkably with the views of Micali, and those -historians who maintain the Egyptian origin of the Etrurians.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_534" href="#FNanchor_534" class="label">[534]</a> Etrusker. vol. i. p. 235, 236.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_535" href="#Footnote_535" class="fnanchor">[535]</a>. No flax, he says, was whiter or more -like wool than that of the Peligni.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_535" href="#FNanchor_535" class="label">[535]</a> Probably Cumæ is intended by Gratius Faliscus in the expression “Æoliæ -de valle Sibyillæ.”—<i>Cyneg.</i> 35.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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, -“<i>combing it with iron hooks</i>.” 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.</p> - -<p>In Spain there was a manufacture of linen at Emporium, -which lay on the Mediterranean not far from the Pyrenees<a id="FNanchor_536" href="#Footnote_536" class="fnanchor">[536]</a>. -According to Pliny (<i>l. c.</i>) 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 <i>sudaria</i>, or handkerchiefs:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Setabis et telas Arabum sprevisse superba</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Et Pelusiaco filum componere lino.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Silius Ital.</i> iii. 373.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nam sudaria Setaba ex Hiberis</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Miserunt mihi muneri Fabullus</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Et Veranius.—<i>Catullus</i>, xx. 14.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Hispanæque alio spectantur Setabis usu.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Gratius Faliscus</i>, l. 41.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_536" href="#FNanchor_536" class="label">[536]</a> Strabo, l. iii. cap. 4. vol. i. p. 428. ed. Siebenkees.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Pliny also mentions a kind of flax, called Zoelicum, from a -place in Gallicia.</p> - -<p>Strabo (iv. 2. 2. p. 41. ed. Sieb.) particularly mentions the -linen manufacture of the Cadurci: and from them the Romans -obtained the best <i>ticking</i> for beds, which was on this account -called Cadurcum.</p> - -<p>Flax, as we are told by Pliny (xix. 1.), was <i>woven into sail-cloth -in all parts of Gaul</i>; 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<a id="FNanchor_537" href="#Footnote_537" class="fnanchor">[537]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_537" href="#FNanchor_537" class="label">[537]</a> Fœminæ sæpiùs lineis amictibus velantur.—<i>Germania</i>, 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.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_538" href="#Footnote_538" class="fnanchor">[538]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_538" href="#FNanchor_538" class="label">[538]</a> Erasmus makes the following remarks on the words “Atrebatum et Laodiceæ:”</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>See also Mannert, Geogr. 2. l. p. 196.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The following translation of a passage from Eginhart’s Life -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</span> -of Charlemagne (c. 23.) shows, that during several succeeding -centuries the Franks wore linen for their under garments.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>interwoven with gold</i>, 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<a id="FNanchor_539" href="#Footnote_539" class="fnanchor">[539]</a>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_539" href="#FNanchor_539" class="label">[539]</a> The trowsers worn by the Franks were sometimes linen, sometimes made of -skins.—Agathias ii. 5.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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. <a href="#Page_282">282</a> and <a href="#Page_283">283</a>. Chapter III.), that -the Sagum was the principal article of dress manufactured in -the north of Gaul.</p> - -<p>According to Paulus Diaconus, as quoted in the notes on this -passage of Eginhart<a id="FNanchor_540" href="#Footnote_540" class="fnanchor">[540]</a>, the Lombards and the Anglo-Saxons -used principally linen garments.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_540" href="#FNanchor_540" class="label">[540]</a> Ed. Schmincke, Trajecti 1711, p. 110.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 <i>table-covers</i> -and for <i>napkins</i> 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 (<i>On Garrulity</i>) 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?” “<i>In -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</span> -silence</i>,” replied the king. Alciphron tells of the barber putting -on him a linen cloth (σινδών) in order to shave him (<i>l.</i> 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.”</p> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_541" href="#Footnote_541" class="fnanchor">[541]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_541" href="#FNanchor_541" class="label">[541]</a> See <a href="#Page_321">p. 321.</a></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 <i>flowers</i> or <i>feathers</i> interwoven as practised in -Egypt and the neighboring countries.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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, -<i>why mix purple with them</i>?” But to <i>interweave gold in linen</i>, he considered -madness, because this made it rigid in addition to its roughness.</p> -</div> - -<p>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 <i>transparent</i> and <i>flowered</i> -varieties.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Jam quid lineas petitas Ægypto loquar? Quid Tyro et Sidone tenuitate perlucidas, -micantes purpurâ, plumandi difficultate pernobiles?</p> - -<p>Why should I mention the linen cloths brought from Egypt, or those imported -from Tyre and Sidon, which are so thin as to be <i>transparent</i>, which <i>glow with -purple</i>, or are prized on account of their <i>labored embroidery</i>?</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter4_II">CHAPTER II.<br /> -<small>HEMP<a id="FNanchor_542" href="#Footnote_542" class="fnanchor">[542]</a>.</small> - </h3> - </div> - -<hr class="chapter" /> - -<p class="h3sub">CULTIVATION AND USES OF HEMP BY THE ANCIENTS—ITS USE LIMITED—THRACE—COLCHIS—CARIA—ETYMOLOGY -OF HEMP.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_542" href="#FNanchor_542" class="label">[542]</a> 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).</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_543" href="#Footnote_543" class="fnanchor">[543]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_543" href="#FNanchor_543" class="label">[543]</a> See Chap. IV. p. <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The only reason for introducing hemp in this enumeration -is, that, according to Herodotus (iv. 74.) <i>garments were made -of it by the Thracians</i>. “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.</p> - -<p>Hesychius (<i>v.</i> Κάνναβις) quotes the preceding remark of Herodotus, -only saying that the Thracian <i>women</i> made <i>sheets</i> 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</span> -horses, which drag the boats upon the Danube between Pest -and Vienna, <i>now wear coarse tunics of hemp</i><a id="FNanchor_544" href="#Footnote_544" class="fnanchor">[544]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_544" href="#FNanchor_544" class="label">[544]</a> Travels in Circassia, &c., by Edmund Spencer, 1837, vol. i. p. 13.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Ammianus Marcellinus (xxxi. 2. <i>p.</i> 474.), speaking of the -Huns, who lived beyond the Palus Mæotis, says,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>They cover themselves with tunics made of linen, or of the skins of <i>wild mice</i> -sewed together.</p> -</div> - -<p>These <i>tunics</i>, though called “lintea,” may have been the -hempen garments, which, according to Herodotus, were scarce -to be distinguished from linen.</p> - -<p>The next writer, who mentions hemp after Herodotus, is -Moschion, rather more than 200 years B. C. He states<a id="FNanchor_545" href="#Footnote_545" class="fnanchor">[545]</a>, 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 <i>the Egyptian -Papyrus, the bark of the Lime-tree, of the Hemp-leaved -Mallow, and of the Spanish and Portugal Broom</i>, and -probably also the Stipa Tenacissima of Linnæus.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_545" href="#FNanchor_545" class="label">[545]</a> Apud Athenæum, l. v. p. 206. Casaub.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Hemp, as well as flax, was grown abundantly in Colchis<a id="FNanchor_546" href="#Footnote_546" class="fnanchor">[546]</a>. -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 -(<i>l.</i> xix. <i>c.</i> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_546" href="#FNanchor_546" class="label">[546]</a> Strabo, l. xi. § 17. vol. iv. p. 402, ed. Siebenkees.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_547" href="#Footnote_547" class="fnanchor">[547]</a>. As this -author was a native of Cyzicus, he would probably have abundant -opportunities of becoming familiar with the plant.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_547" href="#FNanchor_547" class="label">[547]</a> Κανναβίνη. Brunck’s Analecta, ii. 209.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the time of Pausanias hemp was grown in Elis. See his -<i>Eliaca</i>, <i>c.</i> 26. § 4.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</span> -Dioscorides (<i>l.</i> iii. <i>c.</i> 141.) gives an account of hemp, in which -he distinguishes between the <i>cultivated</i> and the <i>wild</i>. By -<i>Wild Hemp</i> he means the Althœæ Cannabina, <i>Linn.</i><a id="FNanchor_548" href="#Footnote_548" class="fnanchor">[548]</a>. He -observes respecting the Cultivated Hemp, by which he meant -proper hemp, the Cannabis Sativa, <i>Linn.</i>, that it was “of great -use for twisting the strongest ropes.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_548" href="#FNanchor_548" class="label">[548]</a> See Chap. XII. <a href="#Page_194">p. 194.</a></p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_549" href="#Footnote_549" class="fnanchor">[549]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_549" href="#FNanchor_549" class="label">[549]</a> Sanscrit, <span class="smcap">Goni</span>, <span class="smcap">Sana</span>, or <span class="smcap">Shanapu</span>; Persic, <span class="smcap">Canna</span>; Arabic, <span class="smcap">Kanneh</span>, or -<span class="smcap">Kinnub</span>; Greek, <span class="smcap">Κανναβις</span>; Latin, <span class="smcap">Cannabis</span>; Italian, <span class="smcap">Cannapa</span>; French, <span class="smcap">Chanvre</span>, -or <span class="smcap">Chanbre</span>; Danish and Flamand, <span class="smcap">Kamp</span>, or <span class="smcap">Kennep</span>; Lettish and Lithuanian, -<span class="smcap">Kannapes</span>; Slavonian, <span class="smcap">Konopi</span>; Erse, <span class="smcap">Canaib</span>; Scandinavian, <span class="smcap">Hampr</span>; -Swedish, <span class="smcap">Hampa</span>; German, <span class="smcap">Hanf</span>; Anglo-Saxon, <span class="smcap">Haenep</span>; English, <span class="smcap">Hemp</span>. Our -English word <span class="smcap">Canvass</span> (French, <span class="smcap">Canevas</span>,) has the same origin, meaning cloth -made of hemp (<span class="smcap">Canav</span>).</p> - -<p>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, <i>but only for smoking on account of the narcotic qualities of its leaves</i>. -(Wissett on Hemp, p. 20, 25.) Its name <span class="smcap">Sana</span>, <span class="smcap">Sunu</span>, or <span class="smcap">Gonu</span>, 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. <a href="#Page_202">p. 202.</a></p> - -<p>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:—</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</span> -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</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<i>machinery</i> 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.</p> - -<p>For machine spinning, the flax is sometimes heckled by hand, and sometimes -by machinery. The series of operations is the following:—</p> - -<p>1. The heckling.</p> - -<p>2. The conversion of the flax into a band of parallel rectilinear filaments, which, -forms the foundation of the future yarn.</p> - -<p>3. The formation of a sliver from the riband, by drawing it out into a narrower -range of filaments.</p> - -<p>4. The coarse spinning, by twisting the sliver into a coarse and loose thread.</p> - -<p>5. The fine spinning, by the simultaneous extension and twisting of that coarse -thread.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>parapluie</i>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Chapter4_III">CHAPTER III.<br /> -<small>ASBESTOS.</small></h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hanging2">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.</p> -</div> - -<p>Varro mentions the name <i>Asbestos</i> as a proof, that the cloth -so called was a Greek invention<a id="FNanchor_550" href="#Footnote_550" class="fnanchor">[550]</a>. His argument is obviously -correct. The term (ἄσβεστος) means <i>inextinguishable</i>, and was -most properly applied to the wicks of lamps, which were made -of this substance and were never consumed.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_550" href="#FNanchor_550" class="label">[550]</a> De Lingua Lat. L. v. p. 134. ed. Spengel.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_551" href="#Footnote_551" class="fnanchor">[551]</a>. The passage occurs in the Historiæ -Commentitiæ, attributed to Apollonius Dyscolus (<i>cap.</i> 36).</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>The Carystian stone has woolly and colored appendages, which are <i>spun</i> and -woven into <i>napkins</i>. 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.—<i>Yates’s Translation.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_551" href="#FNanchor_551" class="label">[551]</a> Sotacus is several times quoted by Pliny (L. xxxvi., xxxvii.) as a foreign -writer on Stones.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“At Carystus,” says Strabo, “under Mount Ocha in Eubœa -is produced the stone, which is combed and woven so as to make -<i>napkins</i> (χειρόμακτρα) or <i>handkerchiefs</i>. When these have become -dirty, instead of being washed, they are thrown into a flame -and thus purified<a id="FNanchor_552" href="#Footnote_552" class="fnanchor">[552]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_552" href="#FNanchor_552" class="label">[552]</a> Lib. x. p. 19. ed. Sieb.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</span> -Plutarch speaks in similar terms of napkins, nets, and <i>head-dresses</i>, -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<a id="FNanchor_553" href="#Footnote_553" class="fnanchor">[553]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_553" href="#FNanchor_553" class="label">[553]</a> De Oraculorum Defectu, p. 770. ed. H. Stephani, Par. 1572.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_554" href="#Footnote_554" class="fnanchor">[554]</a>. Further north in the -same island Dr. Sibthorp observed “rocks of <i>Serpentine</i> in beds -of saline marble, forming the Verdantique of the ancients<a id="FNanchor_555" href="#Footnote_555" class="fnanchor">[555]</a>:” -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<a id="FNanchor_556" href="#Footnote_556" class="fnanchor">[556]</a>.” Tournefort speaks of -Amiantus as brought from Carysto in his time, but of inferior -quality<a id="FNanchor_557" href="#Footnote_557" class="fnanchor">[557]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_554" href="#FNanchor_554" class="label">[554]</a> Travels in various Countries of the East, edited by Walpole, p. 288.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_555" href="#FNanchor_555" class="label">[555]</a> Ibid. p. 37.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_556" href="#FNanchor_556" class="label">[556]</a> Ibid. p. 38.—N. B. Asbestos is always found in rocks of Serpentine.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_557" href="#FNanchor_557" class="label">[557]</a> Voyage, English Translation, vol. i. p. 129.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 <i>Carpasian flax</i>, 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, -<i>Carpas</i>.</p> - -<p>Dioscorides (L. v. c. 93.) gives a similar account of the qualities -and uses of Amiantus, and says it was produced in Cyprus<a id="FNanchor_558" href="#Footnote_558" class="fnanchor">[558]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_558" href="#FNanchor_558" class="label">[558]</a> See <a href="#Page_392">p. 392.</a></p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Majolus says<a id="FNanchor_559" href="#Footnote_559" class="fnanchor">[559]</a>, 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_559" href="#FNanchor_559" class="label">[559]</a> Dier. Canicular. Part I. Collog. xx. p. 453.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Referring to Cyprus, Sonnini (<i>Voyage en Grèce</i>, i. <i>p.</i> 66.) -says,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>L’amiante, <i>asbestos</i>, ou lin incombustible des anciens, est encore aussi abondant -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</span> -qu’il le fut autrefois; la carrière qui le fournit est dans la montagne d’Akamantide, -près du cap Chromachiti.</p> - -<p>Le talc est commun, surtout près de Larnaca, où on l’emploie à blanchir les -maisons; et le plàtre a de nombreuses carrières.</p> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“A kind of flax has been discovered which is incombustible by fire. It is -called <i>live flax</i>; 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<a id="FNanchor_560" href="#Footnote_560" class="fnanchor">[560]</a>. 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.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_560" href="#FNanchor_560" class="label">[560]</a> i. e. eighteen grains of this flax were worth 2<i>s.</i> 10<i>d.</i> stg., being equal in value -to its weight in gold.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Besides the manufacture of napkins, this description exactly -agrees with the accounts of Strabo, Sotacus, Dioscorides, and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</span> -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<a id="FNanchor_561" href="#Footnote_561" class="fnanchor">[561]</a>. 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:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_562" href="#Footnote_562" class="fnanchor">[562]</a>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_561" href="#FNanchor_561" class="label">[561]</a> Keysler’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 292. London 1760.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_562" href="#FNanchor_562" class="label">[562]</a> Tour on the Continent, vol. ii. p. 201.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Also in the Museo Barbonico at Naples there is a considerable -piece of asbestine cloth, found at Vasto in the Abruzzi, the ancient -Histonium.</p> - -<p>Hierocles, the historian, as quoted by Stephanus Byzantinus, -gives the following account of the Asbestos of India:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>The Brachmans use cloth made of a kind of flax, which is obtained from -rocks. <i>Webs</i> 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.</p> -</div> - -<p>The following testimonies illustrate the fact, recorded by -both Hierocles and Pliny, that Asbestos was obtained from -India.</p> - -<p>Marco Polo<a id="FNanchor_563" href="#Footnote_563" class="fnanchor">[563]</a> mentions, that incombustible cloth was woven -from a fibrous stone found at Chenchen in the territory of the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</span> -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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_563" href="#FNanchor_563" class="label">[563]</a> Marsden’s Translation, p. 176.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Bugnon, in his <i>Rélation Exacte concernant les Caravanes</i> -(<i>Nancy</i>, 1707, <i>p.</i> 37-39.) mentions, that Amiantus was found -in Cyprus and on the confines of Arabia. He says, <i>they spun -it and made stockings, socks, and drawers</i>, 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.</p> - -<p>Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea, shows that he was acquainted with -the properties of this substance, <i>by comparing the three children -cast into the fiery furnace without being hurt</i> (<i>Dan.</i> 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<a id="FNanchor_564" href="#Footnote_564" class="fnanchor">[564]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_564" href="#FNanchor_564" class="label">[564]</a> Homilia de Jejunio, p. 111.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Damasus (<i>in Silvestro Papa</i>) mentions, that the Emperor -Constantine directed asbestos to be used for the wicks of the -lamps in his baptistery at Rome.</p> - -<p>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 <i>fibres of flax -are then mixed with it</i> 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<a id="FNanchor_565" href="#Footnote_565" class="fnanchor">[565]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_565" href="#FNanchor_565" class="label">[565]</a> 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.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</span> -which we find in the Chronicon Casinense of Leo Ostiensis, -L. ii. <i>c.</i> 33.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>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.</p> -</div> - -<p>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 <i>in its natural state</i> 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 “<i>De lino vivo aut asbestino et incombustibili</i>.”</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>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.—<i>Miscellanea Curiosa Naturæ Curiosorum</i>, -<i>Decuriæ</i> ii. <i>Ann.</i> ii. <i>p.</i> 111. <i>Norembergæ</i>, 1684.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>Montfaucon, in his Travels in Italy (<i>p.</i> 381. <i>English ed.</i> -8<i>vo.</i>), 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 <i>kneeling before St. Benedict</i>, 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 <i>wiping -the feet of St. Benedict with the same cloth with which Jesus -wiped the feet of his disciples</i>.</p> - -<p>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. “<i>Brother</i> 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<a id="FNanchor_566" href="#Footnote_566" class="fnanchor">[566]</a>. 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</span> -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<a id="FNanchor_567" href="#Footnote_567" class="fnanchor">[567]</a>”. 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_566" href="#FNanchor_566" class="label">[566]</a> Dominum Johannem, cognomine Marsicanum, qui tunc Capuæ erat præpositus, -&c.—<i>Leonis Ostientis Chronicon Casinense</i>, L. ii. <i>c.</i> 92.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_567" href="#FNanchor_567" class="label">[567]</a> Marsicana (civitas) was in Marsica, the territory of the ancient Marsi.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_568" href="#Footnote_568" class="fnanchor">[568]</a>. 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.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_568" href="#FNanchor_568" class="label">[568]</a> Excursions in the Abruzzi, by the Hon. Keppel Craven, vol. i. p. 54.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 <i>table-cloth</i>, made of Amiantus from Corsica, for -the use of the ex-Empress Maria Louisa, who resided there -after the fall of Napoleon.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</span> -The annexed Map (<a href="#Plate_VII">Plate VII.</a>) is designed to indicate the -divisions of the Ancient World as determined by the Raw -Materials principally produced and employed in them for -weaving.