Chap. 73.] DIFFEEENT KINDS OF WOOL. 335 



compressed also for making a felt,^ which, if soaked in vinegar,^* 

 is capable of resisting iron even ; and, what is still more, after 

 having gone through the last process, ^^ wool will even resist 

 fii'e ; the refuse, too, when taken out of the vat of the scourer, 

 is used for making mattresses,^'' an invention, I fancy, of the 

 Gauls. At all events, it is by Gallic names that we distin- 

 guish the different sort of mattresses^^ at the present day ; 

 but I am not well able to say at what period wool began to be 

 employed for this purpose. Our ancestors made use of straw^" 

 for the purpose of sleeping upon, just as they do at present 

 when in camp. The gausapa^" has been brought into use in 

 my father's memory, and I myself recollect the amphimalla^^ 

 and the long shaggy apron**- being introduced ; but at the pre- 

 sent day, the laticlave tunic ^^ is beginning to be manufactured, 

 in imitation of the gausapa.*^ Black wool will take no colour. 



3* The name given to this article, "lana coacta," " compressed wool," 

 correctly designates its texture. The manufactui-ers of it were called "la- 

 narii coactores," and " lanarii coactiliarii." 



35 " I have macerated unbleached flax in vinegar saturated with salt, 

 and after compression have obtained a felt, with a power of resistance quite 

 comparable with that of the famous armour of Conrad of Montferrat ; 

 seeing that neither the point of a sword, nor even balls discharged ft-oni 

 fire-arms, were able to penetrate it." Memoir on the substance called Ftlina, 

 by Papadopoiilo- Vretos, on the Mem. presented to the Royal Academy of In- 

 scriptions and Belles Lettres, 1845, as quoted by Littre. 



'^^ Pliny probably conceived that by the removal of all the grease from 

 the wool, or the " purgamentum," it became less combustible. — B. 



3'' "Tomentum;" an Epigram of Martial, B. xiv. E. 160, explains the 

 meaning of this word. — B. 



3d See B. xix. c. 2. 



39 Probably in the form of what we call " palliasses." 



^^ The " gausapa," or " gausapum," was a kind of thick cloth, very 

 woolly on one side, and used especially for covering tables, beds, and 

 making cloaks to keep out the wet and cold. The wealthier Eomans had 

 it made of the finest wool, and mostly of a purple colour. It seems also to 

 have been sometimes made of linen, but still with a rough surface. 



^^ From aij,(l)iixa\\a, " napped on both sides." They probably resembled 

 our baizes or druggets, or perhaps the modern blanket. 



*- Pliny again makes mention of the "ventrale," or apron, in B.xxvii. 

 c. 28. 



*3 He seems to aUude here to the substance of which the laticlave tunic 

 was made, and not any alteration in its cut or shape. Some further 

 information on the laticlave or broad-striped tunic will be found in B. 

 X, c. 63. 



** About the time of Augustus, the Romans began to exchange the 

 ' toga," which had previously been their ordinary garment, for the more 



