120 LINEN 



stalactitic brown iron-ore may come under this denomination. The name is derived 

 from \ift.trf) (limne), a marsh. 



X.XMOGES ENAMELS. See ENAMELS. 



Z.XMOXITZ:. A hydrous peroxide of iron of the composition 2Fe 7 0. s 3HO 

 (2Pe*O 3 .3H 2 O). It includes most of the bog iron-ores and the so-called brown haema- 

 tites. The name is derived from \ti/j.>t> (leimon), a meadow. See IRON. 



XiXNARXTE. A hydrous sulphate of copper and lead, occurring in beautiful 

 dark blue crystals at Leadhills in Lanarkshire, and at several localities in Cumber- 

 land. It takes its name from Linares in Spain. 



ZiXXTDEXT TREE. See LIME TREE. 



XiITTEIV. History does not state at what period of the world's existence the 

 manufacture of cloth from flaxen material was first introduced; but from many 

 evidences found in Egyptian mausoleums the process of weaving must have been known 

 and practised even before the great shipbuilder laid the first planks of his famous Ark. 

 Throughout the pages of Sacred Writ the allusions to ' fine linen,' ' broidered linen,' 

 and the fancy styles of the fabric as they were brought out wefted with gold threads 

 and coloured yarns, show that in those days the clothing of princes, priests, and 

 people was largely composed of the different qualities of such material. In ancient 

 Greece the embroidering of linen robes was delighted in as a popular pastime by the 

 ladies of high degree, and the Eomans of old were no less fond of the manufacture. 

 But all their fancy goods were not furnished by the needle alone. Homer alludes to 

 his famous heroine weaving pictures in the loom, and other productions similar in 

 pattern to the damask of modern days were worked by the shuttle in ancient Greece. 



The use of linen was pretty general in the higher circles of society in the British 

 isles at a very remote period; but all the finer varieties of the fabric were imported 

 from the continent of Europe. Woollen goods formed the principal material for inner 

 as well as outside clothing of the people on both sides the Tweed in the fifth century ; 

 but even then linen was considered an essential requisite for special purposes, and 

 particularly for wrapping the bodies of the dead. Weaving was cultivated by the 

 more skilful peasants for a long period afterwards ; but it does not appear that any 

 high order of work had been produced until the reign of Henry III., when a number 

 of Flemings brought over by that monarch settled in Sussex and introduced a very 

 superior make of linen. We have only slight allusions in after history respecting the 

 progress of the trade either in England, Scotland, or Ireland. The yarns, at least 

 those of the upper counts used in Sussex and Lancashire were imported from 

 Holland, Flanders and Ireland. A high authority Leland in alluding to the 

 Liverpool trade says : ' Irysh merchantes doe cum muche heyre withe linnen yarne, 

 the whiche Manchester men doe bye.' King William tried to give greater impulse to 

 the trade in England, but somehow the pride of the people in manufacturing districts 

 to uphold woollen, ' the noble and national fabric,' stood in the way ; and while royal 

 patronage did immense good in Scotland and Ireland, it had little effect in England. 

 Sam Homespun's calculations relative to the value of a single acre's produce of flax 

 when spun and woven were made in 1742, and given at length in the leading magazine 

 of that day ; but marvellous as they were, so far as referred to the profits which 

 might be made in the linen manufacture, the subject was not taken up in the spirit 

 intended by that writer. Shortly afterwards the discoveries of Hargreaves, Arkwright, 

 and others, and the enterprise created thereby in the cotton trade opened lip new 

 avenues in the manufacturing world of England ; farmers there gradually decreased 

 the area of flax culture ; and, except in few localities, linen weaving no longer occu- 

 pied any large space in the republic of labour. 



In the meantime very great progress had been maintained in the manufacture of 

 linen in Scotland and Ireland. Bounties and other artificial stimulants were freely 

 administered by the State ; a Board of Trustees for Scotland sat in Edinburgh, and 

 local influence was largely used to give effect to the movement for improving the 

 manufacture. The Bounty Act became law in 1742, and in the course of that year 

 4,431,500 yards of linen were stamped by the inspectors appointed for that purpose. 

 Twelve years afterwards, and when the bounty system was given up, the turn out of 

 goods had increased to 8,914,400 yards ; in 1800, 24,236,630 yards were produced and 

 stamped by the inspectors; and in 1822 there was a total of 36,268,530 yards of linen 

 made in Scotland. The introduction of flax spinning by mechanical power and of 

 weaving linen on the steam-loom principle, made a remarkable change in the Scotch 

 trade. Dundee had long been the groat centre of the flaxen manufactures, and of 

 late years it has taken the lead in the Jute trade. Twenty-five years ago the imports 

 of Jute into Dundee were 12,500 cwts. ; in 1863, 46,900 cwts. were landed there ; and 

 of the total import of 2.583,842 cwts. for the six months ending June 30, 1874, a large 

 proportion went to Dundee. The capital employed in that town and neighbourhood 

 in the flax and Jute trades cannot at present bo under five and a half millions sterling. 



