11 



in England ; and Portsoy, in Scotland, also fur- 

 nish considerable quantities. A compact kind, 

 which decomposes by exposure to the air into 

 remarkable flexible threads, is found in the 

 Ural Mountains in Siberia. 



The fibrous texture of the Amianthus, its incom- 

 bustibility, and the little alteration that it under- 

 goes even in a strong heat, were early noticed, 

 especially among the eastern nations ; and me- 

 thods were found out of drawing the fibres into 

 thread, and afterwards weaving it into cloth. 

 This, when dirtied with grease, or other inflam- 

 mable matter, was cleansed by throwing it into 

 a bright fire ; the stains were burnt out, and the 

 cloth was then removed, but little altered in its 

 properties, and of a dazzling white, hence it 

 obtained from the Greeks the name c^uaj'Tos, or 

 undefiled. In the rich and luxurious times of 

 the Roman Empire, this incombustible cloth 

 was purchased at an enormous price, for the 

 purpose of wrapping up the bodies of the dead, 

 previously to their being laid on the funeral 

 pile. The practice of burning the dead falling 

 into disuse, occasioned the manufacture of 

 amianthine-cloth to be neglected, and at length 

 entirely forgotten in Europe; bat though it has 



