Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/24

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 Sacont[)a]la
of Calidāsa—Valc[)a]las, or Mantles of woven bark, mentioned in the Ramayana,
a noted poem of ancient India—Sheets made from trees—Ctesia's 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—*