FLAX. 



(Common Flax.) 

 LlNEJE. Linum Usitatissimiim. 



X was introduced into Egypt and used for linen at 

 a period so far back that it is beyond the knowledge of 

 man. It grows wild in most European countries and 

 is found eastward as far as China. Notwithstanding 

 the Egyptian fabrics were remarkable, their excellence 

 has been much exaggerated, and they did not equal either in 

 fineness or beauty similar fabrics of the present day. The 

 sculptures on the monuments have preserved for us a very 

 complete representation of the whole process of preparing the 

 linen, from the time the ilax was growing to the period of its 

 preparation for wearing. The word is first used in Ex. ix. 81, 

 in connection with the terrible hailstorm in Egypt which 

 destroyed the flax and barley, the former being just &quot; boiled,&quot; 

 or in the seed. From its mention in connection with barley 

 we may rightfully infer that the time of gathering the flax in 

 Egypt was about the 1st of April. During the wanderings of 

 the Israelites in the desert, the flax could not have been planted 

 so as to come to perfection in time to be gathered before they 

 would be required to remove; and they therefore obtained their 

 linen from their neighbors or from travelling caravans and 

 merchants. Yet, on their entrance into Palestine, Kahab, in 



85 