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The Green indicates the countries, all low and bordering on -rivers, in which the cloth manufactured was chiefly Linen.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Plate_7">[Plate VII]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="Plate_VII" style="max-width: 40em;"> - <div class="caption"> - <p class="right"><i>Plate VII</i></p></div> - <img class="w100" src="images/plate_vii.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> - <p class="right gesperrt"><i>SERICA</i></p> - <p class="center"><i>MAP showing the Divisions of the ANCIENT WORLD - according to the Raw Materials principally produced in them for Weaving.</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDICES">APPENDICES.</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Appendix_A">APPENDIX A.<br /> -ON PLINY’S NATURAL HISTORY.</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">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.</p> -</div> - -<h4>LIB. VIII. c. 47s. 72. 50s. 76.<a id="FNanchor_569" href="#Footnote_569" class="fnanchor">[569]</a></h4> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_569" href="#FNanchor_569" class="label">[569]</a> The edition here followed is that of Sillig, Lipsiæ, 1831-6, 5 vols., 12mo.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“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 <i>covered</i> and the <i>common</i>. The former is softer, the latter -more delicate in feeding, inasmuch as the covered feeds on brambles. Its -coverings are chiefly of Arabic materials.</p> - -<p>“The most approved wool is the Apulian, and that which is called <i>the wool -of Greek sheep</i> in Italy, and <i>the Italic wool</i> 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 -<i>native</i>; Pollentia, near the Alps, furnishes the chief kinds of black wool; Asia -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</span> -and Bætica those ruddy varieties called <i>Erythrean</i>; Canusium a sandy-colored<a id="FNanchor_570" href="#Footnote_570" class="fnanchor">[570]</a> -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 <i>long</i> -nap. This is also the case with the wool of Salacia in Lusitania; but the cloth -made from it is recommended by its <i>plaided pattern</i>. A similar kind is produced -about Piscenæ (i. e. <i>Pezenas</i>), in the province of Narbonne, and likewise -in Egypt, the woollen cloth of which country, having been worn by use, is <i>embroidered</i> -and lasts some time longer. The <i>coarse wool with a thick staple was -used in very ancient times for carpets</i>: at least Homer (900 B. C.) speaks of -the use of it. <i>The Gauls have one method of embroidering these carpets, and -the Parthians another.</i> Portions of wool also make cloth <i>by being forced together -by themselves</i><a id="FNanchor_571" href="#Footnote_571" class="fnanchor">[571]</a>. 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 <i>gausapa</i> began to be used within the memory of my father; those called -<i>amphimalla</i> within my own, (See Part First, <a href="#Page_30">p. 30</a>,) as well as the shaggy coverings -for the stomach, called <i>ventralia</i>. For the tunic with the laticlave is now -first beginning to be woven after the manner of the <i>gausapa</i>. 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.</p> - -<p>“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 <i>toga -pura</i>, and by newly-married women. The <i>undulate</i> or waved cloth was originally -one of the most admired; from it was derived the <i>soriculate</i><a id="FNanchor_572" href="#Footnote_572" class="fnanchor">[572]</a>. Fenestrella -writes, that <i>scraped</i> and <i>Phryxian</i> togas came into favor about the end of the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</span> -reign of the Divine Augustus. The <i>thick poppied</i> togas are of remoter origin, being -noticed even so far back as by the poet Lucilius in his Torquatus. The <i>toga -prætexta</i> was invented among the Etruscans. I find evidence that kings wore -the <i>striped toga</i><a id="FNanchor_573" href="#Footnote_573" class="fnanchor">[573]</a>, that figured cloths were in use even in the days of Homer; -and that these gave rise to the <i>triumphal</i>. To produce this effect with the needle -was the invention of the Phrygians, on which account cloths so embroidered -have been called <i>Phrygionic</i>. In the same part of Asia king Attalus (see Part -I. <a href="#Page_88">p. 88.</a>) discovered the art of inserting a woof of gold: from which circumstance -the <i>Attalic</i> cloths received their name. Babylon first obtained celebrity by its -method of <i>diversifying the picture with different colors</i>, 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 <i>polymita</i> (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 <i>prætexta</i> -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 <i>a foot and a half long</i>, luxury -appearing to force this upon them as if it were their nature.</p> - -<p>“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 <i>apicæ</i>, 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 <i>Umbri</i>. <i>Sheep have a very weak head</i>, -on which account they are obliged to turn from the sun in feeding. <i>They are -most foolish animals.</i> 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.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_570" href="#FNanchor_570" class="label">[570]</a> This term is adopted as the best translation of the Latin <i>fulvus</i>, 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 <i>Discoveries in Lycia</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_571" href="#FNanchor_571" class="label">[571]</a> See <a href="#Appendix_C">Appendix C.</a></p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_572" href="#FNanchor_572" class="label">[572]</a> It is probable that <i>soriculate</i> cloth was a kind of velvet, or plush, so called -from its resemblance to the coat of the field-mouse, <i>sorex</i>, dim. <i>soricula</i>. <i>Soriculata</i> -may have been changed into <i>sororiculata</i> by repeating or at the beginning -of the word.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_573" href="#FNanchor_573" class="label">[573]</a> The toga worn by the kings and other supreme magistrates among the Romans -was called <i>trabea</i> from the stripes, which were compared to the joists or -rafters of a building (<i>trabes</i>).</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>LIB. VI. c. 5.</h4> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Appendix_B">APPENDIX B.<br /> -<small>ON THE ORIGIN AND MANUFACTURE OF LINEN AND -COTTON PAPER.</small></h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="h3sub">THE INVENTION OF LINEN PAPER PROVEN TO BE OF EGYPTIAN ORIGIN,—COTTON -PAPER MANUFACTURED BY THE BUCHARIANS AND ARABIANS, -A. D. 704.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">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.</p> -</div> - -<p>No part of the <i>Res Diplomatica</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_574" href="#Footnote_574" class="fnanchor">[574]</a>. Various -writers on the subject, as Von Murr, Breitkopf, Schönemann, -&c., concur in this opinion.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_574" href="#FNanchor_574" class="label">[574]</a> Vom Papier, p. 309, 343.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Gotthelf Fischer, in his Essay on Paper-marks<a id="FNanchor_575" href="#Footnote_575" class="fnanchor">[575]</a>, cites an -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</span> -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 (<i>vergures et -pontuseaux</i>) may readily be distinguished.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_575" href="#FNanchor_575" class="label">[575]</a> 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.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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, “<i>Chartam linteam -antiquissimam, omnia hactenus producta specimina ætate -suâ superantem, ex cimelüs Bibliothecæ Augustæ Vindobonensis -exponit Jo. Ge. Schwandner</i>,” &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 <i>Uber Bücher-Handschriften, -Erlangen</i> 1810, <i>p.</i> 39, 40.</p> - -<p>With regard to the circumstances which led to the invention -of the paper <i>now in common use</i>, 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</span> -degrees to the manufacture of paper from linen only<a id="FNanchor_576" href="#Footnote_576" class="fnanchor">[576]</a>. 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<a id="FNanchor_577" href="#Footnote_577" class="fnanchor">[577]</a>. All however admit, that they have no satisfactory -evidence on the subject.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_576" href="#FNanchor_576" class="label">[576]</a> Vom Papier, p. 183.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_577" href="#FNanchor_577" class="label">[577]</a> Diplomatik, vol. i. p. 494.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_578" href="#Footnote_578" class="fnanchor">[578]</a>, “<i>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</i>.” -Having shown (See Part IV. <a href="#Chapter4_I">Chapter I.</a>) 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_578" href="#FNanchor_578" class="label">[578]</a> 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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 <i>Commentationes Reg. Soc. Gottingensis Recentiores</i>, -vol. iv. A. D. 1820), has brought abundant testimonies to -prove <i>that Egypt supplied all Europe with this kind of -paper until towards the end of the eleventh century</i>. 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 <i>cotton paper</i> about the -year 704, and through them or the Saracens it was introduced -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</span> -into Europe in the eleventh century<a id="FNanchor_579" href="#Footnote_579" class="fnanchor">[579]</a>. 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.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_579" href="#FNanchor_579" class="label">[579]</a> <i>Wehrs vom Papier</i>, p. 131, 144, <i>Note</i>. <i>Breitkopf, p.</i> 81.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 <i>now</i> commonly use for writing.</p> - -<p>The evidence being carried thus far, we may take in connection -with it the following passage from Petrus Cluniacensis:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>[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.—<i>Tractatus adv. Judæos</i>, c. v. <i>in Max. Bibl. vet. -Patrum, tom.</i> xxii. p. 1014.</p> -</div> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</span> -The expression “<i>scrapings of old cloths</i>” 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<a id="FNanchor_580" href="#Footnote_580" class="fnanchor">[580]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_580" href="#FNanchor_580" class="label">[580]</a> Gibbon says (vol. v. p. 295, 4to edition), “The inestimable art of transforming -linen into paper has been diffused from the manufacture of <i>Samarcand</i> over -the Western world.” This assertion appears to be entirely destitute of foundation.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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 <i>Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana Escurialensis</i>, 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.”</p> - -<p>“Codices chartacei,” <i>i. e.</i> 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</span> -form of which are shown in <a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a> 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.</p> - -<p>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<a id="FNanchor_581" href="#Footnote_581" class="fnanchor">[581]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_581" href="#FNanchor_581" class="label">[581]</a> Old and New Testament connected, Part I. chapter 7. p. 393, 3rd edition, -folio.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>A few observations, by way of concluding this part of the -subject, may here be properly bestowed upon the <i>material</i> with -which the <span class="allsmcap">WASP-FAMILY</span> construct their nests.</p> - -<p>The wasp is <i>a paper-maker</i>, 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; <i>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</i>. This is exactly the process of paper-making. It -would seem that the wasp knows, as the modern paper-makers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<i>l.</i> 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 <i>three shillings -and sixpence</i>! 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. -<i>It is not improbable that if man had attended in an earlier -state of society to the labors of wasps, he would have sooner -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</span> -known how to make paper</i>. 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.</p> - -<p>Réaumur has given a very interesting account of the wasps -of Cayenne (<i>Chartergus nidulans</i>), which hang their nests in -trees<a id="FNanchor_582" href="#Footnote_582" class="fnanchor">[582]</a>. Like the bird of Africa called the social grosbeak (<i>Loxia -socia</i>), 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 <i>a pasteboard-maker</i>;—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!</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_582" href="#FNanchor_582" class="label">[582]</a> Mémoires sur les Insectes, tom. vi., mem. vii. See also Bonnet, vol. ix.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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; -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</span> -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.”</p> - -<p>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 <i>Myraptera scutellaris</i>. 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</span> -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<a id="FNanchor_583" href="#Footnote_583" class="fnanchor">[583]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_583" href="#FNanchor_583" class="label">[583]</a> 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Appendix_C">APPENDIX C.<br /> -<small>ON FELT.</small></h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="h3sub">MANUFACTURE AND USE OF FELTING BY THE ANCIENTS.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">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.</p> -</div> - -<p>There seems no reason to question the correctness of Professor -Beckmann’s observation<a id="FNanchor_584" href="#Footnote_584" class="fnanchor">[584]</a>, that the making of felt was invented -<i>before</i> weaving<a id="FNanchor_585" href="#Footnote_585" class="fnanchor">[585]</a>. 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<a id="FNanchor_586" href="#Footnote_586" class="fnanchor">[586]</a>, 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</span>in the middle of the roof for the admission of light and the passage -of smoke, <i>the whole being covered with felt, of which -likewise the doors are made</i><a id="FNanchor_587" href="#Footnote_587" class="fnanchor">[587]</a>.” Very recently the same account -of these “portable tents of felt” has been given by Julius -von Klaproth<a id="FNanchor_588" href="#Footnote_588" class="fnanchor">[588]</a>. Kupffer says of the Caratchai, “Leurs larges -manteaux de feutre leur servent en même tems de matelas et -de couverture<a id="FNanchor_589" href="#Footnote_589" class="fnanchor">[589]</a>.” The large mantle of felt, here mentioned, is -used for the same purpose in the neighboring country of Circassia<a id="FNanchor_590" href="#Footnote_590" class="fnanchor">[590]</a>. -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<a id="FNanchor_591" href="#Footnote_591" class="fnanchor">[591]</a>: the postillions in Phrygia “wear a cloak of white -camels’-hair, <i>half an inch thick</i>, 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 (<i>du feutre et des étoffes</i><a id="FNanchor_592" href="#Footnote_592" class="fnanchor">[592]</a>).</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_584" href="#FNanchor_584" class="label">[584]</a> <i>Anleitung zur Technologie</i>, p. 117, <i>Note</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_585" href="#FNanchor_585" class="label">[585]</a> See Gilroy’s Treatise on the <i>Art of Weaving</i>, p. 14.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_586" href="#FNanchor_586" class="label">[586]</a> Malcolm’s <i>Hist. of Persia</i>, ch. vi. vol. i. pp. 123, 124.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_587" href="#FNanchor_587" class="label">[587]</a> Kerr’s <i>Collection of Voyages and Travels</i>, vol. i. p. 128. See also p. 167, -where the same facts are related by William de Rubruquis.</p> - -<p>The account which Herodotus gives (iv. 23) of the habitations of the Argippæi -evidently alludes to customs similar to those of the modern Tartars. He says, -“They live under trees, covering the tree in winter with strong and thick undyed -felt (πίλῳ στεγνῷ λευκῷ), and removing the felt in summer.” Among the ceremonies -observed by the Scythians in burying the dead, Herodotus also mentions the -erection of three stakes of wood, which were surrounded with a close covering of -woollen felt (iv. 73). Also, in the next section but one (iv. 75.) there is an evident -allusion to the practice of living under tents made of felt (ὑποδύνουσι ὑπὸ τοὺς -πίλους).</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_588" href="#FNanchor_588" class="label">[588]</a> <i>Reise in dem Kaucasus und nach Georgien</i>, ch. vi. p. 161.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_589" href="#FNanchor_589" class="label">[589]</a> <i>Voyage dans les Environs du Mont Elbrouz.</i> St. Petersburg, 1829, 4to, -p. 20.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_590" href="#FNanchor_590" class="label">[590]</a> <i>Travels in Circassia</i>, by Edmund Spencer.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_591" href="#FNanchor_591" class="label">[591]</a> <i>Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor</i>, p. 38.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_592" href="#FNanchor_592" class="label">[592]</a> Ch. ii. p. 7, of Rémusat’s Translation, Par. 1836, 4to.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Plate_8">[Plate VIII]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp52" id="Plate_VIII" style="max-width: 100em;"> - <div class="caption"> - <p class="right">PLATE VIII.</p> - </div> - <img class="w100" src="images/plate_viii.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - -<p>In conformity with the prevailing use of this manufacture in -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</span> -the colder regions of Asia, scarlet or purple felt (such as that -lately <i>re-invented</i> at Leeds, in England), was used by the -Babylonish decorators for the drapery of the funeral pile, when -Alexander celebrated the splendid obsequies of Hephæstion: for -so we must understand the expression φοινικίδες πιληταί (Diod. Sic. -xvii. 115. p. 251, Wess.). Xenophon (<i>Cycrop.</i> v. 5. § 7.) -mentions the use of felt manufactured in Media, <i>as a covering -for chairs and couches</i>. The Medes also used bags and sacks -of felt (Athenæus, 1. xii. p. 540 <i>c.</i> Casaub.).</p> - -<p>The process, by which wool is converted into felt, was called -by the Greeks πίλησις (Plato <i>de Leg.</i> 1. viii. p. 115. ed. Bekker), -literally a compression, from πιλέω, to compress<a id="FNanchor_593" href="#Footnote_593" class="fnanchor">[593]</a>. The -ancient Greek scholion on the passage of Plato here referred -to thus explains the term: Πιλήσεως· τῆς διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐρίων πυκνώσεως -γινομένης ἐσθῆτος, <i>i. e.</i> “cloth made by the thickening of wool.” -With this definition of felt agrees the following description of a - πέτασος in a Greek epigram, which records the dedication of it to -Mercury:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Σοὶ τὸν πιληθέντα δι’ εὐξάντου τριχὸς ἀμνοῦ,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ἑρμᾶ, Καλλιτέλης ἐκρέμασε πέτασον.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> ii. 41.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_593" href="#FNanchor_593" class="label">[593]</a> Xenophanes thought that <i>the moon</i> was <i>a compressed cloud</i> (νέφος πεπιλημένον, -Stobæi <i>Eclog.</i> i. 27. p. 550, ed. Heeren); <i>and that the air was emitted from the -earth by its compression</i> (πίλησις, i. 23. p. 484).</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The art of felting was called ἡ πιλητικὴ, (Plato, <i>Polit.</i> ii. 2. p. 296, -ed. Bekker). According to the ancient Greek and Latin glossaries, -and to Julius Pollux (vii. 30), a felt-maker, or hatter, was - πιλοποιὸς or πιλωτοποιὸς, in Latin <i>coactiliarius</i>. From πῖλος (<i>dim.</i> - πίλιον, <i>second dim.</i> πιλίδιον), the proper term for <i>felt</i> in general, -derived from the root of πιλέω, came the verb πιλόω, signifying <i>to -felt</i>, or <i>to make felt</i>, and from this latter verb was formed the -ancient participle πιλωτὸς, <i>felted</i>, which again gave origin to - πιλωτοποιός.</p> - -<p>It may be observed, that our English word <i>felt</i> is evidently -a participle or a derivative, and that its verb or root <span class="smcap">Fel</span> appears -to be the same with the root of πιλέω.</p> - -<p>The Latin <i>cogo</i>, which was used, like the Greek πιλέω, to denote -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</span> -the act of compressing, or forcing the separate hairs together, -gave origin to the participle <i>coactus</i>, and its derivative -<i>coactilis</i>. Pliny (H. N. viii. 48. s. 73.), after speaking of -woven stuffs, mentions in the following terms the use of wool -for making felt: “Lanæ et per se coactæ (<i>al.</i> coactam) vestem -ficiunt,” <i>i. e.</i> “Parcels of wool, driven together by themselves, -make cloth.” This is a very exact, though brief description of -the process of felting. The following monumental inscription -(Gruter, p. 648, n. 4.) contains the title <i>Lanarius coactiliarius</i>, -meaning <i>a manufacturer of woollen felt:</i>—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. Ballorius M. L. Lariseus, Lanarius coactiliarius, -conjuga carissimæ B. M. fec.</span></p> - -<p>Helvius Successus, the son of a freed man, and the father -of the Roman emperor Pertinax, was a hatter in Liguria -(<i>tabernam coactiliariam in Liguria exercuerat</i>, Jul. Cap. -<i>Pertinax</i>, c. 3.). Pertinax himself, being fond of money, having -the perseverance expressed by his agnomen, and having -doubtless, in the course of his expeditions into the East, made -valuable observations respecting the manufacture which he -had known from his boyhood, continued and extended the -same business, carrying it on and conveying his goods to a distance -by the agency of slaves. The Romans originally received -the use of felt together with its name<a id="FNanchor_594" href="#Footnote_594" class="fnanchor">[594]</a> from the Greeks -(Plutarch, <i>Numa</i>, p. 117, ed. Steph.). The Greeks were acquainted -with it as early as the age of Homer, who lived about -900 B. C. (<i>Il.</i> x. 265), and Hesiod (<i>Op. et Dies</i>, 542, 546).</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_594" href="#FNanchor_594" class="label">[594]</a> <i>Pileus</i> or <i>Pileum</i> (Non. Marc. iii., <i>pilea virorum sunt</i>, Servius <i>in Virg. Æn.</i> -ix. 616.), dim. <i>Pileolus</i> or <i>Pileolum</i> (Colum. <i>de Arbor.</i> 25).</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The principal use of felt among the Greeks and Romans -was to make coverings of the head for the male sex, and the -most common cover made of this manufacture was a simple -skull-cap, <i>i. e.