136 PLINY'S NATTJBAL HISTORY. [Book XIX. 



ness : for this long time past, however, it has only been in gene- 

 ral use for sacrifices offered to the divinities. After the wheat 

 harvest is over, the stalks of flax are plunged in water that 

 has been warmed in the sun/ and are then submitted to pres- 

 sure with a weight ; for there is nothing known that is more 

 light and buoyant than this. When the outer coat is loosened, 

 it is a sign that the stalks have been sufficiently steeped ; after 

 which 41 they are again turned with the heads downwards, and 

 left to dry as before in the sun; when thoroughly dried, they 

 are beaten with a tow-mallet on a stone. 



The part that lies nearest to the outer coat is know*n by the 

 name of " stuppa ;" it is a flax of inferior quality, and is 

 mostly employed for making the wicks of lamps. This, how- 

 ever, requires to be combed out with iron hatchels, until the . 

 whole of the outer skin is removed. The inner part presents 

 numerous varieties of flax, esteemed respectively in propor- 

 tion to their whiteness and their softness. Spinning flax is 

 held to be an honourable 42 employment for men even: the 

 husks, or outer coats, are employed for heating furnaces and 

 ovens. There is a certain amount of skill required in hatchel- 

 ling flax and dressing it : it is a fair proportion for fifty pounds 

 in the sheaf to yield fifteen pounds of flax combed out. When. 

 spun into thread, it is rendered additionally supple by being 

 soaked in water and then beaten out upon a stone ; and after 

 it is woven into a tissue, it is again beaten with heavy maces : 

 indeed, the more roughly it is treated the better it is. 



CHAP. 4. - LINEN MADE OF ASBESTOS. 



There has been invented also a kind of linen which is in- 

 combustible by flame. It is generally known as " live" 43 linen, 

 and I have seen, before now, napkins 44 that were made of it 



41 There are various other methods employed of dressing flax at the 

 present day ; hut they are all of them long and tedious. 



42 And not feminine or servile. 



43 



44 He evidently considers asbestus, or amianthus, to he a vegetable, and 

 not a mineral production. It is, in reality, a mineral, with long flexible 

 filaments, of a silky appearance, and is composed of silica, magnesia, and 

 lime. The wicks of the inextinguishable lamps of the middle ages, the 

 existence ofwhich was an article of general belief, were said to be made 

 of asbestus. Paper and lace, even, have been made of it in modern 

 times. 



