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[1]. 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 6-1/2 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[2].
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[3] mentions, that incombustible cloth was woven from a fibrous stone found at Chenchen in the territory of the