</i> a cap exactly fitted to the shape of the head, as -is shown in <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> fig. 1. taken from a sepulchral bas-relief -which was found by Mr. Dodwell in Bœotia<a id="FNanchor_595" href="#Footnote_595" class="fnanchor">[595]</a>. The original is -as large as life. The person represented appears to have been -a Cynic philosopher. He leans upon the staff (<i>baculus</i>, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</span> - βάκτρον, σκῆπτρον); he is clothed in the blanket (<i>pallium</i>, χλαῖνα, -τρίβων) with one end, which is covered, over his left breast, and -another hanging behind over his left shoulder; he wears the -beard (<i>barba</i>, πώγων); his head is protected by the simple skull-cap -(<i>pileus</i>, πῖλος). All these were distinct characteristics of -the philosopher, and more especially of the Cynic<a id="FNanchor_596" href="#Footnote_596" class="fnanchor">[596]</a>. The dog -also probably marked his sect. Leonidas of Tarentum, in his -enumeration of the goods belonging to the Cynic Posochares -<a id="FNanchor_597" href="#Footnote_597" class="fnanchor">[597]</a>, -including a dog-collar (κυνοῦχον), mentions, καὶ πῖλον κεφαλᾶς οὔχ ὁσίας -σκεπανὸν, <i>i. e.</i> “The cap of felt, which covered his unholy head.” -This passage may be regarded as a proof, that among the -Greeks, though not among the Romans, the cap of felt was -worn by very poor men. It also proves that this cap, which -was the <i>fess</i> of the modern Greeks, was worn by philosophers, -and therefore throws light on a passage of Antiphanes (<i>ap. -Athen.</i> xii. 63. p. 545 a) describing a philosopher of a different -character, who was very elegantly dressed, having a small cap -of fine felt (πιλίδιον ἁπαλὸν), also a small white blanket, a beautiful -tunic, and a neat stick. When Cleanthes advanced the doctrine, -<i>that the moon had the shape of a skull-cap</i> (πιλοειδῆ τῷ -σχήματι, Stobæi <i>Ecl. Phys.</i> 1. 27. p. 554, ed. Heeren), he probably -intended to account for its phases from its supposed hemispherical -form. A cap of a similar form and appearance, though -perhaps larger and not so closely fitted to the crown of the -head, was worn by fishermen<a id="FNanchor_598" href="#Footnote_598" class="fnanchor">[598]</a>. In an epigram of Philippus<a id="FNanchor_599" href="#Footnote_599" class="fnanchor">[599]</a>, -describing the apparatus of a fisherman, the author mentions - πῖλον ἀμφίκρηνον ὑδασιστεγῆ, “the cap encompassing his head and -protecting it from wet.” Figure 2. in <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> represents a -small statue of a fisherman belonging to the Townley Collection -in the British Museum. His cap is slightly pointed and in a -degree, which was probably favorable to the discharge of water -from its surface. Hesiod recommends, that agricultural laborers -should wear the same defence from cold and showers (<i>Op. et -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</span> -Dies</i>, 545-547). The use of this cap by seamen was no -doubt the ground, on which the painter Nicomachus represented -Ulysses wearing one. “Hic primus,” says Pliny (H. N. xxxv. -36. s. 22.), “Ulyssi addidit pileum<a id="FNanchor_600" href="#Footnote_600" class="fnanchor">[600]</a>.” For the same reason the -cap is an attribute of the Dioscuri; and hence two caps with -stars above them are often shown on the coins of maritime -cities and of others where Castor and Pollux were worshipped. -Figure 3. of <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> is taken from a brass coin of Dioscurias -in Colchis, preserved in the British Museum. On the reverse -is the name ΔΙΟΣΚΟΥΡΙΑΔΟΣ. Figure 4. represents both sides -of a silver coin in the same collection, with the legend - ΒΡΕΤΤΙΩΝ. It belongs to Bruttium in South Italy. On the -one side Castor and Pollux are mounted on horseback. They -wear the chlamys and carry palm branches in their hands. -Their caps have a narrow brim. The reverse shows their -heads only, and their caps, without brims, are surrounded by -wreaths of myrtle. The cornucopia is added as an emblem -of prosperity. Figure 5. is from a brass coin of Amasia -(ΑΜΑΣΣΕΙΑΣ) in Pontus. It shows the cornucopia between the -two skull-caps. Charon also was represented with the mariner’s -or fishermen’s cap, as, for example, in the bas-relief in the -<i>Museo Pio-Clementino</i>, tom. iv. tav. 35, and the painted vase -in Stackelberg’s <i>Grüber der Hellenen</i>, t. 47, 48, which is -copied in Becker s <i>Charicles</i>, vol. ii. taf. i. fig. 1, and in Smith’s -<i>Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities</i>, p. 404.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_595" href="#FNanchor_595" class="label">[595]</a> <i>Tour through Greece</i>, vol. i. pp. 242, 243.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_596" href="#FNanchor_596" class="label">[596]</a> See the articles <i>Baculus</i>, <i>Barba</i>, <i>Pallium</i>, p. 703, in Smith’s <i>Dict. of Greek -and Roman Antiquities</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_597" href="#FNanchor_597" class="label">[597]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> i. p. 223. Nos. x. xi.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_598" href="#FNanchor_598" class="label">[598]</a> Theocrit. xxi. 13.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_599" href="#FNanchor_599" class="label">[599]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> ii. p. 212. No. v.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_600" href="#FNanchor_600" class="label">[600]</a> Compare Eustathius <i>in Hom. Il.</i> x. 265, as quoted below.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>A pileus of the same general form was worn by artificers; -and on this account it was attributed to Vulcan and to Dædalus, -who, as well as Ulysses and Charon, are commonly found -wearing it in works of ancient art. Arnobius says, that Vulcan -was represented “cum pileo et malleo”—“fabrili expeditione -succinctus;” and that on the other hand Mercury was -represented with the petasus, or “petasunculus,” on his head.<a id="FNanchor_601" href="#Footnote_601" class="fnanchor">[601]</a> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</span> -This observation is confirmed by numerous figures of these -two divinities, if we suppose the term <i>petasus</i>, which will be -more fully illustrated hereafter, to have meant a hat with a -brim, and <i>pileus</i> to have denoted properly a fessor cap without -a brim.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_601" href="#FNanchor_601" class="label">[601]</a> <i>Adv. Gentes</i>, lib. vi. p. 674, ed. Erasmi. When Lucian ludicrously represents -Jupiter wearing a skull-cap, which we may suppose to have been like that of the -philosopher in <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> figure 1. he must have intended to describe the “Father -of gods and men” as a weak old man; Διεῖλε τὴν κεφαλὴν κατενεγκών· καὶ εἴ γε μὴ ὁ -πῖλος ἀντέσχε, καὶ τὸ πολὺ τῆς πληγῆς ἀπεδέξατο, &c. <i>Dial. Deor.</i>, vol. ii. p. 314. ed. -Hemster.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Fig. 6. <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> is taken from a small bronze statue of -Vulcan in the Royal Collection at Berlin. He wears the <i>exomis</i>, -and holds his hammer in the right hand and his tongs in -the left. For other specimens of the head-dress of Vulcan the -reader is referred to the <i>Museo Pio-Clementino</i>, t. iv. tav. xi., -and to Smith’s <i>Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities</i>, -p. 589.</p> - -<p><a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> is intended still further to illustrate some of the -most common varieties in the form of the ancient skull-cap. -Figure 7. is a head of Vulcan from a medal of the Aurelian -family<a id="FNanchor_602" href="#Footnote_602" class="fnanchor">[602]</a>. Figure 8. is the head of Dædalus from a bas-relief, -formerly belonging to the Villa Borghese, and representing the -story of the wooden cow, which he made for Pasiphae<a id="FNanchor_603" href="#Footnote_603" class="fnanchor">[603]</a>. Fig. -10. is from a cameo in the Florentine collection. Fig. 9. is -the head of a small bronze statue, wearing boots and the -<i>exomis</i>, which belonged to Mr. R. P. Knight, and is now -in the British Museum. It is engraved in the “Specimens -of Ancient Sculpture published by the Society of Dilettanti,” -vol. i. pl. 47. The editors express a doubt whether this -statue was meant for Vulcan or Ulysses, merely because the -god and the hero were commonly represented wearing the -same kind of cap. Not only does the expression of countenance -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</span> -decide the question; but also the small bronze of Mr. -Knight’s collection agrees in attitude and costume with many -small statues of Vulcan, who is represented in all of them -wearing the exomis, holding the hammer and tongs, and having -the felt cap on his head<a id="FNanchor_604" href="#Footnote_604" class="fnanchor">[604]</a>. Fig. 11. is another representation -of Ulysses from an ancient lamp<a id="FNanchor_605" href="#Footnote_605" class="fnanchor">[605]</a>. It exhibits him tied to -the mast, while he listens to the song of the Sirens. The cap -in this figure is much more elongated than in the others.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_602" href="#FNanchor_602" class="label">[602]</a> Montfaucon, <i>Ant. Expl.</i> t. i. pl. 46. No. 4.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_603" href="#FNanchor_603" class="label">[603]</a> Winckelmann, <i>Mon. Ined.</i> ii. 93. The skull-cap, here represented as worn -by Dædalus, is remarkably like that which is still worn by shepherd boys in Asia -Minor. Fig. 12, in <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> is copied from an original drawing of such a Grecian -youth, procured by Mr. George Scharf who accompanied Mr. Fellows on his -second tour into that country.</p> - -<p>According to Herodotus the Scythians had felted coverings for their tents, a -custom still found among their successors, the Tartars. Felting appears to have -preceded weaving. It is certainly a much ruder and simpler process: and, when -we consider both the long prevalence of the art among the pastoral inhabitants of -the ancient Scythia, and the extensive use of its products among them so as to be -employed even for their habitations, perhaps we shall be right in considering felting -as the appropriate invention of this people.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_604" href="#FNanchor_604" class="label">[604]</a> Montfaucon, <i>Ant. Expl.</i> vol. i. pl. 46. figs. 1. 2. 3; <i>Mus. Florent. Gemmæ -Ant. a Gorio illustratæ</i>, tom. ii. tab. 40. fig. 3.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_605" href="#FNanchor_605" class="label">[605]</a> Bartoli, <i>Lucerne Antiche</i>, P. III. tab. 11. There is a beautiful figure of -Ulysses in <i>Picturæ Antiquæ Virgiliani cod. Bibl. Vat.</i> a Bartoli, tab. 103, taken -from a gem. In Winckelmann, <i>Mon. Ined.</i> ii. No. 154, he is represented giving -wine to the Cyclops: this figure is copied in Smith’s <i>Dict.</i> p. 762.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The felt cap was worn not only by <i>desultores</i>, but by others -of the Romans upon a journey, in sickness, or in cases of unusual -exposure. Hence Martial says in <i>Epig.</i> xiv. 132, entitled -“Pileus,”</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Si possem, totas cuperem misisse lacernas:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nunc tantum capiti munera mitto tuo.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><i>i. e.</i></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O that a whole lacerna I could send!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Let this (I can no more) your head defend.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The wig (<i>galerus</i>) answered the same purpose for the wealthy -classes (<i>arrepto pileo vel galero</i>, Sueton. <i>Nero</i>, 26), and the -<i>cucullus</i> and <i>cudo</i> for both rich and poor. On returning home -from a party, a person sometimes carried his cap and slippers -under his arm (Hor. <i>Epist.</i> l. xiii. 15).</p> - -<p>The hats worn by the Salii<a id="FNanchor_606" href="#Footnote_606" class="fnanchor">[606]</a> are said by Dionysius of Halicarnassus -to have been “tall hats of a conical form<a id="FNanchor_607" href="#Footnote_607" class="fnanchor">[607]</a>.” Plutarch -distinctly represents them as made of felt. He says (<i>l. -c.</i>), that the <i>flamines</i> were so called <i>quasi pilamines</i>, because -they wore felt hats, and because in the early periods of Roman -history it was more common to invent names derived from the -Greek. On coins, however, this official cap of the Salii and -Flamines is commonly oval like that attributed to the Dioscuri. -We observe indeed continual variations in the form of the pileus -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</span> -from hemispherical to oval, and from oval to conical. A -conical cap is seen on the head of the reaper in the wood-cut to -the article <span class="smcap">Flax</span> in Smith’s <i>Dictionary</i> of Greek and Roman -Antiquities, which wood-cut is taken from a coin of one of the -Lagidæ, kings of Egypt. Caps, regularly conical and still -more elongated, are worn by the buffoons or comic dancers, -who are introduced in an ancient mosaic preserved in the Villa -Corsini at Rome<a id="FNanchor_608" href="#Footnote_608" class="fnanchor">[608]</a>. Telephus, king of Mysia, is represented as -wearing a “Mysian cap<a id="FNanchor_609" href="#Footnote_609" class="fnanchor">[609]</a>.” This “Mysian cap” must have -been the same which is known by the moderns under the name -of <i>the Phrygian bonnet</i>, and with which we are familiar -from the constant repetition of it in statues and paintings of -Priam, Paris, Ganymede<a id="FNanchor_610" href="#Footnote_610" class="fnanchor">[610]</a>, Atys, Perseus, and Mithras, and in -short in all the representations not only of Trojans and Phrygians, -but of Amazons and of all the inhabitants of Asia Minor, -and even of nations dwelling still further to the East. Also, -when we examine the works of ancient art which contain representations -of this Mysian cap, we perceive that it was a cone -bent into the form in which it is exhibited, and so bent, perhaps -by use, but more probably by design. This circumstance is -well illustrated in a bust of Parian marble, supposed to be intended -for Paris, which is preserved in the Glyptotek at Munich. -A drawing of it is given in <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> fig. 13. The flaps of -the bonnet are turned up and fastened over the top of the head. -The stiffness of the material is clearly indicated by the sharp -angular appearance of that portion of it which is turned forwards. -Mr. Dodwell, in his <i>Tour in Greece</i> (vol. i. p. 134), -makes the following observations on the modern costume, which -seems to resemble the ancient, except that the ancient πῖλος and - πιλίδιον were probably of undyed wool:—“The Greeks of the -maritime parts, and particularly of the islands, wear a red or -blue cap of a conical form, like the pilidion. When it is new -it stands upright, but it soon bends, and then serves as a pocket -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</span> -for the handkerchief, and sometimes for the purse. Others -wear the red skull-cap, or <i>fess</i>.” The Lycians, as we are informed -by Herodotus (viii. 92), wore caps of felt, which were -surrounded with feathers. Some of the Lycian coins and bas-reliefs, -however, show the “Phrygian bonnet,” as it is called, -in the usual form<a id="FNanchor_611" href="#Footnote_611" class="fnanchor">[611]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_606" href="#FNanchor_606" class="label">[606]</a> Smith’s <i>Dict. of Gr. and R. Antiquities</i>, art. Apex.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_607" href="#FNanchor_607" class="label">[607]</a> <i>Ant. Rom.</i> L. ii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_608" href="#FNanchor_608" class="label">[608]</a> Bartoli, <i>Luc. Ant.</i> P. I. tab. 35.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_609" href="#FNanchor_609" class="label">[609]</a> Aristoph. <i>Acham.</i> 429.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_610" href="#FNanchor_610" class="label">[610]</a> Stuart, in his <i>Antiquities of Athens</i>, vol. iii. ch. 9. plates 8, 9, has engraved -two beautiful statues of Telephus and Ganymede from a ruined colonnade at -Thessalonica. In these the cap is very little pointed.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_611" href="#FNanchor_611" class="label">[611]</a> Fellows’s <i>Discoveries in Lycia</i>, Plate 35. Nos. 3, 7. The “Phrygian bonnet” -is seen in the bas-reliefs brought from Xanthus by this intelligent traveller, -and now deposited in the British Museum.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The cap worn by the Persians is called by Greek authors - κυρβασία or τιάρα<a id="FNanchor_612" href="#Footnote_612" class="fnanchor">[612]</a>, and seems to have had the form now under consideration. -Herodotus, when he describes the costume of the -Persian soldiers in the army of Xerxes, says, that they wore -light and flexible caps of felt, which were called <i>tiaras</i>. He -adds, that the Medes and Bactrians wore the same kind of cap -with the Persians, but that the Cissii wore a mitra instead (vii. -61, 62, 64). On the other hand he says, that the Sacæ wore -<i>cyrbasiæ</i>, which were sharp-pointed, straight, and compact. -The Armenians were also called “weavers of felt” (Brunck, -<i>Anal.</i> ii. p. 146. No. 22). The form of their caps is clearly -shown in the coins of the Emperor Verus, one of which, preserved -in the British Museum, is engraved in <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> fig. 14. -The legend, surrounding his head, <span class="smcap">L. Vervs. Avg. Armeniacvs</span>, -refers to the war in Armenia. The reverse shows a female -figure representing Armenia, mourning and seated on the -ground, and surrounded by the emblems of Roman warfare and -victory. The caps represented on this and other coins agree -remarkably with the forms still used in the same parts of Asia. -Strabo (L. xi. p. 563, ed. Sieb.) says, that these caps were -necessary in Media on account of the cold. He calls the Persian -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</span> -cap “felt in the shape of a tower” (L. xv. p. 231). The -king of Persia was distinguished by wearing a stiff cyrbasia, -which stood erect, whereas his subjects wore their tiaras -folded and bent forwards.<a id="FNanchor_613" href="#Footnote_613" class="fnanchor">[613]</a> Hence in the <i>Aves</i> of Aristophanes -the cock is ludicrously compared to the Great King, his erect -comb being called his “cyrbasia.” The Athenians no doubt -considered this form of the tiara as an expression of pride and -assumption. It is recorded as one of the marks of arrogance in -Apollodorus, the Athenian painter, that he wore an “erect cap<a id="FNanchor_614" href="#Footnote_614" class="fnanchor">[614]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_612" href="#FNanchor_612" class="label">[612]</a> Herod, v. 49. According to Mœris, <i>v.</i> Κυρβασία, this was the Attic term, - τιάρα meaning the same thing in the common Greek. Plutarch applies the latter -term to the cap worn by the younger Cyrus: Ἀποπίπτει δὲ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἡ τιάρα τοῦ -Κύρου.—<i>Artaxerxes</i>, p. 1858. ed. Steph.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The “Phrygian bonnet” is called <i>Phrygia tiara</i> in the following lines of an -epitaph (<i>ap. Gruter.</i> p. 1123):</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Indueris teretes manicas Phrygiamque tiaram?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Non unus Cybeles pectore vivet Atys.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_613" href="#FNanchor_613" class="label">[613]</a> Xenoph. <i>Anab.</i> ii. 5. 23; <i>Cyrop.</i> viii. 3, 13. Clitarchus, <i>ap. Schol. in Aristoph. -Aves</i>, 487.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_614" href="#FNanchor_614" class="label">[614]</a> Πῖλον ὀρθόν. Hesychius, <i>s. v.</i> Σκιαγραφαί.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The coin represented in <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> fig. 15. (taken from Patin, -<i>Imp. Rom. Numismata</i>, Par. 1697, p. 213) is of the reign of -the Emperor Commodus, and belonged according to the legend -either to Trapezus in Cappadocia or to Trapezopolis in Caria. -It represents the god Lunus or Mensis, who was the moon considered -as of the male sex agreeably to the ideas of many northern -and Asiatic nations (Patin, p. 173). This male moon or month -was, as it seems, always represented with the cyrbasia<a id="FNanchor_615" href="#Footnote_615" class="fnanchor">[615]</a>. In -another coin published by Patin (<i>l. c.</i>) a cock stands at the feet -of this divinity, proving that this was the sacred bird of Lunus, -and probably because the rayed form of the cock’s comb was -regarded as a natural type of the cyrbasia, which distinguished -the kings of Persia and was attributed also to this Oriental -divinity. A lamp found on the Celian Mount at Rome<a id="FNanchor_616" href="#Footnote_616" class="fnanchor">[616]</a> represents -in the centre Lunus with 12 rays, probably designed to -denote the 12 months of the year, and on the handle two -cocks pecking at their food. A head of the same divinity, published -by Hirt (<i>l. c.</i>) from an antique gem at Naples, has 7 stars -upon the cap, perhaps referring to the 7 planets.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_615" href="#FNanchor_615" class="label">[615]</a> Hirt’s <i>Bilderbuch</i>, p. 88. tab. xi. figs. 8, 9.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_616" href="#FNanchor_616" class="label">[616]</a> Bartoli, <i>Luc. Ant.</i>, P. II. tav. 11.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Instead of the conical cap of the Asiatics many of the Northern -nations of Europe appear to have worn a felt cap, the form -of which was that of a truncated cone. Of this a good example -is shown in the group of Sarmatians, represented in the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</span> -wood-cut in Smith s <i>Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities</i> -(p. 160), which is taken from the Column of Trajan. -The same thing appears in various coins belonging to the -reign of this Emperor, two of which, preserved in the British -Museum, are engraved in <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> fig. 16. represents Dacia -sitting as a captive with her hands tied behind her back, wearing -trowsers (<i>braccæ</i>) and a conical or oval cap with the edge -turned up. Figure 17. represents Dacia mourning. In each -we see a Dacian target together with Roman armor. Each -has the same legend, <span class="smcap">Dac. Cap. Cos. V. P. P. S. P. Q. R. -Optimo. Princ.</span> On the reverse is the head of the Emperor -with the inscription <span class="smcap">Imp. Trajano. Aug. Ger. Dac. P. M. -Tr. P.</span></p> - -<p>According to the representation of Lucian (<i>de Gymnas.</i>), -the Scythians were in the constant habit of wearing caps or -hats: for in the conversation between Anacharsis and Solon -described by that author, Anacharsis requests to go into the -shade, saying that he could scarce endure the sun, and that he -had brought his cap (πῖλον) from home, but did not like being -seen alone in a strange habit. In later times we read of -the “pileati Gothi” and “pileati sacerdotes Gothorum<a id="FNanchor_617" href="#Footnote_617" class="fnanchor">[617]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_617" href="#FNanchor_617" class="label">[617]</a> Jornandes, &c., <i>ap. Div. Gentium Hist. Ant.</i>, Hamb. 1611, pp. 86, 93.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In considering the use of the skull-cap, or of the conical cap -of felt, it remains to notice the use of it among the Romans as -the emblem of liberty<a id="FNanchor_618" href="#Footnote_618" class="fnanchor">[618]</a>. When a slave obtained his freedom -he had his head shaven, and wore instead of his hair the pileus, -or cap of undyed felt, (Diod. Sic. Exc. Leg. 22. p. 625, ed. -Wess.). Plutarch, in allusion to the same custom, calls the cap - πιλίον, which is the diminutive of πῖλος. It is evident, that the -Latin <i>pileus</i> or <i>pileum</i> is derived from the Greek πῖλος and its -diminutive, and this circumstance in conjunction with other evidence -tends to show, that the Latins adopted this use of felt -from the Greeks. Sosia says in Plautus (<i>Amphit.</i> i. l, 306), as a -description of the mode of receiving his liberty, “Ut ego hodie, -raso capite calvus, capiam pileum.” Servius (<i>in Virg. Æn.