FLORAL EMBLEMS. 311 



UTILITY. 



DRIED FLAX. Linum. 



" The matron, at her nightly task 

 With pensive labour draws the flaxen thread." 



Thomson. 



The ingenuity of man has rendered this 

 simple plant of the greatest utility, hence the 

 emblem. 



The Egyptians appear to have been the in- 

 ventors of weaving linen cloth. The Athe- 

 nians, who were an Egyptian colony from 

 Sais, followed the custom of their ancestors, 

 by applying themselves to raising flax for the 

 same purpose; they therefore continued to wor- 

 ship Minerva, who was also styled Ergatis, or 

 the work-woman, for her excellency in spin- 

 ning and weaving ; and who is supposed to 

 be no other than the Egyptian Isis ; for the 



