Chapter 45

[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.

[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 byByssusJerome 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 andByssus[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, thatByssuswas 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.

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 forgenus quoddam liniwe should readgenus quoddam lanæ, and conceivestree-wool (asPollux 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, surpassE’en ropes of broom in firmness and in strength[503].Ad Cytherium in Max. Biblioth. Patrum,vol.vi.p.264.

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.andXIII.

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 hisLiber 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 signifyingflax. 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 expresslyintended to ascertain the meaning of one of the botanical terms employed in theScriptures. 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 moregeneral 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 wraptin white Byssus.” These, he says, were brought from Susa and Ecbatana.

[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 wraptin white Byssus.” These, he says, were brought from Susa and Ecbatana.

[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 wraptin 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 eitherin 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’scelebratedwork 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 asdemonstrated. 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 nowproduced, i. e. to prove that βύσσος meantflaxandnotcotton, 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.

[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 (SheshorSes), 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, paludesLina dabunt.—Cynegeticon, 34, 35.

[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, paludesLina 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 thatBorsippa, 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]SeePlate VI. p. 358.

Other passages, referring to the use of flax for weaving inPalestine, 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, calledButz, orByssus. 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 רכתןJonathan; 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 usedfor making cords, Judges xv. xvi.; for thewicks of lamps, Is. xiii. 17.; and for ameasuring line, Ezek. xl. 3[529].

[529]The use of the cord of flax (linea) for measuring, &c. is the origin of the wordline. “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 withropes of flaxfor 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 toStuppain Latin[530]; Etoupe in French; Στύπη, στυππίον or στιππίον in Greek; סרקהא, from סרק, to comb, in Syriac;Wergin modern German.

[530]The origin ofStuppa, the Latin term, was from its use instoppingchinks (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 naviumstipentur: unde et stipatores dicuntur, qui in vallibus eam componunt.” Isid. Hisp. Orig. xix. 27.

[530]The origin ofStuppa, the Latin term, was from its use instoppingchinks (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 naviumstipentur: 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” (Markxiv. 51, 52.); the entombment of Christ (Matt.xxvii. 59.Markxv. 46.Lukexxiii. 53. xxiv. 12.Johnxix. 40. xx. 5, 6, 7.); and the case of the “sheet” let down in vision from heaven (Actsx. 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, onLam. 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 fromLaodicea. 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 admiredfor 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 furnishsail-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 linensudaria, or handkerchiefs:

Setabis et telas Arabum sprevisse superbaEt Pelusiaco filum componere lino.Silius Ital.iii. 373.

Setabis et telas Arabum sprevisse superba

Et Pelusiaco filum componere lino.

Silius Ital.iii. 373.

Nam sudaria Setaba ex HiberisMiserunt mihi muneri FabullusEt Veranius.—Catullus, xx. 14.

Nam sudaria Setaba ex Hiberis

Miserunt mihi muneri Fabullus

Et Veranius.—Catullus, xx. 14.

Hispanæque alio spectantur Setabis usu.Gratius Faliscus, l. 41.

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 besttickingfor beds, which was on this account called Cadurcum.

Flax, as we are told by Pliny (xix. 1.), waswoven 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.

[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.”