</i> -viii. 564) says, the act of manumitting slaves in this form was -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</span> -done in the temple of Feronia, who was the goddess of freedmen. -In her temple at Terracina was a stone seat, on which -was engraved the following verse:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>“Benemeriti servi sedeant, surgent liberi.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_618" href="#FNanchor_618" class="label">[618]</a> Hæc mea libertas; hoc nobis pilea donant.—Persius, v. 82.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In allusion to this practice it appears that the Romans, though -they did not commonly wear hats, put them on at the Saturnalia.<a id="FNanchor_619" href="#Footnote_619" class="fnanchor">[619]</a> -At the death of Nero, the common people to express their -joy went about the city in felt caps.<a id="FNanchor_620" href="#Footnote_620" class="fnanchor">[620]</a> In allusion to this custom -the figure of Liberty on the coins of Antoninus Pius holds -the cap in her right hand. Figures 1 and 2 in <a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a> are -examples selected from the collection in the British Museum, -and, as we learn from the legend, were struck when he was -made consul the fourth time, <i>i. e.</i> A. D. 145.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_619" href="#FNanchor_619" class="label">[619]</a> Pileata Roma. <i>Martial</i>, xi. 7; xiv. 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_620" href="#FNanchor_620" class="label">[620]</a> Plebs pileata. <i>Sueton. Nero</i>, 57.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In contradistinction to the various forms of the felt cap now -described and represented, all of which were more or less elevated, -and many of which were pointed upwards, we have now -to consider those, which, though made of felt, and therefore -classed by the ancients under the general terms <i>pileus</i>, πῖλος, -&c.,<a id="FNanchor_621" href="#Footnote_621" class="fnanchor">[621]</a> corresponded more nearly to our modern <i>hat</i>. The -Greek word πέτασος, <i>dim.</i> πετάσιον, derived from πετάννυμι, <i>extendo</i>, -<i>dilato</i>, and adopted by the Latins in the form <i>petasus</i>, dim. -<i>petasunculus</i>, well expressed the distinctive form of these hats. -They were more or less broad and expanded. What was -taken from their height was added to their width. Those already -mentioned had no brim; the petasus of every variety -had a brim, which was either exactly or nearly circular, and -which varied greatly in its width. In some cases it seems to -be a mere circular disc without any crown at all. Of this we -have an example in a beautiful statue, which has, no doubt, -been meant for Endymion, in the Townley collection of the -British Museum. See <a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a> Fig. 3. His right hand encircles -his head, and his scarf is spread over a rock as described -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</span> -by Lucian<a id="FNanchor_622" href="#Footnote_622" class="fnanchor">[622]</a>. He sleeps upon it, holding the fibula in his left -hand. His feet are adorned with boots (<i>cothumi</i>) and his simple -petasus is tied under his chin. In this form the petasus illustrates -the remark of Theophrastus, who, in describing the -Egyptian Bean, says, that the leaf was of the size of the Thessalian -petasus<a id="FNanchor_623" href="#Footnote_623" class="fnanchor">[623]</a>. For the purpose of comparing these two objects, -a representation of the leaves of the plant referred to, is introduced -into the same Figure (3); taken from the “Botanical -Magazine,” Plates 903, 3916, and Sir J. E. Smith’s “Exotic -Botany,” Tab. 31, 32. The petasus here shown on the head -of Endymion, the original statue being as large as life, certainly -resembles very closely both in size and in form the leaf of -the Egyptian Bean, which is the Cyamus Nelumbo, or Nelumbium -Speciosum of modern botanists.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_621" href="#FNanchor_621" class="label">[621]</a> Plutarch (<i>Solon</i>, 179) says that Solon, pretending to be mad and acting the -part of a herald from Salamis, ἐξεπήδησεν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἄφνω πιλίον περιθέμενος. -Here πιλίον seems to mean the πέτασος.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_622" href="#FNanchor_622" class="label">[622]</a> In the Dialogues of the Gods (xi.), the Moon says in answer to Venus, that -Endymion is particularly beautiful “when he sleeps, having thrown his scarf -under him upon the rock, holding in his left hand the darts just falling from it, -whilst his right hand bent upwards lies gracefully round his face, and, dissolved -in sleep, he exhales his ambrosial breath.”</p> - -<p>The recumbent statue, here represented, is of white marble, and is placed in -room XI. of the Townley Gallery. It was found in 1774 at Roma Vecchia (Dallaway’s -<i>Anecdotes of the Arts</i>, p. 303). It has been called Mercury or Adonis. -But there are no examples or authorities in support of either of these suppositions. -It is not sufficient to say that every beautiful youth may have been meant either -for Mercury, who was never represented asleep, or for Adonis. We know that -the fable of Endymion and the Moon was a favorite subject with the ancient artists. -In the <i>Antichita d’Ercolano</i>, tom. iii. tav. 3, we find a picture, which was -discovered at Portica, and which represents this subject. It is still more frequent -in ancient bas-reliefs. See <i>Mus. Pio-Clem.</i> tom. iv. v. 8, pp. 38, 41; Sandrart, -<i>Sculp. Vet. Adm.</i> p. 52; Gronovii <i>Thesaur.</i> tom. i. folio O; <i>Proceedings of the -Philological Society</i>, vol. i. pp. 8, 9.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_623" href="#FNanchor_623" class="label">[623]</a> Πετάσῳ Θετταλικῇ. <i>Hist. Plant.</i> iv. 10. p. 147, ed. Schneider.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The flowers of umbelliferous plants are aptly called by Phanias<a id="FNanchor_624" href="#Footnote_624" class="fnanchor">[624]</a> - πετασώδη, <i>i. e.</i> like a petasus. The petasus, as worn by the -two shepherds, who discover Romulus and Remus, in a bas-relief -of the Vatican<a id="FNanchor_625" href="#Footnote_625" class="fnanchor">[625]</a>, is certainly not unlike the umbel of a plant. -See <a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a> Fig. 4.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</span></p> - -<p>Callimachus ascribes the same head-dress to shepherds in the -following lines:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἔπρεπε τοι προέχουσα κάρης εὐρεῖα καλύπτρη,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ποιμενικὸν πίλημα.—<i>Frag.</i> cxxv.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>The wide covering projecting from your head, the pastoral hat, became you.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_624" href="#FNanchor_624" class="label">[624]</a> <i>Apud Athen.</i> ix. 12. p. 371 D. ed. Casaub.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_625" href="#FNanchor_625" class="label">[625]</a> Museo Pio-Clementino, tom. v. tav. 24. This bas-relief formerly belonged to -the Mattei collection. See <i>Monumenta Matthæinana</i>, tom. iii. tab. 37.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>This pastoral hat, if we may judge from the representation -of the two shepherds in the bas-relief just referred to (Fig. -4.), was in its shape very like the “bonny blue bonnet” of the -Scotch. Figure 5 in <a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a> is taken from a painted Greek -vase, and represents the story of the delivery of Œdipus to be -exposed. His name ΟΙΔΙΠΟΔΑΣ is written beside him. The -shepherd ΕΥΦΟΡΒΟΣ, who holds the naked child in his arms, -wears a flat and very broad petasus hanging behind his neck. -It is of an irregular shape, as if from long usage<a id="FNanchor_626" href="#Footnote_626" class="fnanchor">[626]</a>. The shepherd -Zethus wears a petasus hanging behind his back in a -bas-relief belonging to the Borghese collection, published by -Winckelmann (<i>Mon. Inediti</i>, ii. 85). See <a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a> Fig. 6.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_626" href="#FNanchor_626" class="label">[626]</a> See [Italian 469]<i>Monumenti Inediti pubblicati dall’ Instituto di Correspondenza Archeologica</i>, -vol. ii. tav. 14.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The Athenian ephebi wore the broad-brimmed hat, together -with the scarf or chlamys<a id="FNanchor_627" href="#Footnote_627" class="fnanchor">[627]</a>. Meleager, in an epigram on a beautiful boy, -named Antiochus, says, that he would be undistinguishable -from Cupid, if Cupid wore a scarf and petasus instead of -his bow and arrows and his wings<a id="FNanchor_628" href="#Footnote_628" class="fnanchor">[628]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_627" href="#FNanchor_627" class="label">[627]</a> Pollux, <i>Onom.</i> x. 164; Philemon, p. 367. ed. Meineke; Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> vol. ii. -p. 41; Jacobs <i>in Athol. Græc.</i> i. l. p. 24.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_628" href="#FNanchor_628" class="label">[628]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> vol. i. p. 5.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>When a young Greek conquered in the games, his friends -sometimes bestowed a hat (<i>petasus</i>) upon him as a present<a id="FNanchor_629" href="#Footnote_629" class="fnanchor">[629]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_629" href="#FNanchor_629" class="label">[629]</a> Eratosthen. <i>a Bernhardy</i>, p. 249. 250.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In consequence of the use of the petasus as a part of the -ordinary costume of the Athenian youth, we find it in a great -variety of works of ancient art illustrative of the religion and -mythology of Greece. For example:—</p> - -<p>1. In the inner frieze of the Parthenon, the remains of which -are now in the British Museum, it is worn by many of the -riders on horseback. Figure 7, in <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate IX.</a> shows one of -these horsemen (from the slab No. 54.) with his petasus tied -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</span> -under his chin.</p> - -<p>2. It is worn by Theseus, as represented on a vase in the -Vatican collection. See Winckelmann, <i>Mon. Inediti</i>, vol. ii. -98, and Fig. 8, <a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a></p> - -<p>3. Also by Œdipus, as represented on one of Sir William -Hamilton’s vases (vol. ii. Plate 24.), standing before the sphinx.</p> - -<p>4. The coins of Ætolia exhibit Meleager wearing the petasus. -Five of these have been selected from the collection in the -British Museum, which are engraved according to the size of -the originals in <a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a> Figures 9, 10, and 11, are of silver. -In each of them the petasus has the form of a circular disc with -a boss at the top like that on a Scotch bonnet: on the reverse -is the Calydonian boar, with a spear head beneath it, and the -word ΑΙΤΩΛΩΝ. Figure 12, which is of gold<a id="FNanchor_630" href="#Footnote_630" class="fnanchor">[630]</a>, and Figure 13, -which is of silver, have the head of Hercules on the reverse. -The hero, supposed to be Meleager, wears a petasus, a scarf, and -boots, as we have seen to be the case with Endymion (Fig. 3), -this being the attire of hunters. In these two coins he also -holds a spear in his right hand, and is seated upon a shield -(see Fig. 13.) and other pieces of armor. ΑΙΤΩΛΩΝ is written -by the side. The gold coin (see Fig. 12.) represents him with -a Victory in his left hand, and with a small figure of Diana -Lucifera in front.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_630" href="#FNanchor_630" class="label">[630]</a> This is engraved by Taylor Combe, <i>Vet. Populorum Nunmi.</i> tab. v. No. 23.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The broad-brimmed hat, or petasus, was more especially worn -by the Greeks when they were travelling<a id="FNanchor_631" href="#Footnote_631" class="fnanchor">[631]</a>. Its appearance is -well shown in Fig. 14, taken from a fictile vase belonging to -the late Mr. Hope<a id="FNanchor_632" href="#Footnote_632" class="fnanchor">[632]</a>. It represents a Greek soldier on a journey, -wearing his large blanket, and holding two spears in his right -hand. This figure also shows one of the methods of fastening -on the hat, viz. by passing the string round the occiput.</p> - -<p>The comedies of Plautus, being translated from the Greek, -contain allusions to the same practice. In the Pseudolus (ii. 4. -55, and iv. 7. 90,) the petasus and the scarf are supposed to be -worn by a person to indicate that he was coming from a journey. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</span> -In the prologue to the Amphitryo, Mercury says,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ego has habebo hic usque in petaso pinnulas,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tum meo patri autem torulus inerit aureus</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sub petaso: id signum Amphitruoni non erit.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_631" href="#FNanchor_631" class="label">[631]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> ii. 170, No. 5.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_632" href="#FNanchor_632" class="label">[632]</a> Hope, <i>Costume of the Ancients</i>, vol. i. pl. 71.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Mercury and his father Jupiter are here supposed to be attired -like Sosia and Amphitryo his master, both of whom had been -travelling and were returning home. At the same time there -is an allusion to the winged hat of Mercury, of which more -hereafter. Again, in act i. scene i. l. 287, the petasus is -attributed to Sosia, because he is supposed to be coming from a -journey; and to Mercury, both because it was commonly -attributed to him, and because on this occasion he was personating -Sosia.</p> - -<p>The Romans were less addicted to the use of the petasus -than the Greeks: they often wore it when they were from -home; but that they did not consider it at all necessary to wear -hats in the open air is manifest from the remark of Suetonius -about the Emperor Augustus, that he could not even bear the -winter’s sun, and hence “domi quoque non nisi petatasus sub -divo spatiabatur.” (<i>August.</i> 82.) Caligula permitted the -senators to wear them at the theatres as a protection from the -sun (Dio. Cass. lix. 7. p. 909, ed. Reimari). What was meant -by wearing hats “according to the Thessalian fashion” is by no -means clear. Perhaps the Thessalians may have worn hats -resembling those of their neighbors, the Macedonians, and of -the shape of these we may form some conception from the coins -of the Macedonian kings. One of these coins from the collection -in the British Museum is copied in <a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a> Fig. 15. -It is a coin of the reign of Alexander I. and exhibits a Macedonian -warrior standing by the side of his horse, holding two -spears in his left hand, and wearing a hat with a broad brim -turned upwards. This Macedonian petasus is called the -<i>Causia</i> (καυσία)<a id="FNanchor_633" href="#Footnote_633" class="fnanchor">[633]</a>, and was adopted by the Romans<a id="FNanchor_634" href="#Footnote_634" class="fnanchor">[634]</a>, and more -especially by the Emperor Caracalla, who, as Herodian states, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</span> -aimed to imitate Alexander the Great in his costume. It -appears probable, nevertheless, that the turning up of the brim -was not peculiar to the Macedonians, and it may have depended -altogether on accident or fancy; for we find instances of it on -painted fictile vases, where there is no reason to suppose that -any reference was intended either to Macedonia or Thessaly. -Fig. 16. <a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a> for example, is taken from the head of -Bellerophon, on one of Sir William Hamilton’s vases<a id="FNanchor_635" href="#Footnote_635" class="fnanchor">[635]</a>; and the -left-hand figure from a fictile vase at Vienna, engraved by -Ginzrot<a id="FNanchor_636" href="#Footnote_636" class="fnanchor">[636]</a>. This hat is remarkable for the boss at the top, which -we observe also on the Ætolian coins, and in various other -examples.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_633" href="#FNanchor_633" class="label">[633]</a> Val. Max. v. 1. <i>Extem.</i> 4. Pausan., <i>ap. Eustath. in Il.</i> ii. 121. It is to be -observed, that the <i>causia</i> and <i>petasus</i> are opposed to one another by a writer in -Athenæus (L. xii. 537, e), as if the <i>causia</i> was not a petasus!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_634" href="#FNanchor_634" class="label">[634]</a> Plautus, <i>Mil.</i> iv. 4. 42. <i>Pers.</i> i. 3. 75. Antip. Thess. in <i>Brunck Anal.</i> ii. 111.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_635" href="#FNanchor_635" class="label">[635]</a> Vol. i. pl. 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_636" href="#FNanchor_636" class="label">[636]</a> <i>Uber die Wägen und Fuhrwerke der Alten</i>, vol. i. p. 342.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In connection with the above quoted expression of Dio Cassius -it may be observed further, that besides the <i>causia</i> two -varieties of the petasus seem to be alluded to by several ancient -authors, viz. the Thessalian, and the Arcadian or Laconian. -How they were distinguished, cannot be ascertained, but the -passages which mention them will now be produced, that the -reader may judge for himself. The Thessalian variety is -mentioned by Dio Cassius, by Theophrastus, as above quoted -(p. 427), and by Callimachus in the following fragment, which -is preserved in the Scholia on Sophocles, <i>Œd. Col.</i> 316.</p> - -<p>And about his head lay a felt, newly come from Thessaly, as -a protection from wet.—<i>Frag.</i> 124. <i>ed.</i> Ernesti.</p> - -<p>The frenzied Cynic philosopher Menedemus, among other peculiarities, -wore an Arcadian hat, HAVING THE TWELVE -SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC WOVEN INTO IT<a id="FNanchor_637" href="#Footnote_637" class="fnanchor">[637]</a>! Ammianus -(Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> ii. 384.) represents an orator dedicating -“an Arcadian hat” to Mercury, who was the patron of his art, -and also a native of Arcadia.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_637" href="#FNanchor_637" class="label">[637]</a> Diog. Laërt. vi. 102. See Gilroy’s Treatise on the <i>Art of Weaving</i>, American -edition, p. 446.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Herodes Atticus wore “the Arcadian hat” at Athens, as a -protection from the sun; and the language of Philostratus, in -recording the fact, shows that the Athenians of his time commonly -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</span> -wore it, more especially in travelling<a id="FNanchor_638" href="#Footnote_638" class="fnanchor">[638]</a>. Arrian, who -wrote about the middle of the second century, says, that “Laconian -or Arcadian hats,” were worn in the army by the peltastæ -instead of helmets<a id="FNanchor_639" href="#Footnote_639" class="fnanchor">[639]</a>. This circumstance shows a remarkable -change of customs; for in the early Greek history we find -the Persian soldiers held up as the objects of ridicule and contempt, -because they wore hats and trowsers<a id="FNanchor_640" href="#Footnote_640" class="fnanchor">[640]</a>. On the whole, it -is very evident that “the Arcadian or Laconian hat” was one -and the same variety, and that this variety of head-dress was -simply the petasus, or hat with a brim, so called to distinguish -it from the proper πῖλος, which was the skull-cap, or hat without -a brim.</p> - -<p>This supposition suits the representations of the only imaginary -beings who are exhibited in works of ancient art wearing -the petasus, viz. the Dioscuri and Mercury.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_638" href="#FNanchor_638" class="label">[638]</a> <i>Vit. Sophist.</i> ii. 5. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_639" href="#FNanchor_639" class="label">[639]</a> <i>Tactica</i>, p. 12. ed. Blancardi.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_640" href="#FNanchor_640" class="label">[640]</a> <i>Herod.</i> v. 49.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It has been already observed that the Dioscuri are commonly -represented with the skull-cap, because they were worshipped, -as the reader will have perceived, as the guardians of the mariner<a id="FNanchor_641" href="#Footnote_641" class="fnanchor">[641]</a>; -but on ancient vases we find them sometimes painted -with the petasus; and if this was the same with the πῖλος Λακωνικὸς, -it would coincide with their origin as natives of Sparta. In -<a href="#Plate_IX">Plate IX.</a> Fig. 16, an example is shown, on one of Sir William -Hamilton’s vases, in which their attire resembles that of -the Athenian ephebi. They wear boots and a tunic, over -which one of them also wears the scarf or chlamys. They -are conducted by the goddess Night.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_641" href="#FNanchor_641" class="label">[641]</a> See <a href="#Page_419">p. 419.</a></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In like manner Mercury, as a native of Arcadia, might be -expected to wear “the Arcadian hat.” In the representations -of this deity on works of ancient art, the hat, which is often -decorated with wings to indicate his office of messenger, as his -talaria also did<a id="FNanchor_642" href="#Footnote_642" class="fnanchor">[642]</a>, has a great variety of forms, and sometimes -the brim is so narrow, that it does not differ from the cap of the -artificer already described, or the πῖλος in its ordinary form. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</span> -These hats, with a brim of but small dimensions, agree most -exactly in appearance with the cheapest hats of undyed felt, -now made in the United States and Great Britain<a id="FNanchor_643" href="#Footnote_643" class="fnanchor">[643]</a>. On the -heads of the rustics and artificers in our streets and lanes -we often see forms the exact counterpart of those which we -most admire in the works of ancient art. The petasus is also -still commonly worn by agricultural laborers in Greece and Asia -Minor.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_642" href="#FNanchor_642" class="label">[642]</a> Servius (on <i>Virg. Æn.</i> viii. 138) says, that Mercury was supposed to have -wings on his petasus and on his feet, in order to denote the swiftness of speech, -he being the god of eloquence.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_643" href="#FNanchor_643" class="label">[643]</a> These hats are sold in the shops for sixpence, ninepence, or a shilling each.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>A bas-relief in the Vatican collection<a id="FNanchor_644" href="#Footnote_644" class="fnanchor">[644]</a>, represents the birth of -Hercules, and contains two figures of Mercury. In one he carries -the infant Hercules, in the other the caduceus. In both he -wears a large scarf, and a skull-cap, like that of Dædalus<a id="FNanchor_645" href="#Footnote_645" class="fnanchor">[645]</a>, -without a brim. This example therefore proves that, although -the petasus, as distinguished from the pileus, was certainly the -appropriate attribute of Mercury<a id="FNanchor_646" href="#Footnote_646" class="fnanchor">[646]</a>, yet the artists of antiquity -sometimes took the liberty of placing on his head the skull-cap -instead of the hat, just as we have seen that they sometimes -made the reverse substitution in the case of the Dioscuri.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_644" href="#FNanchor_644" class="label">[644]</a> <i>Museo Pio-Clementino</i>, tom. iv. tav. 37.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_645" href="#FNanchor_645" class="label">[645]</a> See <a href="#Plate_VIII">Plate VIII.