Miscellaneous Intelligence. 333 



however, the nature of the soil should always be examined and noted ; and 

 I would suggest to your correspondents to observe this in their botanical 

 communications.— Magazine of Natural History. 



Interesting Experiments before the Bopal Society en resisting the agency 

 of Fire.— Amianthus* a variety of asbestos, contains, per cent., aboif 

 parts of sand (silex), 25 of magnesia, and 10 of lime, besides traces of 

 and iron oxide.— It is usually found in veins, and consists of fibres very flexi- 

 ble, and somewhat elastic Friction readily separates them, and when 

 dressed a little, they bear considerable resemblance to fibres of silk • ,; flax. 



This filamentous 'nature, and the power of enduring a red heat, with 

 any very apparent loss of substance, have long rendered amianti 

 brated among minerals. All its names are in allusions to these proper! 

 or their applications to useful purposes. 



The Romans called it Linum t'irum, both from its res 

 and its indestructibility. It was also named Linum Indii i 

 L. incombustible, l.una Montana, Salamandriu lapidea,&,< The last i 

 seems to have arisen from a conjecture that the fable of the salamander 

 originated from a practice among the ancients of purifying by heat the 

 various fabrications of this mineral. 



Asbestos and amianthus, are the terms which have passed into the princi- 

 pal European languages. 



We have the most positive records, that llii- substance was in use among 

 the Greeks and Romans for the purpose o in imita- 



tion of linen The workmanship and quality i limony of 



Pliny and Plutarch, must ha' * 



The former writer ranks thi amianth cloth 

 or fine cotton, worn by wealthy ladies. -Plutarch al that this mine- 



ral was wrought into head ornaments fol I appear, 



however, that the art of weaving it was 9ufficientlj general to render tl»c 

 cloth cheap. Indeed, every circumstance seems to sho« that this fabric 

 must have been an article of luxury among the ancients,; and (here cer- 

 tainly was an obvious, though, perhaps, excusable parade of its incombus- 

 tible properties upon all occasions. The practice in Pliny's time, and which 

 he describes as an eye-witness, was to toss the napkins ot into the 



fire, after a repast or banquet, in order that the grease anil i be 



burnt out. Each guest thus delighted in becoming- bis own The 



same vain and clumsy display, we may observe, is recorded 61 dau- 



Ehin, Charles V., during whose reign, amianthus manufactures seem to have 

 een established at Venice, Louvain, and other parts of Europe. Pliny 

 notices another very important use of mineral cloth, namely, as a shroud or 

 wrapper for the bodies of kings, in order to preserve their ashes distinct 

 from those of the funeral pile. That such a practice existed we have positive 

 proof, independently of the historian's testimony, by the discoviry, in 1702, 

 near the Porta Naeva at Rome, of a funeral urn, ornamented with elegant 

 bas<o relievos, and containing a skull with some calcined bones — a quantity 

 of ashes was also found enclosed within a cloth of amianthus, nine Roman 

 palms long and seven wide. This relic was deposited in the Vatican Library, 

 by order of Pope Clement XI. The very diminutive size agrees but badfy 

 with Pliny's account of its use, and will serve to caution us against confidence 

 in his other exaggerated statements. It is said, that the disuse of burning 

 the dead occasioned the decline of the manufacture oi these cloths, until the 

 art became entirely extinct in Europe. The correctness of this opinion will 

 be noticed presently. Threads, net, net-work, head-ornaments, napkins, 

 table and funeral cloths, seem to' have constituted nearly all the articles 

 manufactured of amianthus in former times. Bonnets, gloves, purses, gir- 

 dles, ribands, and even paper, have been subsequently made from it. The 

 process by which the mineral fibre was anciently woven, is not transmitted 

 to us. In 1691, Ciampini, of Rome, published the following plan in his 

 work, " de incombustibili lino;" and it may be considered nearly as precise 

 as the nature of such manufacture will admit. Having steeped amianthus 

 in Warm water, divide its fibres, by gently rubbing them together between 

 the fingers, so as to loosen and separate all the extraneous matter; then 

 pour on, repeatedly, very hot water, as long as it continues to be in the least 



* Very common towards Lattakoo. 



