66 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



tremely coarse woollen cloth, which is generally fur- 

 nished with a hood to be drawn over the head ; 

 their cap is a compound of coarse cloth and sheep- 

 skin. Thus covered, they can brave the utmost 

 inclemency of the northern winter; and we are as- 

 sured on good authority, that their occasional deaths 

 by cold are owing to their immoderate use of ardent 

 spirits, which overpower their faculties, and set them 

 to sleep. 



The hemp plant was well known to the Romans as 

 a material for cordage in the time of Pliny. This 

 naturalist describes its culture and the preparation to 

 which it was subjected, in order to obtain its fibres, 

 classing these in two different qualities. The fila- 

 ments nearest to the outer bark and to the reed were 

 considered inferior to those growing in the middle, 

 and were distinguished by the name of mesa. But in 

 consequence of their supposed greater liability to be 

 damaged by exposure to moisture, hempen cords, and 

 particularly cables, were not so highly esteemed at 

 that time as were those made from spartum, which 

 were thought to be better qualified for resisting the 

 injurious action of water. 



Pliny eulogizes the root, juice, and other parts of 

 this plant, as possessing wonderful medicinal vir- 

 tues, for which it appears to have obtained a higher 

 value in those days than for its excellent adaptation to 

 the manufacture of cordage an application at present 

 considered so important as to cause its other pro- 

 perties to be almost entirely disregarded*. 



Hemp is now almost universally cultivated, finding 

 a congenial soil in nearly all parts of the world. As 

 it is but a short time in the ground, it may be culti- 

 vated in any place that is habitable by man t- 



* Nat. Hist. lib. xix. cap. 2 and cap. 10. Lib. xx. cap. 23. 

 f Traite de la Fabrique des Manoeuvres pour les Vaisseaux, ou 

 1'Art de la Corderie perfectionne. Par M. Du Hamel. 