</a> Fig. 8.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_646" href="#FNanchor_646" class="label">[646]</a> See Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> ii. 41, and Arnobius, <i>Adv. Gentes</i>, lib. vi. See also Ephippus, -<i>ap. Athen.</i> xii. 53. p. 537 F. Casaub.</p> - -<p>It is remarkable that the person who acted the part of a Silenus in the Dionysiac -procession instituted by Ptolemy Philadelphus at Alexandria, wore a hat and -a golden caduceus (<i>Athen.</i> v. 27. p. 198 A.). In this case the imagination appears -to have been indulged in decorating a mere festive character with the peculiar -attributes of Mercury. It is added, that various kinds of chariots were driven -by “boys wearing the tunics of charioteers and petasi” (<i>Athen.</i> v. p. 200 F.). This -would be in character, being agreeable to the custom of the Grecian youth.</p> - -<p>The following is from a sepulchral urn found near Padua (<i>Gruter.</i> <i>p.</i> 297):</p> - -<p>Abite hinc, pessimi fures, * * * vestro cum Mercurio petasato caduceatoque.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Another bas-relief in the Vatican<a id="FNanchor_647" href="#Footnote_647" class="fnanchor">[647]</a>, represents the story of -the birth of Bacchus <i>from Jupiter’s thigh</i>. Thus the subject -of it is very similar to that, which relates to the birth of Hercules, -the infant being in each instance consigned to the care -of Mercury. But the covering of Mercury’s head in these two -cases is remarkably different, though from no other reason than -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</span> -the fancy of the artist. In the bas-relief now under consideration, -Mercury holds the skin of a lynx or panther to receive -the child. He wears the scarf or chlamys and cothumi. This -was a very favorite subject with the ancients. It occurs on a -superb marble vase with the inscription ΣΑΛΠΙΩΝ ΕΠΟΙΗΣΕ<a id="FNanchor_648" href="#Footnote_648" class="fnanchor">[648]</a>, -and on one of Sir W. Hamilton’s fictile vases<a id="FNanchor_649" href="#Footnote_649" class="fnanchor">[649]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_647" href="#FNanchor_647" class="label">[647]</a> <i>Museo Pio-Clementino</i>, tom. iv. tav. 19.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_648" href="#FNanchor_648" class="label">[648]</a> Spon., <i>Misc. Erud. Ant.</i> § xi. art. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_649" href="#FNanchor_649" class="label">[649]</a> Vol. i. No. 8.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Figure 4. in <a href="#Plate_X">Plate X.</a> is from Hope’s <i>Costume of the Ancients</i>, -vol. ii. pl. 175. The money-bag is in Mercury’s right -hand.</p> - -<p>In a painting found at Pompeii<a id="FNanchor_650" href="#Footnote_650" class="fnanchor">[650]</a>, Mercury is represented -with wings (<i>pinnulæ</i>) on his petasus, though not very ancient, -is also recognized in the Amphitryo of Plautus.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_650" href="#FNanchor_650" class="label">[650]</a> Gell’s <i>Pompeiana</i>, London 1819, pl. 76.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Figure 5. in <a href="#Plate_X">Plate X.</a> is from the Marquis of Lansdowne’s -marble bust, published by the Dilettanti Society<a id="FNanchor_651" href="#Footnote_651" class="fnanchor">[651]</a>. In this -beautiful bust the brim of the hat is unfortunately damaged.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_651" href="#FNanchor_651" class="label">[651]</a> <i>Specimens of Ancient Sculpture</i>, London 1809, pl. 51.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Figures 6 and 7, <a href="#Plate_X">Plate X.</a>, are from coins engraved in Carelli’s -<i>Nummi Veteris Italiæ</i> (plates 58 and 65). Figure 7 is -a coin of Suessa in Campania.</p> - -<p>To these illustrations might have been added others from ancient -gems, good examples of which may be found in the second -volume of Mariette’s <i>Traité des Pierres Gravées</i>, folio, -Paris, 1750.</p> - -<p>Besides the application of felt as a covering of the head for -the male sex in the manner now explained, it was also used as -<i>a lining for helmets</i>. When in the description of the helmet -worn by Ulysses we read</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Μέσσῃ δ’ ἐνὶ πῖλος ἀρήρει<a id="FNanchor_652" href="#Footnote_652" class="fnanchor">[652]</a>,</p> -</div> - -<p>we may suppose πῖλος to be used in its most ordinary sense, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</span> -consequently that the interior of the helmet was a common -skull-cap.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Plate_9">[Plate IX]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp47" id="Plate_IX" style="max-width: 100em;"> - <div class="caption"> - <p class="right">PLATE IX.</p> - </div> - <img class="w100" src="images/plate_ix.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_652" href="#FNanchor_652" class="label">[652]</a> -Homer, <i>Il.</i> x. 265. Eustathius, in his commentary on this passage, says, that -the most ancient Greeks always wore felt in their helmets, but that those of more -recent times, regarding this use of felt as peculiar to Ulysses, persuaded the painters -to exhibit him in a skull-cap, and that this was <i>first</i> done, according to the -tradition, by the painter <i>Apollidorus</i>. The account of Pliny, who, together with -Servius (<i>in Æn.</i> ii. 44), represents Nicomachus, and not Apollidorus, as having -first adopted this idea.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Being generally thicker than common cloth, felt presented a -more effectual obstacle to missile weapons. Hence, when the -soldiers under Julius Cæsar were much annoyed by Pompey’s -archers, they made shirts or other coverings of felt, and put -them on for their defence<a id="FNanchor_653" href="#Footnote_653" class="fnanchor">[653]</a>. Thucydides refers to the use of -similar means to protect the body from arrows<a id="FNanchor_654" href="#Footnote_654" class="fnanchor">[654]</a>; and even -in besieging and defending cities felt was used, together with -hides and sackcloth, to cover the wooden towers and military -engines<a id="FNanchor_655" href="#Footnote_655" class="fnanchor">[655]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_653" href="#FNanchor_653" class="label">[653]</a> Jul. Cæsar, <i>Bell. Civ.</i> iii. 44.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_654" href="#FNanchor_654" class="label">[654]</a> Thucyd. iv. 34. Schol. <i>ad loc.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_655" href="#FNanchor_655" class="label">[655]</a> Æneas Tacticus, 33.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Felt was also sometimes used to cover the bodies of quadrupeds. -According to Aristotle<a id="FNanchor_656" href="#Footnote_656" class="fnanchor">[656]</a>, the Greeks clothed their <i>molles -oves</i> either with skins or with pieces of felt; and the wool became -gray in consequence. The Persians used the same material -for the trappings of their horses (Plutarch, <i>Artax.</i> II. p. -1858. ed. Stephani).</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_656" href="#FNanchor_656" class="label">[656]</a> <i>De Gen. Animalium</i>, v. 5. p. 157. ed. Bekker.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The loose rude coverings for the feet called <i>Udones</i> were -sometimes made of felt, being worn within the shoes or brogues -of the rustic laborers<a id="FNanchor_657" href="#Footnote_657" class="fnanchor">[657]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_657" href="#FNanchor_657" class="label">[657]</a> Hesiod, <i>Op. ed Dies</i>, 542; Grævius, <i>ad loc.</i>; Cratini, <i>Fragmenta</i>, p. 29. ed. -Runkel.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In concluding this investigation it may be proper to observe, -that, although πῖλος originally meant <i>felt</i>, and more especially -a skull-cap made of that manufacture, it was sometimes used, -at least by the later Greek authors, by an extension of its -meaning, to denote a cap of any other material. Thus Athenæus -(lib. vi. p. 274. Casaub.) speaking of the Romans, says, -that they wore about their heads πίλους προβατείων δερμάτων δασεῖς, <i>i. e.</i> -“thick caps made of sheep skins.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Appendix_D">APPENDIX D.<br /> -<small>ON NETTING.</small></h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="h3sub">MANUFACTURE AND USE OF NETS BY THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS -OF THE SCRIPTURES, ETC.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="hanging2">Nets were made of Flax, Hemp, and Broom—General terms for nets—Nets used -for catching birds—Mode of snaring—Hunting-nets—Method of hunting—Hunting-nets -supported by forked stakes—Manner of fixing them—Purse-net -or tunnel-net—Homer’s testimony—Nets used by the Persians in lion-hunting—Hunting -with nets practised by the ancient Egyptians—Method of hunting—Depth -of nets for this purpose—Description of the purse-net—Road-net—Hallier—Dyed -feathers used to scare the prey—Casting-net—Manner of throwing -by the Arabs—Cyrus king of Persia—His fable of the piper and the fishes—Fishing-nets—Casting-net -used by the Apostles—Landing-net (Scap-net)—The -Sean—Its length and depth—Modern use of the Sean—Method of fishing -with the Sean practised by the Arabians and ancient Egyptians—Corks and -leads—Figurative application of the Sean—Curious method of capturing an -enemy practised by the Persians—Nets used in India to catch tortoises—Bag-nets and -small purse-nets—Novel scent-bag of Verres the Sicilian prætor.</p> -</div> - -<p>The raw materials, of which the ancients made nets, were -flax, hemp<a id="FNanchor_658" href="#Footnote_658" class="fnanchor">[658]</a>, and broom<a id="FNanchor_659" href="#Footnote_659" class="fnanchor">[659]</a>. Flax was most commonly used; so -that Jerome, when he is prescribing employment for monks, -says, “Texantur et <i>lina</i> capiendis piscibus<a id="FNanchor_660" href="#Footnote_660" class="fnanchor">[660]</a>.” The operation -of netting, as well as that of platting, was expressed by the -verb πλέκειν<a id="FNanchor_661" href="#Footnote_661" class="fnanchor">[661]</a>. The meshes were called in Latin <i>maculæ</i><a id="FNanchor_662" href="#Footnote_662" class="fnanchor">[662]</a>, in -Greek βρόχοι, <i>dim.</i> βροχίδες<a id="FNanchor_663" href="#Footnote_663" class="fnanchor">[663]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_658" href="#FNanchor_658" class="label">[658]</a> Rete cannabina. Varro, <i>De Re Rust.</i> iii. 5. p. 216, ed. Bipont.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_659" href="#FNanchor_659" class="label">[659]</a> Pliny, H. N. xix. 1. s. 2; xxiv. 9. s. 40.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_660" href="#FNanchor_660" class="label">[660]</a> Hieron. <i>Epist.</i> l. ii. p. 173, ed. Par. 1613, 12mo. Hunting-nets are called -“lina nodosa” by Ovid, <i>Met.</i> iii. 153, and vii. 807. Compare Virg. <i>Georg</i>, i. 142; -Homer, <i>Il.</i> v. 487; Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> ii. 94, 494, 495; Artimedorus, ii. 14. See -also Pliny, H. N. xix. 1. s. 2.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_661" href="#FNanchor_661" class="label">[661]</a> Πλεξάμενος ἄρκυς, Aristoph. <i>Lysist.</i> 790. Τῶν πεπλεγμένων δίκτυων, Bokkeri -<i>Anecdota</i>, vol. i. p. 354.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_662" href="#FNanchor_662" class="label">[662]</a> Varro, <i>De Re Rust.</i> iii. 11; Ovid, <i>Epist.</i> v. 19; Nemesiani Cyneg. 302.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_663" href="#FNanchor_663" class="label">[663]</a> Heliodor. l. v. p. 231, ed. Commelini.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</span> -The use of all the Latin and Greek terms for nets will now -be explained, and in connection with this explanation of terms, -will be produced all the facts which can be ascertained upon -the subject.</p> - -<h4>I.<br /> -<span class="smcap">Retis</span> and <span class="smcap">Rete</span>; <i>dim.</i> <span class="smcap">Reticulum</span>.<br /> - ΔΙΚΤΥΟΝ<a id="FNanchor_664" href="#Footnote_664" class="fnanchor">[664]</a>. -</h4> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_664" href="#FNanchor_664" class="label">[664]</a> From δικεῖν, <i>to throw</i>. See Eurip. <i>Bacc.</i> 600, and the Lexicons of Schneider -and Passow.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><i>Retis</i> or <i>Rete</i> in Latin, and δίκτυον in Greek, were used to denote -nets in general. Thus in an epigram of Leonidas Tarentinus<a id="FNanchor_665" href="#Footnote_665" class="fnanchor">[665]</a>, -three brothers, one of whom was a hunter, another a fowler, -and the third a fisherman, dedicate their nets to Pan. Several -imitations of this epigram remain by Alexander Ætolus<a id="FNanchor_666" href="#Footnote_666" class="fnanchor">[666]</a>, -Antipater Sidonius<a id="FNanchor_667" href="#Footnote_667" class="fnanchor">[667]</a>, Archias<a id="FNanchor_668" href="#Footnote_668" class="fnanchor">[668]</a>, and others<a id="FNanchor_669" href="#Footnote_669" class="fnanchor">[669]</a>. In one of these -epigrams (Ἰουλιάνου Αἰγυπτίου) we find λίνα adopted as a general -term for nets instead of δίκτυα, no doubt for the reason above -stated. In another epigram<a id="FNanchor_670" href="#Footnote_670" class="fnanchor">[670]</a> a hare is said to have been caught -in a net (δίκτυον). Aristophanes mentions nets by the same -denomination among the contrivances employed by the fowler<a id="FNanchor_671" href="#Footnote_671" class="fnanchor">[671]</a>. -Fishing-nets are called δίκτυα -in the following passages of the -New Testament: Matt. iv. 20, 21; Mark i. 18, 19; Luke v. -2, 4-6; John xxi. 6, 8, 11: also by Theocritus, <i>ap. Athen.</i> -vii. 20. p. 284, Cas.; and by Plato, <i>Sophista</i>, 220, <i>b.</i> p. 134, -ed. Bekker.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_665" href="#FNanchor_665" class="label">[665]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> i. 225.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_666" href="#FNanchor_666" class="label">[666]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> i. 418. Alexandri Ætoli <i>Fragmenta</i>, a Capelmann, p. 50.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_667" href="#FNanchor_667" class="label">[667]</a> <i>Ibid.</i> ii. 9, Nos. 15, 16.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_668" href="#FNanchor_668" class="label">[668]</a> <i>Ibid.</i> ii. 94, No. 9.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_669" href="#FNanchor_669" class="label">[669]</a> <i>Ibid.</i> ii. 494, 495. Jacobs, <i>Anthol.</i> vol. i. p. 188, 189.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_670" href="#FNanchor_670" class="label">[670]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> iii. 239, No 417.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_671" href="#FNanchor_671" class="label">[671]</a> <i>Aves</i>, 526-528.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Netting was applied in various ways in the construction of -<i>hen-coops</i> and aviaries; and such net-work is called <i>rete</i><a id="FNanchor_672" href="#Footnote_672" class="fnanchor">[672]</a>. It -was used to make pens for sheep by night. At the amphitheatres -it was sometimes placed over the podium. At a gladiatorial -show given by Nero, the net, thus used as a fence against -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</span> -the wild beasts, was knotted <i>with amber</i><a id="FNanchor_673" href="#Footnote_673" class="fnanchor">[673]</a>. The way in -which the net was used by the <i>Retiarii</i> is well known. The -head-dress called κεκρύφαλος, was a small net of fine flax, silk, or -gold thread, and was also called <i>reticulum</i><a id="FNanchor_674" href="#Footnote_674" class="fnanchor">[674]</a>. But by far the -most important application of net-work was to the kindred arts -of hunting and fishing: and besides the general terms used -alike in reference to both these employments, there are special -terms to be explained under each head.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_672" href="#FNanchor_672" class="label">[672]</a> Varro, <i>De Re Rust.</i> iii. 5.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_673" href="#FNanchor_673" class="label">[673]</a> Plin. H. N. xxxvii. 3. s. 11.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_674" href="#FNanchor_674" class="label">[674]</a> Nonius Marcellus, p. 542, ed. Merceri. See also the article <span class="smcap">Calantica</span>, in -Smith’s <i>Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities</i>.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The use of nets for catching birds was very limited, on -which account we find no appropriate name for fowlers’ nets<a id="FNanchor_675" href="#Footnote_675" class="fnanchor">[675]</a>. -Nevertheless thrushes were caught in them<a id="FNanchor_676" href="#Footnote_676" class="fnanchor">[676]</a>, and doves or -pigeons, with their limbs tied up, or fastened to the ground, or -with their eyes covered or put out, were confined in a net in -order that their cries might allure others into the snare<a id="FNanchor_677" href="#Footnote_677" class="fnanchor">[677]</a>. An -account of the nets used by the Egyptians to catch birds is -given by Sir Gardner Wilkinson<a id="FNanchor_678" href="#Footnote_678" class="fnanchor">[678]</a>, being derived from the -paintings found in the catacombs. The net commonly employed -for the purpose was the clap-net. Bird-traps were also -made by stretching a net over two semicircular frames, which, -being joined and laid open, approached to the form of a circle. -The trap was baited, and when a bird flew to it and seized the -bait, it was instantly caught by the sudden rising of the two -sides or flaps.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_675" href="#FNanchor_675" class="label">[675]</a> See Aristophanes, <i>l. c.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_676" href="#FNanchor_676" class="label">[676]</a> Hor. <i>Epod.</i> ii. 33, 34.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_677" href="#FNanchor_677" class="label">[677]</a> Aristoph. <i>Aves</i>, 1083.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_678" href="#FNanchor_678" class="label">[678]</a> <i>Man. and Customs</i>, vol. iii. p. 35-38, 45.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<h4>II.<br /> -<span class="smcap">Cassis; Plaga</span>.<br /> - ΕΝΟΔΙΟΝ, ΑΡΚΥΣ.</h4> - -<p>In hunting it was usual to extend nets in a curved line of -considerable length<a id="FNanchor_679" href="#Footnote_679" class="fnanchor">[679]</a>, so as in part to surround a space, into -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</span> -which the beasts of chase, such as the boar, the wild goat, the -deer, the hare, the lion, and the bear might be driven through -the opening left on one side. Tibullus (iv. 3. 12) speaks of -inclosing woody hills for this purpose:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent8">... densos indagine colles</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Claudentem.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_679" href="#FNanchor_679" class="label">[679]</a> Τὰ δίκτυα περιβάλλουσι. Ælian, H. A. xii. 46. Uno portante multitudinem, -qua saltus cingerentur. Plin. H. N. xix. l. s. 2. Oppian (<i>Cyneg.</i> iv. 120-123) -says, that in an Asiatic lion-hunt the nets (ἄρκυες) were placed in the form of the -new moon.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The following lines of Virgil show, that the animals were -driven into the toils from a distance by the barking of dogs and -the shouts of men:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thy hound the wild-ass in the sylvan chase,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or hare, or hart, with faithful speed will trace;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Assail the muddy cave with eager cries,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the rough boar in secret ambush lies;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Press the tall stag with clamors echoing shrill</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To secret toils, along the aërial hill.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">Georg. iii. 411-413.—<i>Warton’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In another splendid passage the boar is described as coming into -the midst of the nets after he has been driven to them from a -mountain or a marsh at a great distance:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And as a savage boar on mountains bred,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With forest mast and fattening marshes fed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When once he sees himself in toils inclosed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By huntsmen and their eager hounds opposed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He whets his tusks, and turns and dares the war:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The invaders dart their javelins from afar:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All keep aloof and safely shout around,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But none presumes to give a nearer wound.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He frets and froths, erects his bristled hide,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And shakes a grove of lances from his side.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Æn.</i> x. 707-715.—<i>Dryden’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Even in a case where the same poet introduces an equivalent -expression to that of Tibullus, already quoted, viz. “saltus -indagine cingunt” (<i>Æn.</i> iv. 121), he represents the hunting-party -as going over a large extent of country to collect the -animals out of it:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Postquam altos ventum in montes atque invia lustra,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ecce feræ saxi dejectæ vertice capræ</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Decurrere jugis; alia de parte patentes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Transmittunt cursu campos, atque agmina cervi</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pulverulenta fuga glomerant, montesque relinquunt.</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">At puer Ascanius mediis in vallibus acri</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gaudet equo, jamque hos cursu, jam præterit illos,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Spumantemque dari pecora inter inertia votis</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Optat aprum, aut fulvum descendere monte leonem.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Æn.</i> iv. 151-159.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>So Ovid (<i>Epist.</i> iv. 41, 42):</p> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In nemus ire libet, pressisque in retia cervis,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hortari celeres per juga summa canes;</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>and (<i>Epist.</i> v. 19, 20):</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Retia sæpe comes maculis distincta tetendi,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sæpe citos egi per juga longa canes.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The <i>younger</i> Pliny describes himself on one occasion sitting -beside the nets, while the hunters were pursuing the boars and -driving them into the snare (<i>Epist.</i> i. 6). In Euripides (<i>Bacc.</i> -821-832) we find the following beautiful description of a fawn, -which has been driven into the space inclosed by the nets, but -has leaped over them and escaped:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent8">ὡς νεβρὸς χλοεραῖς</div> - <div class="verse indent0">ἐμπαίζουσα λείμακος ἡ-</div> - <div class="verse indent0">δοναῖς, ἡνίκ’ ἂν φοβερὸν φύγῃ</div> - <div class="verse indent0">θήραμ’ ἔξω φυλακᾶς</div> - <div class="verse indent0">εὐπλέκτων ὑπὲρ ἀρκύων, &c.