French National Injlitute. %^ 



of xvhich he is devouring: 2. Another piece of fculpture re- 

 prefenting acar drawn by an old goat. A Cupid litting.in 

 the car makes a fisrn to the goat to advance, and threatens 

 him with a whip v.hich he holds in his hand. Before the 

 car a voimg woman i? fcated without veltments, and behind 

 it is an old man clothed in a long robe. This piece (hows a 

 great deal of csprellion. 3. A fdver cup, the bottom of 

 which is oxidated : rinofs and broaches of metal, on which 

 are filed relinous perfumes, llie defcription of thefe article?, 

 which C. Bicncourt will foon tranfmit to the Infiitute, mult 

 be highly intereftins; to artilts and antiquaries. 



C. .Mongez, always employed in refearches refpeclimr the 

 coft'ime ot'^the antients, has been endeavouring to difcover 

 and defcribe the different fubitances which thev emploved 

 for their veftments, arms, &c. Particular reafons have in- 

 duced him to det:)ch from his work an elTav on the ufe which 

 the antients made of hemp, Hcfiod and Homer do not men- 

 tion this vegetable, llcrodotus favs that it refembles flax, 

 from which it differs only in fize and in height. The appear- 

 ance of ihefe two plants, however, is marked with fuch a 

 flriking difi'erence, that the father of hiilory, fince he fpeaks 

 fo incorre6llv, muft have never fcen hemp. He neverthelefs 

 tells us, that the Thracians procured from the northern coun- 

 tries of Europe the hemp which they employed to make cloth 

 for their vcftmeiits. 



AriRophancs fpeaks of a hemp merchant; and we know 

 that the Greeks ufcd hemp for cordage, and for caulk- 

 ing their veflels. Rut thev did not then cultivate this pro- 

 duction, for it is not mentioned by Theophraltus ; and Hiero 

 procured hemp from the northern countries of Europe ; that 

 is to fay, from the banks of the Rhodanus, which throws it- 

 felf into the \'iftula, and which he call.-;, improperlv, the 

 Eridanus. It is ftill from Ruflia and Livonia that Europe 

 is fupplied with hemp : it is very probable that it was not 

 cultivated by the Greeks till about the commencement of the 

 Chriftian a;ra. 



The Romans, like the Greeks, employed this fubflancc for 

 cordage, and for caulking their vcffcls ; but neither of them 

 manufat^liurcd fail-cloth of it, if we are to judge from the 

 Greek and Roman writers whofc works have been prefcrved. 

 C. Mongez has been obliged to dcfcend from Herodotus, in 

 his paflage refpefting the Thracians, to the 12th ccntur\-, to 

 find a palfage which makes mention of hempen cloth. It is 

 ftill in a northern country, viz. England, that he tbund it. 



in the 43th centur)-, and the following ones, hempen cloth 



V J bccaijie 



