Chap. 3.] THE MODE OF PREPAllIXG FLAX. 135 



name of '^ xylina," given to the tissues that are manufactured 

 from it. The shrub is small, and bears a fruit, similar in 

 appearance to a nut with a beard, and containing in the inside 

 a silky substance, the down of which is spun into threads. 

 There is no tissue known, that is superior to those made from 

 this thread, either for whiteness, softness, or dressing : the 

 most esteemed vestments worn by the priests of Egypt are 

 made of it. There is a fourth kind of tissue, known by the 

 name of *' othoninum,'* which is made from a kind of marsh- 

 reed,^^ the panicule only being employed for the purpose. In 

 Asia, again, there is a thread made from broom, ^^ which is 

 employed in the construction of fishing-nets, being found to 

 be remarkably durable ; for the purpose of preparing it, the 

 shrub is steeped in water for ten days. The Ethiopians, also, 

 and the people of India, prepare a kind of thread from a fruit 

 which resembles our apple, and the Arabians, as already*" men- 

 tioned, from gourds that grow upon trees. 



CHAP. 3. THE MODE OF PKEPAEING FLAX. 



In our part of the world the ripeness of flax is usually 

 ascertained by two signs, the swelling of the seed, and its 

 assuming a yellowish tint. It is then pulled up by the roots, 

 made up into small sheaves that will just fill the hand, and 

 hung to dry in the sun. It is suspended with the roots 

 upwards the first day, and then for the five following days the 

 heads of the sheaves are placed, reclining one against the other, 

 in such a way that the seed which drops out may fall into the 

 middle. Linseed is employed for various medicinaP°* purposes, 

 and it is used by the country-people of Italy beyond the Padus 

 in a certain kind of food, which is remarkable for its sweet- 



38 Probably the Arundo donax of modern botanists. See B. xvi. c. 66. 



33 Fee says, that the people of Pisa, at the present day, soak the stalks 

 of broom, and extract therefrom a thread, of which cord's and coarse stuffs 

 are made. 



*" In B. xii. c. 21. He seems there to speak of the cotton-tree, though 

 Fee suggests that he may possibly allude to the " Bombax pentandrum" of 

 Linnaeus. 



^^* It is the mucilage of the perisperm that is so useful in medicine. 

 As an article of food, the farina of linseed is held in no esteem whatever. 

 In times of scarcity, attempts have been made to mix it with flour or meal, 

 but the result has been found to be heavy and indigestible, and has caused, 

 it is said, the death even of those who have eaten of it in considerable 

 quantities. 