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Here a Bacchanal, tossing her head into the air with gambols -and dancing, is said to be “like a fawn sporting in the green -delights of a meadow, when she has escaped the fearful chase -by leaping over the well-platted nets so as to be out of the -inclosure, whilst the shouting hunter has been urging his dogs -to run still more swiftly: by great efforts and with the rapidity -of the winds she bounds over a plain beside a river, pleased -with solitudes remote from man, and hides herself in the thickets -of an umbrageous forest.”</p> - -<p>If hollows or valleys were inclosed<a id="FNanchor_680" href="#Footnote_680" class="fnanchor">[680]</a>, the nets were no doubt -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</span> -extended only in those openings, through which it was possible -for the animals to escape. Also a river was of itself a sufficient -boundary:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Inclusum flumine cervum.—Virg. <i>Æn.</i> xii. 749.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_680" href="#FNanchor_680" class="label">[680]</a></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nec, velit insidiis altassi claudere valles,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dum placeas, humeri retia ferre negent.—Tibullus, i. 4. 49, 50.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It was the duty of the attendants (J. Pollux, v. 4. 27-31) in most cases to carry -the nets on their shoulders, agreeably to the representation in the <a href="#Plate_X">Plate X</a>. -Pliny, <i>l. c.</i></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - <p>Cassibus impositos venor.—Propert. iv. 2. 32.</p> - </div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent26">... alius raras</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cervice gravi portare plagas.—Sen. <i>Hippol.</i> i. l. 44.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The proper Latin term for the hunting-net, but more especially -for the purse-net, which will be hereafter described, was -<span class="smcap">Cassis</span>. “Cassis, genus venatorii retis.” Isidori Hispalensis -<i>Orig.</i> xix. 5. “Arctos rodere casses” is applied by Persius (v. -170) to a quadruped with incisor teeth caught in such a net -and striving to escape. See also Propertius as just quoted, and -the <i>Agamemnon</i> of Seneca and Virgil’s <i>Georgics</i> as quoted -below. <i>Cassis</i> seems to be derived from the root of <i>capere</i> -and <i>catch</i>. But <span class="smcap">Plaga</span> was also applied to hunting-nets, so -that Horace describes the hunting of the boar in the following -terms:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Aut trudit acres hinc et hinc multa cane</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Apros in obstantes plagas.—<i>Epod.</i> ii. 31, 32.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Lucretius (lib. v. 1251, 1252) aptly compares the setting up of -the <i>plagæ</i> to the planting of a hedge around the forest:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nam fovea atque igni prius est venarier ortum,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quam sæpire plagis saltum, canibusque ciere.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the same manner <i>plagæ</i> is used in the <i>Hippolytus</i> of Seneca, -as above quoted, and in Pliny<a id="FNanchor_681" href="#Footnote_681" class="fnanchor">[681]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_681" href="#FNanchor_681" class="label">[681]</a> H. N. xix. 1. s. 2.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>To dispose the nets in the manner which has been described, -was called “retia ponere” (Virg. <i>Georg.</i> i. 307) or “retia tendere” -(Ovid, <i>Art. Amat.</i> i. 45).</p> - -<p>In Homer a hunting-net is called λίνον πάναγρον, literally, “the -flax that catches everything<a id="FNanchor_682" href="#Footnote_682" class="fnanchor">[682]</a>.” But the proper Greek term for -the hunting-net, corresponding to the Latin <i>cassis</i>, was ἄρκυς, -which is accordingly employed in the passages of Oppian and -Euripides cited above. Also the epigram of Antipater Sidonius, -to which a reference has already been made, specifies the -hunting-net by the same appellation:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Δᾶμις μὲν θηρῶν ἄρκυν ὀρειονόμων.</p> -</div> - -<p>The word is used in the same sense by Cratinus<a id="FNanchor_683" href="#Footnote_683" class="fnanchor">[683]</a>; also by Arrian, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</span> -where he remarks that the Celts dispensed with the use of -nets in hunting, because they trusted to the swiftness of their -greyhounds<a id="FNanchor_684" href="#Footnote_684" class="fnanchor">[684]</a>. In Euripides<a id="FNanchor_685" href="#Footnote_685" class="fnanchor">[685]</a> it is used metaphorically: the children -cry out, when their mother is pursuing them,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Ὡς ἐγγὺς ἤδη γ’ ἐσμέν ἀρκύων ζίφους,</p> - -<p><i>i. e.</i> “Now how near we are being caught with the sword.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_682" href="#FNanchor_682" class="label">[682]</a> <i>Il.</i> v. 487.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_683" href="#FNanchor_683" class="label">[683]</a> Cratini <i>Fragmenta</i>, a Runkel, p. 28.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_684" href="#FNanchor_684" class="label">[684]</a> Καί εἰσὶν αἱ κύνες αὗται, ὅ τι περ αἱ ἄρκυς Ξενοφῶντι ἐκείνῳ, <i>i. e.</i> “And here greyhounds -answered the same purpose as Xenophon’s hunting-nets.” <i>De Venat.</i> -ii. 21. See Dansey’s translation, pp. 72, 121.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_685" href="#FNanchor_685" class="label">[685]</a> <i>Medea</i>, 1268.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Also in the <i>Agamemnon</i> of Æschylus (l. 1085):</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἡ δίκτυον τί γ’ Αἴδου;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">ἀλλ’ ἄρκυς ἡ ζύνευνος, ἡ ζυναιτία</div> - <div class="verse indent0">φόνου.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In this passage reference is made to the large shawl in which -Clytemnestra wrapt the body of Agamemnon, as in a net, in -order to destroy him. On account of the use made of it, the -same fatal garment is afterwards (l. 1353) compared to a casting-net, -which in its form bore a considerable resemblance to -the <i>cassis</i>. In l. 1346, ἀρκύστατα<a id="FNanchor_686" href="#Footnote_686" class="fnanchor">[686]</a> denotes this net as set up -for hunting. The same form occurs again in the <i>Eumenides</i> -(l. 112); and in the <i>Persæ</i> (102-104) escape from danger is in -nearly the same terms expressed by the notion of overleaping -the net. In Euripides<a id="FNanchor_687" href="#Footnote_687" class="fnanchor">[687]</a> this contrivance is called ἀρκύστατος μηχανὴ; -and in the <i>Agamemnon</i> of Seneca<a id="FNanchor_688" href="#Footnote_688" class="fnanchor">[688]</a> the same allusion is introduced:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At ille, ut altis hispidus silvis aper;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cum, casse vinctus, tentat egressus tamen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Arctatque motu vincla, et incassum furit,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cupit, fluentes undique et cæcos sinus</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Disjicere, et hostem quærit implicitus suum.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_686" href="#FNanchor_686" class="label">[686]</a> Or, ἀρκύστατον, ed. Schütz. l. 1376.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_687" href="#FNanchor_687" class="label">[687]</a> <i>Orestes</i>, 1405, s. 1421.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_688" href="#FNanchor_688" class="label">[688]</a> L. 886-890.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Part of the apparatus of a huntsman consisted in the stakes -which he drove into the ground to support his nets, and which -Antipater Sidonius thus describes:</p> -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Καὶ πυρὶ θηγαλέους ὀξυπαγεῖς στάλικας;</p> - -<p><i>i. e.</i> “The sharp stakes hardened in the fire<a id="FNanchor_689" href="#Footnote_689" class="fnanchor">[689]</a>.”</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</span></p> - -<p>The term which Xenophon uses of the stakes is, according -to some manuscripts of his work, σχαλίδες. He says, they -should be fixed so as to lean backwards, and thus more effectually -to resist the impulse of the animals rushing against -them<a id="FNanchor_690" href="#Footnote_690" class="fnanchor">[690]</a>. The Latin term answering to στάλικες was <span class="smcap">Vari</span>. We -find it thus used by Lucan:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Aut, cum dispositis adtollat retia varis</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Venator, tenet ora levis clamosa Molossi.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Pharsalia</i>, iv. 439, 440.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><i>i. e.</i> “The hunter holds the noisy mouth of the light Molossian dog, when he -lifts up the nets to the stakes arranged in order.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_689" href="#FNanchor_689" class="label">[689]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> ii. 10. We find στάλικες in Oppian, <i>Cyneg.</i> iv. 67, 71, 121, -380; Pollux, <i>Onom.</i> v. 31.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_690" href="#FNanchor_690" class="label">[690]</a> <i>De Venat.</i> vi. 7.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Gratius Faliscus, adopting a Greek term, calls them <i>ancones</i>, -on account of the “elbow” or fork at the top:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Hic magis in cervos valuit metus: ast ubi lentæ</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Interdum Libyco fucantur sandyce pinnæ,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lineaque extructis lucent anconibus arma,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rarum, si qua metus eludat bellua falsos.—<i>Cyneg.</i> 85-88.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It was the business of one of the attendants to watch the nets:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Ego retia servo.—Virg. <i>Buc.</i> iii. 75.</p> -</div> - -<p>Sometimes there was a watchman at each extremity and -one in the middle, as in the Persian lion-hunt<a id="FNanchor_691" href="#Footnote_691" class="fnanchor">[691]</a>. The prevalence -of this method of hunting in Persia might be inferred -from the circumstance, that one of the chief employments of -the inhabitants consisted in making these nets (ἄρκυς, Strabo, -xv. 3. § 18). To watch the nets was called ἀρκυωρεῖν (Ælian, H. -A. i. 2), and the man who discharged this office ἀρκυωρὸς (Xen., -<i>De Ven.</i> ii. 3; vi. 1.).</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_691" href="#FNanchor_691" class="label">[691]</a> Oppian, Cyneg. iv. 124, &c.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The paintings discovered in the catacombs of Egypt show, -that the ancient inhabitants of that country used nets for hunting -in the same manner which has now been shown to have -been the practice of the Persians, Greeks and Romans<a id="FNanchor_692" href="#Footnote_692" class="fnanchor">[692]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_692" href="#FNanchor_692" class="label">[692]</a> Wilkinson’s <i>Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians</i>, vol. iii. p. 3-5.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Hunting-nets had much larger meshes than fishing or fowlers’-nets, -because in general a fish or a fowl could escape -through a much smaller opening than a quadruped. In hunting, -the important circumstance was to make the nets so strong -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_444">[Pg 444]</span> -that the beasts could not break through them. The large -size of the meshes is denoted by the phrases “retia rara<a id="FNanchor_693" href="#Footnote_693" class="fnanchor">[693]</a>” and -“raras plagas<a id="FNanchor_694" href="#Footnote_694" class="fnanchor">[694]</a>;” and it is exhibited in a bas-relief in the collection -of ancient marbles at Ince-Blundell in Lancashire. See -<a href="#Plate_X">Plate X.</a> fig. 1. This sculpture presents the following circumstances, -which are worthy of notice as illustrative of the passages -above collected from ancient authors. Three servants -with staves carry a large net on their shoulders. The foremost -of them holds by a leash a dog, which is eager to engage in the -chase<a id="FNanchor_695" href="#Footnote_695" class="fnanchor">[695]</a>. Then follows another scene in the hunt. A net with -very large meshes and five feet high is set up, being supported -by three stakes. Two boars and two deer are caught. A -watchman, holding a staff, stands at each end of the net. Fig. -2, <a href="#Plate_X">Plate X.</a> is taken from a bas-relief in the same collection, -representing a party returning from the chase, with the quadrupeds -which they have caught. Two men carry the net, holding -in their hands the stakes with forks at the top. These -bas-reliefs have been taken from sarcophagi erected in commemoration -of hunters, and they are engraved in the <i>Ancient -statues, &c. at Ince-Blundell</i>, vol. ii. pl. 89 and 126. An excellent -representation of these forked staves is given in a sepulchral -bas-relief in Bartoli, <i>Admiranda</i>, tab. 70, which Mr. -Dansey has copied at p. 307 of his translation of Arrian <i>on -Coursing</i>, and which represents a party of hunters returning -from the chase. Another example of the <i>varus</i>, or forked staff, -is seen in a sepulchral stone lately found at York (England), -and engraved in Mr. Wellbeloved’s <i>Eburacum</i>, pl. 14. fig. 2. -The man, who holds the varus in his right hand, and who appears -to be a huntsman and a native of the north of England, -though partly clothed after the Roman fashion, wears an inner -and outer tunic, and over them a fringed sagum. In the <i>Sepolcri -de’ Nasoni</i>, published by Bartoli, there is a representation -of a lion-hunt, and of another in which deer are caught by -means of nets set up so as to inclose a large space. In Montfaucon’s -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_445">[Pg 445]</span> -<i>Supplement</i>, tome iii., is an engraving from a bas-relief, -in which a net is represented: but none of these are so instructive -as the two bas-reliefs at Ince-Blundell.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_693" href="#FNanchor_693" class="label">[693]</a> Virg. <i>Æn.</i> iv. 131; Hor. <i>Epod.</i> ii. 33.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_694" href="#FNanchor_694" class="label">[694]</a> Seneca, <i>Hippol.</i> l. c.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_695" href="#FNanchor_695" class="label">[695]</a> See Lucan, as quoted in the last page.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Gratius Faliscus recommends that a net should be forty -paces long, and full ten knots high:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Et bis vicenos spatium prætendere passus</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rete velim, plenisque decem consurgere nodis.—<i>Cyneg.</i> 31, 32.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The necessity of making the nets so high that the animals -could not leap over them, is alluded to in the expression Ὕψος -κρεῖσσον ἐκπηδήματος, <i>i. e.</i> “a height too great for the animals <i>to leap -out</i><a id="FNanchor_696" href="#Footnote_696" class="fnanchor">[696]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_696" href="#FNanchor_696" class="label">[696]</a> Æschyli <i>Agamemnon</i>, 1347.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Xenophon, in his treatise <i>on Hunting</i>, gives various directions -respecting the making and setting of nets; and Schneider -has added to that treatise a dissertation concerning the ἄρκυς. It -is evident that this kind of net was made with a bag (κεκρύφαλος, -vi. 7), being the same which is now called the <i>purse-net</i>, or the -<i>tunnel-net</i>, and that the aim of the hunter was to drive the -animal into the bag; that the watchman (ἀρκυωρὸς) waited to see -it caught there; that branches of trees were placed in the bag -to keep it expanded, to render it invisible, and thus to decoy -quadrupeds into it; that a rope ran round the mouth of the bag -(περίδρομος, vi. 9), and was drawn tight by the impulse of the -animal rushing in so as to prevent its escape<a id="FNanchor_697" href="#Footnote_697" class="fnanchor">[697]</a>. To this rope -was attached another, called ἐπίδρομος, which was used as follows. -In fig. 1. of <a href="#Plate_X">Plate X.</a> we observe, that the upper border of the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_446">[Pg 446]</span> -net consists of a very strong rope. Xenophon calls this σαρδὼν -(vi. 9). In the purse-net it was furnished with rings. The - ἀρκυωρὸς, or watchman, lay in ambush, holding one end of the - ἐπίδρομος, which ran through the rings, and was fastened at the -other end to the περίδρομος, so that by pulling it he drew the mouth -of the bag still more firm and close. He then went to the bag -and despatched the quadruped which it inclosed, or carried it -off alive, informing his companions of the capture by <i>shouting</i><a id="FNanchor_698" href="#Footnote_698" class="fnanchor">[698]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_697" href="#FNanchor_697" class="label">[697]</a> This effect of the περίδρομος is well expressed by Seneca, “Arctatque motu -vincla:” also the circumstance of the branches used to distend the bag and to -make it invisible; “Fluentes undique et cæcos sinus.”</p> - -<p>Homer (<i>Il.</i> v. 487) seems to allude to the same contrivance, and to apply the -term ἀχῖδες to the rope which encircled the entrance of the bag, with the others -attached to it.</p> - -<p>We find in Brunck’s <i>Analecta</i> (ii. 10. No. xx.) the phrase ἀγκύλα δίκτυα applied -to hunting-nets. It was probably meant to designate the ἄρκυς, which might be -called ἀγκύλα, <i>i. e.</i> angular, because they were made like bags ending in a -point. The term νεφέλη, which occurs in Aristophanes (<i>Aves</i>, 195), and denoted -some contrivance for catching birds, is said by the Scholiast on the passage to -have meant a kind of hunting-net. But this explanation is evidently good for -nothing.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_698" href="#FNanchor_698" class="label">[698]</a> Oppian, <i>Cyneg.</i> iv. 409. Pliny mentions these <i>epidromi</i>, or <i>running ropes</i>: -H. N. xix. 1. s. 2.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In this treatise Xenophon distinguishes the nets used in -hunting by three different appellations; ἄρκυς, ἐνόδιον, and δίκτυον. -Oppian also distinguishes the δίκτυον used in hunting from the - ἄρκυς<a id="FNanchor_699" href="#Footnote_699" class="fnanchor">[699]</a>. The ἄρκυς or <i>cassis</i>, <i>i. e.</i> “the purse-or tunnel-net,” was -by much the most complicated in its formation. The ἐνόδιον, or -“road-net,” was comparatively small: it was placed across any -road, or path, to prevent the animals from pursuing that path: -it must have been used to stop the narrow openings between -bushes. The δίκτυον was a large net, simply intended to inclose -the ground: it therefore resembled in some measure the sean -used in fishing. The term, thus specially applied, may be -translated <i>a hay</i>, or <i>a hallier</i><a id="FNanchor_700" href="#Footnote_700" class="fnanchor">[700]</a>. These three kinds of nets -appear to be mentioned together by Nemesianus under the -names of <i>retia</i> (i. e. δίκτυα), <i>casses</i> (i. e. ἄρκυς), and <i>plagæ</i> (i. e. - ἐνόδια.):</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Necnon et casses idem venatibus aptos,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Atque plagas, longoque meantia retia tractu</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Addiscunt raris semper contexere nodis,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Et servare modum maculis, linoque tenaci.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Cyneg.</i> 299-302.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_699" href="#FNanchor_699" class="label">[699]</a> <i>Ibid.</i> iv. 381.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_700" href="#FNanchor_700" class="label">[700]</a> See Arrian <i>on Coursing: the Cynegeticus of the younger</i> Xenophon, <i>translated -from the Greek</i>, &c. &c. <i>by a graduate of Medicine</i> (William C. Dansey, -M. B.). London, 1831, pp. 68, 188.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Xenophon, in his treatise on Hunting, further informs us, that -the cord used for making the ἄρκυς, or purse-net, consisted of three -strands, and that three lines twisted together commonly made -a strand (ii. 4); but that, when the net was intended to catch -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_447">[Pg 447]</span> -the wild boar, nine lines went to a strand instead of three -(x. 2).</p> - -<p>It remains to be noticed, that, when the long range of nets, set -up in the manner which has been now represented, was designed -to catch the stag (<i>cervus</i>), it was flanked by cords, to which, as -well as to the nets themselves, feathers <i>dyed scarlet</i>, and of -other bright colors intermixed with their native white, and -sometimes probably birds’ wings, were tied so as to flare and -flutter in the wind<a id="FNanchor_701" href="#Footnote_701" class="fnanchor">[701]</a>. This appendage to the nets was called -the <i>metus</i> or <i>formido</i> (Virg. <i>Æn.</i> xii. 750), because it frightened -these timid quadrupeds so as to urge them onwards into -the toils. Hence Virgil, speaking of the method of taking -stags in Scythia, says,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor toils their flight impede, nor hounds o’ertake,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor plumes <i>of purple dye</i> their fears awake.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Georg.</i> iii. 371, 372.—<i>Sotheby’s Translation.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_701" href="#FNanchor_701" class="label">[701]</a> Dum trepidant alæ.—Virg. <i>Æn.</i> iv. 121.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p>The following passages likewise allude to the use of this contrivance -in the stag-hunt:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Nec formidatis cervos includite pennis.—Ovid. <i>Met.</i> xv. 475.</p> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent18">Vagos dumeta per avia cervos</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Circumdat maculis et multa indagine pinnæ.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">Auson. <i>Epist.</i> iv. 27.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Nemesianus, in the following passage, asserts that the cord -(<i>linea</i>) carrying feathers of this description had the effect of -terrifying not the stag only, but the bear, the boar, the fox and -the wolf:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Linea quinetiam, magnos circumdare saltus</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quæ possit, volucresque metu concludere prædas,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Digerat innexas non una ex alite pinnas.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Namque ursos, magnosque sues, cervosque fugaces</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Et vulpes, acresque lupos, ceu fulgura cœli</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Terrificant, linique vetant transcendere septum.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Has igitur vario semper fucare veneno</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cura tibi, neveisque alios miscere colores,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Alternosque metus subtemine tendere longo.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent12"><i>Cyneg.</i> 303-311.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The same fact is asserted in a striking passage, which has -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_448">[Pg 448]</span> -been above quoted from Gratius Faliscus. To the same effect -are the following passages:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Nec est mirum, cum maximos ferarum greges linea pennis distincta conterreat, -et ad insidias agat, ab ipso effectu dicta formido.—Seneca, <i>de Ira</i>, ii. 11.</p> -</div> - -<p>Feras lineis et pinna conclusas contine: easdem a tergo eques -telis incessat: tentabunt fugam per ipsa quæ fugerant, proculcabuntque -formidinem.—Seneca, <i>de Clementia</i>, i. 12.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Picta rubenti lineo pinna</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Vano claudat terrore feras.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">Seneca Frag. <i>Hippol.</i> i. 1.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>III.<br /> -<small>FUNDA, JACULUM, RETE JACULUM, RETIACULUM.<br /> - ΑΜΦΙΒΛΗΣΤΡΟΝ, ΑΜΦΙΒΟΛΟΝ.</small> -</h4> - -<p>Fishing-nets<a id="FNanchor_702" href="#Footnote_702" class="fnanchor">[702]</a> were of six different kinds, which are enumerated -by Oppian as follows:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Τῶν τὰ μὲν ἀμφίβληστρα, τὰ δὲ γρῖφοι καλέονται,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Γάγγαμα τ’, ἠδ’ ὑποχαὶ περιηγέες, ἠδὲ σαγῆναι,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἄλλα δὲ κικλήσκουσι καλύμματα.—<i>Hal.</i> iii. 80-82.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_702" href="#FNanchor_702" class="label">[702]</a> Ἁλιευτικὰ δίκτυα. Diod. Sic. xvii. 43. p. 193, Wessel.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Of these by far the most common were the ἀμφίβληστρον, or -<i>casting-net</i>, and the σαγήνη, <i>i. e.</i> the <i>drag</i> or <i>sean</i>. Consequently -these two are the only kinds mentioned by Virgil and -Ovid in the following passages:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Atque alius latum funda jam verberat amnem,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Alta petens; pelagoque alius trahit humida lina.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">Virg. <i>Georg.</i> i. 141, 142.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Hi jaculo pisces, illi capiuntur ab hamis;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hos cava contento retia fune trahunt.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">Ovid, <i>Art. Amat.</i> i. 763, 464.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>By Virgil the casting-net is called <i>funda</i>, which is the common -term for a sling. In illustration of this it is to be observed, -that the casting-net is thrown over the fisherman’s shoulder, -and then whirled in the air much like a sling. By this action -he causes it to fly open at the bottom so as to form a circle, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_449">[Pg 449]</span> -which is loaded at intervals with stones or pieces of lead, and -this circle “strikes the broad river<a id="FNanchor_703" href="#Footnote_703" class="fnanchor">[703]</a>:” for the casting-net is used -either in pools of moderate depth, or in rivers which have, like -pools, a broad smooth surface; whereas the sean is employed -for fishing in the deep (<i>pelago</i>)<a id="FNanchor_704" href="#Footnote_704" class="fnanchor">[704]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_703" href="#FNanchor_703" class="label">[703]</a> The Arabs now employ the casting-net on the shores of the Arabian Gulf. -“Its form is round, and loaded at the lower part with small pieces of lead; and, -when the fisherman approaches a shoal of fish, his art consists in throwing the -net so that it may expand itself in a circular form before it reaches the surface -of the water.”—Wellsted’s <i>Travels in Arabia</i>, vol. ii. p. 148.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_704" href="#FNanchor_704" class="label">[704]</a> For a technical account of nets, including the casting-net as now made, the -reader is referred to the Hon. and Rev. Charles Bathurst’s <i>Notes on Nets; or the -Quincunx practically considered</i>, London, 1837, 12mo. Duhamel wrote on the -same subject in French.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Isidore of Seville, in his account of the different kinds of nets -(<i>Orig.</i> xix. 5), thus speaks: “<i>Funda</i> genus est piscatorii retis, -dicta ab eo, quod in fundum mittatur. Eadem etiam a jactando -<i>jaculum</i> dicitur. Plautus:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Probus quidem antea jaculator eras<a id="FNanchor_705" href="#Footnote_705" class="fnanchor">[705]</a>.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_705" href="#FNanchor_705" class="label">[705]</a> <i>Jaculator</i> corresponds to the Greek ἀμφιβολεὺς.</p> - -<p>Ausonius, in the following lines, which refer to the methods of fishing in the vicinity -of the Garonne, appears to distinguish between the <i>jaculum</i> and the <i>funda</i>.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Piscandi traheris studio? nam tota supellex</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dumnotoni tales solita est ostendere gazas:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nodosas vestes animantum Nerinorum,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Et jacula, et fundas, et nomina villica lini,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Colaque, et indutos terrenis vermibus hamos.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Epist.</i> iv. 51-55.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Besides the passage of Plautus, here quoted by Isidore, there -are two others, in which the casting-net is mentioned under -the name of <i>rete jaculum</i>, viz. <i>Asinar</i>. l. i. 87, and <i>Truc.</i> l. i. -14. Pareus, as we find from his <i>Lexicon Plautinum</i>, clearly -understood the meaning of the term, and the distinction between -the casting-net and the sean. Of the <i>Rete jaculum</i> he -says, “Sic dicitur ad differentiam <i>verriculi</i>, quod non jacitur, -sed trahitur et verritur.” He adds, that Herodotus calls it - ἀμφίβληστρον, and the Germans <i>Wurffgarn</i>.</p> - -<p>The word occurs twice in Herodotus, and both places throw -light upon its meaning. In Book i. c. 141. he says: “The -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_450">[Pg 450]</span> -Lydians had no sooner been brought into subjection by the -Persians than the Ionians and Æolians sent ambassadors to -Cyrus at Sardis, entreating him to receive them under his dominion -on the same conditions on which they had been under -Crœsus. To this proposal he replied in the following fable. A -piper, having seen some fishes in the sea, <i>played for a while -on his pipe, thinking that this would make them come to -him on the land</i>. Perceiving the fallacy of this expectation, -he took a casting-net, and, having thrown it around a great -number of the fishes, he drew them out of the water. He -then said to the fishes, as they were jumping about, <i>As you did -not choose to dance out of the water, when I played to you on -my pipe, you may put a stop to your dancing now</i>.” The -other passage (ii. 95) has been illustrated in a very successful -manner by William Spence, Esq., F. R. S., in a paper in the -Transactions of the Entomological Society for the year 1834. -In connection with the curious fact, that the common house-fly -will not in general pass through the meshes of a net, Mr. -Spence produces this passage, in which Herodotus states, that -the fishermen who lived about the marshes of Egypt, being -each in possession of a casting-net, and using it in the day-time -to catch fishes, employed these nets in the night to keep -off the gnats, by which that country is infested. The casting-net -was fixed so as to encircle the bed, on which the fisherman -slept; and, as this kind of net is always pear-shaped, or of a -conical form, it is evident that nothing could be better adapted -to the purpose, as it would be suspended like a tent over the -body of its owner. In this passage Herodotus twice uses the -term ἀμφίβληστρον, and once he calls the same thing δίκτυον, because, -as we have seen, this was a common term applicable to nets of -every description<a id="FNanchor_706" href="#Footnote_706" class="fnanchor">[706]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_706" href="#FNanchor_706" class="label">[706]</a> <i>None of the commentators appear to have understood these passages.</i> In -particular we find that Schweighäuser in his <i>Lexicon Herodoteum</i> explains - Ἀμφίβληστρον thus: “Verriculum, Rete quod circumjicitur.” <i>Rete</i>, however, -corresponds to δίκτυον, which meant a net of any kind; and <i>Verriculum</i> is the -Latin for Σαγήνη, which, as will be shown hereafter, was a sean, or drag-net.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The antiquity of the casting-net among the Greeks appears -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_451">[Pg 451]</span> -from a passage in the <i>Shield of Hercules</i>, attributed to Hesiod -(l. 213-215). The poet says, that the shield represented the sea -with fishes seen in the water, “and on the rocks sat a fisherman -watching, and he held in his hands a casting-net (ἀμφίβληστρον) -for fishes, and seemed to be throwing it from him.” We apprehend -that, the position of <i>sitting</i> was not so suitable to the use -of the casting-net as standing, because it requires the free use -of the arms, which a man cannot well have when he sits. In -other respects this description exactly agrees with the use of the -casting-net: for it is thrown by a single person, who remains on -land at the edge of the water, observes the fishes in it, and -throws the net from him into the water so as suddenly to inclose -them.</p> - -<p>In two of the tragedies of Æschylus we find the term ἀμφίβληστρον -applied <i>figuratively</i> by Clytemnestra to the <i>shawl</i>, in which -she enveloped her husband in order to murder him.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ἄπειρον ἀμφίβληστρον, ὥσπερ ἰχθύων,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">περιστίχιζω, πλοῦτον εἵματος κακόν.—<i>Agamem.</i> 1353, 1354.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Μέμνησο δ’, ἀμφίβληστρον ὡς ἐκαίνισαν.—<i>Choëph.</i> 485.</p> -</div> - -<p>Lycophron (l. 1101) calls this garment by the same name, -when he refers to the same event in the fabulous history of -Greece. We have seen, that in other passages the shawl so -used is with equal aptitude called a purse-net (ἄρκυς).</p> - -<p>One of the comedies of Menander was entitled Ἁλιεῖς, “the -Fisherman.” The expression, Ἀμφιβλήστρῳ περιβάλλεται, is quoted -from it by Julius Pollus (x. 132)<a id="FNanchor_707" href="#Footnote_707" class="fnanchor">[707]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_707" href="#FNanchor_707" class="label">[707]</a> Menandri et Phil. <i>Reliquæ, a Meineke</i>, p. 16.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Athenæus (lib. x. 72. p. 450 c. Casaub.) quotes from Antiphanes -the following line, which describes a man “throwing a -casting-net on many fishes”:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Ἰχθύσιν ἀμφίβληστρον ἀνὴρ πολλοῖς ἐπιβάλλων.</p> -</div> - -<p>In an epigram of Leonidas Tarentinus we find the casting-net -called ἀμφίβολον instead of ἀμφίβληστρον<a id="FNanchor_708" href="#Footnote_708" class="fnanchor">[708]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_708" href="#FNanchor_708" class="label">[708]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> i. 223, No. xii. Jacobs, <i>Anthol.</i> i. 2. p. 74.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>The ἀμφίβληστρον is mentioned together with two other kinds of -nets by Artemidorus, and which will be quoted presently.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_452">[Pg 452]</span> -The following curious passage of Meletius <i>de Natura Hominis</i>, -in which that author, probably following Galen, describes -the expansion of the optic nerves, mentions the casting-net as -“an instrument used by fishermen”:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Διασχίζονται δὲ τὰ νεῦρα εἰς τοὺς θαλάμους, ὥσπερ ἤν τις λαβὼν πάπυρον, ταύτην εἰς -λεπτὰ διατεμὼν καὶ διασχίζων ἀναπλέκηται πάλιν, καὶ ποιῇ χιτῶνα λεγόμενον ἀμφιβληστροειδῆ, -ὅμοιον ἀμφιβλήρτρῳ. ὄργανον δὲ τοῦτο θηρευταῖς ἰχθύων χρήσιμον.—Salmasius, -<i>in Tertull. de Pallio</i>, p. 213.</p> -</div> - -<p>The χιτὼν ἀμφιβληστροειδὴς, or <i>tunica retina</i>, was so called on -account of its resemblance in form to the casting-net.</p> - -<p>As we learn from Herodotus that the casting-net was universally -employed by the fishermen of Egypt, we shall not be -surprised to find it mentioned in the Alexandrine, or, as it is -commonly called, the Septuagint version of the Psalms and -Prophets:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Πεσοῦνται ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτωλοὶ,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>i. e.</i> “Sinners shall fall in <i>his</i> casting-net.”—<i>Psalm</i> cxli. 10.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Cadent in retiaculo ejus peccatores.—<i>Vulgate Version.</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Let the wicked fall in their own nets.”—<i>Common English Version.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The word in the original Hebrew is מכמור, which Gesenius -translates “Rete,” <i>a net</i>. This word must have been more -general in its meaning than the Greek ἀμφίβληστρον, and included -the purse-net, or ἄρκυς. The Chaldee and Syriac versions use in -this passage a word, which denotes <i>snares</i> in general. See -<i>Isaiah</i> li. 20, where the same word is used in the Hebrew, but -applied to the catching of a quadruped, and where consequently -the purse-net must have been intended.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Καὶ οἱ βάλλοντες σαγήνας, καὶ οἱ ἀμφιβολεῖς πενθήσουσι.</p> - -<p><i>i. e.</i> “And they who throw seans, and they who fish with the casting-net, -shall mourn.”—<i>Isa.</i> xix. 8.</p> - -<p>Et expandentes rete super faciem aquarum emarcescent.—<i>Vulgate Version.</i></p> - -<p>“And they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.”—<i>Common English -Version.</i></p> -</div> - -<p>It is to be observed, that this prophecy relates to Egypt. The -Hebrew verb פרש, here translated “<i>expandentes</i>,” “<i>they that -spread</i>,” is exactly applicable to the remarkable expansion of -the casting-net just as it reaches the surface of the water. In -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_453">[Pg 453]</span> -the Alexandrine version we may also observe the clear distinction -between the two principal kinds of nets, the sean and the -casting-net, and that the man who fishes with the latter is called - ἀμφιβολεὺς, as in Latin he was designated by the single term -<i>jaculator</i>.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Εἵλκυσεν αὐτὸν ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ, καὶ συνήγαγεν αὐτὸν ἐν ταῖς σαγήναις αὐτοῦ· ἕνεκεν τοὺτου -εὐφρανθήσεται καὶ χαρήσεται ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ. Ἕνεκεν τούτου θύσει τῇ σαγήνῃ αὐτοῦ, καὶ -θυμιάσει τῷ ἀμφιβλήστρῳ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐλίπανε μερίδα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ βρώματα αὐτοῦ -ἐκλεκτά. Διὰ τοῦτο ἀμφιβαλεῖ τὸ ἀμφίβληστρον αὐτοῦ, καὶ διαπαντὸς ἀποκτένειν ἔθνη οὐ -φείσεται.</p> - -<p><i>i. e.</i> “He (the Chaldean) hath drawn him in a casting-net and gathered him -in his seans: therefore his heart shall rejoice and be glad. Therefore he shall -sacrifice to his sean and burn incense to his casting-net, because by them he hath -fattened his portion and his chosen dainties. Therefore he shall throw his casting-net, -and not spare utterly to slay nations.”—<i>Habakkuk</i>, i. 15-17.</p> - -<p>“They catch them in their net and gather them in their drag; therefore they -rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net and burn incense -unto their drag: because by them their portion is fat and their meat plenteous. -Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?”—<i>Common -English Version.</i></p> -</div> - -<p>The Latin Vulgate in this passage uses without discrimination -the terms <i>rete</i> and <i>sagena</i>, which latter is the Greek word -in a Latin form.</p> - -<p> Ἀμφίβληστρον occurs twice in the New Testament. Matthew -iv. 18: “Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, -Simon and Andrew, <i>casting a net into the sea</i>; for they were -fishers”: in the original, βάλλοντας ἀμφίβληστρον εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν; in the -Vulgate version, “mittentes rete.” It appears no sufficient -objection to the sense which has been assigned to ἀμφίβληστρον, -that here two persons are mentioned as using it at the same -time. Being partners and engaged in the same employment, -one perhaps collecting the fishes which the other caught, they -might be described together as “throwing the casting-net,” -although only one at a time held it in his hands. In other -respects this explanation is particularly suitable to the circumstances. -Jesus was walking on the shore and accosted the -two brothers. This suits the supposition that they were on the -shore likewise, and not fishing out of a boat, as they did with -the sean at other times. In verse 20 the Evangelist uses the -term δίκτυα (nets), saying “they left their nets,” and meaning -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_454">[Pg 454]</span> -both their casting-net and those of other kinds. In verse 21 -he mentions that James and John were in their boat, mending -their nets (δίκτυα).</p> - -<p>The same things are to be observed in Mark i. 16, which is -the parallel passage.</p> - -<h4>IV.<br /> - ΓΡΙΦΟΣ, <i>or</i> ΓΡΙΠΟΣ. -</h4> - -<p>Pursuing the order adopted by Oppian in his list of fishing -nets above quoted, we come to the Γρῖφος. What kind of net -this was we have been unable to discover. It must, however, -have been one of the most useful and important kinds, because -Plutarch mentions γρίφοι καὶ σαγήναι as the common implements of -the fisherman<a id="FNanchor_709" href="#Footnote_709" class="fnanchor">[709]</a>, and Artemidorus speaks of this together with -the casting-net and the sean in similar terms<a id="FNanchor_710" href="#Footnote_710" class="fnanchor">[710]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_709" href="#FNanchor_709" class="label">[709]</a> Περὶ ἐνθυμίας, vol. v. p. 838, ed. Steph.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_710" href="#FNanchor_710" class="label">[710]</a> L. ii. c. 14.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It may be observed, that Γριπεὺς is used for a fisherman<a id="FNanchor_711" href="#Footnote_711" class="fnanchor">[711]</a>, -apparently equivalent to ἁλιεὺς<a id="FNanchor_712" href="#Footnote_712" class="fnanchor">[712]</a>. We also find the expression - Γριπηΐδι τέχνῃ, meaning, “By the fisherman’s art<a id="FNanchor_713" href="#Footnote_713" class="fnanchor">[713]</a>”.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_711" href="#FNanchor_711" class="label">[711]</a> Jacobs, <i>Anthol.</i> vol. i. p. 186, Nos. 4 and 5.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_712" href="#FNanchor_712" class="label">[712]</a> Theocrit. i. 39; iii. 26.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_713" href="#FNanchor_713" class="label">[713]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> ii. 9, No. 14.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<h4>V.<br /> - ΓΑΓΓΑΜΟΝ.</h4> - -<p>The third fishing-net in Oppian’s enumeration is Γάγγαμον. -We find it once mentioned metaphorically, viz. by Æschylus, -who calls an inextricable calamity, Γάγγαμον ἄτης<a id="FNanchor_714" href="#Footnote_714" class="fnanchor">[714]</a>. In Schneider’s -edition of Oppian we find this note, “Rete ostreis capiendis -esse annotavit Hesychius.” Passow also in his Lexicon explains -it as “a small round net for catching oysters.” The reference -to Hesychius is incorrect. If it was a net for catching oysters, -which appears very doubtful, it may have been the net used by -the Indians in the pearl-fishery<a id="FNanchor_715" href="#Footnote_715" class="fnanchor">[715]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_714" href="#FNanchor_714" class="label">[714]</a> <i>Agam.</i> 352.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_715" href="#FNanchor_715" class="label">[715]</a> - Λέγει Μεγασθένης θηρεύεσθαι τὴν κόγχην αὐτοῦ δικτύοισι. -Arrian, <i>Indica</i>, vol. i p. 525, ed. Blancardi.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_455">[Pg 455]</span></p> - -<h4>VI.<br /> - ὙΠΟΧΗ.</h4> - -<p>The ὑποχὴ, which is the fourth in Oppian’s enumeration, was -the landing-net, used merely to take fishes out of the water -when they rose to the surface, or in similar circumstances to -which it was adapted. It was made with a hoop (κύκλος) fastened -to a pole, and was perhaps also provided with the means of -closing the round aperture at the top<a id="FNanchor_716" href="#Footnote_716" class="fnanchor">[716]</a>.</p> - -<p>Of the Κάλυμμα we find nowhere any further mention.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_716" href="#FNanchor_716" class="label">[716]</a> See Oppian, <i>Hal.</i> iv. 251.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>VII.<br /> -TRAGUM, TRAGULA, VERRICULUM.<br /> - ΣΑΓΗΝΗ.</h4> - -<p>These were the Greek and Latin names for the <i>sean</i>. -Before producing the passages in which they occur, we will -present to the reader an account of this kind of net as now -used by the fishermen on the coast of Cornwall (England) for -catching pilchards, and as described by Dr. Paris in his elegant -and pleasant <i>Guide to Mount’s Bay and Land’s End</i><a id="FNanchor_717" href="#Footnote_717" class="fnanchor">[717]</a>.</p> - -<p>“At the proper season men are stationed on the cliffs to -observe by the color of the water where the shoals of pilchards -are to be found. The sean is carried out in a boat, and thrown -into the sea by two men with such dexterity, that in less than -four minutes the fish are inclosed. It is then either moored, or, -where the shore is sandy and shelving, it is drawn into more -shallow water. After this the fish are bailed into boats and -carried to shore. A <i>sean</i> is frequently <i>three hundred fathoms -long, and seventeen deep</i>. The bottom of the net is kept to -the ground by leaden weights, whilst the corks keep the top of -it floating on the surface. A sean has been known to inclose -at one time as many as <i>twelve hundred hogsheads</i>, amounting -to about <i>three millions of fish</i>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_717" href="#FNanchor_717" class="label">[717]</a> Penzance, 1816, p. 91</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_456">[Pg 456]</span> -Let this passage be compared with the following, which gives -an account of the use of the same kind of net among the -Arabs. It will then appear how extensively it is employed, -since we find it used in exactly the same way both by our own -countrymen and by tribes which we consider as ranking very -low in the scale of civilization; and on making this comparison, -the inference will seem not unreasonable, that the ancient -Greeks and Romans, who in several of their colonies in the -Euxine Sea, on the coasts of Ionia, and of Spain, and in other -places, carried on the catching and curing of fish with the -greatest possible activity and to a wonderful extent, used nets of -as great a compass as those which are here described.</p> - -<p>“The fishery is here (<i>i. e.</i> at Burka, on the eastern coast of -Arabia) conducted on a grand scale, by means of nets many -hundred fathoms in length, which are carried out by boats. -The upper part is supported by small blocks of wood, formed -from the light and buoyant branches of the <i>date-palm</i>, while -the lower part is loaded with lead. To either extremity of this -a rope is attached, by which, when the whole of the net is laid -out, about thirty or forty men drag it towards the shore. The -quantity thus secured is enormous; and what they do not require -for their own consumption is salted and carried into the -interior. When, as is very generally the case, the nets <i>are the -common property of the whole village</i>, they divide the produce -into equal shares<a id="FNanchor_718" href="#Footnote_718" class="fnanchor">[718]</a>.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_718" href="#FNanchor_718" class="label">[718]</a> Lieutenant Wellsted’s <i>Travels in Arabia</i>, vol. i. (<i>Ornam</i>), pp. 186, 187.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>That this method of fishing was practised by the Egyptians -from a remote antiquity appears from the remaining monuments. -The paintings on the tombs show persons engaged in -drawing the sean, which has floats along its upper margin and -leads along the lower border<a id="FNanchor_719" href="#Footnote_719" class="fnanchor">[719]</a>. An ancient Egyptian net, obtained -by M. Passalacqua, is preserved in the Museum at Berlin. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_457">[Pg 457]</span> -Some of its leads and floats remain, as well as a gourd, -which assisted the floats<a id="FNanchor_720" href="#Footnote_720" class="fnanchor">[720]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_719" href="#FNanchor_719" class="label">[719]</a> See Wilkinson’s <i>Manners and Customs of Ancient Egypt</i>, vol. ii. p. 20, 21; -see also vol. iii. p. 37. One of these paintings, copied from Wilkinson, is introduced -in <a href="#Plate_X">Plate X.</a> fig. 3. of this work. The fishermen are seen on the shore -drawing the net to land full of fishes. There are eight floats along the top, and -four leads at the bottom on each side. The water is drawn as is usual in Egyptian -paintings.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_720" href="#FNanchor_720" class="label">[720]</a> Un filet de pêche à petites mailles, et fait avec du fil de lin. Cet objet, qui est -garni de ses plombs, conserve encore les morceaux de bois qui garnissaient sa partie -supérieure, ainsi qu’une courge qui l’aidait à surnager.—Thèbes, Passalacqua, -<i>Catalogue des Antiquitiés découvertes en Egypte</i>, No. 445. p. 22.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>Besides the verses of Oppian, which are above quoted, we -find another passage of the same poem (<i>Hal.</i> iii. 82, 83), -which mentions the following appendages to the σαγήνη, viz. the - πέζαι, the σφαιρῶνες, and the σκολιὸς πάναγρος. As the πόδες, or <i>feet</i> of a -sail were the ropes fastened to its lower corners, we may conclude -that the πέζαι were the ropes attached to the corners of the -sean, and used in a similar manner to fasten it to the shore and -to draw it in to the land, as is described by Ovid in the line -already quoted,—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Hos cava <i>contento</i> retia <i>fune</i> trahunt.</p> -</div> - -<p>The σφαιρῶνες, as the name implies, were spherical, and must -therefore have been either the floats of wood or cork at the top, -or the weights, consisting either of round stones or pieces of -lead, at the bottom. The σκολιὸς πάναγρος must have been a kind -of bag formed in the sean to receive the fishes, and thus corresponding -to the purse or conical bag in the ἄρκυς. The term -is illustrated by the application of the equivalent epithet ἀγκύλα -or “angular,” to hunting-nets in a passage from Brunck’s <i>Analecta</i>, -which was formerly explained, and by the epithet “cava” -in the line just quoted from Ovid<a id="FNanchor_721" href="#Footnote_721" class="fnanchor">[721]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_721" href="#FNanchor_721" class="label">[721]</a> Observe also the use of the word μυχὸς in the passage of Lucian’s <i>Timon</i>, -quoted below.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the following passage Ovid mentions the use both of the -corks and of the leads<a id="FNanchor_722" href="#Footnote_722" class="fnanchor">[722]</a>. This passage also shows that several -nets were fastened together in order to form a long sean:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Aspicis, ut summa cortex levis innatat unda,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Cum grave nexa simul retia mergat onus?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Trist.</i> iii. 4. 1, 12.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_722" href="#FNanchor_722" class="label">[722]</a> Μολύβδαιναι, J. Pollux, x. 30. § 132.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>This use of cork and lead in fishing is also mentioned by -Ælian, <i>Hist. Anim.</i> xii. 43; and that of cork by Pausanias, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_458">[Pg 458]</span> -viii. 12. § 1; and by Pliny, H. N. xvi. 8. s. 13, where, in reciting -the various uses of cork, he says it was employed “piscantium -tragulis.” Sidonius Apollinaris, describing his own -villa, says:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Hinc jam spectabis, ut promoveat alnum piscator in pelagus, ut stataria retia -suberinis corticibus extendat.—<i>Epist.</i> ii. 2.</p> - -<p>“Hence you will see how the fisherman moves forward his boat into the deep -water, that he may extend his stationary nets by means of corks.”</p> -</div> - -<p>Alciphron, in his account of a fishing excursion near the -Promontory of Phalerum, says, “The draught of fishes was -so great as almost to submerge the corks<a id="FNanchor_723" href="#Footnote_723" class="fnanchor">[723]</a>.” The earnest desire -of a posterity, founded on the wish for posthumous remembrance, -which was a very strong and prevailing sentiment -among the ancients, is illustrated by the language of Electra -in the Choëphorœ of Æschylus, where she entreats her father -upon this consideration to attend to her prayer, and likens his -memory to a net, which his children, like corks, would save -from disappearing:—“<i>Do not extinguish the race of the Pelopidæ. -For thus you will live after you are dead. For a -man’s children are the preservers of his fame when dead, -and, like corks in dragging the net, they save the flaxen -string from the abyss.</i>” The use of the corks is mentioned -in several of the epigrams of the Greek Anthology, already referred -to, and in the following passage of Plutarch:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Ὥσπερ τοὺς τὰ δίκτυα διασημαίνοντας ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ φελλοὺς ὁρῶμεν ἐπιφερομένους.—<i>De -Genio Socratis</i>, p. 1050, ed. Steph.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_723" href="#FNanchor_723" class="label">[723]</a> - Μικρὸν καὶ τοὺς φελλοὺς ἐδέησε κατασύραι ὕφαλον τὸ δίκτυον ἐξογκούμενον. -—<i>Epist.</i> i. 1.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Passages have been already produced from Plutarch, Artemidorus, -and the Alexandrine version of Isaiah and Habakkuk, -in which the sean is mentioned by its Greek name σαγήνη, in -contradistinction to other kinds of nets. Also the passage -above cited from Virgil’s Georgics (“pelagoque alius trahit humida -lina”), indicates the use of the sean in deep water, and -the practice of dragging it out of the water by means of ropes, -which gave origin both to its English name, <i>the Drag-net</i>, -and to its Latin appellations, <i>tragula</i>, used by Pliny (<i>l. c.</i>), -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_459">[Pg 459]</span> -and <i>tragum</i>, which is found in the ancient Glossaries and in -Isidore of Seville<a id="FNanchor_724" href="#Footnote_724" class="fnanchor">[724]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_724" href="#FNanchor_724" class="label">[724]</a> Tragum genus retis, ab eo quod trahatur nuncupatum: ipsum est et verriculum. -Verrere enim trahere est.—<i>Orig.</i> xix. 5.</p> - -<p>The Latin name <i>verriculum</i> occurs in a passage of Valerius Maximus, which -is also remarkable for a reference to the Ionian fisheries, and for the use of the -word <i>jactus</i>, literally, <i>a throw</i>, corresponding to that which the Cornish men denominate, -<i>a hawl of fish</i>.</p> - -<p>A piscatoribus in Milesia regione verriculum trahentibus quidam jactum emerat.—<i>Memor.</i> -lib. iv. cap. 1.</p> - -<p>We introduce here an expression of Philo, in which we may remark that βόλος -ἰχθύων corresponds exactly to <i>jactus</i> in Latin, and that the drawing of the net -into a circle is clearly indicated: βόλον ἰχθύων πάντας ἐν κύκλῳ σαγηνεύσας.—<i>Vita -Mosis</i>, tom. ii. p. 95. ed. Mangey.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>We find mention of the sean more especially for the capture -of the tunny and of the pelamys, which were the two principal -kinds of fish caught in the Mediterranean. Lucian speaks -of the tunny-sean<a id="FNanchor_725" href="#Footnote_725" class="fnanchor">[725]</a>, which was probably the largest net of the -kind, and he relates the circumstance of a tunny escaping from -its bag or bosom<a id="FNanchor_726" href="#Footnote_726" class="fnanchor">[726]</a>. The sean is thrice mentioned in the Epistles -of Alciphron (<i>l. c.</i> and lib. i. epp. 17, 18.), and in the two latter -passages, as used for catching tunnies and pelamides. We -read also of a dolphin (δελφὶς) approaching the sean<a id="FNanchor_727" href="#Footnote_727" class="fnanchor">[727]</a>; but this -might be by accident. It was not, we apprehend, employed to -catch dolphins.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_725" href="#FNanchor_725" class="label">[725]</a> Σαγήνη θυννευτική.—<i>Epist. Saturn.</i> tom. iii. p. 406. ed. Reitz.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_726" href="#FNanchor_726" class="label">[726]</a> Ὁ θύννος ἐκ μυχοῦ τῆς σαγήνης διέφυγεν.—<i>Timon</i>, § 22. tom. i. p. 136.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_727" href="#FNanchor_727" class="label">[727]</a> Οὐκ ἔτι πλησιάζει τῇ σαγήνῃ.—Ælian, H. A. xi. c. 12. In this chapter the -same net is twice called by the common name, δίκτυον.</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the following passage of the Odyssey (xxii. 384-387) we -have a description of the use of a sean in a small bay, having -a sandy shore at its extremity, and consequently most suitable -for the employment of this kind of net:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent11">Ὥστ’ ἰχθύας, οὕσθ’ ἁλιήες</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Κοῖλον ἐς αἰγιαλὸν πολιῆς ἔκτοσθε θαλάσσης</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Δικτύῳ ἐξέρυσαν πολυωπῷ· οἱ δέ τε πάντες</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Κύμαθ’ ἁλὸς ποθέοντες ἐπὶ ψαμάθοισι κέχυνται.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The poet here compares Penelope’s suitors, who lie slain upon -the ground, to fishes, “which the fishermen by means of a net -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_460">[Pg 460]</span> -full of holes have drawn out of the hoary sea to a hollow bay, -and all of which, deprived of the waves of the sea, are poured -upon the sands.” Although the general term δίκτυον is here -used, it is evident that the net intended was the sean, or dragnet.</p> - -<p>In one of the passages of Alciphron already referred to, -mention is made of the use of the sean in a similar situation. -Some persons, who are fishing in a bay for tunnies and pelamides, -inclose nearly the whole bay with their sean, expecting -to catch a very large quantity<a id="FNanchor_728" href="#Footnote_728" class="fnanchor">[728]</a>. This circumstance proves, that -the sean was used with the ancient Greeks, as it is with us, to -encompass a great extent of water.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_728" href="#FNanchor_728" class="label">[728]</a> Τῇ σαγῆνῃ μονονουχί τὸν κόλπον ὅλον περιελάβομεν.—<i>Epist.</i> i. 17.</p> - -<p>A few miscellaneous passages, which refer to the use of the sean, may be conveniently -introduced here:</p> - -<p>Diogenes, seeing a great number of fishes in the deep, says there is need of a -sean to catch them; σαγήνης δέησις.—Lucian, <i>Piscata</i>, § 51. tom. i. p. 618, ed. -Reitz.</p> - -<p>The sean is called, from its material, σαγηναίον λίνον, in an epigram of Archias.—Brunck, -<i>Anal.</i> ii. 94. No. 10.</p> - -<p>Plutarch, describing the <i>spider’s web</i>, says, that its <i>weaving</i> is like the labor -<i>of women at the loom</i>, its hunting like that of fishermen with the sean.—<i>De Solertia -Animalium</i>, tom. x. p. 29, ed. Reiske. He here uses the term σαγηνευτὴς -for <i>a fisher with the sean</i>. This verbal noun is regularly formed from σαγηνεύειν, -which means <i>to inclose or catch with the sean</i>: e. g. ἐν δίκτυοις σεσαγηνευμένοι.—Herodian, -iv. 9, 12.</p> - -<p>Lucian uses the same verb in reference to the story of Vulcan inclosing Mars -and Venus in a net; σαγηνεύει τοῖς δεσμοῖς.—<i>Dialogi Deor.</i> tom. i. p. 243. <i>Somnium</i>, -tom. ii. p. 707, ed. Reitz.</p> - -<p>Leonidas of Tarentum, in an epigram enumerating the ornaments of a lady’s -toilet (Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> i. p. 221), mentions ὁ πλατὺς τριχῶν σαγηνευτήρ</p>. Jacobs -(<i>Annot. in Anthol.</i> i. 2. p. 63) supposes this to mean the lady’s comb; but, -judging from the known meaning of σαγήνη and its derivatives, we may conclude that -it was the κεκρύφαλος, or net, which inclosed and encircled the hair, like a sean. - -<p>The following verse of Manilius (lib. v. ver. 678.) is remarkable as a rare instance -of the adoption of the Greek word <i>sagena</i> by a Latin poet:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Excipitur vasta circumvallata sagena.</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We have seen that the sean supplied figures of speech no less -than the purse-net (ἄρκυς), and the casting-net (ἀμφίβληστρον). It is -applied thus in the case of persons who are ensnared by the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_461">[Pg 461]</span> -wicked<a id="FNanchor_729" href="#Footnote_729" class="fnanchor">[729]</a>, who are captivated by the charms of love<a id="FNanchor_730" href="#Footnote_730" class="fnanchor">[730]</a> or of eloquence<a id="FNanchor_731" href="#Footnote_731" class="fnanchor">[731]</a>, -or who are held in bondage by superstition<a id="FNanchor_732" href="#Footnote_732" class="fnanchor">[732]</a>. But -by far the most distinct, expressive and important of its metaphorical -applications, was to the mode of besieging a city by -encircling it with one uninterrupted line of soldiers, or sweeping -away the entire population of a certain district by marching in -similar order across it. Of this the first example occurs in -Herodotus iii. 145:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> Τὴν δὲ Σάμον σαγηνεύσαντες οἱ Πέρσαι παρέδοσαν Σολυσῶντι, ἐρῆμον ἐοῦσαν ἀνδρῶν.</p> - -<p>“The Persians, having dragged Samos, delivered it, being now destitute of -men, to Solyson.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> - <div class="footnote"> - <p><a id="Footnote_729" href="#FNanchor_729" class="label">[729]</a> Σαγηνεύομαι πρὸς αὐτῶν.—Lucian, <i>Timon</i>, § 25. tom. i. p. 138, ed. Reitz.</p> - </div> - - <div class="footnote"> - <p><a id="Footnote_730" href="#FNanchor_730" class="label">[730]</a> Brunck, <i>Anal.</i> iii. 157. No. 32. Here the sean is called by the general term - δίκτυον, but the particular kind of net is indicated by the participle σαγηνευθείς.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_731" href="#FNanchor_731" class="label">[731]</a></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent22">Τῶνδὲ μαθητὴν,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Οἳ κόσμον γλυκερῇσι Θεοῦ δήσαντο σαγήναις,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><i>i. e.</i> “A disciple of those who bound the world in the sweet seans of God.”—Greg. -Nazianz. <i>ad Nemesium</i>, tom. ii. p. 141, ed. Paris, 1630. (See Chap. III, -p. 53.)</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_732" href="#FNanchor_732" class="label">[732]</a> Plutarch, evidently referring to the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, says, “The -Jews on the Sabbath sitting down on coarse blankets (ἐν ἀγνάμπτοις, literally, in - ἱμάτια, or blankets, which had not been fulled, or cleansed by the γναφεύς), even -when the enemy were setting the ladders to scale the walls, did not rise up, but -remained, as if inclosed in one sean, namely, superstition, (ὥσπερ ἐν σαγήνῃ μιᾷ, τῇ -δεισιδαιμονίᾳ, συνδεδεμένοι).”—<i>Opp.</i> tom. vi. <i>De Superstit.</i> p. 647, ed. Reiske. -</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<p>As we speak of <i>dragging</i> a pit, so the Greeks would have -spoken, in this metaphorical sense, of <i>dragging</i> an island. -In the sixth book (ch. xxxi.) Herodotus particularly describes -this method of capturing the enemy. According to this account -the Persians landed on the northern side of the island. They -then took hold of one another’s hands so as to form a long line, -and thus linked together they walked across the island to the -south side, so as to hunt out all the inhabitants. The historian -here particularly mentions, that Chios, Lesbos, and Tenedos -were reduced to captivity in this manner. It is recorded by -Plato<a id="FNanchor_733" href="#Footnote_733" class="fnanchor">[733]</a>, that Datis, in order to alarm the Athenians, against -whom he was advancing at the head of the Persian army, -spread a report that his soldiers, joining hand to hand, had -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_462">[Pg 462]</span> -taken all the Eretrians captive as in a sean. The reader is -referred to the Notes of Wesseling and Valckenaer on Herod. -iii. 149 for some passages, in which subsequent Greek authors -have quoted Herodotus and Plato. We find σαγηνευθῆναι, “to be -dragged,” used in the same manner by Heliodorus<a id="FNanchor_734" href="#Footnote_734" class="fnanchor">[734]</a>.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_733" href="#FNanchor_733" class="label">[733]</a> <i>De Legibus</i>, lib. iii. prope finem.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_734" href="#FNanchor_734" class="label">[734]</a> Lib. vii. p. 304. ed. Commelini.</p> - </div> - -</div> - -<p>In addition to the passages of Isaiah and Habakkuk which -mention the drag in opposition to the casting-net; we find three -references to the use of it in the prophecies of Ezekiel, viz. in -Ezek. xxvi. 5. 14; xlvii. 10. The prophet, foretelling the -destruction of Tyre, says it would become <i>a place to dry seans -upon</i>, ψυγμὸς σαγηνῶν; “siccatio sagenarum,” <i>Vulgate Version</i>; -“a place for the spreading of nets,” <i>Common English Version</i>. -The Hebrew term for a drag or sean is here חרם.</p> - -<p>The only passage of the New Testament which makes -express mention of the sean, is Matt. xiii. 47, 48: “The kingdom -of heaven is like unto a net (σαγήνη) that was cast into the -sea, and gathered of every kind; which, when it was full, they -drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, -but cast the bad away.” The casting-net, which can only -inclose part of a very small shoal, would not have been adapted -to the object of this parable. But we perceive the allusion -intended by it to the great quantity and variety of fishes of -every kind which are brought to the shore of the bay (αἰγιαλὸν) -by the use of the drag. The Vulgate here retains the Greek -word, translating <i>sagena</i> as in the above-cited passages of -Habakkuk and Ezekiel. In John xxi. 6. 8. 11, the use of the -sean is evidently intended to be described, although it is called -four times by the common term δίκτυον, which denoted either a -sean, or a net of any other kind. It is in this passage translated -<i>rete</i> in the Latin Vulgate.</p> - -<p>The Greek σαγήνη having been adopted under the form <i>sagena</i> -in the Latin Vulgate, this was changed into rezne by the Anglo-Saxons<a id="FNanchor_735" href="#Footnote_735" class="fnanchor">[735]</a>, -and their descendants, have still further abridged it -into <i>sean</i>. In the south of England this word is also pronounced -and spelt <i>seine</i>, as it is in French. We find in Bede’s -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_463">[Pg 463]</span> -Ecclesiastical History<a id="FNanchor_736" href="#Footnote_736" class="fnanchor">[736]</a> a curious passage on the introduction of -this kind of net into England. He says, “the people had as -yet only learnt to catch eels with nets. Wilfrid caused them to -collect together all their eel-nets, and to use them as a sean for -catching fishes of all kinds.”</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_735" href="#FNanchor_735" class="label">[735]</a> See Caedmon, p. 75. ed. Junii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_736" href="#FNanchor_736" class="label">[736]</a> Page 294, ed. Wilkins.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>VIII.<br /> -<span class="smcap">Reticulus</span> or <span class="smcap">Reticulum</span>.<br /> - ΓΥΡΓΑΘΟΣ. -</h4> - -<p>In the ancient Glossaries we find Γύργαθος translated <i>Reticulus</i> -and <i>Reticulum</i>: it meant, therefore, <i>a small net</i>. It was not -a name for nets in general, nor did it denote any kind of hunting-net -or fishing-net, although the net indicated by this term -might be used occasionally for catching animals as well as for -other purposes. It was used, for example, in an island on the -coast of India to catch tortoises, being set at the mouths of the -caverns, which were the resort of those creatures<a id="FNanchor_737" href="#Footnote_737" class="fnanchor">[737]</a>. But the -same term is applied to the nets which were used to carry -pebbles and stones intended to be thrown from military engines<a id="FNanchor_738" href="#Footnote_738" class="fnanchor">[738]</a>; -and a similar contrivance was in common use for carrying -loaves of bread<a id="FNanchor_739" href="#Footnote_739" class="fnanchor">[739]</a>. Hence it is manifest that the γύργαθος was -often much like the nets in which the Jewish boys in our streets -carry lemons, being inclosed at the mouth by a running string -or noose. We may therefore translate γύργαθος, “a bag-net,” as -it was made in the form of a bag. “To blow into a bag-net,” - εἰς γύργαθον φυσᾷν, became a proverb, meaning to labor in vain. -But this bag was often of much smaller dimensions, and of -much finer materials, than in the instances already mentioned. -From a passage of Æneas Tacticus (p. 54. ed. Orell.) we may -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_464">[Pg 464]</span> -infer that it was sometimes not larger than a purse for the -pocket. Hence Aristotle<a id="FNanchor_740" href="#Footnote_740" class="fnanchor">[740]</a> properly applies the term γύργαθος to -the small spherical or oval bag in which spiders deposit their -eggs. Among the luxurious habits of the Sicilian prætor Verres, -it is recorded, that he had a small and very fine linen net, filled -with rose-leaves, “which ever and anon he gave his nose<a id="FNanchor_741" href="#Footnote_741" class="fnanchor">[741]</a>.” -This net was, no doubt, called γύργαθος in Greek.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_737" href="#FNanchor_737" class="label">[737]</a> Ἐν δὲ ταύτῃ τῇ νήσῳ καὶ γύργαθοις αὐτὰς ἰδίως λινεύουσιν, ἀντὶ δικτύων καθίεντες αὐτοὺς -περὶ τὰ στόματα τῶν προράχων.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_738" href="#FNanchor_738" class="label">[738]</a> Athenæus, lib. v. § 43. p. 208, ed. Casaub.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - - <p><a id="Footnote_739" href="#FNanchor_739" class="label">[739]</a> Γύργαθον· σκεῦος πλεκτὸν, ἐν ᾧ βάλλουσι τὸν ἄρτον οἱ ἀρτοκόποι.—Hesych.</p> - - <div class="blockquot"> - <p>Reticulum panis.—Hor. <i>Sat.</i> i. l. 47.</p> - </div> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_740" href="#FNanchor_740" class="label">[740]</a> <i>Anim. Hist.</i> v. 27. Compare Apollodorus, <i>Frag.</i> xi. p. 454, ed. Heyne.</p> - </div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_741" href="#FNanchor_741" class="label">[741]</a> Reticulum ad nares sibi admovebat, tenuissimo lino, minutis maculis, plenum -rosæ.—Cic. <i>in Verr.</i> ii. 5. 11. -—<i>Arrian, Per. Maris Eryth.</i> p. 151. ed. Blancardi.</p> - </div> - -</div> - -<p class="center">THE END.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Plate_10">[Plate X]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="Plate_X" style="max-width: 100em;"> - <div class="caption"> - <p class="right"><i>Plate X.</i></p> - </div> - <img class="w100" src="images/plate_x.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2> -<p>A number of typographical errors have been corrected silently.</p> -<p>Cover is in public domain.</p> -<p>Footnote 731 may not be pointing to the exactly correct location as the original was not marked.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF SILK, COTTON, LINEN, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES; ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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